A Missouri appeals court has ruled that Kansas City’s Board of Police Commissions acted properly and within their discretion when they fired Officers Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell. Both officers were fired after they denied a pregnant woman medical care during an arrest even though she pleaded to go to a hospital because she was bleeding. The next morning the woman, Sophia Salvo, delivered a premature baby that did not survive.
The video of the traffic stop can be seen here. She can be heard several times requesting to go to a hospital. At one point you hear Officer Spencer reply to Salvo’s request by saying “How is that my problem?” and then “It’s called a menstrual cycle”. There is no way of knowing whether early medical intervention could have saved her baby, but denying a bleeding pregnant woman medical care is beyond outrageous.
Although these officers were eventually fired, it took more than two years from the date of the incident for them to lose their jobs and more than four years for the court to rule that their firing was proper. At one point Senior Jackson County Circuit Court judge Jack Gant recommended that both officers be reinstated with back pay because he believed that they were not properly trained and did not fully understand the department policy. Apparently, officers must be trained on how to be decent human beings. It took the government’s justice system four years to make a decision most decent people could make within 30 seconds of watching the video.
I wonder if Spencer or Schnell are now working for any other police department.
These cops set a new low in my book for cruel, inhumane and unusual punishment. Apparently some cops like to give abortions too! It’s atrocious that cops are only concerned about drugs, tinted tags, warrants, and what else their snouts might snoop, snort and find in others’ belongings, rather than human health, lives, rights and safety while these are in jeopardy! Some just need to be fired…at!
Oh yes, a menstrual cycle, while you’re pregnant. Makes perfect sense.
Horrifying. Disgusting human beings. Good point about how absurd it is that they have to be trained to be decent human beings. The police profession truly does seem to be a filter for the dregs of society. I mean, the job description entails using force on others and having undeserved power. Is it really a surprise that people who sign up to do this are often assholes?
I would say unbelievable, but after all the bull that I have seen from cops this is what I have come to expect from police everywhere. When will it end!
She was pregnant and bleeding, where was the concern for her and the babies health. They seemed so focused on her car. How are they allowed to search her car without a warrant?