Wow. But instead of focusing on who did what wrong, perhaps a campaign to allow people with diabetes, or in my husbands case, a ICD implant, or any possibly altering condition to register with the dept of licensing at the same time you register your car. That way, when the officer runs the plate, it will be ‘tagged’ BEFORE anything happens. It can be a choice, so no one is forced into releasing personal info if they choose not to. Just a thought.

Sometimes I wonder if we are losing our humanity.  It’s hard to believe it could take law enforcement a couple of hours to determine if someone is dangerous or just sick.

I feel really bad. My family & I drove by Julian & saw him in his truck. It looked like his truck broke down and he was trying to call someone. We normally stop and help when we see someone in this situation but we were on our way to a movie so we didn’t. This has opened my eyes and from now on I don’t care if I’m late, I will think of Others first.  If something worse would have happened to Julian, I would have felt so guilty because I didn’t stop to help.  Julian, I am truly sorry and I am glad you are okay and nothing worse happened.

This incident speaks volumes about the state of the MVPD today.

My take on this was the police reacte exactly on what one woman called in about A GUN.
That is usually enough to react that way. Those words and the 911 call were exactley the way the police were suppose to respond to the situation. Did you expect otherwise

The cops in their para-military modes these days are probably just as dangerous as the criminals they’re out to arrest.  Innocent people across the country are being injured or killed by a bunch of trigger-happy boys playing army.

When I got my license renewed, the lady asked me this question: Do you have a medical condition or take any medications that may prevent you from driving?
It may be best that everyone answer this honestly, it could prevent this situation from happening again. This one question can alert the Police Department, Sheriff and or State Patrol in certain instances. At least they might have an idea why someone isn’t responding. After all, the authorities are not mind readers.

Mr. Julian, please go down to the DMV/DOL and tell them of your medical condition. It could save time and your life.

I too feel sorry for Julian but MY GOD...take your insulin or whatever it is you need to keep your sugars in tack.  What if he hadn’t passed out in the middle of the street but had done so and plowed into children?  There’s no way to know what the police were thinking...it’s easy to sit here and armchair psychoanalyze the police..but they have protocol.  I think we’re ALL programmed to think the worst these days.  Maybe there should be a sticker of some sort that notifies the PD of a medical condition.  I don’t mean a “HEY LOOK AT ME I’M A DIABETIC” but some kind of color or number coated thing so they won’t take so much time to verify what’s going on.

or intact even…

Based on the info the MVPD had I can’t fault their judgement.  This has nothing to do with gun toting cowboys.  Actually the MVPD is very much into community policing and not the good ol boy style.  I agree completely with Mya pinion that we should somehow flag these medical conditions on licenses that would have alerted the police.  I’m glad Julian is ok, and thankfully we can learn from this w/o total tragedy

The police took the word of one impatient, hysterical witness as the Gospel truth? 

Better training is needed.

And if they hadn’t and deaths would have occurred you would be the first one on hear saying they ignored a witness and 911...some will complain about government entities no matter what occurs

When you hear hoof beats....don’t think ‘zebra’.  There was nothing to indicate there was a threat except one hysterical driver who was honking her horn at the driver.  And 911 was relaying this single witness’ muddled version....as they weren’t on the scene.

The over-reaction almost killed a man who seriously needed help.  While the bunker routine may be what fear-factor wanna-bes call in for every incident, cooler heads must prevail.

Better training is needed.

Agreed, Lee.  Aren’t the police trained to get a visual confirmation in a situation involving a weapon?  The man was obviously in need of help, and if they had required visual confimation that he had a weapon, they would have seen much quicker that he had no weapon and was in need of medical attention.  Hysteria is contagious, but our police force should have procedures in place to prevent something like this from happening again.

This is not the first time the Mount Vernon Police Department has done this.  About twelve years ago the same thing happened to my father who also has type 1 diabetes.  His car was on the side of the road by where he used to work and he was having an insulin reaction.  The police came, pulled him out of his car, threw him to his knees and he waited, half dead until one of his co-workers saw what was happening and stopped the police.  My father was wearing a medical I.D. necklace they didn’t even check for it.  They should have learned the first time.

I am pretty sure that most of you dont understand what its like being a cop. If the people on the MVPD were not there, who would be? CERTAINLY NOT YOU! I am not sure you could handle knowing what they go through.
The person in this case does have a CPL and with the report being he was waiving a gun, why would you not think it was at all possible?

JMHO, yes, it absolutely COULD have been a gun he was waiving around.  Why didn’t the police get VISUAL CONFIRMATION of that before assuming it WASN’T?  That’s the real question, isn’t it?  I believe our police do a remarkable job, day in and day out, but this story is an example of a blind spot.  They were treating this man as a violent criminal without visual confirmation of any gun.  If the man is UNRESPONSIVE, take a closer look for God’s sake!  The training necessary to prevent another incident like this should be high on the priority list.

Did you miss the part that said 12 officers, well-trained to react instantly, spent HOURS trying to communicate, contact relatives, assess the situation, and insure public safety?  Police are dammned if they do and damned if they don’t.  In a big city he might have been shot for not complying with a command, and the police actions could be justified in an investigation.  Perhaps someone should express gratitude that this highly trained group of officers were NOT trigger-happy para-military cowboys who shoot first.  Either way, blame the police, right?  Could a man who is prone to blood sugar events, be partly responsible?  Maybe he shouldn’t be operating a vehicle, or his concerned family should have driven him and dealt with his sudden, unpredictable medical condition.

noodles, I understand your frustration with the situation, and I agree completely that this man should have made better accommodations for his need.  However, it should not have taken HOURS for well trained officers to realize the man was unconscious and needed medical attention.  They did not seek visual confirmation of the imagined gun, and they very much should have.  Our police do a remarkable job, but this is not a shining example of that.  12 officers should have taken far less than even a single hour to assess the situation and react accordingly.  I hope this is a lesson learned for everyone involved.

So if you think you could do a better job, go join the PD. I would like to see you walk up to this situation, not knowing what you know now and walk up to the truck.
Before Julian lost consciousness, he had been swaying from side to side in the vehicle and showing other movement, leading officers to think he was responsive, but not cooperative. His window was slightly open, so officers thought he could hear them but chose not to comply with their orders, Bergsma said.
Did you not read that?

(cont)
Next time you see someone stopped, will you just walk up to them and not think otherwise? In this society you just cant do that anymore.
It doesnt matter who you are, you still have to take precaution. If they would have walked up to his truck and it was a gun, people would have been saying dumb cop it was called in as a gun. So since they did what common sense tells you to do, you are going to bash them.

JMHO, you’re right.  I’m frustrated because a man was in greater danger than he should have been, but that was not the police’s fault.  I really do believe we have a great police force (and that they should be MUCH better paid than they currently are).  I think who I’m really the most angry at in this situation is the hysterical woman who said she saw a gun.  If she hadn’t made that claim, this entire situation would have gone smoother.  Our society tends to go hyper over the merest mention of “terrorist,” essentially doing a terrorist’s job for them.  Thank you for sticking up for our police force, I really did not mean to be as harsh as I sounded.

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