Whitey Ford
06-14-2020, 12:34 PM
Man drowns as officers look on without coming to his aid, family wants them fired
https://i.imgur.com/JaSlYsl.png
The family of a 24-year-old who drowned while police looked on, instead of coming to his aid, are outraged after seeing the events unfold on body camera video.
Officers with the police department in Decherd, Tennessee, right outside of Winchester, were in a car pursuit in the early morning hours of June 4, trying to pull over Johnny Baldwin for a minor traffic violation, Winchester Police Chief Richard Lewis told ABC News on Wednesday.
The body camera video shows Baldwin swimming and an officer calling him "dumb" for jumping in.
Oh so, cops are now life guards too?
One of those officers could not swim, Lewis told ABC News, and the second officer was taking off his gear to get in, but the first Winchester officer stopped him.
"We are not trained in water rescue -- we do not possess the gear to do that," Lewis said. "You've got to have a flotation device tied off somewhere to the bank where they can rescue you if something happens."
The rescue squad and dive team were en route before Baldwin drowned, the incident report said.
Lewis also noted that it was the middle of the night and pitch-black on the shore of the lake, with the exception of their flashlights.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-drowns-officers-coming-aid-family-fired/story?id=71172077
https://i.imgur.com/JaSlYsl.png
The family of a 24-year-old who drowned while police looked on, instead of coming to his aid, are outraged after seeing the events unfold on body camera video.
Officers with the police department in Decherd, Tennessee, right outside of Winchester, were in a car pursuit in the early morning hours of June 4, trying to pull over Johnny Baldwin for a minor traffic violation, Winchester Police Chief Richard Lewis told ABC News on Wednesday.
The body camera video shows Baldwin swimming and an officer calling him "dumb" for jumping in.
Oh so, cops are now life guards too?
One of those officers could not swim, Lewis told ABC News, and the second officer was taking off his gear to get in, but the first Winchester officer stopped him.
"We are not trained in water rescue -- we do not possess the gear to do that," Lewis said. "You've got to have a flotation device tied off somewhere to the bank where they can rescue you if something happens."
The rescue squad and dive team were en route before Baldwin drowned, the incident report said.
Lewis also noted that it was the middle of the night and pitch-black on the shore of the lake, with the exception of their flashlights.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-drowns-officers-coming-aid-family-fired/story?id=71172077