The State of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information commission has ordered the town of Newtown to release the 911 calls they received on the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. The purpose of obtaining these calls is to decide if their content should be made available to the public. There has been opposition by the families of the victims and their supporters, for this material to be accessible to anyone seeking a request. Included in this concern are photos depicting the scene after the tragedy. For years now, 911 calls and crime scene photos have made their way into mainstream media and the internet. We are taught to call 911 only when there is a true emergency to report. Dispatchers then notify the appropriate personnel to the scene. The purpose of the call is to alert police, fire, and medical responders, not for the media, print, or internet reporting.
As the years have gone by, more and more of these calls have been played on network news and talk shows. The fear, anxiety, and sense of helplessness often is heard as the individual at the end of the phone line is reaching out for assistance. One is often left to wonder what purpose is gained by hearing these voices in distress. Does it help in any way? Does it make us understand the trauma those individuals suffered? Do seeing pictures of victims give us, the public, any more information? There are reports that some of the first responders at the scene of the shooting are suffering from mental stress. What benefit will they, the families, and the public obtain from seeing the images or hearing those cries for help. This is not one of the many nightly dramas that opens each episode with a horrific crime scene. What happened is real, with real people, affecting real lives. The effects don’t end in an hour, but are everlasting.
We as a public are not privy to everything. We abide by doctor-patient confidentiality. Clergy do not have to report information shared from a member of their congregation. The names and pictures of juveniles are not reported in regards to a variety of issues. The identity of abuse victims are not revealed in the press or other media. The media themselves are protected from exposing sources in the reporting of a story.
Does this really have to be debated? Do the families, already dealing with an impossible amount of grief, have to spend time fighting to have calls and photos blocked? What are we possibly going to find out that we already don’t know? It doesn’t change what happened. The images that remain with us should be the smiling faces of the beautiful, innocent children and the 6 caring adults who lost their life on that day. The information in those calls and in those pictures should be restricted to law enforcement and the courts. The victims and their families have rights too, and their rights should be respected. May they be granted the peace they deserve.
Simple Sensibilities 