From the Queens Gazette:
On Tuesday August 21 at about 3:15 in the afternoon a black Honda Civic driven by a resident of Elmhurst struck a Toyota Highlander driven by Marta Valasquez, a Flushing woman who was carrying her sister, Maria Mora, and her new 8-day old nephew, Juaquin, in the back seat.
The Highlander had minor visible damages but the Honda had major damages with the front end looking like an accordion.
What makes this apparently typical bump and dent collision of interest is the fact that Marta Valasquez, called 911 from her cell phone at 3:22pm, and an hour later when no police or EMS responded to the accident scene she dialed 911 again on her iPhone only to have the call and report to a 911 dispatcher ignored a second time as evidenced by no police or EMS sent to the accident scene.
More than two hours following the accident a Manhattan bound NYPD van from Manhattan North traffic detail was passing the accident site and pulled over to inquire if anyone was injured.
22 comments:
We live in a world where the circumstances surrounding and regarding our life are far out of our control.
In other news, a person was robbed somewhere in the city, two drunken Mexicans had a fight, a gypsy cab cut off another vehicle, an Indian guy spit on the sidewalk, and a yellow cab blasted its horn in anger.
FTA: "....but the Honda had major damages with the front end looking like an accordion."
The hood it certainly damaged but it does not look like accordion.
Queens Gazette, can you just report the facts and leave out the silly exaggeration?
I've never heard of a call being ignored. An accident with no injuries isn't a priority and will get bumped as more important jobs come in, which can leave you waiting a LONG time. We're 5000 cops short, blame the politicians and Bloomberg.
As per the above comment, yes the pd is low on manpower. What is worse is that the AIS,the accident investigation squad is down to a handfull of detectives. If you are killed or seriously hurt in or by a motor vehicle in nyc,you are sol,you will get no justice. They will make it an Accident and the perp will probably walk away without even a ticket!
When I call 911,
I inform them that I'm recording the conversation
(as they do).
Fearing a lawsuit...they respond in a timely manner.
Isn't technology a wonder when properly applied to a situation?
It's a damn pity we have to be our own watchdogs,
even during an emergency, when your local government services are supposed to be covering your butt .
Didn't the city recently waste a fortune on a 911 service upgrade?
If I remember correctly, since 2004 the Bloomberg administration has spent over $2.5 billion on the upgrade which is about $1 Billion over the original estimate.
Everytime I look at my phone bills and see the 911 charge I get sick. Also, I wonder how much Verizon charges the city to collect their 911 tax?
N.Y.C. needs more Cops. Especially the outer boroughs. There are 5,000 fewer cops on the street since Bloomberg took office.
A 10-53 with no injuries is a low priority call for the NYPD, and where there are injuries EMS gets there first.
In most cases you are better off exchanging info with the other driver
rather then wait for hours for the police to show up.
"N.Y.C. needs more Cops"
You left one thing out, NYC needs more cops who were brought up in the city. Many of the cops today have no street smarts. They hate to get out of the patrol car. They hate to interact with tax paying citizens. They can't wait for their shift to end. They can't wait to retire.
Example: A domestic incident outside a six family house on a Ridgewood street. A woman of Hispanic descent was beaten up by her ex-boyfriend. She spoke in broken English. Four cars from the 104th show up, eight cops. Two go inside and not one could speak Spanish, a neighbor had to interpret. The other six cops stood around outside the building and their cars blocked traffic. A neighbor tells one of the six cops that the abuser ran up the street toward Bushwick and the woman had a writ of protection against him. The cops take down the info and do nothing. An ambulance showed up to care for the victim. The woman was treated but refused to go to Wycoff Heights Hospital (who could blame her).
The six cops were still there. After about 45 minutes two cars and four cops left. Going in the opposite direction of Bushwick.
Three days later it happened again. The neighbors tell the cops that the guy waits for her to get home from work in the afternoon and harasses her. They asked the cops to lay in wait for him. Nothing happened. The woman is now staying with a relative according to neighbors.
