Unsung Heroes

[Joe Elliott]

Yes, it’s possible that a reporter wearing a badge saying “NBC News” stopped officer Sabastian in his squad car, miles from Dealey Plaza, and told him, “There is something I need to tell you. A police officer has been reported DOA.”

Here you go again... repeating the same stuff that has already been proven incorrect in the other thread. Perhaps that's why you jumped to this thread again, by Sabastian wasn't miles from Dealey Plaza. At around 1.25 he was near 400 Jefferson East in Oak Cliff, which is where the dispatcher told him to go after a jacket was found at a parking lot there.

I urge any reader to go check the transcript of the Dictabelt which records the what the Police Dispatcher and the other Dallas Police officers were saying over the radio in real time.

https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/tapes2.htm

https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/tapes3.htm

First, I don’t think this transcript is totally accurate. It is difficult to tell which officer is talking. I believe that sometimes, when the person wrote the transcript, they guess who is talking, but sometimes guess wrong.

For instance:

At 1:25
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     75 is at Forest and Central.

At 1:26
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     Go ahead.
Dispatcher                             400 East Jefferson.
75                                            We’re almost there.

Now, according to Google maps, by the fastest route, the distance between:
      The intersection of Forest Lane and Central Expressway
And:
     400 E Jefferson Blvd.
is 13 miles.

So, if we take the transcript at face value, Officer Sabastian travelled 13 miles in one minute.

The logical conclusion? One of these statements is in error. Either the report of Officer Sabastian being at Forest and Central at 1:25, or the report of Officer Sabastian being almost at 400 E. Jefferson Blvd. at 1:26. I would say the 1:25 statement is accurate, the 1:26 statement is not, and was actually made by a different officer who was in the area of 400 East Jefferson.

Why is this logical? Why not consider the 1:25 statement to be the one possibly in error? That it was made by some other officer, not Officer Sabastian? Because the 1:25 statement explicitly identifies him. “75 is at Forest and Central.” No other officer would be saying that. In contrast, the 1:26 transmission, the officer does not identify himself. The transmission just says on the recording “Go ahead . . . We’re almost there.” That could have been made by any officer. By which I logically deduce, was not Officer Sabastian, because he could not have travelled 13 miles in one minute.

So, while the transcript says this statement “We’re almost there.” Was made by Officer Sabastian, there is nothing in the recording that identifies who said it.

Now a few lines later, the Dispatcher orders Officer Sabastian to 400 East Jefferson and Officer Sabastian (I believe) acknowledges:

75                    75.
Dispatcher     400 East Jefferson. Report in that vicinity.
75                    Code 2.
Dispatcher      Yes.

Now, in these statements, 75 (Sabastian) reports in to the Dispatcher. The Dispatcher says to go to 400 East Jefferson and report in when your near there and Officer Sabastian says “Code 2”, that is, I’m on my way now”. Code 2 does not mean “I’m already in the vicinity”. So, we know from the transmission from 1:25, which we know was from Officer Sabastian, that he is still 13 miles away.

So, at 1:28, when Officer Sabastian reports “NBC News is reporting DOA. . . . That the officer?”, he’s not in Dealey Plaza, he’s not at 400 East Jefferson, he is still miles from both locations. So he did not get this message directly from an NBC reporter, he could only have gotten it another way, over the commercial radio.



And as a side note, it should be mentioned that you are not being logically consistent:

1.   You say Officer Sabastian was at 400 East Jefferson by 1:28 where he could have learned from an NBC reporter about an officer being killed. And 400 East Jefferson is just a few blocks form the site Officer Tippit was killed at.

2.   You also say that the media could not have known about Officer being DOA, “Dead on Arrival”. But if NBC News was in that area that soon, they could have found out where the ambulance was headed and went there themselves and learned that the officer was “DOA”.

So, which is it? Was the media in the vicinity of the Tippit murder scene very early or not? You can’t have it both ways.

