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traumatizing incident late one night when I heard someone stomping on the roof of my home. Cautiously, I peeked through my daughter’s second-story bedroom window to see an agitated man, standing on the main floor roof of my home. Incessantly, the man kicked my house siding, holding what looked like a gun. Immediately, I called 911 for help. The noise caused my husband to join me in the bedroom. Fifteen frightening minutes elapsed with no police response. Carefully, we took another look at the disturbed stranger, which revealed he held a metal rod, not a gun. The absence of police intervention forced us to go outside and confront the man still outside our daughter’s window. We demanded he get off the roof and informed him the police were in route. Subsequently, the stranger on our roof crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, and then hobbled away into darkness. To our amazement, police did not arrive until two hours after my 911 call. Adding to the insult, the officer did not witness the dangerous encounter and logged it as a nonincident. Another class presentation, given by local 911 operators, revived the ire I felt about the roof incident. While viewing a Spokane County/City map, and listening to recordings of actual 911 calls, it sparked intrusive thoughts of feeling vulnerable to danger. Calling 911 is the right and expected thing to do. The operators, however, cannot send officers who do not exist. A shortage of officers now forces operators to carefully categorize which calls are answered first. In record numbers trained officers are leaving law enforcement and new recruits are not
taking their place. As a result, due to the shortage, only one officer is assigned to patrol a locality on any given night. Aside from my personal experience with this phenomenon, members of our group experienced the type of violence of which officers are subjected day-to-day. My Tueller Drill experience helped me learn how close is too close when someone may want to hurt or kill another person. An attacker always has the advantage of action being faster than reaction. Once a perpetrator begins to attack the intended target, whether law enforcement or civilian, is subject to a dismaying thought process before they can act in response. Police officers cannot be everywhere when disaster or danger strikes. Presenters explained how to greatly reduce odds of being victimized by developing individual and family proactive safety plans. The plans known as schemas require thinking about possible scenarios and then practicing what should be done in the event of catastrophe, thereby fostering a better outcome. Healing the divide and mistrust between the police and the public begins with each of us as individuals—then grows with our collective efforts. I encourage everyone to attend a Citizen’s Academy. For a list of class options, contact: Spokane Valley Police Crime Prevention Deputy Chris Johnston at crjohnston@ spokanesheriff.org or (509) 477-2592 Spokane Police Academy, Kim Anderson at kanderson@spokanepolice.org or (509) 742-8100.
613 S. Pines Rd. | Spokane Valley, WA Monday-Saturday: 10am-5pm 6630 E. Sprague Ave. Ste B. | Spokane Valley, WA Tuesday-Saturday: 10am-5pm
509.321.2330 | jemalane.com
Feeling stressed? Let’s talk. Licensed and Experienced Mental Health Counseling Anxiety • Depression • Trauma
Cami Huysman, MA, LMHC (509) 228-8901 www.ACTspokane.com
Jenny Estes Graham is a mother and child/ victim advocate in Spokane.
spokanecda.com • JULY • 2016
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