Comments on: Mistake Left Dead Body in Home For Months

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:15:14 +0000

False…no liability should fall on the dispatcher at all. Officers on scene should have recognized the odor, the flies, the papers and the BODY!! The officers failed big time. Why would you not follow up with the hospital??? How can a civilian see the body inside but multiple officers could not?? Officers responded to the right place at the right time. Done deal. Dispatch is removed from the situation. The officers ending the call on that informatoin regardless of the information being correct or not is not the proper action to take. Follow up should have been done. Who in their right mind would take all the scene evidence and end the call because someone poss. went to the hospital the day prior!!!! Why would you ever assume the subject was still at the hospital!! The police department, the city and the officers involved have no integrity! Hey Chief, nice job! I really hope the dispatcher confronted the “PO’s” involved.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:27:07 +0000

This dispatcher is going to have to own up to some liability on this. Did the officers drop the ball on their side of the court? Heck yeah, but the dispatcher made an error regardless. I get aggravated when we get blamed some how everytime something goes wrong, but we can’t deny responsibility for our own actions. This dispatcher us only one link in a chain of errors in thus situation, but a liable link none the less.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:07:49 +0000

Obviously this is all the dispatcher’s fault for misreading a digit on a computer screen. This has nothing to do with the officers who were physically present at the location and didn’t notice the strong odor and flies that were readily apparent to the neighbors and the gardener….

Even if EMS had responded to that location the day before, that’s no guarantee there isn’t a dead body inside the house. The patient could have been released from the hospital and returned home, or it could be an entirely different person lying dead in the home. Or it could be that the odor is from an accumulation of filth that the elderly resident is no longer physically able to clean up, which would be a good reason to contact an elder affairs agency.

I’d hate to think what might happen if these officers responded to a murder scene. “Whelp, there’s blood everywhere and the neighbors heard screaming, but the dispatcher says we were here yesterday for a domestic dispute and everyone was alive and well, so we’re ten-eight!”

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:17:32 +0000

It always seems to fall back on the dispatchers. If the dispatcher had done this or the dispatcher had done that. Why is it that all the glory goes to the responders but all the negativity falls back on the dispatchers?

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:50:17 +0000

I agree, how did a landscaper see a dead body through a window and an investigating officer did not? Did the officer even get out of the patrol car? Surely the smell and the flies that prompted someone else to call was apparent to the officer? Right?

By: Edward J Scott

Edward J Scott — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:39:09 +0000

It is always easy to say the Dispatcher made the mistake. Did the investigating officer follow up with the hospital to see if the subject was admittted? How did they explain the”piled up mail and newspapers”? How could a landscaper see a dead body in th ewindow that the responding officers did not. I would like to see a follow up article on this investigation to see who gets the final “blame” in this unfortunate incident.