“The advocates are intentionally misleading lawmakers about the nature of Civil Rights Law Section 50-a. Far from being the ‘most regressive’ law of its kind in the nation, it is on par with 23 states plus the District of Columbia that protect these records from public disclosure under most circumstances.“Additionally, the many agencies charged with overseeing the actions of police officers including district attorneys and civilian review boards, to name just two, have full and complete access to personnel records.“The law was created for two reasons that are as valid today as they were when it was signed into law. First, to prevent unscrupulous defense attorneys from abusing access to those records in order to win acquittals for criminals who prey on the public. Second, the law protects the personnel records of police officers in order to prevent criminals from identifying and locating those officers in order to extract revenge for their arrest.“Both reasons are in the public’s best interest. We don’t want criminals escaping justice through court room trickery nor can we expect police officers to risk their lives without at least a minimal amount of personal protection for them. Amending or repealing the law will have devastating effects on public safety and on the safety of all law enforcement officers throughout New York State.”
Thursday, October 24, 2019
We don’t want criminals escaping justice through court room trickery
Monday, October 14, 2019
Former detective who handcuffed Utah nurse sues Salt Lake City Police Department
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake police detective who was
fired after his arrest of a hospital nurse went viral is suing the
department.
Former detective Jeff Payne filed a lawsuit Thursday
against the Salt Lake City Police Department, claiming he was wrongfully
terminated in 2017 after following orders from his commanding officer
and complying with department policies.
The lawsuit describes Payne and nurse Alex Wubbels as two
birds in a “cock fight staged and orchestrated by the persons in charge
at the Salt Lake City Police Department and those in charge of the burn
unit at the University of Utah Hospital,” each doing what they were
instructed to do by their superiors.
But while “Ms. Wubbles was paid $500,000 for her
involvement in the cock fight,” the suit says, “officer Payne’s life is
ruined forever forced to live a life in seclusion with scant employment
opportunities.”
The lawsuit comes two years after Payne was fired and
nearly one year after he declared his intent to sue Salt Lake City,
describing himself as a “fall guy” for the city and police department.
The veteran police detective’s name and face spread across the internet after an incident on July 26, 2017,
when he was sent to the University of Utah Hospital to collect blood
from a man who was injured in a crash that left another man dead.
When the charge nurse, Wubbels, refused to tell Payne
where the unconscious patient was or let him draw blood — citing policy
agreed upon by the police department and hospital that required he have a
warrant or meet certain criteria — Payne arrested Wubbels for
interfering with an investigation. Body camera footage showing the
detective dragging the screaming nurse out of the emergency room and
handcuffing her against a wall spread quickly online, drawing widespread
public criticism.
Payne was fired from the department the following October
in a 17-page letter from Salt Lake Police Chief Mike Brown, who wrote
that the detective’s 27 years of service was “outweighed by the glaring
absence of sound professional judgment and extremely discourteous,
disrespectful, inappropriate, unreasonable and unwarranted behavior you
displayed in this incident.”
Two years later, Payne, who has since been hired as
a part-time civilian corrections assistant in Weber County, is suing
his former employer for breach of contract, breach of implied duty of
good faith and fair dealing, wrongful termination, defamation, and false
light publicity.
Payne argues in the suit that he was following the
department’s training and policy manual in his interaction with Wubbels
that day. He claims he acted according to orders from his commanding
officer to pursue an obstruction charge against Wubbels, and blames what
he describes as a lack of clarity regarding department policies in the
manual.
The embattled former detective also says the city
prematurely authorized the public release of the body camera footage
that later went viral.
“The video released was wholly misleading,” the lawsuit
states. “Because of the backlash, defendants fabricated the events so
that officer Payne would take the blame for this event, when he was only
following orders of his supervisors.”
After the incident became public, Payne claims the city
and department slandered and defamed him in the public eye rather than
taking responsibility for the department’s role in the incident.
The former detective is seeking more than $300,000 in damages.
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