Sunday, April 5, 2015

B&J encountered Wilson at 12:01

Determining the exact time when Police Officer Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson is complicated, because a set of police-radio times has not been released to the public. Wilson encountered them some time before he sent to the police dispatcher the following radio message, in which he reported that he was involved in a disturbance with two people on Canfield Drive and that he requested another police car to help him. Wilson's radio report was recorded as "Track 369".

Wilson reports a disturbance involving two people on Canfield Drive.
This report occurred at 12:21:05 according to the CAD clock,
but at 12:01:50 according to the Event Report clock.

The CAD clock times are very wrong
and so have not been released to the public.
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However, Track 369 has two times, which differ by 19:15 minutes (19 minutes and 15 seconds).

Track 369 is a product of the the Ferguson Police Department's Computer Automated Dispatching (CAD) system, which specified that the report occurred at 12:21:05 p.m.

However, the police dispatcher specified the report also with a so-called Event Report clock, which specified that the report occurred at 12:01:50 p.m.

The difference between the two times is 19:15 minutes (19 minutes and 15 seconds). The CAD time is far wrong, and the Event Report time is fairly correct. The Investigative Report (page 165) describes the discrepancy as follows:

The Ferguson Police Department's CAD clock
ran 19:15 minutes
faster than the Event Report clock. 
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This discrepancy was so embarrassing and confusing that the CAD tracks released to the public did not include the CAD times. For example, Track 369 lacks the time, which would not be known except for the Investigative Report's above passage about the discrepancy. The Event Report time has been released to the public in the following document:

The Event Report clock recorded Wilson's radio report at 12:01:50.
Only this time has been released to the public.

This "Disturbance in Progress" event became "Open"
when Wilson sent the "Track 369" radio report
to the dispatcher at 12:01:50. 
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Because the CAD times have not been released to the public, there is some uncertainty in matching the CAD tracks to the Event Report events. Since we have been informed that the CAD times and Event Report times differ by 19:15 minutes, we could match a particular CAD item to a particular Event Report item by  verifying that the times differ by precisely 19:15 minutes. Because we do not have the CAD times, we must guess about some matches.

For example, the above Event Report lists one item with the time 12:01:50 and several items with the time 12:02:22. We have been informed that the 21:01:50 item corresponds to Track 369. For the 12:02:22 items, however, we would have to guess the Track number or numbers, because we verify matches by finding differences of 19:15 minutes.

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Another complication is that not every radio transmission was recorded by either or both of the systems -- the CAD system and the Event Report system. I will elaborate on this problem in my next article, but here I will simply assert that Wilson on two occasions sent an identical report, which said:
21, put me on Canfield with two and send me another car.
The first time Wilson sent that report was right after he admonished Brown and Johnson to walk on the sidewalk and right before he backed his vehicle to block their path. This report was transmitted at about 12:01:05, and it was heard by Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmount, both of whom then began to drive to Canfield Drive. This report was not received, however, by either the CAD or Event Report systems. This first report does not exist at all in either system.

The second time Wilson sent that same report was right after he shot a bullet through his vehicle door and Brown ran away from the vehicle. This second report -- the same words again -- was transmitted at 12:01:50 and was heard again by the two policemen -- and this time it was received too by both the CAD and Event Report systems.

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About twenty seconds after the second report, at about 12:02:10, both Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmount were filmed driving on Canfield Drive, past the Shopping Center Services compound. I provided this information in a previous article. Their arrival at this point at this time was possible only if they heard Wilson's first radio report already at about 12:01.

Consider especially Policeman Highmont. After the incident, he told a detective that he was approaching Highmont Drive when he heard Wilson say over the radio, "21, put me on Canfield with two and send me another car".

SCS = Shopping Center Services.
Its Camera 11 filmed two police SUVs passing by
on Canfield Drive at about 12:02:10.
If Policeman Highmont heard this report at 12:01:50, then he could not have passed SCS a mere 20 seconds later, at 12:02:10. He could have passed SCS at that time only if he had heard a significantly earlier report, which I estimate was transmitted at about 12:01:05. A report at this earlier time would have given Policeman Highmont about 65 seconds to pass by SCS.

Policeman McDonald was looking for Brown and Johnson at the QuickTrip when he heard Wilson's request for help. Even if he was sitting inside his police vehicle, he perhaps could not have reached SCS in a mere 20 seconds. He too might have heard Wilson's earlier request at 12:01:05 but perhaps reacted slowly because he was inside the QuikTrip.

