illegal search?

[aidadonnie]

What is the name of your state?This incident took place in "small town" Georgia! My co-worker's daughter, which is 17, was at convenience store, on the way out to her car she had a seizure, fell beside her car and was knocked unconcious for approximately 4 minutes, a man exiting the store found her in small pool of blood and called 911. The police and EMT arrived in minutes. The girl was dazed and confused, she could not tell the officer her name or where she was. The officer proceeded to ask her if she had taken any drugs but she was still not coherent. For about 10 minutes the officer continually badgered the girl telling her he knew she was on drugs, where are they. There were many witnesses to attest to this. The officer proceeded to search the inside of her vehicle, the EMT took her vital signs but did not examine her head where she fell or her mouth which she had severly bruised from fall or the lacerations to her tongue caused by the seizure. The EMT procedded to aid in the search of the trunk as well as the girl's cell phone and text messages and purse. Her parents were never contacted, even though in the cell phone her mother's # was clearly marked MOM. A bystander knew the girl and called her work which in turn called her step-dad.Her step-father immediatley took her to the hospital and had numerous tests run which included a blood test to check for any drugs in her system, which came back negative. My question is what should her parents do? Was the policeman justified in his actions? Do they have grounds to pursue legal action against the officer? Didn't the EMT worker exceed her job requirements?

 

[JETX]

My question is what should her parents do?

Depends... what the heck do you want to do??

Was the policeman justified in his actions? Do they have grounds to pursue legal action against the officer? Didn't the EMT worker exceed her job requirements?

Christ, lady!! What the hell is your problem. Your daughter is okay. Be thankful of that fact.
Your definitely have your priorities screwed up!!!

 

[Curt581]

My question is what should her parents do?

They should find out why their daughter had a seizure.

Was the policeman justified in his actions?

Absolutely NOT. The officer should not have made any attempt to find out who she was, whether she was on any prescription medications (like anti-seizure meds) or illegal narcotics.

He should not have tried to ask her any questions at all, since it could be construed as "badgering".

He should have known how to operate any cell phone he comes in contact with.

He simply should have known from memory who she was, and any emergency contact numbers she had.

Do they have grounds to pursue legal action against the officer?

Sure. They can sue him and his department for not being psychic.

Didn't the EMT worker exceed her job requirements?

Yes. She should not have assisted the officer in trying to find out who the girl was, or in finding any evidence of a medical history for her.



Faced with a similar situation, what would YOU have done?

 

[aidadonnie]

reply

Well if you read the post you would know it is not my daughter! What i wanted to know is if they have legal grounds to sue or have someone higher than the good ole' local boys, which include the majority of our police force, look into the methods that our police force employ in their day to day activities! This is not a single incident, the police force here often ignore what i thought to be fundamentals of policing like protecting the community and nurturing a relationship between the community and the police not alienating it! This town is like something from the old movies the back woods good ole' boy mentality runs rampant here! The girls parents have made a life in this community and plan to stay here and they do not want to have to live with the injustices that they, along with most of the community, face for the duration of their lives. OK let me change my question, who would they contact to to have an investigation started into the local police department?

 

[calatty]

The police would have committed misconduct if they had NOT done everything you describe. When a person has a seizure, it is crucial to determine the cause. Looking for drugs which may have caused the seizure was entirely justified.

 

[aidadonnie]

They should find out why their daughter had a seizure.

QUOTE:Absolutely NOT. The officer should not have made any attempt to find out who she was, whether she was on any prescription medications (like anti-seizure meds) or illegal narcotics.

Yes you are right i know most people keep their prescription drugs in their trunk, myself included.

He should not have tried to ask her any questions at all, since it could be construed as "badgering".

Yes i can see how asking the same questions over and over for ten minutes even though you did not get a coherent answer in the first two makes sense, that is ignoring the fact that she is bleeding from her head and mouth.

He should have known how to operate any cell phone he comes in contact with.

No he should not have known that is why he had the EMT to help him, afterthe EMT took her vitals he had plenty of free time because he was too busy looking for medical info to examine the girl's head injury, i know again myself included keep all of my medical info in my cell phone!( you know you just have to weed through all my useless text messages to find it)

He simply should have known from memory who she was, and any emergency contact numbers she had.

What do you percieve the word MOM to mean?

Sure. They can sue him and his department for not being psychic

.
You are right i am sure that the officer did not recieve training to know that the word MOM, which was in the list of contacts in the cell phone, is short for mother, I can see how a reasonable person may miss that!

Yes. She should not have assisted the officer in trying to find out who the girl was, or in finding any evidence of a medical history for her.

Here's a thought, i bet had the EMT pushed the send button when she got to the word MOM in the cell phone contact list all that info could have been made available to her, oh but maybe she did not get that training either.

