This is just crazy.
(via)
Girl Arrested for Swearing on 911 Call
July 21, 2009 By 31 Comments
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They never mentioned what the consequences were for that cop. I don’t care how decorated he was, that’s absolutely ridiculous and inexcusable. He should be fired and sued.
couldn’t have said it better MahouSniper
I have a really hard time believing this isn’t a joke. I’m so glad I don’t live in the US. Almost everything you here from the US seems so distant. Most of the times it’s hard to believe what you hear.. But i guess there are som positive sides with the country, like this blog.
Keep up the good work, been reading it for a while and I like it even more after each post.
//johnny
Oh there’s lots of positives — I love living in the US. I just point out all the weird stuff. I’m sure stuff like this could be found in any large country. But since I’m a US guy, I mostly see the US stuff. :)
No it doesn’t, these things happen 90% only of the time in the US.
Like people suing McDonalds beause they got their hot coffee on their lap while driving and gets burned… LOL
Look up the case. It’s only ridiculous when it’s reduced to a headline.
Which case? Both this and Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants seem pretty ridiculous. A suit similar to the latter failed in the UK.
Yes, That case. There were hundreds of cases of people being seriously burned when McDonald’s coffee lids popped off of there too hot coffee. It was a problem that was known to McDonald’s, which they ignored. If it were so ridiculous, why would 12 jurors who had viewed all the evidence have found McDonald’s 80% liable? There are good examples of frivolous lawsuits out their, but this isn’t one of them.
The only place I could find what happened to the officer was arkansasmatters.com (of all places):
“…Sgt. McFarlan got two weeks suspension without pay and has to attend some training classes”
What I find darkly humorous, is while telling her she shouldn’t swear on 911, he’s swearing.
and MS and Offred: I’m not in any way condoning the officer’s actions (or, inaction), but can’t someone have a bad day? You might say ‘no’ as his job at the time was saving lives, but cops (and firefighters, EMTs and paramedics) are, for better or for worse, human. If this was his only major screw-up then he deserves a second chance. The girl and her father do, of course, deserve a personal apology.
Thanks for finding that out. I think he deserved more, but that’s a start. His job was to send help — he didn’t do it and instead quarreled with an upset girl. The cop (and the father) is really lucky the father did not need immediate medical treatment.
If this is not his typical behavior and he was having a bad day, I don’t know that he should lose his job. However, I still think there’s no excuse for handling it that way at all. If he has some personal issue against people cursing – or get this, girls cursing (something, being the potty-mouth I am, have encountered in typical double-standard form) – then he should have excused himself from the duty and found someone who would be professional enough to handle it. He’s profiling people who call 9-1-1 by his own personal preferences and not sending help or even asking what could possibly be so upsetting to the girl to call back several times. This isn’t Mayberry.
I accept cops as human, but I figure if you go into business being a cop, you’re firstly going to have to get over anything that interferes with your obligations to the job, that might make you squeamish or petty. They introduced the piece by mentioning when the call begins recording, which the public may not know, but the cop for damn sure would, and that spin as he dispatched the calls and tried to excuse his reaction. Just makes me mad.
And apparently, he is the only one on duty since he answered every time. That was a mistake on the part of the department, maybe they don’t get enough calls to have 2 personnel, maybe the other one was busy for a long time? I find it really hard to stomach that if 2 people have an emergency at the same time, there’s no one to answer the phone.
He sounds like something made him angry at the world and he’s taking it out on people, very upsetting situation for me just to watch the clip. It’s completely unprofessional when you are given such a responsibility of saving lives. It’s not like someone cursed in your restaurant and now they have to go find somewhere else to eat. If that is one’s job, I hope that you have the f-ing mental capacity to know when you don’t have the f-ing mental capacity to handle such an important job properly, and either go get a different job or take some time off. I hope the training makes him realize what a dick he was to that girl and her father. Sorry, I have never had to call 9-1-1 but this does remind me of several customer service type calls I have made in anger (mostly when the MBTA fails to do its job), so that if it was life and death, it’s hard to imagine you, the one in crisis, must be more human than the cop who answers the call, and calm yourself so that he doesn’t fail to do his job. It made me very angry to watch.
What I find darkly humorous, is while telling her she shouldn’t swear on 911, he’s swearing.
Yeah, I noticed that as well.
Of course he’s allowed to have a bad day. So are post office workers, but that doesn’t excuse them when they go postal. Or doctors, but they aren’t allowed to get fed up with surgery and leave me cut open. I can understand him perhaps being a bit belligerent towards the girl but he hung up on her TWICE without so much as asking what could have her so upset. You think that the people who cal 9-1-1 might perhaps be a bit panicked? You think they might be slightly frantic? I doubt she’s the first person to ever swear on 9-1-1.
And ARRESTING HER?! I have a great respect for firefighters, soldiers, doctors, but I find there are many cops that I find it hard to like. Police work is very honorable and an important profession, but power attracts the power-hungry and this seems like a clear example of someone getting drunk on power.
