It’s reasonable to assume that police and 911 emergency operators are sympathetic, trained professionals, that know how to handle stressed-out callers respectfully, who in most cases are requesting help in a life-threatening emergency.
But what happened to this Michigan teenager, she was arrested instead for allegedly swearing during a 911 call while her father was having a seizure.
Adrianne Ledesma, a 17-year-old resident of Lincoln Park, Michigan, was helping her father recuperate from brain surgery when he began having a seizure. Adrianne did what anyone would do in that situation, immediately contacting 911.
“What the f***,” while the phone was ringing, but Officer Robert McFarland picked up at exactly that moment.
She asked McFarland for an ambulance to be sent to her address, to which he replied, “Well okay, first of all, you don’t need to swear over 911 and slow down.”
As her father suffered on the floor, Adrianne was unable to get through to emergency responders. Frightened and in a panic, Adrianne dialed 911 a second time.
“Are you going to swear again, you stupid a**?” McFarland responded.
“OK, send me a f****** ambulance!” Adrianne responded, frustrated.
“No! You’re not going to get one!” McFarland replied, presumably referring to an ambulance.
Adrianne tried several more times to get an ambulance sent to her house, before eventually having her call transferred to the fire desk by McFarland, who told them this as he did so, “I kept getting a 911 call from this filthy-mouthed girl that wanted a rescue, I never found out what it was and I was never able to transfer it over to you.”
As he dispatched a squad car to her home, McFarland told them the same thing.
More details of this story from ‘OpposingViews’:
Adrianne rushed to the police department to get help, as she was unaware McFarland had dispatched a patrol vehicle. Her brother stayed by their father’s side as they waited for help.
When she arrived at the headquarters, McFarland said to her, “Are you the girl with the foul mouth?”
McFarland then proceeded to arrest Adrianne on the spot for disorderly conduct and abusing 911, a charge that doesn’t exist.
The officer refused to comment on the incident when confronted by 7 Action News. He was suspended for two weeks without pay following the incident and was sent for additional training.
Lincoln Park’s chief of police said the incident was “not the station’s finest moment.”
Watch the video report here: 7 Action News/YouTube,
Source: OpposingViews, Lybio