Detroit Must Re-Hire Fired 911 Operator

[Maxine1958]

http://www.freep.com/article/2009070...d-911-operator-

Well I know where I'll be looking for a dependable job!

[EastsideAl]

That story doesn't really tell you anything. On the surface it sounds outrageous, but I'd like to know what the basis for the arbitrator's decision was. Other than the fact of the reinstatement, the rest of it is stuff we already know. So this story leaves out the most important part of the actual story itself.

[rjk]

Yeah, that article leaves you with more questions than it answers.

[Meddle]

the rest of it is stuff we already know.

Cliff-Notes version?

[punky1]

Anyone know if the arbitrator's justification for the decision can be acquired by a FOIA request and if so where to make the request? Why didn't the news media dig a bit deeper?

[Gsgeorge]

Anyone know if the arbitrator's justification for the decision can be acquired by a FOIA request and if so where to make the request? Why didn't the news media dig a bit deeper?

Do they ever? The Freep and DetNews are notoriously thin on information, especially when it comes to controversial issues. Freep gets credit for the text message revelations, but they'll never say a word about Maroun, DEGC, Bing's silence, city-wide corruption, etc -- or at least it is underreported. Then you have pieces like this that just infuriate people at first, but they leave out incredibly important details or backstory.

[thecarl]

while i defend unions, i do not defend unions defending bad behavior. it happens all too often, and from the appearances of it, this is just another case.

[mjs]

In this WJR clip with Warren Evans, it sounds like the arbitrator punished the department for initially giving her the benefit of the doubt before a larger investigation could be done. The reason for the decision scares me even more than the decision itself. This woman did her job so poorly that a jury convicted her of a misdemeanor. There's no policy requiring the 911 operator to call the house back until they reach an adult?
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...fired_aft.html

[detroitbred]

My daughter is a certified 911 dispatcher, looking for her first job in that field...tough time with every city and municipality cutting back or not hiring. What that little boy went through should never happen. Regardless of whether or not the operator thought it was a prank, I beleive they should always send help first and worry about that later..........as we know, someones life depended on that and now the child is without his mother. He was obviously taught that calling 911 was what to do in case of an emergency and the dispatcher failed him. She should never work at that job again, she has poor judgement.

[leland_palmer]

http://freep.com/article/20090710/NE...is-back-on-job

[Buy American]

while i defend unions, i do not defend unions defending bad behavior. it happens all too often, and from the appearances of it, this is just another case.

I agree.

To play the devils advocate though...in the lifetime career of a dispatcher for the fire department or police department, there are so many false calls, children playing on the phone, teenagers reporting false events that sometimes the operator gets a bit hardened to those particular calls. While screening a false alarm, someone who truly needs help could die. Sometimes these calls are all lumped into one catagory....false.