GREENSBORO, N.C. – There's a new push from Greensboro city leaders to have 911 dispatchers ask more descriptive questions about possible suspects. It's an attempt to prevent racial profiling and reduce the number of people stopped by police.

 

What You Need To Know

  • There's a new push from Greensboro city leaders to have 911 dispatchers ask more descriptive questions about possible suspects

  • It's an attempt to prevent racial profiling and reduce the number of people stopped by police

  • These questions will not slow down response time. Once a call is made, help is already dispatched


Every time a 911 dispatcher takes a call about a suspicious person, specific questions must be asked. These questions include details about the suspect's clothing or their race, but now city leaders are pushing dispatchers to ask even more questions. Director of Guilford Metro 911, Melanie Neal, says there is a protocol-based software system all dispatchers use.

"It provides the questioning for us, and that allows every operator to ask the same questions," Neal says.

A protocol that Neal says should be used nationwide. Recent events and protests sparked this conversation.

“We’re trying to get a really good description for the police department and the sheriffs office that goes out there on these calls so they know who they’re looking for and what they’re looking for,” she says.

This is an attempt to reduce the amount of people stopped by police and prevent racial profiling. In addition to pre-existing questions, dispatchers are now reminded to ask cooperative callers about a suspect's height and weight. 

“Somebody will call and say, 'I hear somebody shooting out here,' and if we say 'can you give us a description?' and they say 'no I can only hear it,' then we can only send officers to the area, and they don’t know who they’re looking for," Neal explains.

These questions will not slow down response time. Once a call is made, help is already dispatched.