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Originally Posted by Marty Hayes
Dispatchers are NOT sworn police officers, and thus, you have NO necessity to follow their directives.
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Mr. Hayes, I know you are a well-respected attorney, but this statement is a generalization and, as such, it may or may not be correct.
In fact, I am currently taking a citizens police academy in the town adjacent to my town of residence. My home town has its own dispatch center, manned by civilians. The town giving the citizens academy has its own dispatch center, and it is manned by uniformed, sworn officers. I asked the chief about that on the first night of the course, and he basically said, "We do it that way because I'm the chief and that's the way I think it works best."
Whether or not someone on the victim end of a 9-1-1 call is legally required to follow the dispatcher's instructions is another question. I doubt most callers would know the dispatcher is a sworn officer, especially if the caller/victim is from a place where the dispatchers are not cops.
There is NO one-size-fits-all in this world.