On July 26, 2017, Jeff Payne, a detective for the Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD), arrested nurse Alex Wubbels at the University of Utah Hospital after she refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient. Footage of the incident released on August 31, 2017 went viral online. The SLCPD announced policy changes which would affect how police should handle situations involving drawing blood, and the hospital announced it would also change its police protocol to avoid repeating the incident.
Video 2017 University of Utah Hospital incident
History
Incident
On July 26, 2017, Marcos Torres, a pickup truck driver fleeing from Utah Highway Patrol troopers in Cache County, Utah, crashed head-on into a semi-truck. Torres was killed, and William Gray, the semi-truck driver, was severely burned. Gray was taken into the University of Utah Hospital in a sedated and comatose state.
Released footage of the arrest incident show a dispute between police detective Jeff Payne and the nurse Alex Wubbels over obtaining a blood sample from Gray. Wubbels argued that this situation would not meet the legal requirements allowing her to take a blood sample from an unconscious patient because he was not under arrest, there was no warrant, and the patient could not consent. She further cited a hospital policy, that was agreed upon by the police department, that would not permit her to provide the blood sample.
Payne put the nurse on the phone with his watch commander, Lt. James Tracy, who reportedly told her she could be arrested if she refused to provide the sample. Wubbels continued to refuse, and Payne arrested her. Wubbels was later released and no charges were brought against her. Gray died on September 25, 2017.
Investigations
In September 2017, the Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced that his office was investigating the arrest. Gill requested investigative assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). FBI spokeswoman Sandra Yi Barker said the agency opened a civil rights review after the video went public, agreed to help the county investigate the incident, and also opened a probe into the arrest. The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake also investigated the arrest.
On September 13, 2017, Jackie Biskupski, the mayor of Salt Lake City, said that an internal investigation revealed Payne and Tracy violated six staff policies during the incident, including policies regarding arrests and standards of conduct. A report from Salt Lake City's Police Civilian Review Board also alleged that Payne and Tracy violated police policies. It stated that Payne became upset and frustrated during the incident, eventually "[losing] control of his emotions." Payne's lawyer said this report was based on speculation. On September 25, the Salt Lake Police Association, a police union in Utah, criticized the city for its treatment of the police officers involved in the incident. The SLCPD fired Payne and demoted Tracy two ranks to the rank of Officer on October 10, 2017.
Maps 2017 University of Utah Hospital incident
Response
According to a statement posted by Salt Lake City mayor Jackie Biskupski, the SLCPD launched an internal affairs investigation within 24 hours of the July 26 incident, meeting with the hospital's CEO and nursing management team. After the incident, the SLCPD changed its policies on drawing blood. A police department spokeswoman said these changes require law enforcement to have consent or a warrant to draw blood, instead of just implied consent. These policy changes served as the model for police protocols announced by the SLCPD on October 12, 2017, which other police agencies in the Salt Lake Valley could choose to adopt.
According to hospital officials, within weeks after the incident they had implemented new rules meant to allow patient care staffers to focus on their work and minimize disputes in patient care units. The hospital announced these changes in September 2017, which included not allowing police officers in patient-care areas and having them speak with "house supervisors" instead of nurses.
At a press conference on August 31, 2017, Wubbels and her attorney released footage of the incident taken from hospital surveillance and police body cameras. The footage of the incident soon went viral online. The SLCPD faced heavy criticism on social media for how it handled the incident. The SLCPD apologized to Wubbels for the arrest, and put Payne on paid leave on September 1, 2017. Another police officer connected to the incident was put on paid leave the next day. According to Payne's attorney, Payne had expressed a desire to apologize to Wubbels for the incident.
On September 2, about a hundred Utahns gathered at a Utah Against Police Brutality rally near the SLCPD courtyard to call for Payne to be fired. The University of Utah police chief apologized to Wubbels on September 4, saying that the university police should have done more to protect her on the night she was arrested. Payne was fired from his part-time job as a paramedic for Gold Cross Ambulance on September 5. On October 31, 2017, Wubbels and her attorney announced that Salt Lake City and the University of Utah had agreed to settle the incident for $500,000. She said that part of the settlement would go toward efforts geared to making body cam footage easier for the public to obtain.
On September 20, the Utah State Legislature's Judiciary Interim Committee voted unanimously to start drafting a bill meant to clarify consent laws regarding police-ordered blood draws. A legislative committee approved the bill, which would require police officers to present a warrant to obtain a blood draw, on November 15, 2017.
See also
- Birchfield v. North Dakota
References
External links
- Footage of the incident released by The Salt Lake Tribune
- Frequently Asked Questions regarding the incident from the Salt Lake City mayor's office
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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