If this happened to me, I’d sue that officer for as much as I could. To answer your question, yes they can, but under no circumstances can they allow that to endanger someone’s life. Just because someone has an excuse to be an ass doesn’t make them any less of one.
So… It’s okay for him to swear to her, insult her, then totally lie and mislead other sworn officers about her – and then have her falsely arrested.
Hmmm.
American police accountability is a farce. If that was in the UK, that officer would not only be fired, he’d be in jail for endangering life. Which is why most of our police are pretty good, while a lot of yours seem not to know the difference between a policeman and a soldier.
Don’t be childish, just ask and you’ll be given:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/photographers-criminalised-as-police-abuse-antiterror-laws-1228149.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8155441.stm
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/22/british-police-use-u.html
Don’t be so naive.
It’s all nice & funny to feel superior to poor US, but thinking that we in EU are so safe and so superior…
Btw, Ireland has just approved the Blasphemy law: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/libel-and-blasphemy-bill-passed-by-the-dail-1813479.html
ppphhhhahahaha, illegal rave party?! Really? My god! People could be…DANCING! IT’S ALL NIGHT! Full riot gear, this could get ugly!
A cop offended by swear words. He needs a new job.
So does this cop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wX5KMfjYYY&feature=related
Granted, maybe not fired but a dock in pay for more than 2 weeks and some silly a$$ed training classes. I accept that maybe he had a “really” bad day but because of his actions this man could have died and then I think he could have been sued and as Mark D said ‘A cop offended by swear words. He needs a new job.’
Do people still get that upset by swearing? It’s the 21st century, have we not moved beyond that? I don’t care what religion you do or don’t believe in. Of all the things to object to, you pick swearing? Really? Couldn’t find anything more petty?
So that cop has a clear record. Well I know what is problem is: HE’S SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED!
Bill Maher would agree!
Was this his first day or what. I’d expect people to swear often under such conditions. If he expects people in danger to act calmly, then he’s an idiot.
i can’t believe that no one ever curses when they call 911, i mean people usually curse the most when bad things are happening and when things get really bad you call 911, so it seems to be logical that those calling 911 would curse quite frequently.
also, that guy must never watch TV or his head would explode.
What I can’t believe is that some people think he should KEEP his job..
It’s called professionalism – in almost any job I’ve ever had – and never in a life or death situation – you get fired for mistreating your customers. If you’re a 911 op, you better send a f*bleep*ing ambulance when asked repeatedly, regardless of the reason. If there’s an abuse of 911, let the people on the scene deal with it. If you don’t, you should not only be fired, but should go up on criminal charges for recklessly endangering lives.
A “bad day” is not something that should be an excuse for this kind of behaviour. Once slip, yes, but repeatedly hanging up on the caller, and then telling emergency responders what he did? That’s criminal.
You took the words right out of my mouth… and probably made them better and more coherent haha.
Kodie made some great points – especially with regard to men who make judgments about women who swear. I’ve experienced that as well. It’s completely ridiculous and usually signifies misogyny.
The discipline he received is completely insufficient! Didn’t the video say he’s a sergeant? That’s a supervisory/management role! At the very least (if they didn’t fire him) that man needs to be demoted! She swore – so what? I didn’t hear her swear AT HIM until he went off on her. He called her names and only made it worse! As a cop, he should know how to diffuse situations like that. Makes me wonder what he does on a domestic violence call.
Watching this, I’m embarrassed to admit that I live in Michigan. Maybe the Lincoln Park Police Department needs to hear how people really feel about this guy.
Just another power hungry official who thinks he has to have complete control over everyone. I cant believe he hung up on her. That alone should cost him his job. Someone could be dying and he hangs up on her because she curses. That’s one of the most irresponsible things I have ever seen. I am amazed. He has no regard what so ever for the person’s who needs assistance. That’s unacceptable, he is not fit to wear a badge.
doesn’t surprise me one bit, its just too bad we don’t have more police misconduct on tape or video
believe me,i know from personal experience cops do a lot of very dirty things especially in smaller towns and 99% of the time never held accountable for their actions……might sound bad but most officers ive met (NOT ALL), are nothing but power hungry bullies.
As a former EMS worker, and dispatcher, I am completely shocked by what I saw. Dispatchers are trained how to deal with things like this, and to expect when someone is calling 911. People panic, it is a natural response to a crisis.
Geez – this kind of thing keeps me up at night. Cops with enough power to screw with your life and the safety of your loved ones all because he think the world revolves around him.
A bad day? You’ve got to be kidding me. This is no mistake. This is criminal negligence. I think he should be fired, sued, and prosecuted for endangering a life. Her dad could have died. For all he knew, there was a gun at her head and her home was being invaded. On top of everything, he should lose his reputation and become a public laughingstock for his “sensitivity” to a cuss word. NO EXCUSE FOR THIS!!!!! NONE!!!!!