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Metro Nashville officials fired a 911 dispatcher in March 2008, about a month after he was caught on a recording saying he did not care what happened to a domestic violence caller, made after she had already hung up believing the call had ended.

The dispatcher, identified by officials as trainee Frank Roth, made the remark after a call from Sheila Jones, who first dialed 911 at 2:08 p.m. in February 2008 after an ex-boyfriend forced his way into her home with a knife and threatened to kill her. Jones called the emergency center repeatedly over the next three hours as officers failed to arrive, speaking with several different dispatchers along the way.

One operator stayed on the phone with Jones for more than 15 minutes and later called her back to say police were on the way. That assurance turned out to be false. The officer assigned to respond had been diverted to help with an unrelated traffic stop, and the call had never been logged as a domestic violence incident, according to police.

About two and a half hours into the ordeal, Jones called again and was told no officer had been assigned. "What, do you all want him to kill me so you can put yellow tape around me and say we got there just for the death?" she asked, according to the recording.

Roth told Jones the call had been updated and help would arrive as soon as possible. After she hung up, with the line still recording, he said, "I really just don't give a s**t what happens to you."

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said the dispatcher was "no longer with" the department. Emergency Communications Center spokeswoman Amanda Sluss said Roth was still in training when he made the remark and was let go about a month later for failing his final exam, not for the comment itself. Serpas said the remark alone, had it come to him as a disciplinary matter, would have resulted in automatic termination.

Jones got through to police only after calling the mayor's office. Officials blamed the delay on a string of errors, including the traffic stop diversion and a shift change during which records of her call were deleted from the 911 center's computer system.