Opinion ID: 2629379
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: express assurance

Text: ¶ 9 Historically, this court has held in cases concerning 911 calls for police assistance, that the government has no duty to a member of the public unless an express assurance of assistance is made by the government to the caller. See Beal, 134 Wash.2d at 785, 954 P.2d 237. This court has dealt specifically with the express assurances requirement in the context of 911 calls for police assistance in three cases: Chambers-Castanes v. King County, 100 Wash.2d 275, 669 P.2d 451 (1983), Beal, and Bratton v. Welp, 145 Wash.2d 572, 39 P.3d 959 (2002). In all three cases, this court found that assurances were made to the detriment of the caller when the operator told the callers police were dispatched when they had not been. See Chambers-Castanes, 100 Wash.2d at 279-80, 669 P.2d 451 (police received numerous calls about the incident, did not respond for an hour and a half, and, at one point, the operator told the caller that an officer had been dispatched but in fact was not); Beal, 134 Wash.2d at 774, 785, 954 P.2d 237 (the caller was told by the operator to wait in her car for the police to arrive, but the police were never dispatched and the caller was shot and killed); Bratton, 145 Wash.2d at 575, 39 P.3d 959 (the operator told the caller that `if she or her family was threatened again that the police would be sent.' Another call was made to report another threat, however, the operator did not send the police, and the caller was shot). ¶ 10 Unlike Chambers-Castanes, Beal, and Bratton, in this case, Harvey never received any assurance from the operator that was untruthful or inaccurate. Nor has Harvey shown that he relied on any assurance to his detriment. In other words, when the operator told Harvey she had notified police of the situation, she had. [2] When the operator told Harvey the police were in the area and officers were setting up, they were. [3] ¶ 11 Nevertheless, Harvey contends that he relied on the operator's assurances to his detriment when the operator asked Harvey to remain on the line on several occasions. However, Harvey never asked whether he should try to escape or remain in the condo, nor did the operator ever tell him that he should remain in the condo and wait for the police to arrive instead of escaping. Nor does Harvey even suggest that in the absence of the operator's request, he would have left the condo, especially knowing that there appeared to be a crazed man waiting outside. Simply put, no assurance was ever sought by Harvey and none was ever given by the operator. Furthermore, even if we assume the statements relied upon by the Court of Appeals created a duty, there is no showing the 911 operator ever breached that duty or that Harvey relied on those statements to his detriment. [4]