Investigation into inefficient 911 service underway – Commissioner Greene

Jun 02, 2009 News

– as questions of police failed assistance surface

“Sometimes the service does not work well in some areas,” said Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, yesterday, when he commented on the 911 service, which is offered as a source of help to persons in need.
The commissioner has also raised his concerns about the alleged inaction of police in response to a recent tragedy.
Commissioner Greene’s remarks, came on the heels of allegations by a survivor of last Wednesday’s Abary River tragedy. Three people drowned.
According to the survivor, Ms Tara Mattai, an overseas-based Guyanese, in her quest to help her drowning relatives, she used her cellular phone to call 911. She said that she called about 25 times before her call was received around 11:45 hours. Mattai said that she was assured by a female rank from the Mahaicony Station, that she would immediately dispatch a boat to render assistance.
The woman recalled that she later made about 100 calls, starting at around 15:00 hours, since there was no physical or verbal response ,resulting from the earlier conversation. Mattai had related to this newspaper, that when the police arrived at around 17:00 hours, it was not to render assistance, but rather to gather information of what had occurred.
Having read the article, Commissioner Greene said that he recognised the need for an investigation into the allegations, even as he pointed to the fact that there are instances when the 911 service does not work well. “Sometimes you ring your own phone and it is right in front of you and it doesn’t ring, so we have to investigate this.”
“We have got to check it out.You see, 911 rings in different areas and we have got to check even if it rang all of those times. We also have to find out when you call from Abary, where you are answered.”
The commissioner also disclosed that there are some instances when persons are found to be deceitful in their claims of calling the 911 service.
“Last time we had an allegation of a person calling 911 and getting no response, but we found out that that person did not even make a call. We got the phone records from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and no such call was made.
“Then the person decided that they had nothing to say. These are the kinds of things we have to deal with sometimes,” Greene divulged.
He noted, that there is need to get the telephone number of the survivor, with the intent of checking the records to corroborate her allegations. The survivor’s number has since been made available to the Commissioner to facilitate an investigation. He disclosed that there is also need for an investigation to determine why the assistance assured by the recipient of the 911 call, was not forthcoming. He pointed out that only an investigation can determine what actually occurred on the fateful day of the accident, which claimed the lives of three.
And while there are speculations as to why the 911 service was inefficient on that day, Alison Parker, GT&T Public Relations Officer, emphatically stated that it was no fault of the telephone company.
GT&T she said, is responsible for providing the 911 service to the Guyana Police Force.
According to Parker, after conducting her own investigation yesterday, there is no evidence of any technical problem with the system on the telephone company’s part.
She related that as it is, the service is working well and persons dialling the number from any location, should be able to get through. She added that there has been no report suggesting otherwise.

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