Handling of 2 Calls Studied : Deputy Reassigned During 911 Inquiry

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy is no longer answering 911 emergency calls from the Santa Clarita Valley while the department investigates how he handled two calls for help this month, authorities said Monday.

Deputy Jim Greene, a 25-year veteran of the department, has been assigned to other administrative duties at the sheriff’s station in Valencia, Lt. Antonio M. Madrid said.

“The investigation revolves around his handling of 911, and until we find out what the outcome of it is, we will have him doing something else,” Madrid said.

However, Greene’s removal came after Sheriff Sherman Block said, “There is no reason why he shouldn’t be able to take 911 calls.” Block’s comment came Friday during a news conference in which he criticized Greene’s handling of a recent emergency call but praised his past performance.

Madrid said he did not know of the sheriff’s comment but that reassignment is routine during an internal investigation.

Sheriff’s officials last week said Greene hung up on a man trying to report a gang shooting in Newhall. The man believed he was about to be killed. Greene apparently thought there was no authentic emergency and hung up on the frantic caller after saying, “Have a nice day.”

The caller, Jim Finnila, was not injured during the Jan. 20 incident, and officials said a patrol car already had been dispatched to the scene because of an earlier report of the shooting. Still, Block said, Greene used bad judgment in the handling of the call.

Greene, who the sheriff said had become ill over the incident, went on sick leave last week when his handling of the call was publicized. Madrid said he returned to work this week but was assigned duties other than answering 911 calls.

Madrid said the investigation of Greene was widened Monday to include his handling of a Jan. 6 call from Tommie’s Hamburgers in Castaic.

No complaint has been filed in the incident, but Madrid said the investigation was prompted by a story Sunday in The Signal, a Newhall newspaper. According to that story, Greene used profanity and hung up on an employee of a restaurant after she called on a non-emergency line to report that a vagrant would not pay for his food or leave.

Madrid said the department has an obligation to investigate the handling of the call because The Signal has publicized the restaurant employee’s allegations.

Use of Profanity

The newspaper said the unidentified woman, who knows Greene, asked for a patrol car, and the deputy said it would take at least 40 minutes for the car to arrive. When the woman was asked if she was willing to press charges against the vagrant, she said she was unsure, the story said. She said Greene hung up after using profanity and saying that he did not have time to deal with the problem because of more important crime reports, The Signal’s story said.

The restaurant employee said the vagrant then began throwing items in the restaurant, and she called back on the 911 line. Greene answered the call and dispatched a patrol car, which arrived in 15 minutes, authorities said. Madrid said the vagrant, Alphonso Soto, 63, was arrested on suspicion of burglary.

While speaking in general about 911 calls to the department, Madrid indicated that Greene acted properly by not immediately dispatching a car.

“Generically speaking, someone not paying a bill or throwing trash around is not an emergency call,” Madrid said. “We prioritize calls. What citizens think is a priority and what we feel is a priority are often different.”

The caller from the restaurant was not identified on sheriff’s reports or in The Signal. A restaurant employee refused to name the woman, saying the woman had taken time off from work and did not wish to comment.