An Arizona mom refused to take her unvaccinated toddler to the hospital for a fever. Police tore the down the door

[jnelsoninjax]

The scene looks like something from a middle-of-the-night drug raid. Guns drawn, police officers in tactical vests surround a beige ranch house in an anonymous subdivision. With a single decisive kick, one busts down the door. "Come out with your hands up!" an officer yells, as a flashlight's blinding beams begin sweeping the room.

But police in Chandler, Ariz., weren't seeking out a trove of illegal narcotics when they showed up at the modest home in the Phoenix suburbs on Feb. 25. Instead, they were searching for a 2-year-old who had come down with a dangerously high fever. The boy's mother, Sarah Beck, had allegedly ignored doctors' orders and refused to take him to the emergency room, fearing that she would get in trouble because he wasn't vaccinated. When officials showed up to do a welfare check hours later, the child's father refused to let them in, saying that everything was fine and the fever had passed. Eventually, police decided to take matters into their own hands.

"They treated us like criminals, busting in our door," Brooks Bryce, the toddler's father, told KPNX last month. "I mean, I don't know what kind of trauma that did to my kids."

On Thursday, authorities released body-camera footage from the incident and explained that they decided to "force entry" because the 2-year-old child's health and well-being were in danger, and he needed immediate medical attention. But critics contend that the parents were well within their rights to determine that a costly hospital visit was unnecessary, and that the dramatic late-night raid may have done irreparable damage to their three young children. More than a month later, all three children are still in foster care, according to the Arizona Republic. Bryce and Beck are now fighting to get them back.

"We love our children, we love them," Beck told KPHO. "If our children needed help, we would absolutely help them."

 

The complicated saga began with a scorching fever. At around 5 p.m. on Feb. 25, Beck brought her son into the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine's clinic, police records say. The doctor there recorded the boy's temperature and discovered it was above 105 degrees. After consulting with staff at two area hospitals, the doctor told Beck that since her son was showing possible signs of a life-threatening illness that she was unable to test for at the clinic, the mother should bring the toddler to the emergency room as quickly as possible. (Attorneys said at a court hearing earlier this month that the doctor had feared that the 2-year-old had meningitis, the Republic reported.)

Beck initially refused, the police report says. She told the naturopathic doctor that she feared that the hospital would report her to the Arizona Department of Child Safety for failing to vaccinate her child, and that her husband, who was in favor of vaccination, would be upset by the situation. (In fact, Arizona parents can opt out of vaccinations for personal, religious or medical reasons.) After being assured that she wouldn't get reported to the authorities, she relented. The clinic doctor sent them to a nearby children's hospital, and called the emergency room and asked them to let her know when Beck had showed up.

She never did. Instead, at around 6:30 p.m., Beck called the clinic again and said that she had bought a thermometer on the way home, and that it was showing that her son's temperature had dropped, according to the police report. She later told KPHO that her son has been "acting normal" and "dancing with his sisters in his car seat" after they left the clinic, and that his temperature had fallen to 102. When they got home, it dropped even more, Beck said.

The doctor told Beck that she should still go to the emergency room to make sure that the boy was recovering, the police report says. Beck reportedly said she was nervous, and asked if she could lie about her son being vaccinated. The doctor told her she couldn't, and warned her that she would have to report her to the authorities if she didn't take her son to the hospital or to an urgent care clinic soon.

 

Hours later, after Beck stopped answering her calls, the doctor called the Arizona Department of Child Safety, saying that she had called numerous hospitals but was unable to locate the family. The agency contacted the Chandler Police Department and asked police officers to perform a welfare check. By then, it was nearly 10:30 p.m.

When officers showed up and started knocking at the door, they could hear children coughing inside. No one answered. Bryce spoke to police on the phone but wouldn't let them in, saying that the 2-year-old's fever had broken and everything was fine, the police report says. He asked them to leave. When they informed him that they were legally obligated to check on the child, Bryce hung up.

 

After about an hour, DCS obtained a court order allowing them to temporarily take custody of the 2-year-old child for emergency medical treatment. Shortly before midnight, the officers once again asked Bryce to talk to them outside. He reportedly told them that he wasn't going to be forced to take his child to the hospital and wind up with a "three grand" bill. Police gave one more warning, then busted down the door just before 1:30 a.m.

Inside, they found that two additional children, ages 6 and 4. In their report, authorities wrote that the home was a mess, with piles of clothes scattered across the floor. In the parents' bedroom, police found a shotgun next to the bed. Bryce later told KPHO that the gun didn't work.

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[Mockingbird]

Vaccination should be mandatory except for medical reasons

[jnelsoninjax]

19 minutes ago, Mockingbird said:

Vaccination should be mandatory except for medical reasons

You will not get an argument out of me on that!

[DocM]

Dumbass, totally, and I'm so tired of anti-vaxxers without a really good reason. There are a few  viable reasons, allergy for one, but generally - no way.

 

But on the other hand, reports here said the cops breaking in were a SWAT unit. Really? 

 

It's caused a big stink wrt overkill and child welfare agency overreaches - which are numerous. Give some people a little power and....

 

https://abc7news.com/swat-team-with-guns-drawn-raids-home-for-toddler-with-fever/5220780/

 

Quote

CHANDLER, Arizona -- Video shows a SWAT team raiding a home in Arizona with guns drawn looking for a 2-year-old child with a fever. 

The raid came as a result of a fight between the toddler's parents and a doctor over his medical care. 

But now, local lawmakers say it went too far. 

It was a scene that resembled police trying to take down a dangerous fugitive, bust down the door with guns at the ready. But instead of a fugitive, police were looking for a toddler believed to have an extremely high fever. 

State representative Kelly Townsend says she's troubled by the video, and she's played a big role in getting legislation passed requiring Children's Services to get a search warrant before removing children from a home in a non-emergency situation. 

But she says she never thought this would be the result. 

"The doctor chose to use DCS to remove the child, and DCS chose to use the police, and the police chose to use the SWAT team," she said. "That is not the country that I recognize." 

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Edited April 1, 2019 by DocM