City council calls 911 after hit-and-run accident

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — A Milwaukee city councilman called 911 for help. According to the call, the operator not only told him to go to the police station, but also ended the call.

It happened two weeks ago, and on Monday he and other city leaders interviewed 911 officials.

“911, where is your emergency number?” said the dispatcher.

These are the people you call in times of need.

“I’m driving down Lisbon Avenue at 74th Street, heading toward Burleigh and Lisbon. Some guy hit me. He’s in a silver or brown car, I think it’s a Chevy. He’s not stopping,” Alderman Lamont Westmoreland told the emergency dispatcher.

“You need to go to the precinct and file a report because you left the scene of the accident,” the dispatcher replied.

According to Milwaukee police, emergency services and city officials, that’s not the only option for Westmoreland.

“In my case, the options should have been: you can come to the police station and file a report, you can pull over and we’ll send a squad to you wherever you are, or when you get home, we’ll send a squad to you,” Westmoreland added in an interview with TMJ4 on Monday.

We have heard this story before.

“Please! Help me!” shouted Hamza Alkarady.

TMJ4’s Ryan Jenkins spoke with Alkarady in March and May of this year. Alkarady showed Jenkins a video of a man threatening him with a gun while he was driving.

He circled the city for several minutes while waiting for the police to arrive, but he said no one came.

“These two men traumatized me more than the two nasty guys who attacked me,” Alkarady said.

Since the Alkarady incident, city councilors have questioned operational protocols like the three options outlined by Westmoreland. On Monday, during the public safety and health meeting, they raised the question again.

“A quick reminder to communicators: This is an option. We must also offer this option to people in need instead of simply coming to the station,” said City Councilor Peter Burgelis.

“I understand what you mean,” replied MPD Cpt. Annemarie Domurot.

“Good point, Councilman,” echoed Craig Sarnow, MPD deputy police chief.

“So this is just a memo that should have gone out 18 days ago, but didn’t, and we’re still waiting for it,” Burgelis reiterated.

Representatives from the MPD, the Division of Emergency Communications and the Fire and Police Commission blamed the Republican National Convention and standard department procedures for the delay in the memo.

They also said the dispatcher who answered Westmoreland’s call was new.

“The communications center needs to get better. Period. You know what I mean. This is a failure. It’s failing the citizens, it’s failing the people, you know what I mean, it’s a failure,” Westmoreland added.

We asked MPD for an interview after the meeting on Monday and never received a response.

It’s time to pay attention to your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.

Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.

Report a typo or error