Utah hospital nurse roughed up, arrested by cop for doing her job

[vienna]

This is seriously disturbing:

‘This is crazy,’ sobs Utah hospital nurse as cop roughs her up, arrests her for doing her job --

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.eabdcba3a613

This cop was way out of control and way out of line; I'm surprised the nurse has yet to file a lawsuit; if I were treated in that way or if someone in my family were so treated, I'd sue the cop and every SOB connected to him in his chain of command for everything they've got...




<O>

[Dowly]

What a twat.

[Reece]

What an ass, I hope he gets the sack, arrogant pig!!

[Aktungbby]

In Minnesota at least: '(2) a physician, nurse, or other person providing health care services in a hospital emergency department' has 'peace officer status' as well as the police. I can't determine if Utah law has the same designation for its medical care personnel. A bit of a pissing contest over involved authority imho; The patient in question was an off-duty reserve-officer involved in a police chase related collision driving his truck. The blood draw was to be to his benefit not against him in a liability sense.

said “implied consent” has not been the law in Utah since 2007, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the Constitution permits warrantless breath tests in drunken-driving arrests, but not warrantless blood tests. She stressed that the patient was always considered the victim in the case and never was suspected of wrongdoing.

Both the officer and nurse consulted with their respective supervisors/ watch commanders( who actually advised the arrest for interfering) and acted according to superior's decisions. All points go toward the scrupulous nurse's favor here. Forcing a person wrongfully into the vehicle is kidnapping imho. Officer Payne is also in trouble for his on video remark about 'bringing 'good' patients elsewhere and 'the transients' to this facility' in the news report-implying less than equal treatment based on perceived economic status??!! http://www.sltrib.com/news/2017/08/31/utah-nurse-arrested-after-complying-with-hospital-policy-that-bars-taking-blood-from-unconscious-victim/

[vienna]

I also noted Payne had been instructed by his Lieutenant to make the arrest, but I believe a more reasonable, rational person, unlike Payne, would have just put the two higher ups, the nurse's supervisor and the Lieutenant, on the line together and let them sort it out. Instead what they got was the ungodly mess preserved on video. I was also put off by the second cop, who I guess to be a field supervisor, trying real hard to rationalize the behavior of Payne and was very put off by the supervisor's frequent use of the terminology "my law", as in "Your policies are getting in the way of my law"; I didn't know the law was individuated to such a fine degree in Utah; foolish me: I thought there was only one law and that it is the same everywhere in the US...

That nurse deserves a very public and publicized apology from Payne and his superior(s); if he loses his badge, well, it seems like it will be no great loss...




<O>

[Dowly]

Slightly OT, but how do the different "branches" (police, firefighters, EMTs etc.) see each other over in the US? Is there mutual respect between all parties, if they happen to be on scene at the same time?

Asking because I recall seeing few videos over the years where the police have been quite aggressive towards (IIRC) firefighters on scene, one I believe was even cuffed in one instance over seemingly small issue.

Example:

[Schroeder]

Some cops surely seem to be retarded.
When watching police documentaries about US law enforcement I often had a feeling that some officers were on power trips (especially rural sheriffs and their deputies).

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Slightly OT, but how do the different "branches" (police, firefighters, EMTs etc.) see each other over in the US? Is there mutual respect between all parties, if they happen to be on scene at the same time?

Asking because I recall seeing few videos over the years where the police have been quite aggressive towards (IIRC) firefighters on scene, one I believe was even cuffed in one instance over seemingly small issue.

Most of the time we were very respectful of each other, as we often needed support from each other in a variety of situations.

But, sometimes it does not go so well......

I was on a call once, don't remember the nature, but we pulled up at an apartment building. Gentle summer rain falling. PD pulled right in right behind us. We started unloading our gear to head inside, when one of the cops told us we can park there, it was a fire lane. We looked at him like he was crazy, maybe even joking, and proceeded to head inside, when he told us he would write a ticket if we left the truck there. We weren't sure if he was kidding or not, so we radioed for our supervisor to swing by to cover our butts if necessary.

We went in, and treated the patient, who refused transport and signed off. We went back out side, and sure enough, there was a ticket under our wipers. Now note, it was raining, and we had left our wipers on, so the ticket was slowly getting destroyed as the wipers went back and forth.

That's what caused me to laugh at the cop, and apparently he didn't like that. So it quickly started into a yelling match between me and the cop. My partner and his partner were standing on the curb staring at us like they couldn't believe this was happening, I couldn't either.

