Notice of complaint related to 2022-0792

OF
GIRL
LUSTIN
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
September 16, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-0792
On September 13, 2022, the OPO received a phone complaint.
The complainant alleges: A previous acquaintance called 911 and reported that the
complainant was going to slit her own throat. She may have made that comment, but it
doesn't criminalize her. The complainant did not answer two "unknown caller' calls
because she was on the phone with her dad and was having a meltdown. APD was at her
door yelling her name. She asked if they had a warrant and they said no but they had tried
to call her for a wellness check and they wanted to make sure she was ok. She had broken
a mirror and accidentally cut herself and was bleeding from her hand and leg. She told
the
officers she was ok. She opened the door and Officer/badge
was yelling and acting
like a drama queen as if she cared. When they saw the blood, they told her they had to take
her in. She tried to close the door because the police trigger her anxiety. There was no
mental health officer on the scene. Officer/badge
put his foot in the door, and he
asked if they could come in and she said no because she has dogs, and they might run away.
She didn't want to make a scene SO she told them she would come out. When she stepped
out of her apartment the officers saw the blood and assumed she was cutting herself, but
she was not. They grabbed her and handcuffed her behind her back. She was told that the
handcuffs were to make sure she was safe. The officers told her to stop resisting. It is
natural for a person to tense up when they are being taken out of their home when they
have not done anything wrong. She has a broken elbow from a previous injury that has not
healed SO her arm is very sensitive. She was taken to the ambulance and thrown on a cot
on her back with her hands behind her. Her dog ran away and the officers went to look for
it. She was lying on her back with her full weight on her hands for 45 minutes waiting for
the officers to return. She is still traumatized to the point that she can't remember details.
The officers were mocking her and asking her what to do with her dogs. They told her they
could put the dogs in a shelter or one of her neighbors could take care of them. She told
the
officers to put her dogs in a shelter because she did not want her neighbors to get involved.
One of the officers said, "You want to put them in a shelter; what kind of person are you?"
No one gave her the name or number of the animal control officer. They did not ask her
any questions but just assumed she was trying to hurt herself. She was trusting the officers
because there was no one there who was trained as a mental officer. Her arms are very
OF
GINE
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
swollen. They would not let her take any pictures with her phone. After she got out of the
hospital her neighbor told her the officers were at her residence for an hour just chatting
and doing nothing. She does not understand why four police officers had to respond and
treat her like a criminal. While at the ER a black officer who was a mental health officer
did not help at all and was acting like a robot. She has severe dents on her wrist, and she
thinks she had an allergic reaction to the agent they put on her wrist. She had SO much
anxiety that she was throwing up. When she was taken away, she only had on a shirt and
shorts but one of the female officers was checking her as if she had something on her which
was ridiculous. One of the officers asked her to show her hands and he would record her
injuries, but then told her to get away from his face because he was afraid she was going
to hit him, which she thought was extremely inappropriate when she was literally
defenseless at this point. She was told the officers' names would be on her paperwork, but
they were not. The next day there was numbing and injuries in her arms and hands. She is
actively looking for lawyers to sue APD. She thinks the officers are just going to get a slap
on the wrist. She was intimated during the entire incident. There was no one there to de-
escalate the situation.
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.