SPOKANE, Wash – A Spokane woman called 911 after a man broke into her backyard, dispatchers said they would send some but no one came.
Michelle, who asked only to be identified by their first name, said one afternoon in late March, a man broke into her backyard and began acting erratically. Michelle called 911, and dispatchers told her they would send someone her way. However, when no one showed up, Michelle’s husband, John, said it put them in a difficult situation.
Michelle said she was working in her home office when she heard noises coming from her backyard, “all of a sudden, I heard the audible voice by my window.”
She said the day’s events took a scary turn, “the man in my backyard really started to get aggressive and very escalated and tried to get in the back garage door banging.”
Michelle and her daughter were home and scared, so they called 911; dispatchers told her, “We’ll go ahead and let her officers know what’s going on. If he leaves or if anything changes, definitely let us know. But otherwise, we’ll go ahead and get them set over.”
Michelle believed that help was on the way and hung up, “In my interpretation, that means they’re on their way. You’re making the call. They’re on their way. So I didn’t realize that they didn’t have anyone to send.”
However, no one came, so Michelle’s husband, John, who was at work, called 911. Dispatchers told him that no one was free:” Yes, there was nobody available. We will get there as soon as we can.”
John said this is an example of a “broken system” that puts Spokanites at risk far greater than the one they experienced.
“You know you’re turning people into vigilantes. You have to take along your own hands, protect yourself.”
Michelle called a third time. However, when she was on the phone, the intruder fled, and now she’s left looking for answers: ” Okay, you said you don’t have anyone to send. Tell us why.”
Lt. Terry Preuninger from the Spokane Police Department said the couple did the right thing by calling the police, but he said, “We did not have the officers that were close enough or available enough to get to them in the way that they wanted.”
According to Lt. Preuninger, the department receives around 300 calls daily, and officers have to respond to what the dispatcher believes is the most imminent threat: ” That call is competing for other calls, and I hate to use the word competing.”
Lt. Preuninger said it is essential that people continue to call 911 and report these incidents because he believes crimes may be underreported. He added that this data allows them to be staffed appropriately.
John said it’s too difficult to imagine if the situation had been different. “What would have happened if he had gotten into the house…it would have been a whole different story.”
