[Sunset-L]

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ALOHA, Oregon (AP) -- A woman who called 911 to get "the cutest cop I've seen" sent back to her home got a date all right -- a court date.

The same sheriff's deputy arrested her on charges of misuse of the emergency dispatch system.

Washington County Sheriff's Sgt. David Thompson told KGW-TV of Portland it all started with a noise complaint called in last month by neighbors of Lorna Jeanne Dudash. The deputy sent to check on the complaint knocked on her door then left.

Thompson said Dudash then called 911, asking that the "cutie pie" deputy return. (Watch to hear parts of the call and see how Dudash explained her actions -- :52)

"He's the cutest cop I've seen in a long time. I just want to know his name," Dudash told the dispatcher. "Heck, it doesn't come very often a good man comes to your doorstep."

After listening to some more, followed by a bit of silence, the dispatcher asked again why Dudash needed the deputy to return.

"Honey, I'm just going to be honest with you, OK? I just thought he was cute. I'm 45 years old, and I'd just like to meet him again, but I don't know how to go about doing that without calling 911," she said.

"I know this is absolutely not in any way, shape or form an emergency, but if you would give the officer my phone number and ask him to come back, would you mind?"

The deputy returned, verified that there was no emergency and arrested her for misusing the 911 system, an offense punishable by a fine of up to several thousand dollars and a year in jail.

Thompson said Thursday it was the first case he knew of in which someone called the emergency line for such a personal reason.

"That's taking up valuable time from dispatchers who could be taking true emergency calls," he said.
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I'm stunned -- seriously, how can people be this stupid.

I mean I've heard of desperate -- but this is just pathetic.

Oh my... really a normal man in uniform would have done it too... its astounding what people do in their misery...

And the nomination for a Darwin award goes to.... this idiot.

I can't help but laugh, what else can you do BUT laugh...
Oh well, bet the btch won't do that again.

OPERATOR: 911, what is your emergency?
CALLER: I have a bit of a problem here…
OPERATOR: Sir? Is everything OK?
CALLER: I…
OPERATOR: Have you been injured, sir?
CALLER: I’m horny.. I need someone to relieve me..
OPERATOR: … click-dial tone...
CALLER: Hello?

I cannot stand such blatant idiocy. I hope to god that I never meet this woman, or anyone of a comparable IQ.

Ahh, well. Stupidity is part of human nature. Can never doubt that.

Heh, I'm amused too. The poor woman is in her 40's and just desperate (and stupid), I suppose.

So, here's some more info, from a guy who got to hear about this stupid slt on the local news: She was arrested for this. She thinks that being arrested for this is unfair... Stupid whre.

And you would think that after 45 years she would have learned some sensibility. Calling 911 for a cute guy...

This type of comments really pisses me off.. Making critisisms over other people unwittingly making unlawfull mistakes. After reading and watching about a woman misusing a 911 call to get a date with a cop, I'll have to admit it was a dumb mistake. I just don't like the way people mocking about situations like this.. First of all I think IT IS unfair that she got arrested for making that call. She could at least got a citation or a warning. It's not like the woman commited sexual assault or exposing herself. Some people would do something like that or worse and get away with it. All this poor woman did was call 911 just to get the officer's name because she's very lonely, and gets treated like she commited murder. I think the cop who arrested her is a total I wouldn't want to date a cop who would arrested me.. I feel so bad for this woman going though something like this, it must be so embarrassing... I can understand her situation, I'm a lonely woman in 40s myself. I'm so sickened by people's behavior over this whole thing. She didn't mean any harm and she didn't deserve to be arrested or be ridiculed on websites... It shows that these people are very careless, vile, pathetic, and immature.. If I had to go through something like that I would probably kill myself.. People like that, lonely people are better off alone..

[Kansas_girl17]

Wow why would anyone do that? Seriously thats stupid

[AAAAA]

While I think Justice should be tempered with mercy, at 45 years old the woman should have had the sense to call the non-emergency number and in my opinion even that would have been a waste of valuable time. She sounds mentally unbalanced and deserves compassion to be sure. But who doesn’t know in this day and age that it is a CRIME to call 911 for a non-emergency?

Contrary to popular belief the police rarely have time to sit in their office eating donuts. My father was the chief of police in my home town for many years. This meant that he was on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The police line also rang in our home so that if the other officers did not answer by the third ring when he was off, the citizens had immediate access to help. If the phone was not answered by the fourth ring, it was either forwarded to the police cell phones or the caller was instructed to call the Sherriff’s department.

