Chatting with the Chief: Addressing Response Time Concerns

In the days since a shooting in Saratoga on December 16 in which a suspect fired approximately 40 rounds into a residence and vehicle, public response has been both swift and critical with concern over the response time by the Saratoga Police Department.

According to Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris, the response time to the shooting was a little over 10 minutes.

“The call came in approximately 1:01 in the morning and from there until the first officer was notified, it was about five minutes because of the number of calls—911 and direct line calls—that the dispatch was receiving,” said Morris. “From the time of the first initial report to the first officer on the scene was about 12, 13 minutes.”

Morris said he didn’t believe the response time was one that was acceptable considering the nature of the call, but pointed out there were other factors involved. Primary among those factors is a staffing issue with both dispatchers and officers. Morris told the Saratoga Town Council on December 19 that one officer had been out for a month with illness.

“Two officers were called from home, they had gone off-duty because since Thursday morning they had put in several hours. We had an illness in the dispatch, so one of the officers was actually dispatching at that time as well. All things considered, the response time with all those factors considered was reasonable,” said Morris. “Once again, there is always room for improvement.”

According to Morris, he will be reviewing the response time to the shooting to determine what could be improved. He emphasized that, for the Saratoga Police Department, public safety is of the utmost importance.

“That’s what we’re here for is public safety. There’s a very hard working group of people that are really dedicated to providing that service to Saratoga. I understand the concerns and questions that the public may have and I certainly am answerable to those questions and concerns,” said Morris. “I’ll be looking at the response to this incident and, if there are changes that can and should be made, we’ll be making those changes.”

Since the shooting, the primary suspect Victoria Tidball has been on the run with Cody Ellenson. In a press conference last week, Morris said it was believed that neither Tidball nor Ellenson were still in the area. He reiterated that belief this week, saying there was “every indication” they were no longer in Carbon County with leads taking them in multiple directions.

Morris said he understands the public’s concern and frustration over the response time to the December 16 shooting. He added that, with many firearms, it doesn’t take long to fire several rounds in “a matter of minutes” and that, in this case, it was about a three minute period from when the shooting began to when the shooting stopped.

The chief also welcomed to meet with him personally to express any concerns they had.

“I would certainly welcome anybody to come and talk to me personally. I’m not one that’s going to be answering Facebook strings (of comments) or anything like that,” said Morris. “I don’t think it behooves us to get into a discussion on Facebook. If there’s a discussion to be had, I’ll certainly sit down and have that discussion.”

In other department matters, Morris said the Saratoga Police Department was aided by the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, the Encampment Police Department and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in dispatching a mountain lion over the weekend.

“Friday evening, we received a call that a mountain lion had been struck by a vehicle just north of town,” said Morris. “I did receive word they were able to find the lion and dispatch it. It appeared to be a young female, not the big male that everybody had been looking for but matched the description of one other mountain lion that had been seen in the area.”