[Martin Weidmann]

I urge any reader to go check the transcript of the Dictabelt which records the what the Police Dispatcher and the other Dallas Police officers were saying over the radio in real time.

https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/tapes2.htm

https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/tapes3.htm

First, I don’t think this transcript is totally accurate. It is difficult to tell which officer is talking. I believe that sometimes, when the person wrote the transcript, they guess who is talking, but sometimes guess wrong.

For instance:

At 1:25
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     75 is at Forest and Central.

At 1:26
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     Go ahead.
Dispatcher                             400 East Jefferson.
75                                            We’re almost there.

Now, according to Google maps, by the fastest route, the distance between:
      The intersection of Forest Lane and Central Expressway
And:
     400 E Jefferson Blvd.
is 13 miles.

So, if we take the transcript at face value, Officer Sabastian travelled 13 miles in one minute.

The logical conclusion? One of these statements is in error. Either the report of Officer Sabastian being at Forest and Central at 1:25, or the report of Officer Sabastian being almost at 400 E. Jefferson Blvd. at 1:26. I would say the 1:25 statement is accurate, the 1:26 statement is not, and was actually made by a different officer who was in the area of 400 East Jefferson.

Why is this logical? Why not consider the 1:25 statement to be the one possibly in error? That it was made by some other officer, not Officer Sabastian? Because the 1:25 statement explicitly identifies him. “75 is at Forest and Central.” No other officer would be saying that. In contrast, the 1:26 transmission, the officer does not identify himself. The transmission just says on the recording “Go ahead . . . We’re almost there.” That could have been made by any officer. By which I logically deduce, was not Officer Sabastian, because he could not have travelled 13 miles in one minute.

So, while the transcript says this statement “We’re almost there.” Was made by Officer Sabastian, there is nothing in the recording that identifies who said it.

Now a few lines later, the Dispatcher orders Officer Sabastian to 400 East Jefferson and Officer Sabastian (I believe) acknowledges:

75                    75.
Dispatcher     400 East Jefferson. Report in that vicinity.
75                    Code 2.
Dispatcher      Yes.

Now, in these statements, 75 (Sabastian) reports in to the Dispatcher. The Dispatcher says to go to 400 East Jefferson and report in when your near there and Officer Sabastian says “Code 2”, that is, I’m on my way now”. Code 2 does not mean “I’m already in the vicinity”. So, we know from the transmission from 1:25, which we know was from Officer Sabastian, that he is still 13 miles away.

So, at 1:28, when Officer Sabastian reports “NBC News is reporting DOA. . . . That the officer?”, he’s not in Dealey Plaza, he’s not at 400 East Jefferson, he is still miles from both locations. So he did not get this message directly from an NBC reporter, he could only have gotten it another way, over the commercial radio.

And as a side note, it should be mentioned that you are not being logically consistent:

1.   You say Officer Sabastian was at 400 East Jefferson by 1:28 where he could have learned from an NBC reporter about an officer being killed. And 400 East Jefferson is just a few blocks form the site Officer Tippit was killed at.

2.   You also say that the media could not have known about Officer being DOA, “Dead on Arrival”. But if NBC News was in that area that soon, they could have found out where the ambulance was headed and went there themselves and learned that the officer was “DOA”.

So, which is it? Was the media in the vicinity of the Tippit murder scene very early or not? You can’t have it both ways.

This is so much self-serving mumbo jumbo that I don't even know where to begin.

So why don't I start with inconsistancy;

When this message comes over the radio;

At 1:26
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     Go ahead.
Dispatcher                             400 East Jefferson.
75                                            We’re almost there.

the transcript somehow likely isn't correct, because the dispatcher, when he said "400 East Jefferson" could have been talking to anybody except Sabastian, right?

