Orders from 911 operator or police dispatch, Legally binding?

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

In Tennessee, if we're in a situation where we have a 911 operator or police dispatch on the phone and we are being confronted with what we percieve as a threat to our life, are we under any lawful obligation to follow their direct orders?

What if dispatch says it is ok to shoot but then you're later charged for it not being ok. Is the dispatch operator held accountable for their desicions as well?

[nightrunner]

Im pretty sure you are responsible for yourself and your own actions and for knowing the law and judging if you are acting in self defense or not.

[daddyo]

There was a case within the past year, I believe, where a young mother was home with her children (her husband had just passed away), and two thugs tried to break into her home. She was on the phone with 911 and told them she had a gun. The dispatcher told her not to shoot, but the thugs were about to break the door in. She shot one of them and killed him, I believe. No charges were filed against her.

Edited April 12, 2012 by DaddyO

[DaveS]

If I'm in MY HOME, and someone enters, I believe they are the ones who need to dial 911...not me! I think 911 operators want you to take a non lethal way out. However, they are not there to see what's going on.

If anyone enters MY HOME and refuses my command to "get on the floor".....they are going to floor the anyways. I feel for their next of kin.....

Edited April 12, 2012 by wd-40

[East_TN_Patriot]

I was a police dispatcher at the start of my law enforcement career (thankfully that job didn't last long before I moved on to patrol). Unless things have changed, dispatchers have no lawful authority to order a caller to do anything. In fact, they have so little autonomy, they are generally prohibited from giving any sort of legal advice or provide instructions that are outside of the scope of their training. For example, to give first aid instructions over the phone, the dispatcher must be specifically trained in "emergency medical dispatch" or a similar type of training. The reason for this is obvious. A dispatcher is not trained in the law and they aren't at the scene to see what's really going on. If they give bad info, they can be held responsible.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's about the way I thought it was, ET. Thanks

[Mike.357]

There is a huge difference between defending yourself in your home or doing it out on the street.

[Fallguy]

As ETP said, most dispatchers are not "sworn personnel" them telling you to do or not do something isn't really different than anyone on here telling you something.

Now if they advise you of a certain course of action, you don't follow it and something "bad" happens....I guess that could be used by the opposing attorney against you.

Also I don't know of ANY dispatcher that is going to come right out and in plain language tell someone to shoot someone else. The closest I've ever heard is, "Do what you need to do to defend yourself."

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

Thanks guys.

We were debating back on a time when we were on the interstate in Nashville when idiots in another car were upset and started bombing us with water bottles and I assumed, trying to get us to pull over. When we called 911, I was driving and declined to follow the dispatcher's request to pull over to wait for an officer.

Edited April 12, 2012 by AmericanWorkMule

[DaveS]

There is a huge difference between defending yourself in your home or doing it out on the street.

+1

[Mike]

When I was a dispatcher for THP there were, and still are I imagine, very strict rules in what I could and could not say to someone. Anything I said was not legally binding and I could not advise any course of action whatsoever. The only exception was when I got EMD certified and then I could only read off instructions from the cards. No deviation at all.

Mike

[Makiaveli]

Thanks guys.

We were debating back on a time when we were on the interstate in Nashville when idiots in another car were upset and started bombing us with water bottles and I assumed, trying to get us to pull over. When we called 911, I was driving and declined to follow the dispatcher's request to pull over to wait for an officer.

I say good call. Pulling over in that case sounds like some crappy advice.

[alwaysonjohn]

You have to realize that 911 dispatchers are not POST Certified meaning they can NOT lawfully give you an order. Take their ADVICE as is and without warranty. I can tell you some good stories about bad advice dispatchers have given... but everyone has those stories and I don't want anyone to tell mine

[hornett22]

Not listening to a dispatcher. They can listen to the info i give them and then im hanging up.

[~48_South~]

The way I see it is if I call 911 I really dont see an immediate threat, if there is what I take to be an immediate threat the last thing Im going to do is try to be focusing on what someone over the phone is trying to tell me, Im sure we have all been scared enough at one point in our lives to where that survival instinct starts to kick in,hearing and vision enhances you start looking and listening for the slightest movements and sounds and the last thing I want during that is someone on a phone asking me a bunch of questions, hell I bet while you're in that state of mind the operator would sound like they were talking through a loud speaker.

Edited April 13, 2012 by ~48_South~

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

or Charlie Brown's teacher..." Wha Woo Wha Woo Woo"

hell I bet while you're in that state of mind the operator would sound like they were talking through a loud speaker.

[TripleDigitRide]

Not listening to a dispatcher. They can listen to the info i give them and then im hanging up.

The Zimmerman case is a situation where this would have been a good idea.

[Wheelgunner]

The way I see it is if I call 911 I really dont see an immediate threat, if there is what I take to be an immediate threat the last thing Im going to do is try to be focusing on what someone over the phone is trying to tell me, Im sure we have all been scared enough at one point in our lives to where that survival instinct starts to kick in,hearing and vision enhances you start looking and listening for the slightest movements and sounds and the last thing I want during that is someone on a phone asking me a bunch of questions, hell I bet while you're in that state of mind the operator would sound like they were talking through a loud speaker.

I agree with you. We all know that driving while talking on a phone leads to bad results, so I can only imagine that talking on a phone while preparing to fire in SD would prevent you from focusing on the threat. Along with that, I've wondered several times whether it's worth calling 911 before the confrontation with the bad guy.

Essentially, dialing 911 gets a bunch of people on the scene quickly, and that means a bunch of people potentially in your field of fire, people who might not announce their presence... You see where I'm going. Are there instances where it makes more sense to wait until after the threat has ended to call 911?