Retired Philly cop who led call center during 2015 Amtrak derailment: 'Worst scenario'

On the night of May 12, 2015, a northbound Amtrak Northeast Regional train derailed in Port Richmond, killing seven passengers and injuring more than 200.

For Lt. William Schatzle, it was the most challenging night of a long career in the Philadelphia Police Department.

Schatzle, who became a police officer in 1982 and worked in the Communications Bureau for 13 years until he retired in January, said the 911 calls started pouring in almost immediately after the train derailed about 9:30.

"We started receiving calls from passengers on the train, and the biggest problem with that was that it was dark, and they were going to New York, and they didn't know their exact location," said Schatzle, 63. "A lot of them couldn't tell us anything."

Schatzle and the 22 officers in the call center who were under his command that night were honored Wednesday in a ceremony at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 in Northeast Philadelphia. In all, 66 officers and 16 civilian police personnel received merit commendations.

"A lot of times, they don't get the recognition they deserve," Schatzle said of the bureau employees. "Nobody knows the 911 system, what's really there, how hectic it can be. My people, the entire time, we never got anything" in the way of commendations.

The bureau, which operates from Police Headquarters at Eighth and Race Streets, had to pinpoint the derailment site with scant information, using mostly GPS technology from passengers' cellphones, he said.

"We didn't know where these people were," Schatzle said. "It was mayhem. I've been in radio for 13 years. I've been there for police officers being shot and killed, and I have to say this was the worst scenario you could have in radio."

Schatzle had to coordinate a lot of moving parts, ensuring that all of the necessary resources got to the site of the accident: personnel, lighting, ambulances, fire trucks.

That night, Schatzle had to allocate even more resources to a shooting in the West Division and a problem with a SEPTA train near Temple University, he said.

He left work about 2:30 a.m., 41/2 hours after his shift was to have ended at 10 p.m.

"It went on for hours and hours. It was so many people and so much disaster," Schatzle said. "I didn't feel relief until I walked out the door and got in my car to go home."

About 200 people attended the ceremony in the FOP's Heroes Ballroom.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross congratulated the awardees and thanked them and their families.

"You only have to pay attention a little bit to see how difficult it is to do this job," Ross said. "There's not a question in my mind that we're up to the challenge."

mwinberg@philly.com @mwinberg_