The sheer number of idiotic calls is amazing. Calls to complain that the cable guy said he’d be there between 10 and 2. It’s 3 and he’s down the street. The garbage man threw the garbage cans on the ground instead of placing them neatly at the end of the driveway. The neighbor is mowing his lawn at 7 pm (quiet hours started at 10). Billy forgot his math book in school, could he open the school to get the math book for him? The construction company poured the foundation in the wrong spot, you have to get here and make them move it. The list goes on and on. Each and every time he calmly explained what the person should do. What these people didn’t care to realize is that many times he’d been up for 36 hours doing actual police work.

The cable guy, garbage man complaint and math book call, along with several other came in during a search and rescue of an injured snowmobiler in -25 degree weather. This was not a secret mission. The entire town knew about this, many volunteered to be a part of the search mission. While they’re trying to coordinate a rescue mission, their phones are being jammed by nuisance calls. At some point a person must be held accountable for their actions and lack of sense.

So while you see people being unkind to this woman, I see this woman being unkind to the rest of the community that the police department serves.

[AkAngel]

And the lesson is, don't try and date a cop.

It was poor judgment to be sure, but Oregon is not known for compassion.

[Sunset-L]

Originally Posted by AAAAA

While I think Justice should be tempered with mercy, at 45 years old the woman should have had the sense to call the non-emergency number and in my opinion even that would have been a waste of valuable time. She sounds mentally unbalanced and deserves compassion to be sure. But who doesn’t know in this day and age that it is a CRIME to call 911 for a non-emergency?

Contrary to popular belief the police rarely have time to sit in their office eating donuts. My father was the chief of police in my home town for many years. This meant that he was on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The police line also rang in our home so that if the other officers did not answer by the third ring when he was off, the citizens had immediate access to help. If the phone was not answered by the fourth ring, it was either forwarded to the police cell phones or the caller was instructed to call the Sherriff’s department.

The sheer number of idiotic calls is amazing. Calls to complain that the cable guy said he’d be there between 10 and 2. It’s 3 and he’s down the street. The garbage man threw the garbage cans on the ground instead of placing them neatly at the end of the driveway. The neighbor is mowing his lawn at 7 pm (quiet hours started at 10). Billy forgot his math book in school, could he open the school to get the math book for him? The construction company poured the foundation in the wrong spot, you have to get here and make them move it. The list goes on and on. Each and every time he calmly explained what the person should do. What these people didn’t care to realize is that many times he’d been up for 36 hours doing actual police work.

The cable guy, garbage man complaint and math book call, along with several other came in during a search and rescue of an injured snowmobiler in -25 degree weather. This was not a secret mission. The entire town knew about this, many volunteered to be a part of the search mission. While they’re trying to coordinate a rescue mission, their phones are being jammed by nuisance calls. At some point a person must be held accountable for their actions and lack of sense.

So while you see people being unkind to this woman, I see this woman being unkind to the rest of the community that the police department serves.

I still think it's unfair that she got arrested & people being unkind to her. I did learn something though, I'm definitely not going to misuse a 911 call & I'm sure is HLL am not going to date a cop no matter how lonely and desperate I get & I'm sure this woman won't either after her experience with that particular cop..

[AAAAA]

I am truly not trying to be argumentative. What precisely is “unfair” about being arrested for breaking the law? This is not some obscure unknown thing nor is it a child that didn’t know any better.

This was a mature adult woman that did something extremely foolish. Take the fact that it was illegal totally out of the situation. I don’t know what you do for a living, but how would YOU feel if someone prevented your customers from receiving your services because a representative of your firm was attractive? If you find the guy handing your food out through the drive-thru attractive can you inconvenience the rest of the line in an effort to get a date?

And how about that poor police officer, how do you think he feels? I would imagine that he’s feeling rather embarrassed and harassed. Should we forgive her sexual harassment too? Was that also unintentional? What would have happened if the police officer called a citizen “cutie pie” or “honey”? He first responded to a noise complaint. That can be anything from someone playing their music too loudly to a domestic disturbance (the most dangerous of all calls that the police respond to btw). He got another call on an EMERGENCY line from someone that was quite obviously disturbed. He HAD to respond to the call.

I’m not a gambler, but if I would a betting woman, I would bet you $1,000 to a hole in a donut that there is much more to this story than is released. I would venture to guess that she was arrested on this charge with suspicion of drug or alcohol abuse. If she wasn’t blotto then she is most certainly unbalanced; in either case, this arrest might be the best thing that happened to her, offering her the help she needs.

