The second police officer at the center of a controversial arrest of a University Hospital nurse will also appeal his demotion, his attorney confirmed Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown fired Detective Jeff Payne, who arrested nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26. Brown also demoted Lt. James Tracy, the supervisor who ordered the arrest, to the rank of police officer effective Wednesday.
Payne’s attorney, Greg Skordas, said Tuesday that his client will appeal the firing, saying he felt the chief “reacted to a lot of public pressure” calling for the detective’s termination.
Tracy’s attorney, Edward Brass, confirmed Wednesday that his client, too, will appeal his demotion to the Civil Service Commission. He was not immediately available for further comment.
The men, who have both been with the Salt Lake City department for decades, have five business days from Tuesday to file their appeals in writing.
The Civil Service Commission is a three-member body that hears appeals from police and fire department employees who argue their discipline was unfair.
At a hearing, the city is charged with proving that the discipline was fair and supported by facts. This could include delving into an officer’s past discipline in an effort to show the department’s actions were fair.
For Payne, that includes past discipline for sexually harassing another department employee “over an extended period of time” and a 1995 incident where he violated multiple department policies related to a vehicle pursuit that involved Utah Highway Patrol.
Tracy’s discipline history includes one formal reprimand for a 1997 incident when he transported two handcuffed people across the city, then released them and never documented the incident.
The two men can present their own evidence challenging the “consistency of the discipline imposed,” according to the commission’s rules. That means they could present evidence of other controversial firings or demotions within the department in an effort to show that they were punished more harshly than others.
The commission will then decide two questions:
- Do the facts support the charges made by the department?
- If the facts support the charges, is the sanctions so clearly disproportionate to the charges as to amount to an abuse of discretion?
The commission hearings are generally public, according to its rules, though portions could be closed if permitted by Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act.
The chief’s Tuesday decision is the culmination of an internal affairs investigation that began a day after the confrontation between Wubbels and Payne. The probe ultimately found that both officers had violated a number of department policies.
“In examining your conduct,” Brown wrote to Payne, “I am deeply troubled by your lack of sound professional judgment and your discourteous, disrespectful, and unwarranted behavior, which unnecessarily escalated a
situation that could and should have been resolved in a manner far different from the course of action you chose to pursue.”
Brown was similarly critical of Tracy, saying his lack of judgment and leadership was “unacceptable,” and, “as a result, I no longer believe that you can retain a leadership position in the Department.”
Tracy was demoted to a “police officer III” position, which is the rank for cops with more than eight years of experience, according to police officials. It‘s two steps down from his previous job as lieutenant.
The demotion will likely also mean a pay cut for Tracy. According to Utah’s Right to Know, Tracy had been making more than $40 an hour as a supervisor. Most of the “Officer III” employees were paid closer to $30 an hour.
Wubbels on July 26 refused to allow Payne to draw blood from an unconscious patient involved in a fiery crash in Cache County earlier in the day. She pointed out that the crash victim was not under arrest, that Payne did not have a warrant to obtain the blood and that he could not obtain consent because the man was unconscious.
In response, a visibly agitated Payne arrested Wubbels. He was acting on orders from Tracy, who later responded to the scene.
Payne grabbed and shoved Wubbels before placing her in a patrol car for about 20 minutes. The encounter was captured on police body cameras, and the footage sparked national outrage after it was released by Wubbels’ attorney about a month later.
A criminal investigation into the episode continues, involving the Unified Police Department, the FBI and the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the University of Utah Hospital released their new policy regarding law enforcement interactions with medical staff.
Hospital officials first announced in early September that they would change their policies so nurses and other front-line caregivers would no longer interact with law enforcement. Now, police will work with an on-duty clinical nursing supervisor for in-patient units, and a University police officer will coordinate between outside agencies and the hospital.
Police officers will still be allowed to enter the emergency department without official notification if they are guarding a patient who has been placed under or arrest or if they are gathering evidence or statements from a patient who needed emergency medical treatment, such as shooting or stabbing victims.
But if an officer is called by hospital personnel, such as if a patient seeks treatment after a sexual assault or domestic violence, they must explain their presence to personnel before entering the emergency department, the policy states.
Chief Nursing Officer Margaret Pearce said in a Wednesday statement that the new policy was drafted in collaboration with the Salt Lake City Police Department. She said she hopes other hospital and law enforcement agencies across the state will adopt similar protocols.
“When this event took place, I promised Alex [Wubbels] I’d do everything in my power to prevent something like this from happening again,” she said. “... We work closely with law enforcement every day and we believe this policy helps us to move forward in a very positive way.”
University of Utah Hospitals & Salt Lake City Police Department Procedures by The Salt Lake Tribune on Scribd