KPrC Local 2 video of blood draw training
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(Houston) -- Houston Police officers started training to draw blood themselves for suspected drunken drivers last year, but Mayor Annise Parker has halted the program.
Last October, this Examiner page was first to report that federal grant money was being set aside to begin training the first 10 HPD officers to become certified phlebotomists. Instead of waiting for hospitals or nurses to draw blood, the officers would have whipped out needles and done it themselves inside the police department's downtown intoxilizer room where drunken drivers are booked.
The idea started taking shape before Mayor Parker took office, and training then started in February as KPRC Local 2 News cameras were rolling during one training session.
However, before any officers could actually begin drawing blood, the Mayor has now ruled that HPD officers will not be adding needles to their arsenal of weapons, along with their Tazers, pistols, and batons.
Not only was federal money spent to train some of the HPD officers, but some officers actually got pricked with needles themselves, taking the Hepititis and other shots that are required to become phlebotomists.
That wasn't the only action involving needles. According to those involved in the training, HPD officers actually trained by sticking state prison inmates with needles so they could practice drawing blood.
Several inmates, who reportedly gave permission to take part in the training, were lined up inside at last two prisons, where officers practiced inserting needles and finding the veins to get the job done. One officer said,
I spent five days at TDC drawing blood for nothing."
One person involved in the training exercise said about 50 inmates were stuck with needles by HPD officers during the training. Some were at the Jester IV Unit and the others were at a lockup in Dayton, according to the person involved.
The person said officers tested on "intake prisoners" who were having blood testing done anyway, and all were pricked under a doctor's orders. The person said,
They were not stuck just for (the officers), they were getting tested regardless."
The prison testing component was kept quiet, as organizers clearly realized that the public may have had problems with convicts being used as guinea pigs inside prisons. HPD invited a TV crew along for one training session that had nothing to do with inmates, and the prison testing was never mentioned to that news crew as they covered the story.
The prison testing likely had nothing to do with the police blood draw effort being scrapped by Mayor Parker. She may not even be aware of it, according to those involved in the testing.
A separate proposal is now under consideration that would have Houston firefighter/paramedics certified to perform the blood draws instead of police officers. No training has been scheduled, as this proposal is still in the discussion stages, according to those involved in the deliberations.
The idea of police pulling over a driver and then single-handedly drawing his blood was controversial from the start. Police agencies routinely announce "No Refusal Weekends" or other "No Refusal" events coinciding with holidays or major events, in which judges are on standby to sign search warrants allowing blood to be forcibly taken from anyone who refuses.
In addition, Texas has several new laws on the books allowing blood to be drawn without a search warrant in cases where accidents occur or felony circumstances exist such as driving drunk with a child in the car or being pulled over for a 3rd or higher offense.
Officers who were taking part in the training said they were ready to step up to streamline the process of getting more drunks off the road by drawing blood themselves.
The decision to halt the police blood draw has no impact on the various No Refusal events. The program was still in the training stages and no HPD officers had yet begun to draw blood when the Mayor killed the program.
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