911 tapes show airport police hid woman's death from husband (Carol Gotbaum)

[Hepburn]

CNN is reporting that 911 tapes from the night Carol Gotbaum died in custody at the Phoenix airport show that her husband was frantically trying to warn airport workers that his wife was alcoholic, suicidal and deeply depressed, but neither the airport dispatcher nor the police told him his wife had died an hour earlier.

"I want somebody who's professional to be talking to him and not just blow it to him over the phone because I don't know how he'll react," said one individual speaking on the tapes.

Phoenix police insisted to CNN that Noah Gotbaum was not informed of his wife's death because their protocol is to finish a preliminary investigation before notifying next of kin.

The distraught Gotbaum became disorderly after being told she could not make her flight to a treatment center on September 28. She was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by airport police, who left her alone in a holding cell, where she was found dead a short while later. Gotbaum's brother-in-law called her treatment "inhumane."

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Airport_police_hid_womans_death_from_1012.html

More bullshit from the United Police States of America.

[TheWraith]

1. I wouldn't read too much into this.

It's considered bad form to tell someone about the death of a loved one over the phone unless there's no other option.

[Annces]

2. I agree

They were probably being cautious.

[malaise]

7. She was dead for over an hour.

Did you hear the tapes on Anderson Cooper last night?

[Annces]

9. No I didn't

I am just going on the fact that I know someone that had died in an accident and the police did not want to tell the family over the phone. I don't know what the protocol is though in general.

[TheWraith]

12. An hour isn't a huge amount of time to conduct a preliminary investigation.

Getting medical intervention, contacting the coroner, and running the person's ID are all things you'd want to do before telling anyone that their loved one was dead. If they'd made an error and mis-IDed the body, that's one of those things that can haunt people, and cause massive lawsuits. And even when you were sure, you wouldn't want it to be handled by whatever low-level public contact person the family first happened to get in touch with when looking for their missing member.

[Benhurst]

3. They wanted to wait until they were sure she was very truly really

dead. Move on. There is nothing to see here.

[TheMadMonk]

4. I'm moved to observer that perhaps you might follow your own advice.

And "Move on" rather toss in gratuitous inflammatory twaddle.

If you were serious about preventing unnecessary deaths in custody, you'd concentrate your efforts on the cases where we know what went on and we have evidence to back it up.

This case offers nothing tangible to grasp. All the evidence that is available suggested that the cops acted properly up to the point where sight of Carol is lost.

And whilst what happened subsequent to her death is clearly suspect, much of it can be easily explained by an idiot behind a desk thinking about lawsuits over an undotted i or uncrossed t, rather than a dead human being and a bereaved family. Something which strangely could lend credibility to the reported cause of death. Said idiot, simply callously thinking: "Well she did it to herself. Why should we suffer for some pointless procedural error?"


It may well be that something bad went down after the door closed. However, there is no concrete evidence to support this argument. Just a coverup of "something" which is growing as it unravels. Damning to be sure, but it doesn't prove anything except that the average liar has much in common with a kitten scrabbling at a tile floor as the puddle spreads.

[Richard Steele]

5. A woman dies, the cops' explanation is fantasy-land BS, and the cops withold relevant evidence.

NOTHING to see here- move along!

Pay no attention to that ridiculous "she hung herself with her own handcuffs" explanation
behind the curtain of our LIES, ever-changing testaments, and withheld evidence!

[TheWraith]

6. What evidence has been withheld?

I'd like to know. They've released the security camera footage, the initial reports, now the 911 calls are being made available. What exactly are you saying is being withheld?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TheWraith]

11. Boy, that was an incredibly rude response to a simple question.

And all the OP shows that they didn't immediately tell her husband about her death. That doesn't play well, but as I said earlier, it's a pretty common practice not to tell someone about the death of a loved one casually over the phone if there's any alternative.

[mvccd1000]

10. Yeah, you sure wouldn't want them to spend a few minutes gathering the facts...

... much better just to blurt out, "we're pretty sure your wife is dead. Haven't had a chance to verify the ID or talk to the officers involved yet, but we did want to tell you what we think right away."

C'mon, is it THAT unreasonable to think they might want to run her ID, make sure it's REALLY her, interview everyone involved, and then find someone (a higher-up, a chaplain, someone) who is experienced in breaking this kind of news to a family?

How many questions would YOU have if the police just told you your wife died in custody? I don't think it's unreasonable that the police took somewhere between one and two hours to gather those answers before contacting the family.

[dailykoff]

13. Willkommen to Arizona-Stadt.

If you kiss our ass, we might tell you where we buried your wife. If you don't, you won't make it out of here alive. Enjoy your stay.