GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - Washington state authorities say they're not happy with the performance of a 911 dispatcher during last weekend's murder-suicide involving the husband of a missing Utah woman.
Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer tells The Seattle Times that when a social worker called to report that Josh Powell had taken his two young sons into his home during what was supposed to be a supervised visit, the dispatcher should have sent deputies more quickly.
Instead, the dispatcher questioned the social worker for more than six minutes, ultimately telling her, "We have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first."
Still, it took the social worker about 90 seconds to give the address of the home, and Troyer says he doesn't believe a quicker dispatch would have saved the boys. Powell torched the home within minutes.
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