Princeton Councilwoman Jo Butler said Wednesday that she welcomes an investigation into her allegedly unfounded 9-1-1 call to police, a fourth-degree crime in New Jersey.
"This is an issue about which I have been concerned for some time and about which I have been outspoken" Butler told Patch. "I welcome an investigation and will have more to say upon its completion."
When the matter came to the attention of Princeton Police, it was forwarded up the "internal administrative chain of command," then referred to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, Police Cpt. Nick Sutter said.
Prosecutor's Office Spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio confirmed the investigation into Butler's actions and said no charges have been filed to date.
In a story first reported by Princeton Patch on Tuesday morning, multiple sources confirmed that Butler allegedly made the 9-1-1 call from the Dinky station on Sept. 18 and when an operator answered the emergency call, a woman believed to be Butler asked the dispatcher 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 9-1-1 operator called the woman believed to be Butler back, Butler allegedly declared that she was "an elected official."
She did not describe an emergency.
The investigation into Butler's action is happening at the same time that she has been questioning why the Prosecutor's Office has not yet charged the former Princeton parking meter attendant who was terminated after a police investigation determined the he was taking goods in exchange for not ticketing employees of local businesses.
Butler, a former member of the Borough's public safety committee, has long been concerned about where 9-1-1 calls are routed from the Princeton University campus. In February, a report from nj.com reported that 9-1-1 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.
Since then, the University and Princeton Police Departments have 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.
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