What's with this police policy of letting shooting victims just bleed out?

[bagelsforbreakfast]

Seriously, when they shoot someone they ALWAYS let them BLEED OUT with NO HELP, just standing around.

Mr. Crutcher is just the latest. And NO MEDIA put this FOREFRONT!

This needs to be examined nationally with utmost publicity.

[DetlefK]

1. The official policy is to render first aid. The cops just don't do that.

[FreakinDJ]

7. Time and time again as witnessed on video

Yes they do just let them bleed out

Fuck the cop apologies

[DustyJoe]

14. non medical liability

Forget the fact they're cops for a second.

This has happened, a good samaritan trying to render aid at a traffic accident scene to stop a victims bleeding, but the victim still lost the limb. The victim sued the good samaritan because they held no health care certification or license and applied the tourniquet incorrectly, too long etc. Good samaritan loses his shirt in the lawsuit.

California’s Supreme Court has ruled that “the state’s ‘Good Samaritan’ law providing tort immunity for rescuers applies only to medical personnel providing medical help

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2008/12/can-good-samaritans-be-sued-for.html

Kind of like this ruling, I don't know what Oklahoma law requires, but these types of laws don't help. Now if the cops didn't call medical as a shooting victim bleeds out then they're just murderers watching his lifeblood run down the road.

[MaeScott]

2. If you're dead you can't testify.

[FreakinDJ]

8. DING DING DING Thread Winner folks

[tanyev]

3. I seem to remember a time when police departments expressed regret for fatal shootings

even when they were 100% justified. Now it's like high-fives all around, "Woo-hoo! Got that mofo!" Anyone else remember that or am I imagining it?

[RKP5637]

6. I recall that! Now, for some cops, killing is a sport. The bad cops need to be weeded out, but

the esprit de corps mentality won't allow exposing bad cops. Also, often I think TPTB are just as bad, sometimes.

[meow2u3]

16. Especially since the bad cops have created a corrupt culture

akin to the Mafia, which intimidates the good cops from speaking out, for fear of their livelihoods or even their lives. Just ask Frank Serpico.

[lostnfound]

11. I remember it too. Maybe not all over the country but

At least in more civilized places.

[Odin2005]

4. Dead men can't talk.

[Lee-Lee]

5. Enhanced first aid training and carrying gunshot kits

Is something that needs to be addressed. State standards vary wildly on how much training officers get and how much, if any, they get on an annual basis for in-service training.

In NC the curriculum in BLET is essentially equivalent to what Medical First Responder is, but very few new officers bother to take the test or maintain it. Very, very few departments do any first aid training on an annual basis.

In the case of NC it would only be about 60 more hours of classroom time plus some clinical hours in the ambulance to get them to EMT-B level. I have long held that getting all new officers to EMT-B level and having them keep that certification would be a huge improvement in many ways- faster medical response to incidents that they are involved in or just aster response if they are closer than Fire or EMS to an incident is big.

Then make sure all cars have a basic medical jump bag in them and have all officers carry a small belt mounted kit with gloves, bandage, quick clot and tourniquet.

It would be a big asset to public safety in many ways- officer safety is better because they are more prepared to render self aid or aid to others. The public gains more trained and equipped medical responders on the road. And in cases where a suspect is injured the knowledge and equipment to render aid is there once the scene and suspect are secure.

One of many changes on my long list of how I would change things. Some day I'll make a long post about it all.

[malthaussen]

10. That presupposes the will is there.

Good idea, but the weak link in any training is whether or not the individual is interested in using it. Since much of the concern around these high-profile incidents of officer-involved shootings revolves around the intent of the officer, and how the policing culture informs this intent, all the training in the world doesn't address the problem.

-- Mal

[lostnfound]

13. Raise the expectations and sometimes people live up to them

And there are definitely cases where the cop surely regrets pulling the trigger. If it's expected that any bystander police will render first aid, it would be hard to defend if none of them even try.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. Since police work can be dangerous, you'd think that kind of training would be mandatory

for the safety of the officers as well as any other injured persons.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. Of course they get first aid training

they have to know what to do when one of their fellow swine get shot. The don't give a fuck about the people they shoot.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. All the training and gunshot kits in the world

won't make a bit of difference, because they get off an killing minorities.

[exboyfil]

9. Instead they walked backwards

like some sort of screwed up Wizard of Oz Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion.

There is a meme in there somewhere.

[redwitch]

15. Exactly!

Pretty obvious they knew they were in big trouble!