Carolan v. City of Chicago
Carolan v. City of Chicago
Opinion
*145 ¶ 1 Plaintiffs Margaret Carolan, as independent executor of the estate of Michael J. Norton, deceased, and Brittany Norton, the decedent's daughter (collectively, plaintiffs), sued the City of Chicago (City) and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) 1 to recover damages for the death of Michael J. Norton. Plaintiffs alleged that, in May 2009, defendants failed to timely dispatch police in response to a 911 call reporting an *920 *146 armed robbery in progress at Norton's convenience store and that Norton was shot and killed less than two minutes before police arrived. The circuit court of Cook County granted summary judgment in favor of the City on the basis that the City was immune under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (Tort Immunity Act) ( 745 ILCS 10/4-102 (West 2008) ), that the City did not owe Norton any duty, and that plaintiffs could not establish either proximate cause or that the City engaged in willful and wanton misconduct. For the following reasons, we affirm.
¶ 2 BACKGROUND
¶ 3 In the evening of May 14, 2009, Michael Norton was working in the convenience store he owned at 4759 West North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, located on the first floor of an apartment building that he owned and operated. Several people entered the store, including one wearing a ski mask and armed with a gun. A passerby saw someone wearing a ski mask inside Norton's store and called 911. OEMC received the 911 call at 7:12 p.m. The passerby placed a second 911 call that OEMC received at 7:17 p.m. At 7:20 p.m., a police unit was dispatched to the scene. Three additional units were dispatched within the next two minutes, and additional units were dispatched thereafter. When police arrived at Norton's store, they found Norton tied up inside a storage area with a gunshot wound to the head. Medical personnel pronounced Norton dead at the scene. 2
¶ 4 Plaintiffs initiated this action 2010 and filed an amended complaint in June 2012. The parties engaged in discovery and the case was set for trial. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their complaint on the eve of trial and timely refiled their complaint in April 2016. The refiled complaint alleged that Norton was shot and killed two minutes before police arrived on the scene and that the failure to dispatch police to an armed robbery in progress until eight minutes after the initial 911 call was "willful and wonton" and "demonstrated a reckless disregard" for Norton's welfare. The refiled complaint asserted wrongful death and survival claims on behalf of Norton's estate and a loss of society claim on behalf of Brittany.
¶ 5 The City moved for summary judgment. The City argued, in relevant part, that under section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act, it was immune from any liability for failing to prevent Norton's death, failing to provide adequate police protection or services, or failing to make arrests. Id . The City further argued that it did not owe Norton any common law duty to protect him from a third party attack. Furthermore, the City argued that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to proximate cause because Norton's death was due to a criminal act by a third party and plaintiff could only speculate as to whether an earlier dispatch of police to the scene would have prevented Norton's death. The City's motion was fully briefed, and we summarize the evidence submitted by the parties in connection with the City's motion for summary judgment.
¶ 6 Erin Hansen testified at her deposition that she was the supervisor of investigations for OEMC. She explained that when a 911 call is received, a communications operator obtains the relevant information from the caller and inputs data into a computer aided dispatch (CAD) system. The communications operator then electronically transmits the CAD data to the *921 *147 appropriate police dispatcher, who then assigns field units to the call. For ongoing situations such as a robbery in progress, an operations supervisor follows up on the dispatch functions and monitors the situation. Each 911 call is assigned an event number, event type, and priority level by either the communications operator or the dispatcher. There are five priority levels. Priority 1, is the highest civilian priority level, and indicates a threat to life and includes acts that are in progress that could result in significant loss or damage to property where an arrest could be effectuated. Level 1 contains subcategories A through D, with subcategory A indicating the highest ranking.
