Response From Woodbury Public Safety Director Regarding The December 13 60 Minutes Feature

Press release from the City of Woodbury:

December 14, 2020

"I want to respond to the story that aired on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Unfortunately, the producers from 60 Minutes did not use the city’s full statement that was provided to them for the story. This decision omitted important contextual information about our operations. 60 Minutes also packaged unrelated incidents involving other agencies into the same story, which may be causing some confusion.

I want to be clear that ketamine was never administered in this case.In fact, the responding police officer previously served as a cross-trained paramedic and relied on his many years of experience in resolving this incident. It was the training and professionalism of our police officers that successfully de-escalated a potentially dangerous situation.

Woodbury Public Safety delivers police, fire and emergency medical services through a unique integrated response model in which police officers, firefighters and paramedics work and train together. Some of the city's police officers are cross-trained as paramedics or firefighters. This model enhances collaboration with our first responders and the people we serve. However, to be effective, it requires trust and open communication among the team. In 2019, the department responded to more than 4,500 emergency medical services calls and served more than 4,000 patients.

We believe a review of this matter will show the patient was safely brought to the hospital without any chemical restraints and responding officers acted in accordance with policy in defusing a tense situation. Plaintiff Baker’s allegations to the contrary in the 60 Minutes story are without merit and his further claims of retaliation are likewise without merit."

Lee Vague
Public Safety Director/Police Chief

This press release was produced by the City of Woodbury. The views expressed here are the author’s own.