Letter to the Editor: Response from Downey PD

This letter is in response to a previous letter received last week.

Dear Editor:

On May 16th, 2017, at about 1352, our dispatch center received a call on the business line from Mrs. Curtis, but after a few moments, the call was placed on hold when they received an unrelated call via 911. Once the 911 call was handled, and our dispatcher was able to speak with Mrs Curtis, the call was entered and officers responded, arriving within five minutes of being dispatched. During the call, Mrs Curtis advised that the subject was last seen walking away from her residence and towards Pangborn Ave and Muller St.
 
Responding officers located the suspect away from the caller’s residence, and he was ultimately arrested. Unfortunately, the original caller was not notified of his arrest.
 
I called the Curtis residence this afternoon and spoke with Mrs Curtis, the original caller, to let her know what happened and apologized for us not following up with her immediately after making the arrest, as we should have.
 
While I understand that Mr. Curtis was upset in his belief that the Downey Police did not respond, it is simply not true. We should have notified them of the arrest, but unfortunately we did not until my phone call to them today.
 
In regards to Mrs Curtis being placed on hold, our dispatch center has to answer calls that come in via 911 as quickly as possible, not knowing the nature of the call. Often times, other callers may get put on hold when other, more emergent matters arise.
 
We appreciate the concern and feedback from the Curtis family, and apologize for falling short. We will continue to strive to be better.
 
Sincerely,
 
Dean R. Milligan
Police Captain, Field Operations