Firefighter Accused Of Showing Video Of Crash Victim Around Town

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: WSVTV

Firefighter Accused Of Showing Video Of Crash Victim Around Town

SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. -- A local family said they are reeling after finding out that a local firefighter is accused of videotaping their daughter’s body at the scene of an accident and then showing it around town.

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The county did not tell Philips much about the situation, but the family said that investigators told them that a firefighter at the scene of the accident shot the video. The family said they were told the firefighter talked about the video and shared it by text message with patrons at a local bar.

The family said one of the people who received the video recognized Dayna and called her family.

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On July 17, Kempson-Schacht was driving on Georgia Highway 19-41 where it bypasses downtown Griffin when she lost control, ran off the road and slammed into trees. Crosses now mark the spot where she died.

“(It was) a very violent, very horrific crash,” said the victim’s father, Jeffrey Kempson.

Her parents, Jeffrey and Lucretia Kempson, said they thought that was the darkest day of their life until two-and-a-half months later they got a call that cell phone video of their daughter’s severely injured body at the crash was being shown around town by a firefighter who shot the video with his personal phone.

On the video, which Channel 2 Action News chose not to air, a person can be heard describing the scene and saying, “Look at that piece of skull right there on the console.”

“She was an angel. She was my angel,” said the victim’s mother, Lucretia Kempson.

Read more: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/25437031/detail.html

[Dogtown]

1. Ghoul n/t

[MineralMan]

2. That firefighter should be summarily fired.

No question about it. I know if he'd been on the department where my father was Chief, he'd be off the department instantly. That's just plain wrong.

[Ferret Annica]

30. He should be blacklisted as a firefighter

He needs to be made an example of. This is revolting and unethical behavior by him.

[Lance_Boyle]

3. At least they're not suing, as I'm not sure they have a valid cause to do so.

If they do, then the families of everyone in those highway gore flicks they show in driver's ed could do the same.

The firefighter may well be in violation of department policy and should be held to account by his employer.

[Dogtown]

11. Waivers

I'm sure the families in those productions signed waivers, in support of the educational cause of the film.
Also, those films weren't circulated for laughs by individuals betraying the public trust.


I believe the family has a very definite case and should pursue it.

[Lance_Boyle]

13. What's their case?

"He hurt our feelings" is not sufficient. If he violated department policy the guy will probably lose his job. That's punishment enough. I'm just glad to see that FOR ONCE the family doesn't appear to view his stupid action as their KACHING! moment. Don't see that very often these days.

[msanthrope]

16. Actually--"he hurt our feelings" is a cause of action, and when you

have a body involved--such as a mishandling of a loved one's remains, then you have a cause of action in all 50 states.

[bettyellen]

22. i hope they do sue, it's the only was the emt's managers will learn anything at all from this

if it costs them, and it should. this was a horrible thing to do to the family.

[Throckmorton]

27. The tort of outrage

or "Intentional Inflection of Emotional Distress".

More to follow I'm sure.

[Dogtown]

28. OH! "Frivolous lawsuits".

I wondered what right-wing meme you were planning to disrupt this thread with.

Gosh, you're so sly!

The problem with trolling is subtlety. If you stay beneath radar, you're ineffective, but if you have an impact, you get banned. Must be somewhat frustrating.

[njlib]

4. Does HIPAA apply to fire and police personnel?

I'm a new LPN, currently working in a nursing home, and a resident's privacy is taken very seriously.

[deathrind]

18. Yes it does...

I am on an ERT/MRT team where I work and we are not to discuss any call outs with anyone.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. no thought given to consequences - horrible

very sad for him as a person, and how disappointing that someone could become so indifferent to human loss as to carnival sideshow a video around town for attention

[nyc 4 Biden]

6. disgusting human.

lock him up.

[msanthrope]

7. Sue him and his employer.

Because there's no way that sick fuck wasn't making that video in full view of others, while on the clock.