Yet only a few lines later this comes over the radio;

75                    75.
Dispatcher     400 East Jefferson. Report in that vicinity.
75                    Code 2.
Dispatcher      Yes.

and now you claim the dispatcher is telling Sabastian (75) to go to..... wait for it.... the same location he said previously! Go figure!

What is really happening here of course is that the dispatcher told Sabastian the first time to go to 400 Jefferson and in the second call reminded him to report when he's in the vicinity. To argue that the first call isn't correct and the second one is, is simply disingenuous. Sabastian was probably racing down the Central Expressway with sirens blazing. "We're almost there" isn't precise and simply could have been his way of saying "we're en route", but whatever it's meaning, he responded to the dispatcher telling him where to go and that was 400 Jefferson!

This alone also blows completely out of the water your crazy notion that the "we're almost there" message wasn't correct because Sabastian could not have covered 13 miles in 1 minute. Of course he couldn't and didn't. When he said "we’re almost there" he was already on his way and in the second call he basically confirms that he will call in when he gets there, meaning he is still en route at that moment.

And how in the world do you know what "code 2" means? The answer is that you don't. You're just guessing and saying something that fits your narrative.

All this is merely a silly attempt to keep alive the illusion that there was a radio broadcast at 1.25 pm (which has never surfaced and nobody has ever heard) and Sabastian (as well as Brewer, because that's what this is really about) could have heard it.

So, let's talk some more about inconsistancy; in the other thread (about Brewer) you agreed with me that it was unlikely that Sabastian would have a commercial radio station on while in his patrol car racing down to 400 Jefferson. Yet here you argue that he did not get to 400 East Jefferson until well after 1.25, which means he still must have been in his patrol car at 1.25. So, are you now going back to saying that he did have a radio playing in the car after all? If not, you have self-defeated your own argument, because there is no other way for Sabastian that he could have heard a radio report at 1.25 while driving at high speed on the motorway. The problem is of course still the same; there is no evidence of such a broadcast actually having been aired.

And as a side note, it should be mentioned that you are not being logically consistent:

1.   You say Officer Sabastian was at 400 East Jefferson by 1:28 where he could have learned from an NBC reporter about an officer being killed. And 400 East Jefferson is just a few blocks form the site Officer Tippit was killed at.

2.   You also say that the media could not have known about Officer being DOA, “Dead on Arrival”. But if NBC News was in that area that soon, they could have found out where the ambulance was headed and went there themselves and learned that the officer was “DOA”.

So, which is it? Was the media in the vicinity of the Tippit murder scene very early or not? You can’t have it both ways.

When you are right, you are right! After giving this further consideration I withdraw the argument, simply because when Sabastian arrived at 400 Jefferson he had already asked the dispatcher about the DOA, which means that he must have made that call to the dispatcher while en route from Forest Lane to 400 Jefferson. Which, of course, brings us right back to square one; Sabastian could only have heard it in his car, while on the Expressway, yet you have already argreed that it is unlikely he would have a commercial station on, racing down the highway with his sirens on.

So let's examine the known facts and compare them with your speculation;

If the official narrative is true, Tippit was shot and killed at 1.14 / 1.15 and picked up by an ambulance at 1.18. The drive to Methodist Hospital was about four minutes, and when the ambulance got there, at 1.22, Tippit was declared DOA. Back in those days there were no live links, like we have today. All stories had to be called in by phone. In order to get a story like this on the air at 1.25 a reporter had at most only 3 minutes to arrive at the hospital, talk to the doctors, find a phone and call it in. The message then needed to be transcribed for broadcast. To even consider all this could have happened in less than 3 minutes requires a massive stretch of imagination.

The fact is that no broadcast, on either NBC news or any other station, has ever surfaced and no reporter has ever claimed that he was at Methodist Hospital when Tippit was declared DOA.

We have now established that Sabastian was in his cruiser at 1.25, racing down the motorway, likely with sirens on full blast, towards 400 East Jefferson, where he - given the distance - probably arrived after the dispatcher put out a message on channel 2 about Tippit's DOA at 1.28. We also know that on channel 1, the first mention of a DOA was by Sabastian at around 1.25.

