Investigations are ongoing regarding the death of a 26-year-old man who was being driven by Milwaukie police from a hospital. However, Milwaukie police officials released the body-worn camera footage of one of the officers late on Friday afternoon.
On December 13, Jean Descamps was being transported by law enforcement from Providence Milwaukie Hospital to Unity, a behavioural health facility. Nevertheless, when they arrived at Unity, he was unconscious and passed away in spite of CPR.
Despite the ongoing nature of the investigation, Milwaukie PD said they completed reviewing and redacting the body camera footage and wanted to release the body camera footage of Officer Timothy Cleary because of the “significant public interest in the case” and their “commitment to the highest level of transparency within and beyond our community.”
At Providence Milwaukie, the cops arrive.
Descamps was moaning and not answering questions as police arrived at the hospital. Although hospital workers said he had no medical issues, he didn’t seem well, and he was allowed to go home.
A staff member said, “He was pleasant and conversant the entire time until right when his discharge arrived.” “He’s not thriving, but it’s all behavioural—yep, 100 per cent behavioural—and there’s no medical justification for him to be here any longer.”
Even though there were warrants for his arrest, the jail would not accept him in his current state. They debated sending him to a homeless shelter.
“Here’s the deal. You can either go to the homeless shelter, alright? Or you can go outside and be cold. You can’t stay here,” an officer said.
Descamp made a simple moan.
Eventually, the police handcuffed him and got him into a wheelchair to take him to the police cruiser. They decide to take him to the behavioural health centre.
But when the officer goes back in to get Descamp’s discharge papers, neither the hospital staff nor the police can decide who’s responsible for him. Hospital staff said he came to the hospital voluntarily and that he wouldn’t take a cab they ordered for him.
Who said what in this interaction is unclear.
“Why is he being released?” an officer asked.
“He walked in here.”
“We have no place to take him. (crosstalk),” the officer said.
“We had him set up with a shelter, a cab to take him to the shelter, and he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay here all night. So that’s how that happened.”
“It’s not really a medical problem.”
“It’s not a police problem, either. It’s really not,” the officer said.
“It’s a community problem.”
Officers arrive at Unity.
Officers headed to Unity Behavioural Health. But shortly after they arrived and talked with him, they realised he was unresponsive. Within seconds, officers pulled Descamps from the cruiser, removed his cuffs, and began CPR. But despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead after 11:30 p.m.
A while later, the officers are talking with emergency personnel about what happened.
“The supervisor’s like, ‘Take him back in the hospital,’ and they refused him. You’re just going to drop him off at a bus stop and let him freeze tonight? He’s not verbal. He’s not talking. He’s got involuntary drool. And they’re like, ‘No, there’s nothing wrong with him.’”
The officer then explained to EMS responders why they eventually resorted to behavioural health transport.
“We brought him here,” an officer said.
“You guys did everything right,” the EMS responder said.
According to the Medical Examiner, a drug overdose with “contributing natural causes” was most likely the cause of death. A toxicological report that is still awaiting will be used to make the final decision.
An hour after the police took Jean Descamps from the hospital, he passed away.
Whatever you see in movies and on TV about hospitals in the US, well, it’s a lie. It’s not about people and humanity. The first thing they care about is money.
The circumstances that people find themselves in are depressing. You will not be seen if you do not have insurance. This is a career devoid of humanity, and health concerns are not given any human thought.
I was furious with these police officers because they put this man in handcuffs even though they could tell he posed no threat.
The final hours of this man’s life were spent without any respect.
This should go viral, and I do hope that somebody, whoever it might be, sues the hospital for neglect and also Officer Cleary for threatening the dying man to jail. Surely they could see that he needed to be in hospital. He might have been an addict, but he was still someone’s son and he was a human being, and he deserved to be treated with respect.
At some point in the video, you could hear one or two of the cops laughing. These are cold, heartless, vile cops, and it might not have been a big deal to them, but it was a big deal, and I’m sure if it was their family, addiction or not, they certainly wouldn’t be laughing.
There was no dignity or comfort for this man, and he left this world without any words, love, or comfort. This has to be one of the saddest things I’ve seen in a long time, and shame on the people who failed him.
This man had neither dignity nor comfort, and he departed this life with no affection, consolation, or words. Shame on the folks who let him down; this has to be one of the saddest things I’ve seen in a long time.
It was just inhumane how this poor man was treated. No compassion. They wouldn’t have treated an animal this way but they will human beings. Some people are just evil, and money is their God.
This man was starving and homeless, but he was also a young man in a physical condition of collapse who lacked health insurance. Did the police or the hospital make any effort to locate his family? This boy lacked even proper clothes. Even though the hospital could have found him a blanket, they chose not to, and they showed complete indifference to his obvious helplessness.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 