OXNARD : Inquiry Criticizes Police Dispatcher

An internal investigation by the Oxnard Police Department concluded Tuesday that a police dispatcher acted inappropriately when she ran a records check on a caller to the 911 emergency system.

Chief Harold Hurtt said that while the dispatcher had the authority to check for outstanding warrants held against Helene Golemon, it was “not appropriate in this particular case.”

In condemning the dispatcher’s action, Hurtt said police employees must treat the public “with utmost respect,” even when they are working under stress.

“As chief, I won’t tolerate anything less than that from the employees of this department,” Hurtt said.

Golemon, 52, was arrested by Oxnard police the morning of July 7 on a warrant for an outstanding parking ticket. The arrest came just hours after she had twice called 911 to complain about a disturbance outside her Oxnard Shores home.

Golemon alleged that the records check was made by the police dispatcher, who has not been identified, because the dispatcher was annoyed by her calls. She also maintained that the arrest was made in error because the traffic warrant was taken care of in 1988.

The internal investigation concluded that while the arrest was technically lawful, it was based on erroneous information in the Ventura County Wants and Warrants system.

Golemon said she was happy with the results of the internal investigation.

“I’m not thrilled if somebody’s going to get fired, and I hope they don’t,” Golemon said. “But I hope this forces the department to make changes in their procedure so that people who have a couple of parking tickets won’t be afraid to call 911.”

Oxnard police officials were not available to comment on whether the dispatcher would be disciplined.