If Sabastian had heard a message on a commercial radio station, he would have known that it was an officer who had been killed. He didn't, because he merely said "NBC News is reporting DOA" and when the dispatcher answered "That's correct" he asked "That the officer?" only to follow it with ".... on the President".

Now I don't know where Sabastian got the "NBC News is reporting DOA" from, but the bottom line is that despite Sabastian's comment, there is not a shred of evidence that there was or even could have been a radio broadcast about Tippit's DOA at 1.25. And no amount of twisting and turning or your part is going to change that.

[Joe Elliott]

This is so much self-serving mumbo jumbo that I don't even know where to begin.

So why don't I start with inconsistancy;

When this message comes over the radio;

At 1:26
75 (Ptm. E. G. Sabastian)     Go ahead.
Dispatcher                             400 East Jefferson.
75                                            We’re almost there.

the transcript somehow likely isn't correct, because the dispatcher, when he said "400 East Jefferson" could have been talking to anybody except Sabastian, right?

Yet only a few lines later this comes over the radio;

75                    75.
Dispatcher     400 East Jefferson. Report in that vicinity.
75                    Code 2.
Dispatcher      Yes.

and now you claim the dispatcher is telling Sabastian (75) to go to..... wait for it.... the same location he said previously! Go figure!

What is really happening here of course is that the dispatcher told Sabastian the first time to go to 400 Jefferson and in the second call reminded him to report when he's in the vicinity. To argue that the first call isn't correct and the second one is, is simply disingenuous. Sabastian was probably racing down the Central Expressway with sirens blazing. "We're almost there" isn't precise and simply could have been his way of saying "we're en route", but whatever it's meaning, he responded to the dispatcher telling him where to go and that was 400 Jefferson!

No. My interpretation is correct. Let’s ignore the 13-mile distance, and “We are almost there” meaning the same as “I’m still 13 miles away”. Let me re-word these two conversations between the Dispatcher and Officer Sabastian, or the two conversations, first with an unknown officer and the second with Officer Sabastian. I’ll reword it your way, with both conversations with Officer Sabastian, And I am rewording it with standard English, without the special codes, like “Code 2”, or “75” being code for Officer Sabastian, to make the meaning clearer:

Officer Sabastian:    Reporting in for instructions.
Dispatcher:               Proceed to 400 East Jefferson. Report when in that vicinity.
Officer Sabastian:    We are almost there.

[ 30 seconds later ]

Officer Sabastian:    Officer Sabastian here, reporting in for instructions.
Dispatcher:               Proceed to 400 East Jefferson. Report when in that vicinity.
Officer Sabastian:    I will head out there immediately without my sirens.
Dispatcher:               Yes, please do that.

In your version, Officer Sabastian seems to be a pretty befuddled fellow. He has to be reminded every minute or so on what his instructions are and where he is to proceed. Thirty seconds after receiving his clear instructions he calls in again asking for instructions. Clearly this is a conversation with two different officers, both being asked to drive to 400 East Jefferson.

So, let's talk some more about inconsistancy; in the other thread (about Brewer) you agreed with me that it was unlikely that Sabastian would have a commercial radio station on while in his patrol car racing down to 400 Jefferson. Yet here you argue that he did not get to 400 East Jefferson until well after 1.25, which means he still must have been in his patrol car at 1.25. So, are you now going back to saying that he did have a radio playing in the car after all? If not, you have self-defeated your own argument, because there is no other way for Sabastian that he could have heard a radio report at 1.25 while driving at high speed on the motorway. The problem is of course still the same; there is no evidence of such a broadcast actually having been aired.

