Cop recruit goes into coma during ‘Beat-Down Friday’ hazing practice, Hawaii suit says
A police recruit suffered severe heatstroke and went into a coma during a “hazing practice” in Hawaii, according to a lawsuit.
The Maui police recruit, Alexa Jacobs, collapsed during a “ritualistic practice” commonly called “Beat-Down Friday,” according to the lawsuit filed on July 6.
The practice, which often involves strenuous exercise, is designed to “inflict pain, discomfort, humiliation, and/or embarrassment” and “beat down” new recruits until they drop out, the lawsuit says.
Jacobs was one of only two women in her academy class, according to the lawsuit.
The Maui Police Department did not respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.
A police spokesperson told Maui News the department had no comment.
On Feb. 4, 2022, Jacobs and the other recruits in her class spent the morning taking a physical fitness assessment, according to the lawsuit.
The recruits, “fatigued and dehydrated” after the assessment, were asked to perform an additional cross-country run, the lawsuit says. The temperature was 83 degrees with a humidity level of nearly 85%.
During the run, if any recruits fell behind, the others would have to do calisthenic exercises until the person caught up, the lawsuit says.
At one point, Jacobs and the rest of her group were asked to get into a plank position while they waited for another classmate to catch up, the lawsuit says.
Jacobs passed out on the street during the exercise, the lawsuit says.
Her supervisors asked three recruits to render aid to Jacobs, who was laying unconscious in the sun, while the rest of the class stood in the shade, the lawsuit says. One of her classmates said he’d seen her lips starting to turn blue earlier while they were exercising, according to the lawsuit. Blue lips are a sign of the body going into shock.
Jacobs remained unconscious in the heat for around five minutes before a lieutenant called an ambulance, the lawsuit says.
When Jacobs got to the hospital, her body temperature was 107.4 degrees, which put her at risk for liver and kidney failure, the lawsuit says. Her supervisors did not give her name to hospital staff, so her family had difficulty finding her when they tried to check on her, according to the lawsuit.
Jacobs was hospitalized for two weeks and had to be on dialysis for her kidneys, her lawyer, Michael Jay Green, told McClatchy News.
Green said the supervisors of the police academy pushed the recruits to dangerous limits and failed to render aid to Jacobs when they saw she was injured.
“If you did this to an animal you’d be arrested for animal cruelty,” he said. “It’s just awful. These are supervisors that are supposed to lead by example.”
Jacobs is doing better, he said, but she is unable to reenter police training because the same type of stress on her body could be fatal. She now works a part-time desk job at the police department.
“Her whole career was to try to serve her community, to try to make a difference,” he said. “And now they’ve taken that away.”
The lawsuit seeks damages of an unspecified amount.
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