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An emergency service in the South Carolina Upstate issued a public apology after an officer was dispatched to a “mostly harmless” situation – one which spawned a viral TikTok video.
According to Spartanburg 911, an internal investigation is underway after an unnamed telecommunicator failed to “meet the standards of professionalism” or “customer service” during a “suspicious person” incident in which an officer was dispatched twice.
The aforementioned investagtion was prompted after Lindsey Stech uploaded Blink doorbell footage to her newly-created TikTok profile last week. The clip depicts a white male meandering about Stech’s front yard on the evening of December 18, 2024.
Edited over her doorbell video is a portion of Stech’s second phone call to Spartanburg 911 that evening. Audibly distraught, she implored the female dispatcher to send another officer after watching a patrol car canvas her neighborhood without stopping.
Despite insisting on “help” from law enforcement, the dispatcher told Stech “nobody” was outside her home and that she was “going to say goodbye now.” She concluded the call by telling Stech to “have a good night” and promptly hung up.
The video has since amassed one million views online…
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“Spartanburg County 911 is aware of the video circulating on social media,” the emergency service provider noted last Friday (January 3, 2024). “We want to express our sincerest apologies to the caller involved. We are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of this individual.”
Per Spartanburg 911, the responding officer was eventually called back to the neighborhood. He went so far as to speak to the meandering man… who was purportedly waiting to meet with an unrelated woman.
“We acknowledge that this was not communicated to the caller at the time,” continued Spartanburg 911. “Instead, the telecommunicator ended the call without informing the caller of the steps being taken on her behalf… We deeply regret the negative impact this had.”
Despite an inundation of TikToks and statements, it remains unclear as to which agency answered Stech’s call for service. Her Google review suggests it was a municipal police department, thus ruling out the scandal-scarred Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
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Whether SCSO or municipal, it’s worth pointing out law enforcement officers have no constitutional obligation to protect individual members of the public. As the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed time and time and time again, “to protect and serve” is more rhetoric than reality.
For those interested in the quality of Palmetto State officers with no obligation to their constituency, FITSNews encourages you to view any number of our Badge(s) Gone Bad reports – in which innumerable departments are exposed for dereliction of duty, misconduct in office or outright criminality.
“I have filed a report,” concluded Stech in a follow-up TikTok. “I will probably file another one now that I know (the telecommunicator’s) name… I will definitely take this far. At the very least, she needs to apologize for how she treated me.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Dynal Nolan/FITSNews)
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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1 comment
The incompetence found in many 911 Call Centers is truly disturbing. While it appears that nothing worse happened here than the citizen was left with an unnecessarily heightened level of fear and uncertainty, this underscores why any thinking person should have a firearm in their home, as well as the skill to use it, in case the police cannot respond, or simply choose not to. As Mr Fancher correctly noted, according to the US Supreme Court, police have no legal obligation to protect you under most circumstances.