Metro to review its 911 dispatching policies

Friday, March 19, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

The Las Vegas man who spotted suspected Ohio highway sniper Charles McCoy called Metro Police multiple times before officers responded, and Undersheriff Doug Gillsepie said the department will be reviewing its dispatching policies as a result.

Gillespie said the 911 calltakers properly transferred Conrad Malsom to the nonemergency 311 line because he wasn't calling regarding a life-threatening emergency, but this situation was unique and should have been handled with more urgency.

"There were a couple disconnects and sometimes he would ask for homicide and he was transferred to homicide," he said. "But ultimately I think we need to look at policies and procedures so that if this happens again (callers) are not transferred to a variety of other locations."

He added: "This is a unique situation. This is not something that happens every day."

Malsom said Wednesday he spotted McCoy at the Stardust sports book Tuesday afternoon and called Metro as well as police in Ohio. Metro went to the Stardust to check out Malsom's report but they couldn't locate McCoy.

Later on Tuesday night, Malsom found McCoy's car parked at the Budget Suites near the Stardust. He called 911 numerous times and was transferred to a recording or to the department's non-emergency line.

"In this particular case this citizen should not have had to have called us multiple times for us to determine that immediate police response was necessary," Gillespie said.