I take this rather personally. My father, brother, and countless cousins (my son also intends to take up this career) are in Law Enforcement. My husband, FIL, BIL and many other relatives are Firemen. These men put their lives on the line because they believe it is their duty to protect and serve. Such blatant disrespect for the work they do is outrageous. Shame, shame, shame on her for using 911 as dial-a-date.

For the record, what I think is unfair is that you are making negative comments about the police for the actions of an extremely stupid woman. THEY did not make her break the law. SHE made that choice, they did their job.

[Elysium]

Man.... and she wasn't even from Douglas County!!

You know...45 yrs old....she should know better. That's ridiculous. A better way to go about this would have been to call the department directly and speak with someone in the records dept. and see if they could tell her the officers name...or send out for the officers report.

As someone who lives in this general area and is part of Emergency Medical Services I can honestly say that although EMS is staffed appropriately, it is never staffed with enough people to have someone available to take bogus calls. Just think...someone calling to report a crime, or a fire, or a car accident could have been put on hold while this dispatcher had to deal with this woman. Maybe the call was only 20 seconds or so...but when you are the one with the emergency, 20 seconds is forever.

Did she deserve to be arrested? Seems a bit harsh, but the law clearly states that if you abuse the 911 system and are caught, you will be jailed and fined.

This woman obviously had some issues with boundaries.

[Sunset-L]

Originally Posted by AAAAA

For the record, what I think is unfair is that you are making negative comments about the police for the actions of an extremely stupid woman. THEY did not make her break the law. SHE made that choice, they did their job.

OH WHATEVER!

[AAAAA]

It is truly had to respond to that logic. But the question remains, what is unfair about being arrested for breaking the law?

[Sunset-L]

Originally Posted by Elysium

Man.... and she wasn't even from Douglas County!!

You know...45 yrs old....she should know better. That's ridiculous. A better way to go about this would have been to call the department directly and speak with someone in the records dept. and see if they could tell her the officers name...or send out for the officers report.

As someone who lives in this general area and is part of Emergency Medical Services I can honestly say that although EMS is staffed appropriately, it is never staffed with enough people to have someone available to take bogus calls. Just think...someone calling to report a crime, or a fire, or a car accident could have been put on hold while this dispatcher had to deal with this woman. Maybe the call was only 20 seconds or so...but when you are the one with the emergency, 20 seconds is forever.

Did she deserve to be arrested? Seems a bit harsh, but the law clearly states that if you abuse the 911 system and are caught, you will be jailed and fined.

This woman obviously had some issues with boundaries.

Well here's another stupid woman calling 911 while being chased by police. Yeah this woman is stupid for calling 911 trying to track down a cute cop, but I think this other woman is beyond stupid!

[Elysium]

[AkAngel]

Originally Posted by AAAAA

It is truly had to respond to that logic. But the question remains, what is unfair about being arrested for breaking the law?

What's unfair about her being arrested for breaking the law? The law isn't applied equally. Some people it doesn't apply to at all, but for the weak, poor, powerless, mentally ill or intellectually challenged? Applies to them just fine.

These forums are for mutual support and information sharing only.

Lest we forget.

[AkAngel]

Originally Posted by TheByzantine

Lest we forget.

I take it this was for me?

[AAAAA]

AkAngel I am truly sorry for what you and your wife experienced. But I fail to see how randomly allowing people go free for breaking the law balances the scales. In my opinion, we should work to ensure that EVERYONE is held to the same minimum standard. I say minimum standard because it is my belief that police should be held to a higher standard. Would it have given you any form of comfort at all had this woman been permitted to remain unpunished?

One officer that I have known for more than 20 years recently ran into a heck of a crap storm. His wife of 25 years had recently quit taking her psych meds. She had a total breakdown, during this period of chaos she attacked him physically. He knew his wife was not in control of her faculties and attempted to remove himself from the situation. In the end she accused him of spousal abuse.

Here is a situation that should have been cut and dried. 1) The ENTIRE event was caught on security video. They lived right next door to the sheriff’s department where he worked. They had the WHOLE thing on video. This man did not even raise his hands to defend himself. 2) The local High School was across the street and the incident was witnessed independently by no fewer than 20 staff and students 3) The woman’s family made pleas begging for help, they knew she was unstable and violent off of her meds.

