Tapes: MN Dispatcher Asked Supervisor to Go to George Floyd Scene

A 9-1-1 dispatcher watching real-time footage of George Floyd’s arrest in south Minneapolis was so alarmed by police officers’ actions that she called a supervisor who did not immediately respond to the scene, according to a newly released phone recording.

The recordings, of a phone conversation between the unidentified dispatcher and a Minneapolis police supervisor, were released Monday on the city’s website. They raised yet more questions about the department’s handling of Floyd’s death, which ignited worldwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality.

“I don’t know, you can call me a snitch if you want to but we have the cameras up for (squad) 320’s call, and…I don’t know if they had to use force or not, but they got something out of the back of the squad, and all of them sat on this man, so I don’t know if they needed you or not, but they haven’t said anything to me yet,” the dispatcher said.

“Yeah, they haven’t said anything yet…just a takedown, which doesn’t count, but I’ll find out,” the supervisor responded.

“No problem, we don’t get to ever see it so when we see it we’re just like, well, that looks a little different, but…” the dispatcher said.

“Sounds good, bye.”

It is not clear whether that supervisor responded to the scene, but none were present as an unresponsive Floyd was loaded into an ambulance before he was pronounced dead, as captured in a bystander video.

Department spokesman John Elder declined to comment, citing the ongoing probe into Floyd’s death.

The May 25 incident began with police being called about a counterfeit $20 bill and ended with three officers pinning Floyd to the ground, ignoring his repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe.

Derek Chauvin, the since-fired officer who was captured on cellphone video pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, faces murder and manslaughter charges in the man’s death. Three other officers who were present were also terminated and criminally charged.

Under the department rules, anytime an officer uses force while on duty he or she must notify a supervisor, who typically responds to the scene.

Dispatch data shows that the first supervisor to the scene, Sgt. David Pleoger, who didn’t arrive on scene until 34 minutes after officers first encountered Floyd. Pleoger is a supervisor on the 3rd Precinct’s middlewatch. It’s unclear whether he is the supervisor in the recording.

The latest data release also included the transcript of two 9-1-1 calls made by bystanders to report the officers involved, including one by an off-duty city firefighter who happened upon the scene.

“Hello, I am on the block of 38th and Chicago and I literally watched police officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man, and I am a first responder myself, and I literally have it on video camera,” the unidentified firefighter says, according to the transcript. “I just happened to be on a walk so, this dude, this, they (expletive) killed him so...”

The transcript shows that the firefighter asked to speak with the officers’ supervisors to explain the situation, but then the line disconnected. The dispatcher tried to call back several times, but the calls went to voicemail each time.

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