By Josh Adams, The Tennessean

Williamson County, Tenn. — As a stranger circled her home, pulling on doors and windows at 2 a.m., Robin Ribeiro was pleading with a police dispatcher.

She had dialed 911 about 30 minutes before and still no one had arrived to protect her and her 8-year-old daughter.

Then, minutes before three Williamson County Sheriff’s officers made it to her Temple Hills home, the man trying to break into Ribeiro’s house pushed his way through a door. Ribeiro’s roommate struck him with a vacuum cleaner, forcing him to retreat, and law enforcement finally arrived to take him into custody.

“It was like a horror movie,” Ribeiro said of the Jan. 11 ordeal.

Compounding Ribeiro’s frustration with having to wait nearly 40 minutes for police to arrive at her home is the explanation she said was given by officers at the scene.

A staffing shortage within the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department was blamed for the delay, and one officer suggested Ribeiro’s only recourse is to contact her county commissioner.

“That was said,” according to Capt. Roddy Parker, who oversees the department’s patrol division. “But I don’t think it was meant in the context it was taken. She was upset, and rightly so.”

The sheriff’s office could use some additional officers, Parker said, but pinning the delayed response to Ribeiro’s 911 call on a staffing shortage isn’t fair, he said.

Call Went To Metro Tower
Parker explained that his officers actually arrived at Ribeiro’s home 14 minutes after receiving the call from dispatchers. On average, the department responds to every call within 13 minutes.

What extended Ribeiro’s wait is confusion that arose when she dialed 911 from her cell phone. Her cell phone call went to Metro. After checking the address and realizing Ribeiro’s home was not in Metro’s jurisdiction, the 911 dispatcher worked to determine which department was responsible. Ribeiro’s home in Temple Hills carries a Franklin address and ZIP code but is actually in unincorporated Williamson County.

Nearly 20 minutes passed before the call was successfully routed to the sheriff’s department.

County Commissioner Mary Brockman, whose 9th District includes Temple Hills, pointed to the 14-minute response from the time the officers were actually dispatched to Ribeiro’s home as reasonable.

Whether there’s room for improvement in customer service or how 911 calls from cell phones are handled, Brockman isn’t sure.

“I have no idea,” Brockman said. “I think our technology is up to date. As far as how cell phones are coordinated, that has to be done through all of Williamson County.”

A typical shift has six or seven officers patrolling the county, according to Parker, though that fluctuates because of injuries, illness, training and the like. Williamson County is 583 square miles. Municipal police patrols leave each sheriff’s officer with 73 square miles of territory.

Budget Has Been Tight
Parker said he isn’t sure how many positions he may request in the coming budget cycle.

It has been three years since an officer was added to the department’s ranks, Parker said, and that is a direct result of elected officials and county administrators holding the line on spending.

“It is our feeling we need more staffing,” Parker said of the department. “We will probably approach the county with that request.”

Brockman defended the County Commission’s tight budgetary controls but said she’s willing to consider hiring additional officers.

Before department heads submit their annual budget requests, a set of guidelines is handed down in February or March from the county mayor’s office. That document sets the boundaries, Parker said, and in recent years, additional patrols have been out of bounds.

County commissioners, meanwhile, are struggling with an estimated $8 million to $10 million shortfall in revenues, according to minutes from a recent tax study committee meeting.

The commission’s law enforcement committee did not discuss the incident during its Jan. 17 meeting.

About the Author
Contact Josh Adams at 615/771-5417 or [email protected].

Posted with permission of the Tennessean. Copyright 2011.