https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-21/doctor-claims-she-was-assaulted-by-police/10731622It's always good practice to include a link for this sort of story.
Let's unpackage it.
Firstly …. I'll assume that because the injured man had self inflicted wounds that he was not under arrest. That point isn't clarified.
Secondly …. The case appears to be under investigation and we don't know the conclusion of that investigations.
Thirdly …… The Police have identified a prima-facie criminal case against the 2 thugs ,,,, thus there transfer to "other duties".
Fourth ……. If the man was both unconscious and bleeding, even blind Freddie would wonder whether or not he was bleeding out and thus in need of urgent attention.
Correct (Common sense) protocol would be as follows
1. With an unconscious, bleeding person on the ground the officers concerned should have invited the assistance of a passing doctor. The police have no right to separate a doctor from a person who needs
urgent medical attention …. regardless of who that person is.
2. Police are trained to administer first aid …… e.g. apply pressure to a site of bleeding …… and they are all issued with rubber gloves. Why was that not happening?
3. Did Dr Proudlove introduce herself properly? I don't know, In any case the senior officer should have asked her for some identification. Did that happen?
4. Had the person on the ground actually bleed out, the officers attending could be facing manslaughter charges IMHO. That is because they forcefully separated a patient from urgently needed medical attention without any legal right or legal protection for doing so.
5. The doctor suffered a broken bone while in unlawful police custody and was then dumped home (rather than taking her to hospital as per accepted police protocol). To me that suggests to me that
these thugs (they aren't "proper" police officers IMO
) knew at that point that they had done the wrong thing and they were afraid of taking Dr Proudlove to hospital.Preferred Outcome:
Again: If there were not a prima facie case of common assault and battery against the 2 officers they would not have been transferred and under internal investigation.
In the interests of public transparency the case
must b
e tested in court. Internal discipline is not enough because the assault of the doctor had nothing (I know of) to do with the execution of normal police duties.
Finally, the vast majority of sensible, law abiding police officers want scum removed from their ranks.
