State auditors examining the widely publicized arrest of a Utah nurse last summer said Salt Lake City police should consider investigating complaints against officers more quickly.The audit released Tuesday says the department followed its policies, but the two-month investigation process still raised concerns after video of the July arrest drew widespread attention online.
It showed Alex Wubbels being dragged away screaming after refusing to let police draw blood from an unconscious patient.
Police said they follow public-employee law, but will consider changes during future labor negotiations.
The officers' lawyers and union officials, though, have said they were treated unfairly.
UPDATE: The law firm for Alex Wubbels responded to the audit late Tuesday.
J.D. Lauritzen expressed being perplexed by how much attention is paid to their client's incident while other internal affairs cases are cited in the audit.
"I agree with the public’s concerns acknowledged in the audit about the investigative process into police officer misconduct. As the audit suggests, the public has a right to be concerned if police officer misconduct is investigated under a different set of rules than those for average citizens. In my opinion, the contrast between how police misconduct is investigated, and how the misconduct of average citizens is investigated, only serves to create greater distance between the police and the communities they serve,” Lauritzen said.
