Link to article (+additional video):
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41584187
Detective Jeff Payne and James Tracy, his watch commander, were involved in an exchange with a nurse at the University of Utah hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, that harshly affected their occupation. Payne had forced Nurse Alex Wubbels to take a blood sample of an unconscious patient that was involved in a car accident with a suspect in another vehicle. The patient himself was not accused of any wrongdoing, but the police department required Payne to take a sample of his blood. Moreover, Payne did not present any warrant of any sort that allowed him to take a blood sample from this patient. When Wubbels refused to take the sample for Payne, he pushed her onto a wall and forcefully handcuffed her.
These actions were condemned by Chief Mike Brown, and Payne was fired from the department and Tracy was demoted by two ranks from a lieutenant to an officer. Both officers have lawyers that plan on appeal this decision. The University of Utah decided to pass a policy that prevented police officers in the future to be able to come into the hospital and ask for a blood sample in person.
What is your reaction to this news? How do you think people generally view police officers right now, and how will this event affect this general view?
7 comments:
i believe that Detective Payne's termination was the appropriate action to take with this situation. I saw the body-cam video on YouTube when it went viral and I could see how unjustified he was when he forcefully arrested the nurse when she was only informing the officers of the hospital's policy, which was that blood samples were fine if there's a warrant, if the patient consents, or if the patient was under arrest, none of which applied to the patient in question. The fact that things didn't go his way doesn't rationalize his abrupt behavior and certainly doesn't make him innocent. I believe that with all the controversies surrounding police officers across the nation and the tensions that are brewing between them and average citizens, this event would just add on to the debate of the extent of police officers' powers.
I agree with Michael that it was suitable to fire Payne and demote Tracy, as their actions were unnecessarily violent and disobeyed the hospital policy and the law. I find it ironic that the police officers, who are supposed to protect our safety by enforcing the law, were the ones who were acting illegally in this situation. I think that this incident will make people even more distrustful of the police, as their actions directly contradicted with their duties as police officers. If it is the duty of the police to protect our safety by enforcing the law, it is hard to trust them they cannot even follow the law. This event was just one of the many in the last few years where police have acted both illegally and unnecessarily violent, so I think this will make some people even more wary over the extent of police power.
I support the punishments done to the officers. As enforcers of the law they should be held to the highest of standards. Pushing someone out of the way and arresting someone just because they can is an example of a cop acting out of line. Cops shouldn't be immune to the law they are trying to enforce.
I believe that the punishment was appropriate for the officers' actions. The police force is supposed to enforce the law and not break it. It is unfortunate to see yet another example of police abusing their power and over using violence. This will not help the view that people currently have towards officers. relations with police and the public are already rocky and this event will only worsen the situation.
I do not believe that the police officers were at fault for asking for a blood sample without a warrant, because they were only following orders. The police department should be responsible for this. However, the police officers did become at fault once physical force was used on Nurse Wubbels, who was only following the law. For the actions of Payne, I believe the punishment. However, unless Tracy was guilty of some wrongdoing not mentioned in the article, I do not understand why he was also punished. I do not think this event will have a huge impact on the general opinion of police officers, because it is just a small event.
I firmly believe that the person at fault in this case was Jeff Payne because he withheld information from James Tracy regarding the collection of evidence. It has been reported that James Tracy was not told by Payne that they could have taken a blood sample from the hospital if they obtained a warrant because it is standard procedure to do so after someone is admitted. There was a supreme court case on this exact topic last year which ruled that hospitals may only provide drawn blood from a suspect to the police if they have probable cause or a warrant. I am pretty sure that a guy who got rammed head on while driving a semi-truck down the highway is in no way shape or form part of the initial pursuit. Both officers were obtaining evidence on the matter illegally and trying to seem ignorant to the situation at hand but just ruined their law enforcement careers in the end. The nurse was in the right, especially since she knew the officers must have probable cause, and the officers were in the wrong.
As for the public's opinion on police officers, I think that is progressively declining because the police have committed many condemnable acts recently. For example the whole wave of police brutality against African Americans and other small police brutality cases have been decreasing public's respect for them. This event will likely make it worse, as Payne's actions were completely unjustified. I don't think that University of Utah's law is logical though. I think they should still allow police to come in person for a blood sample in case there is a case that requires very immediate attention (as in if it is a huge problem if police officers don't gather the evidence).
Post a Comment