A Chicago woman called 311 (non-emergency police services) to report illegal and dangerous fireworks exploding over her home. She was transferred to 911 where she was greeted by hysterical laughter.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
“I have never heard anything like that in my life. This person was laughing uncontrollably. When she picked up the phone, she burst into laughter. She probably had been laughing for a while. I kept on saying, ‘Hello. Hello.’ But she couldn’t talk. She never stopped laughing,” said [Brigitte] Biver, 58.
“I finally said, ‘I’d like to report some heavy fireworks activity.’ She was still laughing as she asked where I was located. I said Norwood Park. Still laughing, she asked where in Norwood Park. Then, she said, ‘Ma’am, you’re gonna have to call back.’ I said, ‘Can I have your name please.’ But she hung up on me.”
Biver called back and got an operater who was not consumed in laughing fits, reported the fireworks, and hung up… but she’s mad.
“She didn’t know what I was calling about. Somebody could have been having a heart attack here. If it had been a life-or-death situation where seconds count, that’s very dangerous. It’s highly unprofessional in any setting,” Biver said.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Emergency Management and Communications Office says Biver has yet to file a formal complaint, and he cannot comment on anonymous 911 calls. He told the Sun-Times that the office is interested in investigating Biver’s complaint.
911 caller gets an earful of laughter [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo:Keith Haler/Chicago Sun-Times)
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I have an oxygen generator running at home (for a medical condition). Though we have signs on our house indicating that sparks will ignite the gas, I doubt my neighbors down the street have noticed them. We had to ask them to point their (illegal) fireworks in the other direction when their bottle rockets started to hit our house. If they had refused, you can bet I would have been on the phone to the police.
here’s the thing…the lady would have been laughing after she explained her story anyway. “ma’am, can you elaborate on ‘heavy firework activity? Is it multiple targets, or more of a strafing attack?’”
I got my hands on a 340 shot (16mm) single ignition cake this July 4th. That thing went off for like 4 minutes and made the whole neighborhood look and sound like a war zone. It was great. Highly illegal of course. And of course someone called the police. I was expecting it. But I know the police and I bet whoever called was pissed when I went right up to the cop and started telling him about how awesome the firework was. Ha ha.
Two things you should always do, donate to the local police often, and get to know all the cops. That way you can get away with a bunch of stuff.
OH MAN, her name is ‘Bridgette Biver.’ After years of name calling, I’m sure this woman is devoid of all fun, and most likely calls 911 eight times a week.
If ever a face needed a laxative…eat some prunes Beav.
I cannot believe I just read this whole string of mostly idiotic comments. And of course, now I am contributing to the problem. Awesome.
Look, I understand that there is laughter in every workplace. I don’t expect 911 operators to be humorless, but it is just plain bad for them to answer the phone laughing hysterically. Yes, shit happens and I don’t know that I would want the worker fired over it, but I don’t understand how some commenters do not GET that it was not the caller’s fault. I spent a year taking calls at a large state agency’s child/elder/etc abuse hotline — trust me, we still had humor there. You cannot work at call centers like these without laughing your ass off at some of the callers. But if I were to answer the phone laughing you can bet your sweet ass I’d be in some hot water.
Ms. Wet Blanket had every right to call about the fireworks. The city apparently even had PR working on getting the word out to CALL 911 — how is there even any confusion here? I’m all in favor of thinning the herd by letting the stupid people play with fireworks, but we do happen to live in a society where you cannot recklessly endanger the lives of others. Those of you with your “let them have their fireworks in peace” must be somehow associated with the fireworks industry… I don’t otherwise see how you could possibly be spinning this story so stupidly.
@3drage:
So oppressive that fireworks are actually legal here.
Hmmmmm.
@Erskine:
Sad, isn’t it?
I kind of miss the old Consumerist, complete with public axings and actual invites.
Then again, one can simply get an invite on any other Gawker Media blog, then bring it over here and then, dickwaving!
That and the forced clickthoughs rather annoy me…
The picture of that lady actually looks like she is trying to take a dump. Just fyi.
“People are having fun outside, I’d like to file a complaint.”
Maybe the 911 worker was just making a point that the lady needs to lighten up some and stop calling the police every time someone jay walks, rides their bicycle without a helmet, or drives by her house with their music too loud.
