A college student at Ohio State University called 911 on Sunday to report that a man had broken into the house where she’d been sleeping and raped her. The dispatcher’s response, she says, was callous.
When the dispatcher asked for a description of the assailant, the caller replied “A small male white boy with a white shirt,” and then began crying.
“Ma’am, you’re going to have to quit crying so I can get the information from you,” said the dispatcher, who added “they’re not going to be able to find him with the information you’ve given.”
“Don’t you understand how horrified I am?” the caller exclaimed. “I am a 20-year-old from Upper Arlington. I don’t know what you deal with every day, but the kind of sympathy you have is zero.”
911 supervisors say that the call could have been handled better, and that they plan to discuss it with the dispatcher, but that they will not issue her a written reprimand.
The police have charged Michael Callaghan, 30, in relation to the attack.
The voice of the 911 caller may be distorted to protect her identity.
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