Tulsa Police Officer Injured In A Traffic Accident

Monday, June 5th 2006, 11:56 am

By: News On 6

A computer glitch at Tulsaâ€™s 911. The end result of that glitch was a car accident that trapped a Tulsa Police officer in his car Monday morning. The officer is going to be okay and 911 computer techs are trying to track down the source of the problem that sent officers racing in the opposite direction from where they were needed.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains what happened.

The story begins at a Tulsa house, where, an 11-year-old boy was home alone. Somehow, a call was made to 911, maybe accidental or a hang-up, but when 911 answered, no one was there. It's standard procedure to send an officer out to check and see if everyone is okay.

An officer came out and knocked on the door and the boy inside thought someone was breaking in. So, he got into a closet and called 911 and said someone was kicking in the front door. And, that's when the computer glitch happened.

Dispatchers say when the boy called from the closet, an address in south Tulsa popped up on their computer, so that's where they sent officers. Dispatcher: "9034 South 93rd. Subject calling from closet and can't see anything."

Officers worried about the terrified boy, headed to the scene with lights and sirens. On the way there, one of them, Tulsa Police officer Greg Anderson, was in a car wreck.

Tulsa Police say a security car pulled in front of Anderson, that impact spun the squad car around and into a trash truck. Tulsa Police Cpl. Brian Collum: â€œthe dashboard jammed his legs and EMSA thinks he may have a broken leg or a fractured hip."

Right after the accident, 911 dispatchers learned the computer had shown the wrong address, the little boy was actually calling from north Tulsa. Then, they learned he wasn't danger, that it was actually a police officer at his door.

That kind of glitch causes double trouble, officers racing to the wrong location and help not getting to the right location.

The News on 6 talked to a 911 supervisor who says he's never seen a glitch like this in his 20 years on the job. He says computer techs immediately began working on the problem and there were no more problems Monday.