Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Sgt. Dan Hils says the officers dispatched to Seven Hills School were looking for a female who could not get out of her van, maybe because the electronic locks were malfunctioning.
That was quite different from what was really going on inside Kyle Plush's minivan April 10. The 16-year-old was suffocating after the seat pinned him when he reached for tennis gear. He called 911 twice, using his voice-activated smartphone.
But the first time he didn't give a description of the vehicle and in the second call, when he did, the dispatcher says she couldn't hear him.
A video shows Officers Edsel Osborne and Brian Brazile driving through a Seven Hills parking lot. They don't appear to show any urgency. That's because Hils says it was a non-emergency call.
"If the officers had any insight whatsoever of what was actually happening I believe they would have thoroughly searched every minivan within a mile radius of Seven Hills School," Hils says. "They probably would have broken every van window to find Kyle if they knew what was going on."
Hils says the officers are "heartbroken to know they were so close but were not given the information to be able to do their jobs."
The FOP President says their response was consistent based on the information they received. He expects the investigation to focus on the equipment and personnel at the communication center. The results could be released next week. Chief Eliot Isaac has said Plush's family will see the report before it's released publicly.
