Officers Charged Her With Drunken Driving. But Her Brain Was Bleeding.
www.nytimes.com
Nicole McClure said she spent hours in a jail cell, enduring taunts, until a delayed medical check revealed that she had a life-threatening problem with her brain.
  • young_broccoli@kbin.social
    2·
    8 months ago

    Seth Stoughton, a former police officer who is now a law professor at the University of South Carolina, said it can sometimes be hard for officers to tell whether a person’s behavior is a result of mental illness, substances or a medical episode. The latest training recommendations, he said, call for officers to be on the lookout for indicators of medical problems and to err on the side of calling in help if there is a potential health issue.

    “Officers are not doctors, not paramedics,” he said. “They really don’t have, and are not expected to have, the expertise to diagnose what is causing medical distress. But they are supposed to be able to identify indicators.”

      • brygphilomena@lemmy.world
        1·
        8 months ago

        As is drunkenness and low blood sugar from a diabetic episode. Maybe it’s time we hold our officers accountable and require those they suspect are impaired to be seen by medical personal who then, if tests show, have a BAC above a set amount share that information with law enforcement.

        Officers have been shown they aren’t trustworthy enough to have the discretion to determine between medical aid or drunkenness.