Protect and Serve?

Whenever we get informed that the police are bringing a patient in to Emergency I get scared. Scared for the patient, and scared for what I might see. Sounds strange. However, I wonder how bad this patient will get beat up while in the hospital, beat up by the police. You must be thinking, what do you mean? and don't they get sued? No, I don't think they get sued, and yes I have seen patients beat upon by cops (and by doctors, but more on this later). I have seen it often enough that I thought it was a normal occurance all the nurses knew about. None of them have ever said anything to stop it, or that it wasn't right, and as a new nurse I just thought that's the way it went.

The first time, a skinny little guy, smaller than me, comes in escorted by two cops. He is kind of loud, but drunk, and using the 'f' word, just in general, not directed at anyone. Well, after warning him to stop swearing the cops literally slam this skinny little guy to the ground. The sound was heard across the atrium of the hospital. Being a year ago the details are a bit fuzzy, but he continues swearing, they continue twisiting his arms behind his back, pushing his head to the side against the ground and other such things.

There was one other similar incident.

But the icing on the cake is when one of the Dr.'s got involved, Dr.P. Another patient gets brought in after falling down some stairs. Drunk and maybe on drugs. Really loud, rude and threatening, but still he is handcuffed. He is also basically taking his turn beating himself up - throwing himself off the bed onto the floor, throwing his head against the floor and walls, once so hard he knocked himself out - the worst sound in the world. This night there was a good cop/bad cop situation happening. Good cop and I almost at one point settled him, well, until he knocked himself out. However, bad cop would come along and antagonize the patient, talking loudly in his face, getting him riled up, and once the patient got louder, twisting his head to the side, pushing him into the bed, doing his cuffs up tighter. Horrible how they always make the situation worse. And the Dr.P sure lost his cool that night. At one point threw a cup of water in the patients face (like that ever works to calm someone), and after getting spit on (haha jerk) grabbing the patient by the face, the cheeks, and pushing him around that way.

Honestly, I think if these patients weren't usually drunk and high they could likely remember more about the night, and have a good case to take against the cops. And sometimes doctors.