Today's Chicago Sun-Times carries an article about Al Jourdan's call to 9-1-1 about Pagano's imminent suicide on May 7. Jourdan told a dispatcher that he got a call from a "gentleman" who was threatening to walk in the railroad tracks. Who calls a friend of 25 years a "gentleman"? Jourdan said he knew where Pagano's car, house keys and suicide note were. Jourdan's words were so carefully chosen as to cause me to wonder if he had delayed calling 9-1-1 to get all his words lined up and ready for the dispatcher.
Sheriff Nygren had tried to withhold the 9-1-1 tape, when the Better Government Association (BGA) requested it. When it was finally released, Jourdan's home address and cell phone number were removed. Why cares about that information?
Jourdan told the dispatcher that she could check his qualifications with "Keith" (Sheriff Nygren), "Andy" (Undersheriff Zinke), and "Howie" (courthouse security chief Parth).
The dispatcher called him "Al", which seemed a little familiar (and strange).
Why didn't Jourdan call the Crisis Line when Pagano was depressed the night before? He said he sat with Pagano until 2:15AM, after which he thought Pagano was "OK". Maybe if he had called the Crisis Line, a trained social worker would have recognized the suicide risk and ordered Pagano hospitalized.
Pagano was very matter-of-fact in his phone call - very controlled, very deliberate. He sounded like he was giving orders at a meeting. Where was he when he called? It almost sounded like he was talking with someone else at the same time as he was talking with the dispatcher.
Why did he wait 10-12 minutes to call 9-1-1?
For the Sun-Times article go to www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/2669132,CST-NWS-pagano03.article
You never know who is interested…
3 months ago
9 comments:
I had significant amount of training in crisis intervention so with that in mind I see it as inappropriate to sit back now and arm chair this thing. What if, what if. What if your aunt had a beard? Would she be your uncle?
I'm sure that as a friend, Al Jourdan thought he was doing the right thing and probably has emotional regrets over it now. These negative inquiries do nothing except sell newspapers and I see it as an evasion of a private matter. Too many people think they have a right to everything regardless the sensitivity of the information. Pagano unfortunately chose a very public and maybe symbolic method for his death.
If you call the crisis line, they in turn call the police agency. They do not go to crisis scenes except in rare instances when requested by the police. Again, it’s second guessing.
The entire situation is sad when anyone thinks that suicide is the only option. Too many people are negatively affected.
I wasn't clear that I meant Jourdan should have called the Crisis Line earlier, when he was babysitting Pagano. Wasn't he there twice, early in the evening and then in the middle of the night?
He thought Pagano was "OK" when he left after 2AM.
Did you sleep through your significant amount of training? Of course, you review interventions! How else do you learn from the experience and improve?
Gus, I never said there was not value in reviewing. Let me be clear. I see no value for you and the mainstream media to have access to private suicide notes for nothing more than sensational hype.
Mental health professionals can, and I’m sure have, reviewed the information and maybe gleaned some worth from it, but what right does a blogger have to intrude into a family’s heartache?
Playing this in the media is nothing more that Gladiator mentality. Morbid curiosity at best.
Nota, you've got to work for the McHenry County Sheriff's Department! You are pretty good at "deflect and swerve".
Where did you see here that anyone wanted to see the suicide notes? Not in anything I wrote!
What I did say what that Al Jourdan should have called the Crisis Line when he first thought Phil Pagano was suicidal. Then you let the professionals evaluate the situation. Had he called the Crisis Line and had a social worker responded, Mr. Pagano might have been hospitalized, and perhaps he'd be alive today.
Al Jourdan made a huge error! And it doesn't take a Monday morning quarterback to figure that one out.
NWH dated 9-4-2010 "The sheriff’s office would not release Pagano’s letters to family as part of the Northwest Herald’s FOIA request. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office last week upheld the denial, concluding that the letters were private and did not have any news value."
Reading another blog site, there was a list of seven news agencies and the BGA that that had requested and were denied the notes.
As I stated "I see no value for you and the mainstream media to have access to private suicide notes for nothing more than sensational hype."
I stand by my comment and there is nothing I said which circumvented the topic. I think for the health of the Pagano family, the issue should be put to bed and their scars allowed to heal.
For the record I've never met, spoken to or had any knowledge of Phil Pagano prior to reading about him in the paper. That being said, I fail to see the relevance of what the 911 recordings or any notes have, other than morbid curiosity.
OK I'm outahere
Nota, not sure why you persist in saying the suicide notes should be released. I myself did not suggest the notes should be released.
However, Al Jourdan's sitting with Pagano until 2AM, leaving him alone, and then waiting 10-12 minutes after Pagano's phone call just before he walked in front of the train bear close examination.
I suspect almost any crisis intervention counselor will find fault with all three of those actions, although most will keep their mouths shut about it.
The sheriff improperly stonewalled the media and the BGA by withholding the 9-1-1 call. No problem with deleting Jourdan's address and phone. The balance is important public record.
There is information that is one's private domain and should always remain private for the sake of family members. Theres no reason anyone needs to dig their nose into this for their own sick amusement. (yes frank, you!)
Pagano embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the public, and when the public was asking "why" he chose suicide. Of all the friends and relatives he could have called, why did Pagano select the powerful former head of the IL GOP and member of the RTA board, Al Jourdan, to call the night before his death, and again, only minutes before his death? What did they talk about until the wee hours of the morning? Why did Al Jourdan wait ten to twelve minutes after a suicidal Pagano called him, to then place a call to 911? Al Jourdan should have been grilled by unbiased law enforcement officials after this event. Instead, he was treated to a lightweight interview by sheriff's police, while accompanied by Jourdan's lawyer, and political supporter of the sheriff, Mark Gummerson.
Hans, right you are. A person's unlisted home phone no., PO Box, DATE, Social Security No., D/L No., medical records - all private information.
Now, about the 9-1-1 call when he tried to pump himself up in front of the dispatcher about contacting "Keith, Andy or Howie"? Ande his knowledge of the location of the car, car keys, suicide notes?
"Keith" was stupid to attempt to withhold the contents of the 9-1-1 call.
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