I know that this is just one incident but it is telling. There may be less cops but they aren't being utilized in an intelligent way and it seems as if many don't take an initiative to serve and protect.
Anonymous said...
When I call 911,
I inform them that I'm recording the conversation
(as they do).
Fearing a lawsuit...they respond in a timely manner.
Isn't technology a wonder when properly applied to a situation?
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Sorry, but it just doesn't work that way with 911. They aren't going to put any rush on a call just because the caller says that they are recording the conversation. The 911 system prioritizess the call based on seriousness and urgency. The responders on the street do the same thing, and respond when there is an available unit to respond. If it is a quiet time of day, a response could be quick. If it is busy, expect to wait a while. No cop or fireman or paramedic ever said, "we better get over there fast, the person recorded the 911 call!".
I was a cop for 22 years in Brooklyn and Queens. I was born and raised in Woodside. When I went to Queens, I felt I would be able to relate to the people, having grown up in Queens. Regardless I was "accused" on more occasions than I can remember, of being some "white cop from Long Island". The people I dealt with NEVER reacted differently to me even though I was from the city. In my experience, I don't believe there was ever a situation where I was able to handle any job better than any other cop, just because of where I grew up. Just sayin.
domestic incident outside a six family house on a Ridgewood street. A woman of Hispanic descent was beaten up by her ex-boyfriend. She spoke in broken English. Four cars from the 104th show up, eight cops. Two go inside and not one could speak Spanish, a neighbor had to interpret. The other six cops stood around outside the building and their cars blocked traffic
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Maybe they should have learned English before they came here.
It's easy, just tell them that someone is injured and they will come in 10 minutes with an ambulance. That's what the insurance company tell us if you want prompt 911 road response. Been tested and it works.
This is no new news. Bloomberg wants all the manpower in Manhatten where the tourists spends big $$ on his corporation friends like "Disneyland Square". Its been this way ever since that carpetbagging Bean-town sack of sh*t took office.
People should be reading the "writing on the wall"
If a major hurricane or blizzard ever hit be prepared to be on your own at lest 2 weeks.
Everybody should have a small quiet generator to power the furnace (winter) and a rifle + ammo to ward off looters looking to coming through your windows and fire escapes
Be warned, the cops WILL NOT be around to protect people & property outside Manhattan.
I fell on a sidewalk and split my head open on 34th at 4 in the afternoon. Someone called 911 - FDNY was there in 12 minutes. I'm happy and thankful to all. Priority calls get priority. That's why they are called that. Lying gets you nowhere and you may deprive another person that needs attention faster.
"Maybe they should have learned English before they came here."
Check out the police that serve the Flushing area. Lotsa cops of Oriental extraction who can communicate with the locals in their native tongue.
Sad that the NYPD cannot place some Spanish speaking police in areas where the residents have English as a second language. Might have to do with institutionalized racism in the force considering that I see cops in Maspeth and Ridgewood speaking Polish.
Who saw cops in Maspeth and Ridgewood ?
Is Jennifer Aniston filming scenes on Elliot ave again ?
Sad that the NYPD cannot place some Spanish speaking police in areas where the residents have English as a second language
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Well nowdays, that would pretty much be every single precinct in the city. By the way, have you taken a look at the current demographics of the police department?
It's easy, just tell them that someone is injured and they will come in 10 minutes with an ambulance. That's what the insurance company tell us if you want prompt 911 road response. Been tested and it works.
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Just don't get mad at the cops when they lock you up for making a false 911 call.
I've personally gotten good results when I notified 911 that I was recording them.
You must live in a very "ghetto" nabe to be ignored,
or else you don't really know what you're talking about.
Two go inside and not one could speak Spanish, a neighbor had to interpret.
Should be "not one resident could speak English"
I am so sick of my tax dollars paying for interpretation services and multilingual programs.
Fuck that learn English you lazy assholes.
This is America the predominant language is we English!!!
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