Posted on 04/13/2005 11:12:46 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
Mom not laughing at 911 dispatcher's 'joke'
By Leila Fadel
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
WATAUGA - Lori came home to find her daughters fighting that Monday evening. Her 12-year-old had kicked a hole in the door, and the girls were hitting and throwing things at each other. She feared one or both would be seriously hurt.
She called 911 and asked for help. Her 12-year-old daughter was out of control, she told the call-taker.
"OK. Do you want us to come over to shoot her?" the dispatcher asked, according to a recording released this week. For five seconds, the line went dead.
"Are you there?" the call-taker asked.
"Excuse me?" Lori said.
Mike Forbess, a dispatcher of five years for the Watauga Department of Public Safety, then told her he was joking and apologized. But Lori cannot get his comment out of her head.
"This is a slap in the face that my child was not important enough, my call for help, my 911 call was not important enough that he had to make a joke about it," Lori said Monday. She asked that her last name not be used to avoid identifying her daughters, one of whom has emotional problems.
Forbess immediately told his supervisor about the call. He received a letter of reprimand two days later. Forbess received a second letter of reprimand from Chief David Van Laar on Monday, the same day the Star-Telegram obtained a copy of the 911 call recording, and of Forbess' disciplinary records.
The mother, however, said her faith in the 911 system remains shaken. She said she plans to file a formal complaint.
"I do not have words to tell you how shocked I am that someone is allowed to do this," she said. "You don't do people like this, and then get a slap on the wrist."
In his letter to Forbess, Van Laar wrote: "This type of response cannot be tolerated, and this letter shall serve as notice that any future unprofessional responses while answering the 911 line will be cause for termination."
But the reprimand is not enough, the mother said.
The next time she has an emergency, she said, she won't feel safe calling 911.
"This man does need to be disciplined," Lori said. "How can a person in this line of work be so unfeeling that he asked a person who needed help, 'Would you like us to come over and shoot your child?'
"That's an interoffice disciplinary action," she said of the reprimands. "That doesn't do anything.
Van Laar made no excuses for the dispatcher.
"The reason I didn't take tougher action is, he immediately owned up to his supervisor and said he made a mistake," Van Laar said. "He's a good employee. He just made a severe mistake which is inexcusable. ... This is not something you should hear on the other end of a 911 call."
In an interview Monday, Forbess said he is sorry for his comment to the woman. In five years with the department, the dispatcher has never been disciplined for his handling of 911 calls.
Forbess has received two commendations from community members for his work. He was disciplined once with a written warning for working an unauthorized shift for a co-worker.
"I am so sorry for what I said to that lady, and I can never make it up to her," Forbess said. "I'm ashamed of my actions, what I said and what I did. I would take it back if I could, but I can't. I'm just very sorry that I did it. It was a poor choice of things to say."
Forbess said that he sometimes tells jokes or changes his tone of voice to ease the stress of a caller. In this case, he said, his words made the situation worse.
"I admit what I did. It was stupid, it was inexcusable and I'm sorry," Forbess said. "I know it's not enough for her or for the papers or for the rest of the world. I've taken the punishment that they gave."
On the other hand, a $12,000,000 lawsuit might be just right.
You are so right.
There was a thread posted here a couple of months ago about an incident where that very thing happened.
I would think a 911 operators job would be 98 percent boredom and 2 percent try-not-to-panic.
You're right, after he made the comment he acted completely professional and unchallenging. No way I could have done the same after someone talked to me the way she talked to him. That call would have gotten me canned.
"On the other hand, a $12,000,000 lawsuit might be just right."
You nailed it.
'This is a slap in the face that . . . my call for help, my 911 call was not important enough . . .
It wasn't, lady. Get over it.
Good grief. She came home and found her two daughters fighting and throwing things, and immediately called 911? For what? Did she have some reason to think her daughters were injured? Apparently not, since all she told the call-taker was that her 12-year-old daughter was out of control.
The call-taker made a joke to try to put it in perspective. It didn't work; he's apologized. This woman should be happy nobody is prosecuting or suing her for wasting the valuable time of an emergency service instead of doing her job as a parent.
That woman ought to be ashamed to let anyone know she can't handle her 12 year old. Leave the operator alone. What he said might have been dumb, but nothing to get fired over. See about filing charges on the mother for calling 911 for a non life threatening situation! What do you wanna bet she'll file a law suit?
Where exactly?
I went to his site and saw the poll about the dispatcher (48% vote he should get a raise), but nothing about contributions for a Disney World trip.
The chief is the consumate politician, and very trendily PC.
But I question his judgement and sense of proportion.
My guess is that morale in his department is not the best in the state and this mindless response is likely to make it worse.
The police should have gone in there and arrested ALL of them for domestic abuse including the mother and hauled them away in handcuffs. Then social services should be called in and the family dealt with in an appropriate way.
That would probably be the last time she called 911 for such nonsense.
I heard it on his show today, but you're right, I can't find it on his site either. He said he has collected over $1000 so far. Maybe tomorrow he will update his site or give more info as to how to contribute.
I heard an interview on a talk radio show with the author about a year ago and had forgotten about it until this.
It's a collection of stupid and hillarious 911 calls.
Comes with a CD with many of the actual calls and updates.
I darn near drove off the road laughing during the interview.
sounds to me like this "mom" is a life long victim.
yes the comment was crass but get a grip lady. you aren't going to feel safe ever again calling 911?
heres a hint IT"S FOR EMERGENCY USE.
she probably is one who goes to the emergency room for a cold.
i am so glad this guy did not lose his job over this (yet)
a scholding and written reprimand is appropriate.
"Uh, what was she looking for? Someone to come over and do the job that she failed to do?"
Uh, whatever it was, it wasn't money.
"Sure as hell sounds like it."
How?
It really is a good question. "Conflict resolution" with police officers involved very often ends in gunfire.
Nope, it wasn't. I bet it ends up that way, though.
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