¶ 7 Hansen explained that, here, the initial 911 call was received by OEMC at 7:11:57 and was logged by OEMC at 7:12:30 p.m. The call was coded as a "ROBIP," indicating a robbery in progress; was assigned priority level 1A; and was transferred to the appropriate dispatcher. The second 911 call was received at 7:17:19 p.m. and logged at 7:21:23 p.m. OEMC standards provide that a priority 1A call be dispatched within 10 minutes of the call being received. Between 7:20:41 p.m. and 7:21:03 p.m., the dispatcher dispatched four units to 4759 West North Avenue. Hansen could not say for certain why units were not dispatched sooner, but Hansen explained that on May 14, 2009, between 2:50 p.m. and 10:23 p.m., District 25 (which includes 4759 West North Avenue) was under a "radio assignments pending" (RAP), meaning there were more events pending than field units available. Hansen could not be certain that there were actually more events pending than units available but stated that the most likely reason for the eight minute dispatch time was that no units were available for immediate dispatch. OEMC records did not reflect what activities the units that ultimately responded were engaged in prior to being dispatched to 4759 West North Avenue.
¶ 8 On December 29, 2016, the circuit court entered a written order, granting summary judgment in favor of the City. The circuit court concluded that a 911 operator's alleged failure to timely transmit a 911 request was a failure to provide adequate police protection and therefore fell within the immunity provision of section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. See id . The circuit court further concluded that the City's conduct was not willful and wanton because the conduct alleged "could be, at most, characterized as inadvertence or incompetence." The circuit court noted that all available police units were on assignment at the time of the initial 911 call and that police were dispatched within 8 minutes of the initial call, which was within the 10 minute OEMC internal standard. Furthermore, the circuit court concluded that the City did not owe Norton any common law duty to protect him against attacks by a third party because Norton and the City did not stand in any recognized special relationship. Finally, the circuit court found that plaintiffs could not establish proximate cause because the legal cause of Norton's death was the independent criminal act of a third party and legal cause is not established where the alleged negligence only creates a condition that allowed the injury to be possible. Plaintiffs filed a timely notice of appeal.
¶ 9 ANALYSIS
¶ 10 On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the City is not entitled to immunity under section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. Plaintiffs contend that the circuit court misconstrued their claims because "[t]his case is not about what the police did or did not do, it is about the failure of 911 to dispatch police pursuant to an emergency call." Plaintiffs argue our legislature intended *922 *148 the Emergency Telephone System Act ( 50 ILCS 750/15.1 (West 2008) ), to govern immunity for the actions of emergency dispatchers because it is the more recently enacted and specific legislative pronouncement. Plaintiffs further argue that the circuit court erred in finding that plaintiffs could not establish willful or wanton misconduct or proximate cause and that the City did not owe Norton a duty.
¶ 11 Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, affidavits, and other admissions on file establish that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 735 ILCS 5/2-1005(c) (West 2016);
Cohen v. Chicago Park District
,
¶ 12 Plaintiffs contend that section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act does not apply here because their claims do not allege any failure to provide adequate police protection. Plaintiffs further argue that even if section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act could apply, section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act provides the "controlling immunity" because it is the more specific immunity. We find that section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act does apply based on our supreme court's decision in
DeSmet ex rel. Estate of Hays v. County of Rock Island
,
¶ 13 Section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act provides:
"Neither a local public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to establish a police department or otherwise provide police protection service or, if police protection service is provided, for failure to provide adequate police protection or service, failure to prevent the commission of crimes, failure to detect or solve crimes, and failure to identify or apprehend criminals. This immunity is not waived by a contract for private security service, but cannot be transferred to any non-public entity or employee." 745 ILCS 10/4-102 (West 2008).
¶ 14 In
DeSmet
, the plaintiff sued numerous governmental entities and government employees to recover damages for the death of Doris Hays. Hays was driving her automobile near the county line between Rock Island County and Henry County when her car left the road and ran into a ditch.
DeSmet
,
¶ 15 Our supreme court affirmed. The court agreed with several appellate panels that section 4-102 is implicated where "the assistance required *** falls within the statutory umbrella of 'police protection services.' "
Id. at 512,
"Where no officers respond to the scene-whether it is because no police protection services are provided or because the services provided prove to be inadequate-the status quo ante is at least not altered to the detriment of those present. We believe that to be the reasoning behind the legislature's enactment of section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act." Id. at 521,302 Ill.Dec. 466 ,848 N.E.2d 1030 .