When you are right, you are right! After giving this further consideration I withdraw the argument, simply because when Sabastian arrived at 400 Jefferson he had already asked the dispatcher about the DOA, which means that he must have made that call to the dispatcher while en route from Forest Lane to 400 Jefferson. Which, of course, brings us right back to square one; Sabastian could only have heard it in his car, while on the Expressway, yet you have already argreed that it is unlikely he would have a commercial station on, racing down the highway with his sirens on.

Officer Sabastian indicated he was heading to 400 East Jefferson with his sirens on and his lights flashing? Let’s see what “Code 2” means:

http://qcode.us/codes/stockton/view.php?topic=5-5_96-ii-5_96_060#:~:text=%E2%80%9CCode%201%E2%80%9D%20means%20routine%20or,(non%2Demergency)%20treatment.&text=%E2%80%9CCode%203%E2%80%9D%20means%20an%20emergency,with%20red%20light%20and%20siren

These are the standard radio codes, used both for ambulance drivers and by the police, by any vehicle authorized to be equipped with sirens and flashing lights.

“Code 1” means routine or scheduled transportation of patients between facilities or to a facility for normal (non-emergency) treatment.

“Code 2” means an emergency where time is critical, requiring immediate response by the ambulance provider, without red light and siren.

“Code 3” means an emergency where time is critical, requiring immediate response with red light and siren.

Code 1 is the lowest priority, where safe speeds can be used. Code 3 is the highest priority, where all means must be used to get somewhere as soon as possible. Speeding, using the siren, using the flashing lights. And, I believe, going through red lights, if that can be done safely.

Code 2 means the responder will hurry to the destination, but without flashing lights and sirens.

So, at 1:28 Officer Sabastian was on his way to 400 East Jefferson, but without sirens. And we don’t know if he was speeding down the expressway yet. Perhaps he was, or perhaps he was still on Forest Lane, having to do a U-Turn and waiting at traffic lights, before getting on the expressway. So, he could have heard such a commercial radio broadcast, either from his radio or another vehicle, while waiting at a light. Somehow, he did hear such a broadcast. Hence, his report:

“NBC News is reporting DOA. . . . That the officer?”

Wanting confirmation from the Dispatcher of the bad news he just heard over the commercial radio.

[Martin Weidmann]

No. My interpretation is correct. Let’s ignore the 13-mile distance, and “We are almost there” meaning the same as “I’m still 13 miles away”. Let me re-word these two conversations between the Dispatcher and Officer Sabastian, or the two conversations, first with an unknown officer and the second with Officer Sabastian. I’ll reword it your way, with both conversations with Officer Sabastian, And I am rewording it with standard English, without the special codes, like “Code 2”, or “75” being code for Officer Sabastian, to make the meaning clearer:

Officer Sabastian:    Reporting in for instructions.
Dispatcher:               Proceed to 400 East Jefferson. Report when in that vicinity.
Officer Sabastian:    We are almost there.

[ 30 seconds later ]

Officer Sabastian:    Officer Sabastian here, reporting in for instructions.
Dispatcher:               Proceed to 400 East Jefferson. Report when in that vicinity.
Officer Sabastian:    I will head out there immediately without my sirens.
Dispatcher:               Yes, please do that.

No. My interpretation is correct.

Of course... What else would you be able to say when you let your opinion be immune to any kind of reasonable push back.

All you're doing is twisting and turning some more... attaching meaning to a few spoken words without actually having a clue what was meant by those words to begin with.

In your version, Officer Sabastian seems to be a pretty befuddled fellow. He has to be reminded every minute or so on what his instructions are and where he is to proceed. Thirty seconds after receiving his clear instructions he calls in again asking for instructions. Clearly this is a conversation with two different officers, both being asked to drive to 400 East Jefferson.

He has to be reminded every minute or so on what his instructions are and where he is to proceed. Thirty seconds after receiving his clear instructions he calls in again asking for instructions.

