{"id":1541,"date":"2011-10-18T09:04:19","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T13:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2011-10-18T09:04:19","modified_gmt":"2011-10-18T13:04:19","slug":"mccarthy-addresses-crash-hears-residents%e2%80%99-worries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=1541","title":{"rendered":"McCarthy addresses crash, hears residents\u2019 worries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following <\/em><\/strong><\/span>Kennett Police Chief Albert McCarthy\u2019s seizure-induced crash, t<\/em><\/strong>ownship<\/em><\/strong> residents gathered to hear his side of the story, ask questions
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By P.J. D’Annunzio, <\/strong>Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kennett Police Chief Albert McCarthy.<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT \u2014 As a police chief, Albert McCarthy is constantly under the microscope of the public eye. <\/span><\/p>\n

Knowing this all too well, and as a result of his Oct. 4 collision with another vehicle, McCarthy addressed the Township Board of Supervisors and a room packed full of township residents Monday night, to shed light on the nature of the accident that has garnered attention all across the Delaware Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn August of 2008 I was building the Kennett Food Bank\u2026while I was building that I severely slammed my head into a steal I-beam,\u201d McCarthy said of the origin of his condition, \u201cI went home, took a couple aspirin, and went to bed. The following night, about 27 hours later, I had some kind of attack in my sleep. I had no idea what was going on there \u2014 I was told that they couldn\u2019t wake me up. Two Kennett Square EMTs, two Longwood medics, and one Kennett Square policeman took me to Chester County Hospital where I went through a series of tests: they didn\u2019t find anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey suggest that I have it followed up,\u201d he continued, \u201cAnd I did, with another neurosurgeon who put me through another series of tests\u2026they said that there\u2019s a mark on the brain which indicates that something hit me in the head, and that it may be responsible for this [the 2008 attack]. I decided I needed another<\/em> neurosurgeon and went through another<\/em> series of tests\u2026I stayed 24 hours in the hospital. I myself wanted to know what was occurring. My neurosurgeon said ‘I\u2019m going to put you on something [medication] because of this head injury,’ and I was cleared for work, here, as a policeman\u2026both doctors cleared me and notified the supervisors that I was cleared for work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarthy also voluntarily submitted to continue monitoring by a neurosurgeon for three month intervals, and claimed his doctors saw no worsening of his condition. Assuming he was healthy, McCarthy was naturally confused by the episode that caused him to rear end the vehicle in front of him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this occurred I had, what he [the neurosurgeon] thinks is an absent seizure. That means you have a seizure for a second, and you can\u2019t perceive what\u2019s going on around you, and you can\u2019t respond. That\u2019s probably what happened here because I don\u2019t remember passing out and he doesn\u2019t believe that I did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarthy stated that his neurosurgeon adjusted his medication. His\u00a0doctor\u2019s opinion is that he \u201cprobably\u201d will not suffer another absent seizure. However, McCarthy was obligated to notify the Pennsylvania DMV about his condition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI stopped driving as soon as it happened,\u201d McCarthy said, having not been told legally that he was unable to drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Albert is on administrative duty we have a problem with local police presence,\u201d Supervisors Chair Allan Falcoff said, \u201cWe are considering hiring a temporary part time officer to provide some services during this period.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The first Kennett Township resident to voice concerns over the issue was Danny Spriggs \u2014 a former Secret Service agent \u2014 seemingly dissatisfied with the feasibility of the township\u2019s one man police force.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow does one person enforce local ordinances and have the public generally thinking that there\u2019s a law enforcement presence. How does that work?\u201d he asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other residents, such as Diane Duffy, expressed concerns over McCarthy\u2019s most recent medical report:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctors said this \u2018probably\u2019 won\u2019t happen again. Does that not concern everyone in this room, including the supervisors?\u201d she asked, \u201cThat this probably won\u2019t happen again; that we have an officer who\u2019s responsible for driving a vehicle, to protect people in the community, to carry a gun?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Falcoff assured Duffy that the only way to find out for sure was to let time take its course, stating that \u201cWe just have to play that one by ear. We really don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a right answer for that…I think we\u2019re in the middle of a learning experience here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the supervisors meeting progressed, residents continued the line of questioning, debating \u2014 sometimes in heated exchanges with the supervisors \u2014 McCarthy\u2019s fitness for duty, while other still rallied to his defense, stating the adjustment in medication and the passage of time will help to adequately ensure his well-being.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the recent publicity and community focus on the issue has revolved around McCarthy the police chief, the other aspect of the ensuing drama in the township also envelops McCarthy the man:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been exposed to this kind of attention before; I\u2019m a public figure as a police chief,\u201d McCarthy explained, elaborating on the nature of the media frenzy that has encircled around him in weeks past, \u201cBut I\u2019m more concerned with the effect it has on the people around me: like my family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The township board of supervisors is expected to begin their search for a part time officer to supplement Chief\u2019s administrative efforts in the coming weeks, with McCarthy participating in the hiring process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pending further medical notification, McCarthy will remain on administrative duty.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on the history of this issue, see http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=1512<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following Kennett Police Chief Albert McCarthy\u2019s seizure-induced crash, township residents gathered to hear his side of the story, ask questions By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com KENNETT \u2014 As a police chief, Albert McCarthy is constantly under the microscope of the public eye. Knowing this all too well, and as a result of his Oct. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[270,55,268,92],"class_list":["post-1541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-crash","tag-kennett","tag-mccarthy","tag-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}