After an attempted break-in that left a Tamarac homeowner wondering when help would arrive, Broward County’s sheriff said the law enforcement agency is reviewing the deputies’ response to the incident.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony spoke about the case during a news conference held outside of the agency’s headquarters near Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.
“I would like to see us there as fast as we can get there,” Tony said. “It’s a 911 call, absolutely.”
Bill Norkunas, 76, called 911 on the night of Nov. 7 while a man tried to break into his Tamarac home. He spent over 10 minutes on the phone with 911 hoping deputies would arrive.
Although the would-be burglar was eventually arrested, the homeowner wonders what could have happened.
“I had a handgun, and I pointed it at him through the glass,” Norkunas said. “I said, ‘Go! Go!'”
Several minutes pass while Norkunas was on the phone with dispatchers, and deputies had not yet arrived at his home.
“Where are they? Where are they?” Norkunas asked the dispatcher.
“They’re there, sir,” the dispatcher replied. “They’re on the other side of the lake.”
Norkunas asked, “Where the hell are the cruisers?”
“I’m aware of both the video, I’m aware of the audio,” Tony said. “I understand that, in terms of how we respond, we could have been much more faster, and I think when we’ve looked at this, the first thing was to look at what we need to do for remedial training for our employees. Was this a systemic issue? Was this a training issue? Or was this an individual?”
Norkunas’ neighbors were also on the phone with dispatchers during the incident.
“Are you kidding me right now that no one is here?” one neighbor asked. “I don’t see a single cop on the street.”
“For those who are upset, I most certainly understand,” Tony said. “I’m sympathetic to it, and I think they have a right to have some discomfort and concerns about why it took so long, but they won’t see that again.”
Speaking over the phone, Norkunas said he feels a sense of comfort that the sheriff is taking a look at the deputies’ response time.
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