March 23, 200521 yr :finger Trooper To 911 Caller: 'Too Bad' LISBON, Conn. -- A Connecticut state trooper has been suspended for 15 days without pay after he was heard on a 911 tape saying "too bad" to a caller seeking help for a man injured in a motorcycle accident. State police said the dismissive answer by Trooper Robert Peasley did not affect the response time to the accident. Justin Sawyer, 21, died of a severe head injury a week after the crash last August. Peasley was suspended on Monday. Russell Shepard, a friend of Sawyer's, called 911, which was routed to the state police barracks in Montville, Conn. When he reported the accident, Peasley said, "Yeah ... too bad," and hung up. Shepard said he was shocked, believing he reached a wrong number. Another friend made a second call. "Yeah," the officer responded. "Help will get there. Shouldn't be playing games." A third emergency call was answered by a different dispatcher, who asked about Sawyer's condition and advised those nearby to not touch him. "I am absolutely outraged every time I hear that 'too bad' and then click," said Sawyer's father, Jim Sawyer. "I only know that I would have felt a whole lot more comfortable if I had heard people responding on the end of that 911 call with some heart and caring." State police said the comments by Peasley, an 18-year-veteran, were unprofessional, and the agency apologized if "our actions added to the family's pain."
March 23, 200521 yr When this is your world and you see it every day, gallows humor takes over. My wife worked in hospital ER and they would use humor to cope with the stress. That of course never escaped to the patients or their families and wasn't their true feelings, just a mask. or maybe he was drunk
March 23, 200521 yr When I saw this story on the news I was absolutely shocked the guy wasn't fired. I mean there is no way that jackass should still have a job.
March 24, 200521 yr QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Mar 23, 2005 -> 05:58 PM) When I saw this story on the news I was absolutely shocked the guy wasn't fired. I mean there is no way that jackass should still have a job. My thoughts exactly... How the hell can a guy who says to bad to a severe accident still have a job, he obviously doesnt have a heart so take the job from him too...
March 24, 200521 yr Maybe he said it in green? I think everyone deserves a second chance. If he has a clean record, I'd keep him on and trust he doesn't make the same mistake twice. Phrases I heard behind the scenes in an ER Pass the Bible, he's studying for the final . . . Gomer (he's gone, no hope) We wasted clean sheets on a guy whose going to die in a couple minutes? These were all dedicated, caring people who entered a profession to help people and used gallows humor to cope. I know a pediatric oncology nurse who used whatever he could find in the narcotic cabinet.
March 24, 200521 yr Tex I disagree with you taking this just as some troopers joke. They aired all three 911 calls on CNN (at least I think it was) and it sure as heck didn't seem like a joke to me. I don't care how stupid the kid on the motorcycle was it's not his job to give social commentary. When I call 911 I sure as hell expect to here someone taking my call seriously. Edited March 24, 200521 yr by Jeckle2000
March 24, 200521 yr QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 24, 2005 -> 12:15 AM) Maybe he said it in green? I think everyone deserves a second chance. If he has a clean record, I'd keep him on and trust he doesn't make the same mistake twice. Phrases I heard behind the scenes in an ER Pass the Bible, he's studying for the final . . . Gomer (he's gone, no hope) We wasted clean sheets on a guy whose going to die in a couple minutes? These were all dedicated, caring people who entered a profession to help people and used gallows humor to cope. I know a pediatric oncology nurse who used whatever he could find in the narcotic cabinet. Yeah, that is just the way some people have learned to cope. Life can be a rough trip.
March 24, 200521 yr QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Mar 23, 2005 -> 06:22 PM) Tex I disagree with you taking this just as some troopers joke. They aired all three 911 calls on CNN (at least I think it was) and it sure as heck didn't seem like a joke to me. I don't care how stupid the kid on the motorcycle was it's not his job to give social commentary. When I call 911 I sure as hell expect to here someone taking my call seriously. I thought it was a single instance of him saying Too Bad. If there was a second case, then his one chance was up.
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