There you go again.... making stuff up to fit your narrative. First of all, where you do get the notion that he had clear instructions. Have you even heard the sound clip of the second conversation, made available on McAdams site? The sound quality is very poor indeed. And secondly, Sabastian didn't call in again to ask for instructions. All he said was "Go ahead". The dispatcher who had just spoken to Owens (19), Arglin (79) and CID (412) then simply repeated "400 East Jefferson". He may not even have said that to Sabastian, who nevertheless responded with "We're almost there"

This is the entire sequence;

19 (Sgt. C.B. Owens)   19.       
Dispatcher   19.       
19   One of the men here at the service station that saw him seems to think he's in this block, the 400 block of East Jefferson behind this service station. Would you give me some more squads over here?       
79 (Ptm. B.N. Arglin)   79 en route.       
        . . . 19/90/car 2.       
412 (CID)   412 en route.       
        . . . 400 East Jefferson.       
Dispatcher   10-4, 412.       
75 (Ptm. E.G. Sabastian)   Go ahead.       
Dispatcher   400 East Jefferson.       
75   We're almost there.

So much for your "suggestion" that Sabastian called in for a second time to ask for instructions.

Officer Sabastian indicated he was heading to 400 East Jefferson with his sirens on and his lights flashing? Let’s see what “Code 2” means:

http://qcode.us/codes/stockton/view.php?topic=5-5_96-ii-5_96_060#:~:text=%E2%80%9CCode%201%E2%80%9D%20means%20routine%20or,(non%2Demergency)%20treatment.&text=%E2%80%9CCode%203%E2%80%9D%20means%20an%20emergency,with%20red%20light%20and%20siren

These are the standard radio codes, used both for ambulance drivers and by the police, by any vehicle authorized to be equipped with sirens and flashing lights.

“Code 1” means routine or scheduled transportation of patients between facilities or to a facility for normal (non-emergency) treatment.

“Code 2” means an emergency where time is critical, requiring immediate response by the ambulance provider, without red light and siren.

“Code 3” means an emergency where time is critical, requiring immediate response with red light and siren.

Code 1 is the lowest priority, where safe speeds can be used. Code 3 is the highest priority, where all means must be used to get somewhere as soon as possible. Speeding, using the siren, using the flashing lights. And, I believe, going through red lights, if that can be done safely.

Code 2 means the responder will hurry to the destination, but without flashing lights and sirens.

Officer Sabastian indicated he was heading to 400 East Jefferson with his sirens on and his lights flashing?

No Sabastian did not indicate that at all. It was a reasonable assumption on my part that when multiple officers are rushing to a crime scene to catch the bad guy, they do so with sirens and lights to enable them to move as fast as they can.

The second part of this quote is completely hilarious. You find a website for ambulance codes in Stockton and you conveniently say that the same codes apply throughout the country and all the different services. Are you freakin' kidding me?

In Dallas the communication code 2 means: Urgent Response

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Dallas_County_(TX)#Communication_Codes

Code 1 is: Normal Response (no lights or sirens)
Code 3 is: Emergency Lights & Sirens

under code 2 there is no indication of an obligation to use lights and sirens, nor does it not premit it. In other words; it's left to the officer's discretion.

By responding to the dispatcher with "code 2" Sabastian is communicating that he is urgently responding. Does that sound to you that he was driving to 400 Jefferson with haste of just leisurely driving there?

So, at 1:28 Officer Sabastian was on his way to 400 East Jefferson, but without sirens. And we don’t know if he was speeding down the expressway yet. Perhaps he was, or perhaps he was still on Forest Lane, having to do a U-Turn and waiting at traffic lights, before getting on the expressway.

Yeah sure... and perhaps he even stopped for coffee at a local diner, went to visit his wife and did some shopping.

He had just told his dispatcher that he was heading to 400 Jefferson on a code 2 (Urgent Response) and you have him stopping for a traffic light.... 

One more comment; at 1.32 on the transcripts the dispatcher says that the suspect is running in an alley between Jefferson and 10th and one of the officers that acknowledges receipt of the call is Sabastian (75). Why would he do that if he, as you suggest, was no way near that location at that time?

