New York Police Investigator Suspended After Handcuffing Black EMT In Emergency Room

An upstate New York police investigator is on paid suspension after handcuffing a Black EMT inside a hospital emergency room final week.

The encounter started when Monroe Ambulance EMT Lekia Smith hit a Rochester Police investigator’s automotive together with her car’s door whereas unloading a affected person within the ambulance bay of Robust Memorial Hospital, WHEC-TV reported.

The investigator, who's white, requested for her ID, however Smith wished to move the affected person contained in the hospital first, sources advised the information station.

Video reveals Smith with the affected person on a stretcher when the investigator handcuffs her and brings her exterior:

NEW: I simply talked with @realmalikevans, he tells me as of 11am, he had not watched the video beneath however is involved with the chief and everyone seems to be investigating. @news10nbcpic.twitter.com/dzgsqwzxNX

— Jennifer Lewke (@WHEC_JLewke) July 15, 2022

In keeping with Smith’s legal professional, Donald Thompson, the investigator introduced Smith to his police automotive, questioned her within the backseat after which launched her.

Smith claims she suffered harm to her dignity and professional standing throughout the encounter.

It’s unclear how the affected person fared. In a press release, Monroe Ambulance EMT counseled Smith for specializing in her affected person regardless of the interplay with the investigator.

The Rochester Police Division and the Rochester Police Accountability Board are investigating, per the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. The division has but to disclose the investigator’s establish.

“If she was a petite quick white girl, would this have occurred to her?” Thompson requested. “Completely not.”

Rochester’s police union, the Locust Membership, mentioned Smith and the investigator “reached a mutually acceptable decision that day when each the investigator and the EMT have been in a position to collectively talk about the explanations for his or her actions, and each accepted one another’s explanations,” in response to the Democrat & Chronicle.

Thompson denied that declare.

“I pray that this by no means occurs to anybody once more and I additionally pray that the justice that's wanted on this scenario is served swiftly,” Smith mentioned in a press release on Monday.