This man’s life was torn upside down for over a year. He was suspended without pay pending the investigation. He lost his house, he lost his car, and he lost his dignity. It was investigated by a team through the state to avoid even the appearance of impropriety and the wheels of justice turn very slowly. If I had made the same complaint under the same circumstances it would have been immediately dismissed once the security footage had been reviewed. It would have taken less than an hour. This man had to reveal every aspect of his personal life. He was a highly decorated officer with an impeccable record.

[AkAngel]

Originally Posted by AAAAA

AkAngel I am truly sorry for what you and your wife experienced. But I fail to see how randomly allowing people go free for breaking the law balances the scales. In my opinion, we should work to ensure that EVERYONE is held to the same minimum standard. I say minimum standard because it is my belief that police should be held to a higher standard. Would it have given you any form of comfort at all had this woman been permitted to remain unpunished?
.

First off, thank you.

As for your question if it would have given me any form of comfort if this woman had been permitted ot remain unpunished...

She is clearly not the brightest crayon in the box. I often joke that stupidity should be punished but in reality, I do think education should be practiced. The woman could have lied. She is only as selfish and self-centered as she is aware of how her actions could have put other people in harms way.

The fact is, a smarter person, could have gotten out of it easily by lying and making up a reason - she is being punished for breaking the law and being too stupid to lie about it.

If she had been cute enough she very well may have gotten the officers card and a way to get in touch with him without prompting.

So if she was smarter she would have avoided arrest. If she was prettier she might have avoided arrest - I think the most she should have gotten was a stern lecture.

We are quick to punish and slow to educate here in the US with a higher prison population in both sheer numbers and per capita than any country on earth. And Oregon leads the way. It has the highest percentage, at 11% of it's annual budget, going towards corrections for a reason.

Originally Posted by Sunset-L

This type of comments really pisses me off.. Making critisisms over other people unwittingly making unlawfull mistakes. After reading and watching about a woman misusing a 911 call to get a date with a cop, I'll have to admit it was a dumb mistake.

People who make excuses for stupidity just make me Personally, I dont think there is anything wrong with the remarks.

A mistake is turning off the TV when you meant to turn the volume up.
Or turning on the wrong road while driving.
Or getting on the wrong bus.

You dont dial 911 for a stupid reason by "mistake". You say you are also in your 40s and lonely but you didn't say anything about whether or not YOU would do this.

Here is a question - If this was a man who did this to a female cop - Would it be more creepy and would people still make excuses to justify it such as he was old and lonely? They would probably be calling him a pervert, dirty old man, creep, rapist, and everything else.

[pegasus]

Here's a scenario for you. You are in your house when a murderer breaks into your house. He's coming after you and your children with a gun and he says he's going to rape you. Luckily you have your cell phone on you. You have managed to lock yourself in a room with your children. The mad murderer is banging on the door trying to get to you. So you pick up the phone and dial for the police. But the police don't answer because someone else is on the line wasting police time asking for a date. Can you see now why the lady that made the non-emergency call needs to learn a real good lesson? Someone elses life could be at a real risk.

[AkAngel]

Originally Posted by pegasus

Here's a scenario for you. You are in your house when a murderer breaks into your house. He's coming after you and your children with a gun and he says he's going to rape you. Luckily you have your cell phone on you. You have managed to lock yourself in a room with your children. The mad murderer is banging on the door trying to get to you. So you pick up the phone and dial for the police. But the police don't answer because someone else is on the line wasting police time asking for a date. Can you see now why the lady that made the non-emergency call needs to learn a real good lesson? Someone elses life could be at a real risk.

You bring up a horrific scenario and your point is taken. However, here's another:

You are in your house when a murderer breaks into your house. He's coming after you and your children with a gun and he says he's going to rape you. Luckily you have your cell phone on you. You have managed to lock yourself in a room with your children. The mad murderer is banging on the door trying to get to you. So you pick up the phone and dial for the police. But the police aren't able to come immediately, because they are busy heading over to arrest someone who misused the 911 system.

Here's another point:

You said, "Can you see now why the lady that made the non-emergency call needs to learn a real good lesson?" Sending stupid people to jail is about the same as beating a toddler for an infraction of the rules. They aren't yet smart enough to 'get it', you just teach them fear, mistrust and a hatred of society.

[IchbinkeinTeufel]

After reading each and every post, I'm just going to say my thoughts.

I'm disguted at some of the things said here, I am. Some people in this world are heartless and ignorant. Honestly, I'm holding my tongue here.

They aren't yet smart enough to 'get it', you just teach them fear, mistrust and a hatred of society.

Exactly. Glad somebody gets it.

