On March 13, Police Radio Telecommunicator Nzinga Withers received a call from a woman who had returned home from an errand to find her boyfriend inside their residence suffering from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although the caller was extremely distraught and struggling to communicate clearly, Withers remained fully engaged, attentive and composed throughout the call. Despite the caller’s heightened state of panic, Withers successfully obtained and verified the address, ensuring that responding personnel and the Memphis Fire Department could be directed to the correct location without delay.
Her approach reflected both professional discipline and genuine compassion. She asked pertinent questions while remaining sensitive to the caller’s emotional state. Throughout the call, she made consistent efforts to calm and reassure the caller, encouraging her to take deep breaths, assuring her that she would remain on the line until officers arrived and checking whether she had been able to reach her mother. Even while managing a critical incident, Withers remained mindful of the person behind the call and the emotional distress she was experiencing.
Her situational awareness extended beyond the immediate circumstances of the emergency. Upon hearing a dog barking in the background, Withers recognized a potential officer safety concern. She advised the caller to secure the animal before officers arrived and documented the information in the call remarks for responding personnel. This proactive, thoughtful and unprompted action demonstrated a level of awareness and professionalism that extended beyond simply fulfilling procedural requirements.
When the call was subsequently selected at random for a quality assurance evaluation by QA/ECS R. Webster, Withers received a perfect score. The evaluator noted that her “professionalism, empathy, attentiveness and ability to manage a highly emotional and critical incident exemplify the highest standards of emergency communications service.”
Nzinga Withers has served in the Memphis Police Department’s Emergency Communications Bureau since January 2007. In nearly two decades of service, she has handled thousands of emergency calls, including 1,885 in 2025 alone and an additional 471 year-to-date in 2026. She is also a certified Communications Training Officer, entrusted with passing her knowledge, experience and professionalism on to the next generation of telecommunicators in the bureau.