So, he could have heard such a commercial radio broadcast, either from his radio or another vehicle, while waiting at a light. Somehow, he did hear such a broadcast. Hence, his report:

“NBC News is reporting DOA. . . . That the officer?”

Wanting confirmation from the Dispatcher of the bad news he just heard over the commercial radio.

Except there still is not a shred of evidence that such a broadcast ever took place.

Actually, when you listen to the sound clip for this conversation, it's not even clear that it was Sabastian who said "That the officer?" and on the transcript itself there is a question mark behind 75 for this comment. No such question mark appears behind 75 for the later question "...... on the President".

So the actual question that Sabastian could well have been asking is "NBC News is reporting DOA..... on the President?"
As Kennedy was declared dead at 1 pm, nearly a half hour earlier, that could have been what Sabastian heard on the radio, but I am all but sure you will of course disagree...

[Joe Elliott]

No. My interpretation is correct.

Of course... What else would you be able to say when you let your opinion be immune to any kind of reasonable push back.

All you're doing is twisting and turning some more... attaching meaning to a few spoken words without actually having a clue what was meant by those words to begin with.

He has to be reminded every minute or so on what his instructions are and where he is to proceed. Thirty seconds after receiving his clear instructions he calls in again asking for instructions.

There you go again.... making stuff up to fit your narrative. First of all, where you do get the notion that he had clear instructions. Have you even heard the sound clip of the second conversation, made available on McAdams site? The sound quality is very poor indeed. And secondly, Sabastian didn't call in again to ask for instructions. All he said was "Go ahead". The dispatcher who had just spoken to Owens (19), Arglin (79) and CID (412) then simply repeated "400 East Jefferson". He may not even have said that to Sabastian, who nevertheless responded with "We're almost there"

This is the entire sequence;

19 (Sgt. C.B. Owens)   19.       
Dispatcher   19.       
19   One of the men here at the service station that saw him seems to think he's in this block, the 400 block of East Jefferson behind this service station. Would you give me some more squads over here?       
79 (Ptm. B.N. Arglin)   79 en route.       
        . . . 19/90/car 2.       
412 (CID)   412 en route.       
        . . . 400 East Jefferson.       
Dispatcher   10-4, 412.       
75 (Ptm. E.G. Sabastian)   Go ahead.       
Dispatcher   400 East Jefferson.       
75   We're almost there.

So much for your "suggestion" that Sabastian called in for a second time to ask for instructions.

No, let’s list the entire conversation that you claim that the Dispatcher had with Officer Sabastian:

Sabastian (?):   Go ahead.
Dispatcher:      400 East Jefferson.
Sabastian(?):   We’re almost there.

[30 second later]

Sabastian:       75.
Dispatcher:     400 East Jefferson. Report in that vicinity.
Sabastian(?):   Code 2

The only statement that positively identifies Officer Sabastian is “75”. But “Code 2: is almost certainly him as well because it occurs so soon after “75”.

Your assertion, that both conversations are with Officer Sabastian is unsupported. He is not going to report that he is “almost there” when he is actually more than 13 miles away. He is not going to ask for, receive, and acknowledge instructions from Dispatch twice in the same minute.

Clearly the Dispatcher knew who he was talking to, at least in most cases. It was the person who wrote this transcript he was confused and guessed that both brief conversations were with Officer Sabastian when only the second one was.

Officer Sabastian indicated he was heading to 400 East Jefferson with his sirens on and his lights flashing?

No Sabastian did not indicate that at all. It was a reasonable assumption on my part that when multiple officers are rushing to a crime scene to catch the bad guy, they do so with sirens and lights to enable them to move as fast as they can.

The second part of this quote is completely hilarious. You find a website for ambulance codes in Stockton and you conveniently say that the same codes apply throughout the country and all the different services. Are you freakin' kidding me?

