I was reading some message forums about 911 response time for Dallas. I am not sure how correct those post are but what I was reading was scary. But I live in Fort Worth and I do not think they have that sort of problem here but I am not sure.
I have listened to the Fort Worth dispatch on a scanner and on my cell phone. They sound very professional and I think the officers get dispatched fast.
I have known some people who were 911 dispatchers. In fact before 911 came into effect I worked a few times for a small police department as a dispatcher. I was a police officer but a few times they needed someone to dispatch and I did it for the department. That was before 911 came into effect. After 911 took effect you had to be trained and certified as a 911 dispatcher.
If I lived out away from a city and someplace that it took the police a long time to respond I would own a gun. If I lived in a city and the 911 dispatch was failing and if it took the police a long time to respond I would own a gun.
I still think that most of the time having a gun is not a good thing. More often than not someone will end up with your gun and use it on you. They will break in and get it or they will take it away from you or someone will use it to kill themselves or there will be an accident. But if the police response time is excessive then I can see taking the risk of owning a gun.
I still think that we should have sane gun laws. Real background checks should be done and records should be kept on file. We have crazy gun laws at the current time in the United States. I think “instant” checks are crazy. If a person is buying a handgun there should be a background check and it should take about 3 days.
I have been in Fort Worth for a little over a year and a half and I have never had to call the police. So I do not know what sort of response time they give. I have had to call EMS. They had firemen here and an ambulance almost before I could hang up the telephone.
I have said this before… I do not think that 911 calls should be public. I do not think the news media should have access to 911 calls. I know they love to put them on TV but I think they should not have access to them.
Yes, there does need to be some review and over sight of the 911 calls. That would be the supervisors and management of the 911 system and their should be a citizens review board to check the 911 system. It could be made up of say seven members. Four of them citizens and the three others say a police officer, firefighter and EMS member.
I hope I do not have a call 911 ever. I sure hope when I do have to call that they are professional and that they get the help that I need out fast.
I have great respect for the police, fire, EMS and dispatchers of this nation. I think that they do a great job. Yes, sometimes we see stories on TV or in newspapers of the system failing but I think that is rare.
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