Princeton Releases Jo Butler's 911 Call That Launched Investigation

A week after the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office indicated they would not pursue criminal charges against Princeton Councilwoman Jo Butler for placing a 911 call with no apparent emergency, Princeton officials have released audio of the incident. 

Butler made the call from the Dinky station on Sept. 18 and when an operator answered,  Butler asked where she was calling: Princeton University's Department of Public Safety or Princeton Police? 

She hung up after the operator ignored her question and tried to ascertain the nature of the emergency. 

When the 911 operator called Butler back, Butler declared that she was "an elected official." 

She did not describe an emergency.

Calling 911 with no emergency is a fourth degree indictable crime in New Jersey.

The Prosecutor's Office conducted an investigation into the incident, but chose not to file charges. 

"At our discretion, it was deemed appropriate to issue Ms. Butler a warning, which is not uncommon for a first time infraction of this nature," MCPO Spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said last week. 

This is not the first time there has been concern over where 911 calls are routed from the Princeton University campus. In February, a report from nj.com said that 911 calls from land lines on campus and University-owned buildings off campus were routed to the University's Department of Public Safety, while calls from cell phones were routed to Princeton Police dispatchers. 

At the time, some public officials, including Butler, expressed concern about possible delays or miscommunication in routing more serious incidents from the University to local police. There could even be cases where they said University may want to sweep certain incidents under the rug, according to nj.com.

At the time, Princeton Police Capt. Nick Sutter said police were working on a agreement to outline the responsibilities between the University and the municipal police and that a priority was making sure that all 911 calls were routed to one central location. The two departments announced they had come to an agreement in May, outlining which department would reply to what types of incident. Specific details were not released. 

On Sept. 18, Butler's call was routed to a dispatcher in the Princeton Police Department.