In Dallas the communication code 2 means: Urgent Response

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Dallas_County_(TX)#Communication_Codes

Code 1 is: Normal Response (no lights or sirens)
Code 3 is: Emergency Lights & Sirens

under code 2 there is no indication of an obligation to use lights and sirens, nor does it not premit it. In other words; it's left to the officer's discretion.

By responding to the dispatcher with "code 2" Sabastian is communicating that he is urgently responding. Does that sound to you that he was driving to 400 Jefferson with haste of just leisurely driving there?

The Dallas codes and the Stockton codes mean the same thing:

https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Dallas_County_(TX)#Communication_Codes

Code 2 is an urgent response. It does not mean an urgent response, using emergency lights and sirens. If Officer Sabastian had decided to use emergency lights and sirens, he would have said “Code 3”, not “Code 2”. By saying “Code 2” he was telling the Dispatcher that he was proceeding quickly but safely and not using his sirens. If the Dispatcher wanted to overrule this decision, he would have told him to proceed at Code 3. But these instructions were never made.

Why would Officer Sabastian decide to proceed without sirens, on an urgent mission? Because he was 13 miles away. Even with sirens, he will get there late. There are other units who are much closer and can get there sooner. Going with sirens is not a decision to be taken lightly. It is dangerous. Driving with sirens for 2 minutes is dangerous. It may cause an accident. But may be done in an emergency and if there is a fair chance it may make a difference. But driving for 10 minutes with sirens is 5 times as dangerous, and not likely to make a difference. It is a judgement call. It is evident that Officer Sabastian elected to go without sirens, informed the Dispatcher of this, and was not overruled by the Dispatcher. Officer Sabastian has no reason to deceive the Dispatcher into thinking he is responding without sirens when he is actually using them. Your speculation that Officer Sabastian decided to use sirens and misinformed the Dispatcher about this is unsupported.

Yes, I use speculation as well. But my speculation is reasonable. Like Officer Sabastian won’t ask for instructions, and acknowledge he has received those instructions, twice in the same minute. He is not going to report that he is “almost there” when he is actually 13 miles away. And is not going to indicate that he is going without sirens when he actually is.

Getting there a few minutes later than he could have done so dangerously might still be useful, if more reports come in 20 minutes later. At least he will now be in the general area, not 13 miles away.

[Joe Elliott]

A final point I should make, could “Code 2” mean Officer Sabastian was using sirens? Yes, it could. Either he could be using sirens or he wasn’t. Although I think he would have made himself clearer by saying “Code 3”. But we know he couldn’t have been. If he was using sirens, he probably could not have gotten a message from “NBC News”, either by a reporter in person, the theory you seem to favor, or over commercial radio, the theory that I favor, if he had elected to use sirens.

And even if he was speeding down the expressway, with sirens on, it is still more likely he got this message “Officer DOA” over his squad car’s commercial radio than from an NBC reporter pulling up besides him while both are travelling at high speed with sirens and shout with a megaphone “A Dallas police officer is DOA”. Speculation? Yes, but reasonable speculation.

[John Tonkovich]

A final point I should make, could “Code 2” mean Officer Sabastian was using sirens? Yes, it could. Either he could be using sirens or he wasn’t. Although I think he would have made himself clearer by saying “Code 3”. But we know he couldn’t have been. If he was using sirens, he probably could not have gotten a message from “NBC News”, either by a reporter in person, the theory you seem to favor, or over commercial radio, the theory that I favor, if he had elected to use sirens.

And even if he was speeding down the expressway, with sirens on, it is still more likely he got this message “Officer DOA” over his squad car’s commercial radio than from an NBC reporter pulling up besides him while both are travelling at high speed with sirens and shout with a megaphone “A Dallas police officer is DOA”. Speculation? Yes, but reasonable speculation.

Reasonable speculation.

" Just the facts, ma'am", as Joe Friday said.