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Here is a time-line recapitulating the above explanation:

12:01:00 -- Wilson arrives at the encounter point. He admonishes Brown and Johnson to walk on the sidewalk. They continue to walk in the middle of the street. Brown curses Wilson, who then notices that Brown is holding a handful of cigarillos.

12:01:05 -- Wilson sends a radio request for help, which is heard by Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont, both of whom begin to travel toward Canfield Drive. This radio transmission is not received, however, by either the CAD or Event Report systems.

12:01:10 -- Wilson backs his vehicle and blocks Brown's and Johnson's path. Brown and Wilson began fighting through the vehicle's window. Johnson runs away.

12:01:40 -- Wilson shoots a bullet through his vehicle door. Brown runs away. Wilson shoots a second bullet through his window to clear a handgun jam.

12:01:50 -- Wilson again sends a radio request for help, using the same words. Wilson exits his vehicle and chases Brown.

12:02:10 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont turn onto Canfield Drive and pass the SCS compound, which films them.

12:02:15 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont hear Wilson's final four gunshots.

12:02:22 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont report to the dispatcher that they have arrived at the scene in response to Wilson's radio request.

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Now I will use another explanation to reinforce my argument that Wilson encountered Brown and Johnson at 12:01:00.

GoogleMaps.com shows that Police Officer Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson at about a point identified by the search request "2995 Canfield Drive, Ferguson, MO".

Police Officer Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson
at a point identified as 2995 Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Missouri,
on GoogleMaps.Com
According to my previous article, Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson turned the corner at West Florissant Avenue and Canfield Drive at 11:56 a.m.

According to Google Maps, a normal walk (three miles an hour) from that intersection to the encounter point takes about five minutes. Thus, Brown and Johnson reached the encounter point at about (11:56 + 5 minutes = )  12:01.

At a normal walking speed, Brown and Johnson walked about five minutes
from the intersection of West Florissant Avenue and Canfield Drive, 
according to GoogleMaps.com
Also according to Google Maps, the a normal drive from Glenark Drive (where Wilson helped a sick child) to the same point lasts about two minutes.

At a normal driving speed, Wilson drove about two minutes
from Glenark Avenue to the encounter point,
according to GoogleMaps.com
It is not plausible that Wilson arrived at the encounter point at 12:02 and then Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont passed the SCS compound a mere ten seconds later, at 12:02:10. Wilson himself has estimated that the entire incident -- from the moment of the encounter to the moment of the fatal gunshot -- lasted about one minute. Therefore, he must have arrived at the encounter point at about 12:01.

If he arrived at the encounter point at about 12:01 and if the trip from Glenark Drive to the encounter point lasted about two minutes, then he departed Glenark Drive at about 11:59    

According to the Event Report for the "Sick Case" (page 14), Wilson reported his departure from Glenark Drive at exactly 12:00:00 noon. Therefore, he reported his departure about one minute after he actually departed.

At exactly noon, Wilson reported his departure from Glenark Drive
Based on the above arguments, I elaborate my timeline as follows:

11:56:00 -- Brown and Wilson, walking, turn onto Canfield Drive and continue walking at a normal speed.

11:59:00 -- Wilson departs from Glenark Drive and drives at a normal speed.

12:00:00 -- Wilson informs the dispatcher about his departure.

12:01:00 -- Brown and Johnson and Wilson all arrive at the encounter point. Wilson admonishes Brown and Johnson to walk on the sidewalk. They continue to walk in the middle of the street. Brown curses Wilson, who then notices that Brown is holding a handful of cigarillos.

12:01:05 -- Wilson sends a radio request for help, which is heard by Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont, both of whom begin to travel toward Canfield Drive. This radio transmission is not received, however, by either the CAD or Event Report systems.

12:01:10 -- Wilson backs his vehicle and blocks Brown's and Johnson's path. Brown and Wilson began fighting through the vehicle's window. Johnson runs away.

12:01:40 -- Wilson shoots a bullet through his vehicle door. Brown runs away. Wilson shoots a second bullet through his window to clear a handgun jam.

12:01:50 -- Wilson again sends a radio request for help, using the same words. Wilson exits his vehicle and chases Brown.

12:02:10 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont turn onto Canfield Drive and pass the SCS compound, which films them.

12:02:15 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont hear Wilson's final four gunshots.

12:02:22 -- Policeman McDonald and Policeman Highmont report to the dispatcher that they have arrived at the scene in response to Wilson's radio request.

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