Maya McFadden Photo
At the scene of a press conference last week related to the Randy Cox case.
After what happened to Richard “Randy” Cox, New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney said, he has new evidence to support passage of a state law requiring “immediate emergency medical services to an individual who experiences a health emergency” while in police custody.
Looney, the State Senate’s president pro tempore, proposed such a law in this year’s legislative session: Senate Bill 445, An Act Concerning the Provision of Emergency Medical Services to an Individual Who Is in the Custody or Control of a Peace Officer.
The Senate passed the bill 34 – 0 on April 26.
But it never made it to the floor of the state House of Representatives. So the bill died. It didn’t become law.
Then, on June 19, Richard Cox’s head slammed against the wall of a police conveyance van when the driver slammed on the brakes. He injured his neck and back; he couldn’t move. Rather than get him immediate attention, the cops brought the 36-year-old New Haven man to the lock-up, ordered him to stand, accused him of lying about his injuries, placed him in a wheelchair, then dragged him on the floor to a cell, before an ambulance crew took him to the hospital.
That’s where Cox remains, paralyzed from the chest down, connected to a feeding tube and a breathing tube. The case has sparked nationwide outrage and led to the placing of five officers on administrative duty pending the outcome of criminal and internal investigations.
Looney told the Independent that the point of his bill was to prevent tragedies like this one.
“We will certainly be introducing it again next year,” he said. He said the Cox case “highlights the need” for the bill, the idea for which came from a Massachusetts physicians’ group called the Medical Civil Rights Initiative, which focuses on “poor medical outcomes for persons who have pre-arrest encounters with law enforcement.”
Meanwhile the state and New Haven NAACP, the Cox family, and attorney Ben Crump are planning a “March for Justice” for Cox this coming Friday beginning at 5 pm. at the Stetson Branch Library at 197 Dixwell Ave.
The above video captures key moments in the June 19 police handling of Richard "Randy" Cox. Warning: It is painful to watch.