So he’s not only abused his power as an LEO, he also ignored clear directives based on procedures developed in cooperation with that cop’s very own department to desist??
I don’t know about you, but someone who acts like such a loose cannon in the fact of standing lawful orders/procedures has no business being employed in a position in which society assigns him power over others and assigns him a deadly weapon to back it up.
Another thing: A nurse cannot draw blood from anyone, even a consenting patient, without a doctor’s order or an established protocol initiated by an MD or DO. A cop cannot issue a blood draw order to a nurse.
Even if a doctor had been convinced to write the order, it does not mean the nurse must follow it. As nurses, we have the right to refuse to carry out any order we believe is incorrect, unsafe, or illegal. Not only do we have the right to refuse, it’s our duty to do so in the interest of patient safety and privacy.
She not only had her supervisor on speakerphone, she had a printout of the hospital policy that she read to the officer. That’s when he went crazy and grabbed her.
Why didn’t he check with his supervisors while he was waiting for her? How bad is their training for him to believe the she was obstructing justice, as he told her? Who would ever consent to have such an angry man come at them and draw their blood?
In better news, the extra attention this case has gotten has increased donations to the patient’s go fund me page. He was severely burned in the accident.
The trucker is also a reserve policeman back home in Idaho. His boss has thanked the nurse for protecting him.
I commented to S, an attorney, that I hoped this guy would end up as a cart collector at Walmart after this behavior. His emotions seemed to get the better of him and I don’t think he is suited to law enforcement. I hope that nurse gets a great big settlement, but that she continues in nursing. Her demeanor seems well suited to her profession and I would be happy to have her at my bedside.
I recalled there have been bills proposed or possibly enacted that made assaulting a first responder on duty a felony offense with serious penalties including jail time in many parts of the country over the last several years.
Are there any in the jurisdiction this occurred?
Tried to search to see if there are any such laws there, but wasn’t able to find it in my brief googling.
FWIW, this sort of incident is not at all normal. The vast majority of cops treat hospital employees really well, especially those working in ER. They are all too aware that their lives could be in the hands of said workers at a future date, and there is a kindred spirit in that they both face intense, life and death stress as a normal part of their working day.
I have no idea what was going through the cop’s mind. It disturbs me that another cop did not step in and protect the lady. At what point does he stop backing a partner who has clearly gone over the edge?
I don’t think anyone else has mentioned this. This cop isn’t just temperamental and out of control, he’s also petty:
I haven’t seen anything that says he’s been suspended from this other job.
There’s also another police officer, Lt. Tracy who advised Detective Payne to make the arrest for “obstructing the investigation”:
There’s also reports Tracy attempted to use “implied consent” to justify the search without a warrant. Only issue is that “implied concept” has not been legally valid in the state since 2007 and a 2016 Supreme Court ruling stated it cannot be used to take blood:
The desirable kind of law and order requires that the police themselves obey the law and set good examples, so that the general public respects both the law and the police who enforce it.
And the poor victim had nothing to do with the police action… why were they even allowed on the floor?
The gist of the news reports seem to point to the fact this incident started from a head-on collision resulting from a high-speed police chase of the suspect’s vehicle and that this effort to get blood from the crash victim not involved in the chase was meant to see if he had any alcohol/drugs in his system so they could reduce their own potential liability for the accident by trying to argue he had some culpability in the accident.
^^I wondered about that but I’m not sure it was the same jurisdiction. The burned man was airlifted to Salt Lake City. Were the cops who came demanding his blood from the town where the accident occurred?
Also, it was State Troopers who pursued the other vehicles, not local cops. High speed chases are controversial, but they had gotten several 911 calls about an erratic driver. The State Troopers tried to pull him over or block him and he sped away. They gave chase and the crash occurred only 10 seconds later. There was no divider between the opposite directions of traffic. Bad idea to chase that guy.
^ ^
It’s possible the state troopers called in the Salt Lake City cops in to pick up the blood as a form of calling in a favor for either past favors or in the possibility of future ones in terms of helping each other out when they need help in investigating/apprehending suspects who end up in the others’ jurisdiction.
Also, none of the reports I read stated the suspect were being chased by state troopers. Just that the chase was conducted by cops from a different jurisdiction without specifying.
Also, wouldn’t state troopers have jurisdiction over the entire state…including Salt Lake City?
They most certainly do in my city…even if the NYPD and the mayor’s office aren’t always happy about it.
My sources say that obtaining a warrant even at odd hours could have been a matter of 15-30 minutes; judges can be reached by phone, text, email… but a warrant can’t be issued just because a cop wants one. Let me guess… a law-abiding judge might have had an issue with such a request based on the facts presented.
Let’s hope the next headline says “Nurse Kicks Police Power’s Rear End in Court And WINS.”
Funny part is that some reports have stated Detective Payne conceded in the recorded video prior to his violent arrest and assault of the nurse that he had no probable cause to bring to a judge to get the warrant.
Actually, this nurse likely has won a lot for the rest of us. She did an exemplary job and the publicity surrounding this is going to make changes and/or clarify things for many more people than just in her hospital and city. From the referenced article I get the feeling this will not result in long lasting trauma for this nurse- her being correct and recognized for it can counteract the bad incident. A huge thank you to her for doing her job and those who made it public. This reminds us all to have the courage to do what is right and yield to make things easy.
All the cop had to do was put the victim under arrest. He’s a cop, that’s within his power, but he probably knew he had no grounds for it and didn’t want HIS reputation questioned.
They actually had drawn blood for medical treatment, and while they didn’t release the BAC to the police, it probably would have been available later. The cop wanted a blood draw so they could take it for police testing and chain of custody protected evidence.
I also don’t think it would have been that hard to get a warrant. They are processed through almost routinely for traffic accidents involving fatalities.
I do not blame the hospital security guards for not wrestling with insane cop. The video showed they were trying to talk him down, asking him to wait until the supervisors arrived (cop said she’d have to wait in the cop car), asking the cop to be more gentle.
Supposedly, the nurse isn’t pressing charges but the district attorney is looking into it anyway.
Sad. My H and I were talking about police and we both think these sorts of things have always gone on but phones have brought them to light. Not all, but some people that go into police work that we grew up with were bullies, and what better for a bully than a gun and a badge. Fortunately if Khama holds true the bullies will trip up and get put sonewge
Back my phone is not being good today…the bullies will trip up and get put somewhere they won’t deal with the public