The detectives sought medical care at NYU Langone Cobble Hill after being injured in the line of duty during the arrest of a ‘violent perpetrator.’
Three plainclothes New York Police Department detectives were “mistreated” while they sought medical attention at a Brooklyn hospital last week, the Detective Endowment Association said Wednesday.
Sources told the New York Post that the detectives received the cold shoulder from staff after being mistaken for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The detectives sought medical care at NYU Langone Cobble Hill after being injured in the line of duty during the arrest of a “violent perpetrator,” the association said.
“Upon arrival, they were met with rudeness, disrespect, and a lack of basic professional courtesy by hospital administrators,” the association added.
“No one—especially Detectives injured in the line of duty—should face such treatment. The DEA is investigating this matter and will pursue all available remedies to ensure our members are treated with the dignity and respect they have earned,” it said.
The detectives were told they could not enter the emergency room with their service weapons, so one of the cops agreed to hold his partner’s gun while the partner was treated, the NYPD told the New York Post. But hospital staff then approached the second detective in the waiting room and asked him to leave because he was armed.
“And then at that point the two detectives heard members of the hospital staff say something to the effect of believing they were ICE and that they should care [sic] elsewhere,” the department said.
“The members of the NYPD put their lives on the line to protect this city, and the very least they deserve in return is attentive medical care and to be treated with respect,” an NYPD spokesman told the outlet.
A spokesperson for NYU Langone confirmed to National Review that the hospital had spoken with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch about the incident and “expressed our regret for how the situation was handled and reaffirmed our commitment to continue providing the highest quality care to the New York Police Department and all law enforcement agencies.”
“In this case, no one was denied care,” the statement added. “Last Friday, three plainclothes NYPD officers came to our Cobble Hill ED, with one of them seeking care. We provided care to the injured officer, who was asked to temporarily secure his weapon, as per our policy. The other two officers were allowed to keep their weapons. NYU Langone always values the opportunity to provide care to members of law enforcement.”
The NYPD Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information told National Review that “Reps from the hospital apologized to Commissioner Tisch and the NYPD and said that hospital staff had a misunderstanding of their policy. Commissioner Tisch asked that all hospital staff be retrained to ensure that this type of incident never happens again.”
Republican New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino called on the Mamdani administration to condemn the hospital staff and suggested they should face consequences from medical licensing boards.
Let’s be very clear about something — when doctors and nurses and medical staff begin to refuse critical care over perceived political differences, we will have reached a breaking point in this country,” she wrote in a post on X. “If this behavior is allowed to continue, and is not met with swift condemnation and consequences by the mayor and government leadership of New York as well as medical licensing boards and the professional community at large, trust in the medical profession will be shattered beyond repair.”