Tree Hugging Hippies, Bad Parents, and one Cool Dude
So in order to get this one you guys have to read this big nasty article first....
___________________________________________________
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."
_________________________________________________
911 call audio is here: Click Here
My reaction to all of this....
1. This guy should be promoted, not disciplined. When she reacted badly, he owned up to it and apologized, then dispatched police, then went to his supervisor and owned up to it. Case and point, he owned up to his mistake, that's the kind of employee I want, that's the kind of 911 dispatcher I want when I call, because that's the kind of guy that will take my situation seriously because I will only call with someting serious, like all other people with common sense...
2. This lady should be sent to counseling, to learn how to be a parent. Wait...I take that back, this lady needs to grab those little bastards by their hair, drag them downstairs, out the back door, throw them down to the ground, grab the nearest switch, beating stick, belt, wooden spoon, cutting board with nifty handle, whatever is closest, and smack the shit out of their asses. The next time they get out of hand, she can go upstairs and tell them, stop this now, or you will have to go outside and pick your own switch, don't make me pick because it will be much, much worse. The little fuckers will only fuck around one or two more times, all of those of you that have had a wooden spoon or switch broken on your ass can relate to this, and you will likely, or you do likely do the same to your damn kids, and you know what, I'm betting they're well behaved to.
3. This lady should be issued a citation, with a fine of around $500 for wasting tax payer money by calling 911 for a non-emergency.
4. All those tree hugging hippy fucktards out there that are complaining about this guy's joke should be lined up and fucking shot, the world will be a much better place without them, and lawyers too.
If you disagree with me, go fuck yourself, why don't you call up 911 and complain about me, it will give me more to write about.
Mike Forbess is on my list of cool people now too by the way, because he has balls. I have a strange feeling his kids (if he has any) are well behaved too.
___________________________________________________
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."
_________________________________________________
911 call audio is here: Click Here
My reaction to all of this....
1. This guy should be promoted, not disciplined. When she reacted badly, he owned up to it and apologized, then dispatched police, then went to his supervisor and owned up to it. Case and point, he owned up to his mistake, that's the kind of employee I want, that's the kind of 911 dispatcher I want when I call, because that's the kind of guy that will take my situation seriously because I will only call with someting serious, like all other people with common sense...
2. This lady should be sent to counseling, to learn how to be a parent. Wait...I take that back, this lady needs to grab those little bastards by their hair, drag them downstairs, out the back door, throw them down to the ground, grab the nearest switch, beating stick, belt, wooden spoon, cutting board with nifty handle, whatever is closest, and smack the shit out of their asses. The next time they get out of hand, she can go upstairs and tell them, stop this now, or you will have to go outside and pick your own switch, don't make me pick because it will be much, much worse. The little fuckers will only fuck around one or two more times, all of those of you that have had a wooden spoon or switch broken on your ass can relate to this, and you will likely, or you do likely do the same to your damn kids, and you know what, I'm betting they're well behaved to.
3. This lady should be issued a citation, with a fine of around $500 for wasting tax payer money by calling 911 for a non-emergency.
4. All those tree hugging hippy fucktards out there that are complaining about this guy's joke should be lined up and fucking shot, the world will be a much better place without them, and lawyers too.
If you disagree with me, go fuck yourself, why don't you call up 911 and complain about me, it will give me more to write about.
Mike Forbess is on my list of cool people now too by the way, because he has balls. I have a strange feeling his kids (if he has any) are well behaved too.
posted by Highway at
10:10 PM
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