Aviso de queja relacionada con 2022-1129

OF
DATE
CURRENT
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
December 16, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-1129
On December 14, 2022, the OPO received a phone complaint.
The complainant alleges: The OPO received this complaint via phone from
and via CAF from
is
brother.
is the person
that officers interacted with. Both complaints are included here.
The OPO received the following via a Council Action Form from
office:
Constituent called to express dissatisfaction with recent interactions with the police
department.
They shared that previously their interactions with the police, in particular Corporal
were both professional and supportive. The constituent was upfront about having an
unspecified "mental health issue" that typically presents as disassociative behavior.
At some point over the weekend the constituent called 911 and 2 officers responded. He
said one of the officers is the assistant to Corporal
When the officers initially
responded the constituent stated he was not suicidal, but experiencing mental distress. The
officers reached out to a mental health officer for support.
The constituent stated that he was feeling pressured to say he was suicidal SO the responding
officers could transport him, but he did not feel safe getting in the car with them and at the
time was not feeling suicidal. He went on to share that while the officers were busy
contacting the Mental Health Officer, he decided it would be easier to tell the officers that
his brother was going to be helping him get support, to which the responding officers
replied, "that's good because the Mental Health Officer is too busy to respond anyway and
barely had 5 minutes to even talk to us". The responding officers left.
OF
DATE
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
Later the constituent attempted to jump from the
bridge but thankfully was pulled
to safety by a different set of officers.
He gave us case
He is asking that APD improve training about issues regarding mental health particularly
this importance of intervening early with people experiencing mental health issues early,
before situations escalate.
The constituent also expressed that he feels like his fundamental civil rights, as a person
with a disability, are being violated because of this lack of training. He stated that in the
process of lodging complaints, he was being told that only certain officers or one officer in
particular would be able to respond to any future calls.
The OPO received the following complaint via phone:
is calling on behalf of his brother,
Last
his brother called
911 because he was in a mental health crisis. Corporal
assistant responded with
another gentleman. In every way, they tried not to help his brother. A mental health officer
was called, and the mental health officer said he did not have time to help his brother. What
is even more alarming, later that night his brother ended up on
where he literally jumped off the bridge and was caught by a police officer in mid-air or in
mid-jump. God bless the police officer. Where is the accountability? This is bad. The
complainant is asking to pull the web cameras and listen to how Corporal
assistant
was trying in every way not to help his brother. In the recording he listened to, he heard
his brother say he was coming to get him.
asked his brother why he said that, and his
brother said because it was obvious the officers did not want to help him. What was more
alarming was the recording the complainant heard when the MHO plainly said he did not
have time to help his brother and could only give the police officers five minutes of his
time. Four or five hours later, his brother ended up jumping off of a bridge. Where is the
OF
CITY
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
FOUNDED
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
accountability? This is a big problem. He is going on air today at
with
his brother to let citizens know how APD abandoned his brother, and his brother almost
lost his life.
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.