I'd stick with the fine, but a year in jail, is too much. I don't think any jail time should be appropriate. ---- happens. Yeah, she probably was intoxicated, or something, but I pity her.

Yes, she made a mistake, and yes she was "stupid". A lot of government's answer to everything, seems to be 'throw them in jail, and that will sort them out', which, IMO, is "misuse of the system", or more the misuse of power, not to mention tactless and easy.

It's hardly unknown that the law has gotten out of hand over the years, and that governments in place like the US and UK have taken to ridiculous extremes, of which are often financially related, in one way or another.

I understand about that extreme scenario that was recently mentioned, and yes, it is serious, and unfortunate when that sort of thing happens. But, it's laughable to ignore the idiocy of the police officer's, wasteing time arresting and jailing some idiot, than dealing with something of a more pertinent nature. Prioritize, FFS. (and yes, I am generalizing, without intent of offending any particular people; before tantrums are thrown)

Here is a question - If this was a man who did this to a female cop - Would it be more creepy and would people still make excuses to justify it such as he was old and lonely? They would probably be calling him a pervert, dirty old man, creep, rapist, and everything else.

Yeah, that is a good point, but, IMO, that's a matter of opinion and/or judgement. I'd like to think the law doesn't put people in jail based on a biased opinion or judgementalism.

But I fail to see how randomly allowing people go free for breaking the law balances the scales.

Nothing was mentioned of the woman going "free" and I, personally, definitely don't think somebody should be unpunished for such petty crimes.

And what was that about this being for support and sharing information? That's a contradiction; this is the General Chat area of the forum, which denotes general social chat. If it was for support and sharing information only, then why have this area (and a few others) in the first place?

I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes support can come in the form of meeting and chatting to likeminded people, knowing they'll appreciate and accept (without judgement) your problems.

Note that these are just my opinions and views.

OK, I'm done.

[AAAAA]

Akuma – I have no idea what this woman’s punishment will end up being. My comment about letting people go free not balancing the scales was in response to several things. 1) I honestly do not see what is “unfair” about arresting someone for breaking the law and was genuinely trying to understand how the “blame” was shifted from the woman that committed the act, to the police that were doing what we pay them to do. And 2) AkAngel’s statement that he and his wife did not receive justice.

[lynn P.]

I imagine in the end she won't go to jail for this, but she should get a fine. Even kids in kindergarten are talk the reasons to call 911. On a lighter note (just kidding here) I bet she enjoyed it a little getting arrested - maybe some handsome looking police officers came.

I remember hearing a case where a man called 911 repeatedly, to say MacDonalds ran out of chicken nuggets and he wasn't happy. It's also frustrating when people go the the ER for a simple cold.

[AAAAA]

Sunset-L I understand entirely what you are saying. I’m not trying to pick on you or harass you, but I would like you to look at this from another perspective. How many drunk drivers out there that have killed or permanently injured another person “meant” to cause harm? They go out to have a good time, have too much to drink and their judgment is impaired and feel they are able to drive home. No one gets into a car after drinking and says “hey, I’m going to kill a carload full of teenagers.” The majority of them believe it won’t happen to them.

I have done many stupid things in my life, and I will do many more before my time here is finished. The point is that my neighbors shouldn’t have to suffer my stupidity to the point it negatively impacts their life, nor I theirs.

Originally Posted by pegasus

But the police don't answer because someone else is on the line wasting police time asking for a date. Can you see now why the lady that made the non-emergency call needs to learn a real good lesson? Someone elses life could be at a real risk.

Not really. Police and 911 have the technology and manpower to answer multiple calls. You don't dial 911 and get a busy signal. If the person from your scenario dialed at the same time as that idiot- They probably woudlve hung up on her and sent the police after the real criminal rather than waste their time. On slow nights when cops are bored, more of them will show up at at a call just because there's nothing better to do.

This reminds me - I dialed 911 while driving once because I needed to call the local state police dept and I wasn't even in my hometown so wouldn't have had the number.. and I tried dialing 411 first but you end up talking to a computer.
So I called 911.. They answer the phone saying "911, is this an emergency?" and I apologized and said no but I needed to contact the local police dept and explained 411 had me talking to a computer and giving me the wrong number..The guy just kind of scoffed and said that "it's allright" but he needed to clarify that it wasn't a medical emergency.. and just gave me the number I needed.

Man oh man!!!!!

I am not getting involved with this!!!!!

Tooo heated for me!!!!!--thank you (((((Lynn))))) for the laugh!!!!!---xoxotheo