Gina Conteh’s most recent failure as a 911 dispatcher has been plastered over every local television news station in town. CBS 46 has been first in breaking pretty much every element of this tragic story, but I believe there is at least one element we have not focused on in depth.
If you spend enough time as a 911 dispatcher or as a cop, you will inevitably develop some psychological luggage that can be difficult and in some cases impossible to lose. To put this in personal terms, I was a Police Officer for more than a decade. During that time I bared witness to things no one in their right mind would ever want to see. Somewhere in the dark recesses of my gray matter is a room filled to the brim with ‘luggage’. And we’re not talking carry-on sizded items here folks. We’re talking specially made steamer trunks. Any shrink would have a field day if they ever got in there, but over the years I have successfully booby-trapped the entrance. So consider this … Any 911 dispatcher who’s been on the job for any length of time is going to have a certain amount of square footage devoted to their luggage as well, and this can wear you out.
During the course of any single day, a 911 operator is taking dozens of calls from frightened people begging for help. The caller is rarely calm and rarely thinking clearly. As a dispatcher you must reassure them. You have to maintain your cool so you can help them. And you have to get the information right. So how emotionally draining do you think it would be if you’re the dispatcher listening to someone screaming for help on the phone. How difficult do you think it is to get every detail correct? Now take in to account language barriers, regional accents and education levels. Maybe it’s a mother gasping for breath to get the words out that her child has just been hit by a car. Maybe it’s a Police Officer you know who’s just been shot and is lying alone in the street somewhere bleeding out. Think of a time that was emotionally draining and/or stressful for you. Maybe you found out your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend was cheating on you? Or maybe it was something as simple as a major argument with your parents or spouse. Maybe you were the victim of a crime? When the dust settled, do you remember how tired you were? Did you get all the facts right the first time? Now try doing that for eight to twelve hours a day, five days a week. The way I see it, Ms. Conteh made a mistake. She sent help to the wrong address. A human error. A bad one, but a human error. We have heard nothing thus far that suggests any malicious intent on her part and she will have to live with the truly unfortunate consequences of her actions. The death of Darlene Dukes is tragic on so many levels.
But here’s the flip side of the argument. There is absolutely no excuse for what Gina Conteh did. Policy dictated that breaks were to be given on a regular basis to combat fatigue. Also keep in mind that we aren’t talking about the employee of the year here. Based on what CBS 46 uncovered, Gina Conteh’s personnel file was more than two thousand pages thick, filled with countless reprimands for a list of things that read more like a list of all the things you could do to be immediately fired. Physical altercations with co-workers, sleeping on the job, not answering calls, not responding to calls … and the list goes on.
But here’s the topper to it all. Ms. Conteh wants to go before the Personnel Board to get her job back???!! I think Ms. Conteh has been justifiably raked through the coals by the print and broadcast media (maybe even a little too much), but if the city or county even thinks about giving this woman her job back … or worse … comes to some ’settlement’ with her to kill the bad publicity … Well then that’s an even bigger story. The best thing Ms. Conteh can do for herself is to quietly evaporate into the night and find another profession. The best thing the Dispatch Center can do, is agree to an interview with us, answer the tough questons, fix the problems and move on.
Well Bill, Ms. Conteh is before the review board (even as I type this) and there’s no telling how they’ll vote. You would think that at some point over the past few years there was enough evidence (2000+ pages) to fire this employee. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she was placed on probation (again) for the 617th time.