Faced with a similar situation, what would YOU have done?

You know i would like to think that i would have tried to render aid to the young girl rather than leave her at the convenience store to drive herself home after i couldn't any find drugs! As for the EMT, i think that i would have at least looked at her head wound after i took her vital signs or maybe even taken her to the hospital considering when i arrived on the scene she could not tell me who she was or where she was if only to cover my own a.. incase the child died when trying to drive herself home.
I completely understand what you were saying what was i thinking, you know i think both the officer and the EMT worker deserve a good samaritian award, i mean they did secure the area to be sure there were no drugs and God Bless the EMT for taking vitals, i mean the head wound and bllod coming from the wounds in her mouth were only cosmetic right?

 

[CdwJava]

Ditto what Calatty said. When we come across a person having a seizure for no apparent reason, we NED to find the cause. The first thing the medics are going to want know - so they can SAVE HER LIFE - is if she is under the influence of medication or controlled substances.

Had they not searched for a cause or the identity of the victim, they would have been remiss in their duty. And searching for her ID can give them a contact person to call to find out her medical history.

If you don't like it, start a movement to prevent the police from responding to any medical aid calls. The cops won't mind ... but the people who have to flop around on the sidewalk, or whose heart stops as they wait for the medics, just might.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

You know i would like to think that i would have tried to render aid to the young girl rather than leave her at the convenience store to drive herself home after i couldn't any find drugs! As for the EMT, i think that i would have at least looked at her head wound after i took her vital signs or maybe even taken her to the hospital considering when i arrived on the scene she could not tell me who she was or where she was if only to cover my own a.. incase the child died when trying to drive herself home.
I completely understand what you were saying what was i thinking, you know i think both the officer and the EMT worker deserve a good samaritian award, i mean they did secure the area to be sure there were no drugs and God Bless the EMT for taking vitals, i mean the head wound and bllod coming from the wounds in her mouth were only cosmetic right?

You do NOT just pick someone up and toss them into an ambulance! You STABILIZE first, and try to identify the problem. Once they leave the scene, trying to identify the problem becomes more difficult.

Life-saving medication and action cannot be administered if they do not know what the victim suffers from.

Take a few medical courses before you decide to second guess these folks.

Maybe they could have done things better, but nothing you write indicates a clear case of any malfeasance.

As for what the parents CAN do, I'd say - nothing. But, if they have money, they can certainly find an attorney to do whatever they want.

- Carl

 

[aidadonnie]

Ditto what Calatty said. When we come across a person having a seizure for no apparent reason, we NED to find the cause. The first thing the medics are going to want know - so they can SAVE HER LIFE - is if she is under the influence of medication or controlled substances.

Had they not searched for a cause or the identity of the victim, they would have been remiss in their duty. And searching for her ID can give them a contact person to call to find out her medical history.

That is my point exactly, the girl is a minor wouldn't it be reasonable to contact a parent, of which you have the number in the cell phone clearly labeled MOM rather than let the girl drive herself home.

If you don't like it, start a movement to prevent the police from responding to any medical aid calls. The cops won't mind ... but the people who have to flop around on the sidewalk, or whose heart stops as they wait for the medics, just might.

- Carl

I have no problem with police responding to a medical call or with medics but don't half a.. the job and if they thought she was on drugs why let her get back on the road driving where she could harm someone else!

 

[garrula lingua]

Sounds like they did everything correctly. Once the situation calmed and there was no emergency, they stopped acting in a protective manner.

Why do her parents have a problem with the EMT and the cop ?
Why aren't they concentrating on identifying the medical/neurological problem ?

 

[CdwJava]

I have no problem with police responding to a medical call or with medics but don't half a.. the job

You don't know that they did. It sounds like they did what they could. With someone having seizures, you sure as heck are NOT going to be poking around in their mouth. You want to do a couple of things: (1) keep their head and spine steady to prevent further injury (if possible), and (2) try and identify the CAUSE of the seizure (be it medical or chemical).

and if they thought she was on drugs why let her get back on the road driving where she could harm someone else!

Apparently they did NOT let her back on the road and they did NOT arrest her ... ergo, they did not believe she was under the influence of a controlled substance.

- Carl

 

[CdwJava]

OK let me change my question, who would they contact to to have an investigation started into the local police department?

For what? If in this circumstance, it's a policy matter or a civil matter (if malfeasance can be established). If it's internal, the police department needs to be contacted. If there is a civil action to be brought, then an attorney should be contacted.

If there are some criminal issues with the department, you can either start with the county prosecutor and/or Grand Jury, or, contact the state - perhaps the GBI.

- Carl