Warren police commissioner defends officers with videos, calls actions to save baby heroic

Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer, a decadeslong law enforcement chief, emphatically defended his department Tuesday in front of TV cameras and journalists, some of whom, he said, had inaccurately reported this week that his officers were under investigation.

News reports raised questions in connection to the Saturday morning death of a 4-month-old infant girl who stopped breathing and whose life Warren police officers had tried to save by rushing her to the hospital in a squad car while performing CPR chest compressions.

The commissioner said video recordings of the incident clearly show the "heroic actions" that his officers took, highlight why this kind of documentation is necessary and underscore the challenges that first responders face as they attempt to do their jobs under increasing public scrutiny.

Dwyer defended his officers, saying they "did nothing wrong." He said "there is no internal investigation" and that "there never was an internal investigation into any of the officers in this incident." The officers, he added, used "their training, their experience and common sense to get the child to the hospital as quickly as possible."

To buttress his remarks, Dwyer offered a detailed timeline of when the 911 call was made and when officers arrived at the scene and at the hospital. He also played a video recording that was about five minutes long that included audio from the dispatch call and video from the officers' body and dash cameras.

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"The footage you are about to see is heart-wrenching and emotional," the commissioner told reporters. "The goal is to provide the public with a firsthand view of what the officers dealt with and a transparent look at the quickness in which officers arrived on scene and made it to the hospital in an effort to save the child's life."

The video introduced the incident with audio from the 911 call, which was labeled with a warning that the audio "may be disturbing." It was followed by a note that the first police officer arrived just a minute and 45 seconds after being dispatched.

It also documented the officers arriving at the home in the 1900 block of Rome, taking the infant and attempting to save her life, and making what the video said was a "split-second decision" to take the baby to the hospital, 2.8 miles away.

One officer drove, while the other administered CPR.

On the recording, an officer could be heard asking upon arrival: "Where's fire? where's fire?" And later, in the squad car, an officer adds, "Come on! Come on! Come on!" and "Come on, baby!" as chest compressions are applied, and the other officer pushes the squad car engine to get to the hospital, driving right up to the entrance.

Police said it took 3 minutes, and 7 seconds to arrive at Ascension Macomb-Oakland.

Dwyer added that on the way to the hospital, the officers never saw or passed an ambulance.

Dwyer said no formal complaint was made against his department, but implied the controversy appeared to stem from the news reports in which someone from the Warren Fire Department suggested that the police failed to follow proper lifesaving protocols.

WDIV-TV (Channel 4) reported Monday that "police officers decided they must transport the baby in their squad car to Ascension Macomb-Oakland," but "EMS believes they could have done more for the baby at the scene and then on the way to the hospital in the ambulance."

Dwyer, who has been in law enforcement for more than 50 years, said officers are finding themselves "under that microscope" all hours of the day more than ever, and, in many cases, they feel unsupported for their efforts by some politicians.

The police commissioner said he aims to follow up with fire officials to try to clear the air and sort out any disagreements about what each department's responsibilities are when it comes to lifesaving protocols and transportation. However, he said, the Police Department will "continue to transport when we feel it's necessary."

Detectives and the Macomb County medical examiner, Dwyer added, will be looking into why the baby girl stopped breathing but declined to offer any theories as to why or comment on whether any charges would be forthcoming, saying only that the infant's death is under investigation.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police commissioner: Officers under scrutiny tried to save baby's life