Resident raises concerns about Collinsville Police response times

A Collinsville man said he needed help from the police. But they never came. <br><br>News on Six reporter Patrina Adger says on June 28th, Heath Thomason's wife came home around 2 in the morning

Wednesday, September 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A Collinsville man said he needed help from the police. But they never came.

News on Six reporter Patrina Adger says on June 28th, Heath Thomason's wife came home around 2 in the morning - after taking their son to the hospital. That's when she noticed a man in their neighbor's yard. "When she pulled up to get the bike out of the alley. The man walked towards her." She ran into the house, told Thomason, and he called Collinsville's Police dispatch.

"I looked over at my neighbor's vehicles and her tires were flat, so I let her know her know her tires were flattened." When police didn't show up, he called dispatch again, 25 minutes later. "I said, 'I'm directing, ordering you to send a police officer out here." In addition to Thomason's two calls to dispatch, his neighbor called that morning around 2:45. That's a total of three calls within a 30-minute period. And still no police, so what happened?

According to the Collinsville Police Department log, all three calls came into the dispatch center, and a police officer was told to respond. "The officer just did not respond to the call.â€ Interim Police Chief Ronnie Stevens says the officer didn't give a reason for not taking the call. Stevens says the officer worked an 8-hour shift prior and may have been tired. Still he says, there's no excuse for the officer's actions.â€

The department did take severe disciplinary action against the officer." Stevens says the actions of one officer shouldn't reflect on the whole department. "We are police officers and we are expected to do our jobs and that's what I spoke to the officer about."

Thankfully, Thomason says no one was hurt as a result of the incident. But says he will never rely on Collinsville's Police Department for help again. â€œI'll protect myself from now on if it comes to it."

The police officer involved is appealing the actions taken against him. So, details of disciplinary measures weren't disclosed.

The officer is still working full-time at the Collinsville Police Department.