O.C. Cops Rebuked for Degrading Woman

Four Fullerton police officers have been punished for humiliating a woman who they thought was unconscious after arriving at her home to investigate a possible suicide attempt.

Police Chief Patrick E. McKinley declined to discuss the incident, apart from saying it was the subject of an internal-affairs investigation.

But in an internal memo, McKinley said two of the officers have been disciplined for conduct unbecoming of an officer, and two -- who apparently witnessed the incident -- for failing to take action. He did not identify the officers involved, disclose what punishments they have received, or specify when the incident took place.

According to his account, the four officers responded to a radio call of suspicious circumstances, possibly an attempted suicide, in a trailer home. When they arrived, they found a woman lying on her bed, apparently unconscious. They knew the woman from prior calls, the chief wrote.

At first, the officers tried wake her by calling her name, shaking her and moving the bed.

Then one of the officers lowered himself inches from her and passed gas loudly, saying, “This ought to wake her up,” McKinley wrote.

Another officer climbed over her on all fours and, without touching her, mimicked a cat licking milk, he wrote.

As it turns out, the woman was aware of what was going on, the chief wrote.

A department spokesman reached late Thursday said the complaint was generated from within and swift action was taken.

“Once we were made aware of it, we started an investigation immediately,” said Sgt. Ron Gillett. “I feel comfortable everything we did from an administrative standpoint was done correctly.

“Any type of misbehavior is not tolerated,” he said.

“We strive to maintain professional standards. And that’s the reason we promptly investigated and reviewed the incident, and took appropriate action.”

While unfamiliar with the specifics of the Fullerton case, Dr. Gerald MaGuire, a psychiatrist and associate clinical professor at UC Irvine who deals frequently with suicidal patients, said that disrespectful treatment of potentially suicidal people can have devastating effects.

If officers act in a manner deemed unsympathetic by the subject, MaGuire said, “it might further alienate the person from seeking help in the future. If she has these suicidal thoughts again -- and, unfortunately, they can be recurrent -- she may be more likely to act before seeking help.”

*

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.