¶ 16 The court concluded:
*924 *150 "Although we firmly believe that citizens have a right to expect the police to respond in a situation like this, the issue here is whether section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act immunizes the defendants from liability and the consequent payment of public funds in satisfaction of an individual's damage claims. [Citation.] Section 4-102 immunity applies in this case." Id. at 522,302 Ill.Dec. 466 ,848 N.E.2d 1030 .
¶ 17 Here, similar to the situation in DeSmet , a passerby called 911 to report an emergency situation and the City failed to dispatch police in response to the first emergency call. Under these circumstances, the assistance required of the City's 911 service-a police response to a crime in progress-clearly falls within section 4-102's "police protection services." Under the holding of DeSmet , we conclude that section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act provides immunity to the City for any failure to provide police protection services or for any inadequate provision of those services.
¶ 18 Plaintiffs contend, however, that even if section 4-102 could apply, section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act should control because it is the more specific immunity. Plaintiffs rely on plain language of section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act, a federal district court decision in
Harrell v. City of Chicago Heights, Illinois
,
¶ 19 At the outset, we observe that plaintiffs' brief incorrectly asserts that
"The plain language of 50 ILCS 750/15.1, as it existed at all relevant times, provided that a 'unit of local government assuming the duties of an emergency telephone system board,' such as the [OEMC], would not be liable for civil damages 'that directly or indirectly results from, or is caused by, any act or omission in the *** operation, maintenance, performance, or provision of 9-1-1 service required by this Act, unless the act or omission constitutes gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.' 50 ILCS 750/15.1 (2017) [ sic ]."
¶ 20 As the City correctly observes in its brief, however, the version of section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act cited by plaintiffs did not become effective until January 1, 2016, when our legislature enacted Public Act 99-6, which was well after the events in question. See Pub. Act 99-6, § 2-10 (eff. Jan. 1, 2016) (amending 50 ILCS 750/15.1 ). Plaintiffs made no argument in the circuit court-and develop no argument on appeal-that the 2016 legislative amendments apply to this case, nor did plaintiffs file a reply brief in this court to address their reliance on the amended version of the statute. Plaintiffs have forfeited any contention that that the 2016 amendments apply retroactively, and therefore we will rely on the version of section 15.1 that was in effect in May 2009, which provided, in relevant part:
"No public agency *** or unit of local government assuming the duties of an emergency telephone system board, nor any officer, agent or employee of any public agency *** or unit of local government assuming the duties of an emergency telephone system board, shall be liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission, except willful or wanton misconduct, in connection with developing, adopting, operating or implementing any plan or system required by this Act." 50 ILCS 750/15.1 (West 2008).
Whereas section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act contains no exception for willful
*925
*151
and wanton conduct (
DeSmet
,
¶ 21 Plaintiffs make little effort to explain how a tort claim for damages based on an alleged willful or wanton failure to promptly dispatch police in response to an emergency call amounts to an "act or omission *** in connection with developing, adopting, operating or implementing any plan or system required by [the Emergency Telephone System] Act." Id . The plain language of the applicable version of section 15.1 related to an emergency system operator's development, adoption, operation, or implementation of an emergency "plan or system" and did not expressly contemplate the provision of emergency services. Therefore, based on the plain language of section 15.1, the provision of 911 services was not governed by the Emergency Telephone System Act in May 2009.
¶ 22 The parties direct our attention to four appellate court decisions and one federal district court order that have addressed the applicability of the Emergency Telephone System Act. Those cases, however, were all decided prior to our supreme court's decision in DeSmet , and only two of those cases addressed a situation that clearly fell within section 15.1.