@Havok154:
Ok, one last time, everyone repeat with me: The 911 operator was laughing when she picked up the phone. She did not know what the lady was calling about, and therefore could not be laughing about why the lady was calling.
God, I’m glad I live in Florida, I can legally set off fireworks every day till 11PM unless in a drought.
If you don’t allow people to set off fireworks on their day of independence, then the REDS have won.
hmm, here in PA anything that goes up in the air is illegal, but that doesnt stop anyone around my area. hell some of them (could) have been set off in my own yard. and these suckers were HUGE and loud, and my neighbor is a cop lol, (he just merely said that “whoever” set them off got good taste in firework choices)
A “fun police” like her would not get much response in my area from the local cops.
@Havok154: When has doing any of those things burned down someone’s house?
“I’m having fun” isn’t a good excuse to break the law.
I live in Chicago, I live in a neighborhood that had a lot of fireworks on the fourth, I was on my backporch watching the 360 degree shows going off all around me, I watched my neighbors next door set of a rocket that came straight toward me, it came within 15 feet of hitting my porch or me, it hit the side of my (thankfully) brick building. These are not small firecrackers we’re talking about – these can be and are rather large fireworks, and they can be dangerous. I didn’t call police, but after that, I did make sure my building wasn’t on fire before I went to bed.
That being said, if she felt there was a need to call the police, she had every right to. She also had the right to be answered in a respectful way that an emergency line should be answered (regardless of the nature of her emergency).
@rocnrule:
Chicago’s 311 operators just transfer the call, they pass on no info!
@missbrooke06:
Guess what?
We in Chicago are sick of you FMP’s clogging up our streets all summer shopping here because you don’t have any place decent to shop, unless you consider Lighthouse Place classy!
@lorddave:
At our community meeting on July 2, the cop sergeants told us to call 911.
Of course the actual beat cops said they’ll be too busy to waste their time on these calls.
Anyway, the best fireworks are set off by off duty cops. They never would get arrested.
The best fireworks in my neighborhood are from a couple of guys that live across the alley from the police station. They’ve never been arrested either.
Dear Ben, Meg & Casey,
The ignorance of many commenters in this post leads me to beg you: Please, please, please bring back the overly harsh banning announcements?
I heard that Biver is a real firecracker!
@Greasy Thumb Guzik: Are those the same cops that take bribes? Or run red lights by turning their squad car blue lights on for like 2 seconds? Or even speed 75mph in a 60mph without their blue lights on because the can?
Police use statistics just like everyone else. If more calls come from a given area, more precendence is given to that area. Just the fact that the lady called and had a legitimate reason (i.e. illegal fireworks), adds more weight that her area will be provided better response in the future.
BTW, 4th of July ends at Midnight so I will call the police at 12:30am July 5th if I have to. (I live in Virginia and while I am against fireworks totally, our laws allow “smaller” types of fireworks).
@ancientsociety: so are all the jerks who just have to add gunfire to twisted ideas of celebration.. ..
@myrall:
Or as bad as calling 911 from yoru cell phone in Northern California, being routed to a CHP call center 40 miles away and left on hold for 10 minutes before giving up and disconnecting. Three times.
@guymandude:
When I lived in Pittsburgh, PA if you did call a police department they would tell you to hang up and call 911. I am not sure what the situation is in Chi-Town but not all PD office take calls.
@bonzombiekitty: I would have to agree with your interpretation here.
@frogpelt: Your government has a system set up that transfers non emergency 311 calls to the emergency 911 line – that is why its tagged that way.
Where I live fireworks are legal. Unfortunetly some idiots DON’T get the idea that 3 am is NOT a good time to set them off.
I think technically they’re only legal on holidays and weekends of said holidays, but I’m not sure.
That being said, I can fully understand where she’s comming from. We store gas for our bbq in a sheid out back. There have been times we’ve been worried about an explosion because things go wrong.
So If they were told to call 911, which is said several times already, then no, she didn’t do a thing wrong. As for all the people who call her the fun police, what if there is some reason for her uneasy?
What if her house had caught on fire before, or something? It said the fireworks scared her. No need to judge her on it.
Think I’m gonna call the police; there is a lady beeyching over there. She is allergic to laughing it causes her mind to shrink. So please bring her a life immediately before she blows the whistle.