I made an error last week.
I forgot that people will jump to conclusions.
It seems some folks have been under the impression that the former Carter County EMS employee who was arrested for inappropriate activities with a minor was an employee with them up until that incident.
I need to be 100 percent clear here; he was not employed with Carter County EMS at the time of his arrest. I spoke with executive director Rick Loperfido on Monday, and Loperfido confirmed that Campbell had not been employed by the service for quite some time – nearly a decade in fact.
Since leaving Carter County Emergency Ambulance Campbell has worked for ambulance services in neighboring counties and as a health and safety consultant.
Nowhere in my coverage did I say that Campbell was fired by the local ambulance service because of the arrest.
But what I did say was that he is a former employee (he is) and that he had been arrested for charges related to inappropriate activity with minors (he was). If that gave some folks the impression that he was fired by Carter County EAS because of this arrest, that was not my intention.
My only intention was to portray the relevant facts, and I stand firm in my belief that his role as a first responder was relevant.
Here is how the story unfolded. (I’m giving you a peek behind the curtain here.) I received a tip about the arrest, and I followed up on it.
I’d actually finished typing up my arrests report earlier that day and was considering saving any additions for the following week’s paper. Then I got a message.
I looked into it, and it checked out.
Campbell had been arrested, just as the tipster pointed out. He’d been arrested for activity that matched the activity the person passing the tip communicated to me. And, when I looked into it, Campbell was an emergency worker and had previously worked with the county’s emergency ambulance service, again just as the tipster pointed out.
So, I noted all of that in the story.
What I should have been explicit about was that he had not worked in the county for quite some time.
I should have realized that, in the lack of clear indication to the contrary, some folks would make the assumptions that they made.
I’ve been in this business too long to make any excuse. I should have thought about it, and I didn’t.
But you may be asking yourself why Campbell’s career choice or former employers should matter at all. Why should I even mention that? What’s the point?
Let me tell you that, on this point at least, my reasoning was clear. It was not a mistake pointing out his role as an emergency worker, or his former role doing so within the county.
Our county’s EMTs, like other first responders, maintain a certain status in the community. They are folks we rely on. Folks we tell our kids to look up to and to trust.
They are the people into whose hands we deliver the very lives of our family members – counting on them to do what is in their best interest. The best interest of their physical health, to be sure, but also their mental wellbeing.
When someone in that first responder role betrays that trust – be they firefighter, police officer, or EMT – it’s newsworthy. It’s notable. And it’s important.
It’s important because there are people who might have looked to that role as an indicator of someone’s integrity and character. It’s important because there is a level of trust implicit in those roles, and when someone breaks that trust, the community has a right to know.
It’s entirely possible that Campbell will be exonerated. If he is, we will report it as quickly as we learn of it.
But as of now he stands accused, and arrested. That’s part of the public record for anyone to see.
And it’s newsworthy.