Notice of complaint related to 2022-0607

OF
GINE
COSTAL
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
July 22, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-0607
On July 21, 2022, the OPO received an online complaint.
The complainant alleges: On
I called 911 and requested mental health officers
for assistance with my 20 year old daughter, who was experiencing psychosis due to a
medical condition and medication reaction. Officers arrived at our home and met them at
the door; I explained that my daughter has a serious health condition (and I listed it out for
them and that she recently had a medication change that resulted in adverse reactions,
both physical and mental health. I explained she had been increasingly agitated, then
paranoid, and that day had become fully psychotic. Her neurologist and rheumatologist
both acknowledged this as a reaction to the infused medication changes but explained that
time and treatment with the right infusions was what she needed. They advised us to get
her to the hospital but in her state she was unwilling to go. I explained she had become
convinced we were trying to harm her and lock her up and that we had a confrontation
when my husband took off her bedroom door to keep her from harming herself (she
wrestled with him to get the door and bit his leg to try and stop him). She had then taken
his phone and wallet and when we tried to get it back from her hand she had knocked me
down in the tussle. I explained that she was very agitated and that she needed to be
hospitalized to address the issue; I showed them her medications and had her neurologist
on the phone when they arrived as I explained this. They went up to talk to my daughter
and she was clearly agitated and not making sense most of the time. They asked her to
come outside with them to talk; she asked if we could all come and they said no. They kept
my husband and I in our kitchen with an officer, while they took her out of site. I could
hear her and she wasn't making sense and the female officer was antagonizing her, telling
her she didn't make sense and she wasn't explaining things well (as if she could in her
state, something I had already explained to them). They handcuffed her and set her on the
ground and she got very agitated. Then they told her she was going to jail. She refused to
move and said she would not move. I then pressed with the officer with us to try to
understand what was happening and he brought the female officer back in. I asked why she
wasn't being hospitalized or put on a psych hold when she was clearly delusional and
paranoid and I had already explained the psychosis. She told me that a) they thought she
had been drinking and if there is alcohol involved they can't place her on a psych hold (I've
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NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
since found out that is not true and we were not aware of any alcohol). She also told me
that b) officers have no discretion in making an arrest when there is family violence and
since they could see my husband's torn shirt and bite mark they had to arrest her. And she
said that c) that there are no hospitals in Travis County that will accept an
agitated/aggressive patients (have since learned that is also not true - there may be a wait
for a bed but there is a procedure to do this that was not followed). I asked if they could
call the mental health police and she said they were the mental health police. I had my
daughter's therapist on the phone then and she also asked for her to be hospitalized given
this was clearly psychosis and they said no. They made us stay inside out of site line while
they arrested her. We could hear her screaming in agony. We since learned she was tased
several times - they did not tell us that. The supervisor who came after asked what we had
seen and when we said nothing he said "oh, good" and then moved to leave. I asked him to
wait and again asked why she was not being placed on a psych hold or hospital and he said
now that she had resisted arrest they couldn't. I told him of her serious medical condition
and explained she needed her medications - when I listed all of her diagnoses and meds he
said they would have to call a doctor to check her out and that they would give her the
medications SO I sent all nine prescription bottles with him. She was not seen by a doctor
that she knows of (only by a nurse who only said to her that she hurt one of her guys in her
resistance and was clearly unhappy with her). And she was not given her medications. After
they got her in the car, one of the officers was clearly very angry and he slammed the doors
very hard. He was large and it was scary. My 12 year old said the officer looked like he
was "hulking" out. I understand my daughter resisted and was combative and nonsensical
- she was in psychosis, which they knew from the get go, and they did everything they
could to agitate and aggravate her condition. When I picked her up the next day, she was a
shell of herself. And with a little time and prompting I learned why. We immediately took
her to see the doctor to get the medication to treat her autoimmune disorder and to start to
reverse the effects of the other medication. Once she started the infusion she started crying
and pretty much didn't stop for days. She told us that when she was in the jail, the officer
she kept repeating) choked her, called her an ugly bitch, told her she must be a meth
head because she can take SO much pain, pushed her against the wall and when she
grimaced said "yeah, that's what I was looking for", and then they stripped her naked in
front of the male officer despite her request that he leave and put her in the cell naked, with
only a drain on the floor. She said at one point they said they should turn the camera and
audio off because she was asking for help. I may not have believed her because it sounded
SO bad and my mistaken belief that people wouldn't do this to a young woman clearly in
medical crisis. However she has the injuries, bruises and marks that confirm it and she
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didn't have them when she left 18 hours before. She has bruises around her neck consistent
with choking. She is covered in large bruises all over her body consistent with her story.
Her wrist is sprained. And none of her medications were missing, SO they clearly were not
administered. I can maybe see if they didn't believe me about the medical issue and
resulting psychosis for some reason - but they had her doctor and therapist on the line for
confirmation and I showed them her medical binder and medications. She has since been
in a state of crisis and is clearly incredibly traumatized. At this moment she is missing and
suicidal. I very reluctantly (at the urging of her therapist and doctor) called 911 to ask for
help with a "be on the lookout" alert, told them she was suicidal and missing, and they
transferred me to 311 to file a non emergency report and said someone would call within
2 hours. I called back and asked how a suicidal person is not an emergency and they said
they would send officers out to take a report. That was an hour ago still waiting and
nobody has shown up. I don't know what happened in that jail but I know what my daughter
was injured when she came out, the officers were told multiple times she was vulnerable
and in medical crisis, and if this is how mental health trained officers act, I am terrified for
what that means for vulnerable people across Austin. If something happens to my daughter
today I hold APD responsible for the outcome. We called for help and the situation was
made SO much worse by their lies, decisions, and actions (and inaction). I have lost faith in
those who are charged to serve and protect.
This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to
determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service
Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.