¶ 23 In
Galuszynski v. City of Chicago
,
¶ 24 One year later, a different panel of this court filed an opinion in
Barth by Barth v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago
,
¶ 25 In
Harrel,
¶ 26 Finally, in
*927
*153
Chiczewski by Chiczewski v. Emergency Telephone System Board of Du Page County
,
¶ 27
Chiczewski
and
Harrell
clearly involve claims alleging the failure to develop, adopt, operate, or implement an emergency telephone system as required by law, and thus fall within section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act. However,
Barth's
broader holding-that the 911 system is not a police protection service-is contrary to our supreme court's subsequent holding in
DeSmet
. Furthermore,
Barth
is only consistent with
DeSmet
to the extent that
DeSmet
recognized that the type of emergency response required affects the applicability of section 4-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. See
DeSmet
,
*928
*154
¶ 28 Furthermore, plaintiffs' reliance on
Coleman
is misplaced. The sole issue in
Coleman
was the continued viability of the public duty rule. There, the plaintiff brought wrongful death and survival claims on behalf of the decedent Coretta Coleman. Coretta, who lived in Sugar Creek, an unincorporated area in Will County, placed a 911 call seeking emergency medical services. Her call was routed to a police dispatch center operated by the Will County sheriff's office, which was then transferred to Orland Central Dispatch.
Coleman
,
¶ 29 Coretta's husband, as administrator of her estate, sued numerous defendants for wrongful death and survival.
Id
. ¶ 12. Several of the plaintiff's claims asserted willful and wanton conduct.
Id.
¶ 13. Defendants moved for summary judgment, asserting that they did not owe Coretta any duty under the public duty doctrine and alternatively asserted various statutory immunities, including the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act ( 210 ILCS 50/3.150 (West 2006) ), the Emergency Telephone System Act, and the Tort Immunity Act.
Coleman,
¶ 30 Finally, even assuming arguendo that section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act did apply, the circuit *929 *155 court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the City because plaintiffs did not come forward with any evidence that might create any genuine issue of material fact as to whether the City's conduct was willful or wanton.
¶ 31 Willful and wanton conduct is defined as "conduct as a course of action which shows actual or deliberate intent to harm or which, if the course of action is not intentional, shows an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for a person's own safety or the safety or property of others."
Pfister v. Shusta
,
¶ 32 Here, units were dispatched within eight minutes of the first call, and Hansen stated that OEMC standards require that units be dispatched within 10 minutes of receiving a priority 1A emergency call. Although Hansen could not be certain that there were actually more events pending than units available, she stated that the most likely reason for the eight minute dispatch time was that no units were available for immediate dispatch. Plaintiffs did not come forward with any evidence to show that there were units available for dispatch. Plaintiffs argue that "units 2530, 2534, 2590, 2599, 2573 each appeared to have been available for assignment." However, at her deposition, Hansen stated that unit 2530 was a "sergeant's car" and would not typically be dispatched to an incident; units 2590 and 2599 were the field unit and watch commander, respectively, and would not typically be dispatched to a robbery; and unit 2534 was on another assignment. Finally Hansen stated that unit 2573 did not appear to have been on another assignment, but there are no other facts in the record to show that unit 2573 was available for dispatch. And while plaintiffs contend that Hansen was not certain that the RAP was the cause of any dispatch delay, plaintiffs do not identify any evidence in the record to show that the dispatcher deliberately ignored the first emergency or that the dispatcher consciously disregarded the first emergency call. Based on the record before us, we agree with the circuit court that there is no genuine issue of material fact that the City's conduct fell below the standard of willful or wanton. Therefore, even if section 15.1 of the Emergency Telephone System Act applied, the City would be immune from civil liability.
¶ 33 Based on our disposition, we need not address whether the City owed Norton a duty or whether plaintiffs could establish that the City's conduct was a proximate cause of Norton's death.
¶ 34 CONCLUSION
¶ 35 For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
¶ 36 Affirmed.
Justices Harris and Mikva concurred in the judgment and opinion.
In the circuit court, the City argued that OEMC was not a suable entity because "it is merely a division of the City of Chicago, with no independent legal existence." Plaintiffs did not advance any argument in response to the City's position. The circuit court agreed with the City and dismissed OEMC as a defendant. Plaintiffs raise no argument on appeal as to whether OEMC is a suable entity, and we therefore treat the City as the only proper defendant.
Beatrice Rosado, who was a tenant in Norton's building, and her boyfriend Elvin Payton were identified as the offenders and both later pleaded guilty to killing Norton.
Zimmerman
was expressly abrogated in
Coleman v. East Joliet Fire Protection District
,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.