[LaurenG]

8. It takes a very desensitized and insensitive person to do something like that

I would have probably broken down and cried once I was done throwing up, there would be no way I would have thought to tape it.

Who in their right mind does stuff like this?

[Hulk]

9. "firefighters" are humans too....

This is a tough one for people to swallow sometimes. Yes....teachers are humans. Soldiers are humans. Police are humans. Firefighters are humans. Religious leaders are humans.

And as "humans"...there will ALWAYS be a cross section of disgusting, sick bastards that make up a number of their members...and these sick bastards will rape your children, kill innocents, abuse the weak and vulnerable, and take advantage of others for the sheer joy of it all.

It's sad. This jack ass needs to be found out and FIRED after due process. We don't need them in our ranks of safety and education icons. They are a disgrace to their profession...but we have to patiently weed them OUT.

[Nordmadr]

10. If I was her father, there is no telling what I would do to him.

If it didn't include doing him severe bodily harm, it would certainly include ruining him in any way I could.

[gaspee]

12. Just when I thought

I'd heard it all (or at least a lot of it) someone shocks me. Unconscionable.

[Heywood J]

14. Aside from the family's grief and the impropriety of it all,

do the dead have privacy rights?

[msanthrope]

21. Yes. You do not lose certain privacy rights merely as a dead person.

Mileage varies per state.

[ManiacJoe]

24. Federal HIPAA laws.

[MilesColtrane]

15. I'd send police to check that guy's refrigerator.

He seems to enjoy death, just like a serial killer.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Should probably check out his computer as well...

He probably has an interesting collection that he shares with other like-minded degenerates...

[Zax2me]

17. Macabre

Sick at the very least, and unprofessional.
This firefighter needs some time off, maybe permanently.

[kimi]

19. This absolutely blows me away

I've known and worked with firefighters, and every single one of them is a model of competence and propriety on the job. Cannot comprehend this happening, in view of others working the scene, it's nauseating. Yes, everyone is human, and there are gonna be a few bad ones in every bunch. But still . . .

Just shocking. :(

[Moosepoop]

20. Here's a similar incident from 2009

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/04/ny.facebook.corpse/

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A New York City emergency medical technician is facing misdemeanor charges after being accused of taking a picture of a female murder victim and then posting it to his Facebook page.

Mark Musarella, 49, was in court Thursday awaiting arraignment on charges of misdemeanor official misconduct. The retired New York Police detective is accused of posting the picture of a 26-year-old woman's corpse. The woman was found strangled with a hair-dryer cord March 30 on Staten Island, according to authorities, and a 28-year-old man has been charged in her death.

According to Musarella's lawyer, Edward J. Pavia Jr., the appearance of the photo on the social networking site was a technical mistake and not a morbid act. Pavia said years of working as a detective instinctively led Musarella to take the picture after he was called to the scene of the death.

<snip>

When asked how a photo could accidentally be posted to a Facebook page, Pavia said his client sent the photo along with many others on his camera phone without realizing it was still there.

Photos or video at crime/accident scenes should only be taken by the police who are on the scene and actively investigating, not by any EMT (whether a former police officer or not).

[MadMaddie]

23. Wouldn't that fall under "tampering with evidence"?

[petronius]

25. There's a lawsuit against the CA Highway Patrol as well, from a 2006 wreck

Investigation photos were emailed by CHP employees to their friends, and of course the pictures 'escaped' into the rest of the web. The sick part is that people (not the CHP workers) later emailed the photos back to the dead girl's parents...

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/court-244256-chp-family.html

[Javaman]

26. Another example of the nations slide into moral and ethical ambivalence.

moron* let the way.

[indypaul]

29. Once again a firefighter has only two basic duties

1. The protection of life.
2. The protection of property.

Seems this firefighter has violated both of those duties
along with his departmental duties and/or rules. He should
be disciplined and at the very least forced to apologize to
this family, to his department and the public for this
gross violation of his duties.