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Families and clinicians press Legislature to guarantee emergency medical care in police custody
Summary
Dozens of impacted family members, clinicians and advocates urged passage of the Medical Civil Rights Act (H.1743/S.1230) to require prompt emergency medical response when people in law enforcement encounters show signs of medical crisis; supporters cited national data and Connecticut's recent experience reducing custodial deaths.
Family members of people who died or suffered severe harms while in contact with police urged the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to pass the Medical Civil Rights Act (H.1743/S.1230) and a companion study bill, which would require officers to summon emergency medical assistance when someone in custody or contact requests aid or clearly needs it.
“My son completed suicide by hanging in the Berkshire County House of Correction,” said Barbara Gallo in testimony for a different custody-related bill; she and other witnesses connected the need for clearer medical protocols and data reporting with preventable deaths in custody. Families recounted cases in which medical needs were missed or delayed; Jennifer Rutten (Impact Families) described the death of her brother and said “Had my brother's medical care not been delayed for over 2 hours, he would be alive today.” Valerie Copeland said her husband survived a hemorrhagic stroke after being left handcuffed in a cell for hours; she told the committee that an ambulance was called only after he vomited and had difficulty breathing.
Public-health and medical witnesses testified that available national data show a large share of custodial deaths involve insufficient emergency response. Lenore Talulli of the Medical Civil Rights Initiative told the committee that the Department of Justice found that 48 percent of custodial deaths involved insufficient emergency medical responses and cited Connecticut’s post-enactment drop in police-involved deaths.
Clinicians and corrections-health experts urged the panel to combine an affirmative right to emergency care with better data collection. Dr. Steven Wright, a retired physician, said the two companion bills were complementary: one would establish the right to care and the other would direct systematic data collection on delivery of care in custody so policymakers can target fixes.
Law enforcement witnesses offered mixed input. Some said training and protocols are necessary and supported prompt medical responses; others raised operational questions about safety and how to recognize medical emergencies. The committee heard that in some past cases shortages of staffing and confusion over responsibilities impeded timely care.
No vote was taken. Committee chairs requested additional written evidence, including national data, examples of best practices and implementation language addressing officer safety, EMS activation protocols and data elements to be collected under the study bill.
Ending: Committee members said they would weigh technical amendments and asked for collaboration between impacted families, medical experts and law enforcement on language to address safety and implementation details.