At this point our Supe rolled in and happened to park between the cop and I, so we were now screaming at each other through the Supe's open windows. He had no idea what he rolled into. Lot's of yelling, and the word arrest was mentioned. That's when I really lost it.

At that point, our parnters got smart. Mine said I was diabetic and was in need of a snack, I almost lost it (laughing) at that, as I knew what he was trying. The cop's partner just pulled the guy away gently.

Threw what was left of the ticket, now just a gooey paper wad, on the ground, got in the squad, and drove off. Never heard anything from it.


Another event happened to a guy a used to work with.

They had dropped off a patient at an ER, and were inside finishing up their paperwork, when their squad decided to drive off without them in it. Apparently a psych patient had walked out the door of the ED, and hopped in the truck.

The cops were called,, and shortly there after, somebody called the cops to say there was a running ambulance parked in their front yard a few blocks from the hospital. So the cops gave the medics a ride over to the their truck. The psych patient got arrested and all was good. Truck was fine, nothing missing.

Until they gave the cop their names for his report. For some reason he decided to run their names over the radio with them standing right there. Turns out one of the medics had an outstanding warrant for something stupid. And he got arrested for it.

Now that case is a cop doing his job too well, he could have just assumed the medics were clean and didn't need to run their names. But instead he chose to do so, in front of them, insulting them (I know I would be). Yes he was correct in doing it, and arresting the guy, but it was bad form.

The first case was just a (young) cop trying to be macho and throw his weight around. He also didn't know when to realize he was in the wrong and back down. I know I worked the guy up by arguing with him, but I was having a rough day and I just didn't want to deal with BS like this, so I vented on him.

That's the problem cops face. They think if they show weakness, people won't respect them, and minor scenarios like this one (and the OP) can snowball into something horrible. In my opinion, law enforcement should start in the field, and if a cop realizes he's made the wrong call, he should be smart enough to admit it, apologize if necessary, and move on.

[Rockstar]

"That nurse deserves a very public and publicized apology from Payne and his superior(s); if he loses his badge, well, it seems like it will be no great loss..."

Spot on.

That lieutenant telling the nurse "If what they do is wrong ...it will all go away? Apparently he must be the training officer too.

[Rockstar]

All the more reason 1033 equipment should be withheld from police departments. This is one area of concern I believe the media really needs to get involved with again and bring to the forefront

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Officer Payne is also in trouble for his on video remark about 'bringing 'good' patients elsewhere and 'the transients' to this facility' in the news report-implying less than equal treatment based on perceived economic status??!!

Payne, who is currently on administrative leave from the police force, was fired on Tuesday from his second job as a part-time ambulance driver.
Gold Cross Ambulance service President Mike Moffitt told Reuters that Payne’s termination followed comments he made on the video suggesting that he would bring transients to University of Utah Hospital, while transporting “good” patients to another facility.

“Those remarks are just not reflective of our company’s philosophy and the service we provide, and because of that behavior we felt we had to separate ways,” Moffitt said. “Those remarks are just not reflective of our company’s philosophy and the service we provide, and because of that behavior we felt we had to separate ways,” Moffitt said

WHA....!!! MR Moffitt reads my posts??!!

[vienna]

^ Well, someone has to...


I heard on the local radio there is audio of Payne being told by his colleagues prior to his meltdown and arrest of the nurse to "let it go" and that some means other than an immediate blood draw would be found/used to accomplish the task...





<O>

[vienna]

An update on the story; sometimes justice is served:

Cop who forcibly arrested nurse for refusing to draw blood is fired --

http://nypost.com/2017/10/10/cop-who...lood-is-fired/

It is pleasing to see appropriate action was taken and the matter was not just swept under the rug; of particular note is the mention of the demotion of the officer's supervisor down to officer; you don't often see discipline extended above the lower ranks...






<O>

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by vienna

This is seriously disturbing:

‘This is crazy,’ sobs Utah hospital nurse as cop roughs her up, arrests her for doing her job --

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.eabdcba3a613

This cop was way out of control and way out of line; I'm surprised the nurse has yet to file a lawsuit; if I were treated in that way or if someone in my family were so treated, I'd sue the cop and every SOB connected to him in his chain of command for everything they've got...




<O>

Agreed

[Platapus]

The police, being in the position to have the most effect on a citizen's constitutional rights, must be held to high standards for misconduct.

At least this officer did not "feel threatened" or the story could have been even worse.