Salt Lake City’s Civil Service Commission agrees with the police chief’s decision to demote the watch commander who was on duty when a Salt Lake City police officer arrested a University of Utah Hospital nurse in 2017, an incident that drew international attention.
Lt. James Tracy was demoted to the rank of officer in September 2017 after Police Chief Mike Brown determined Tracy made the “completely unreasonable” order that Detective Jeff Payne arrest nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26, for refusing to allow Payne to draw a patient’s blood. The encounter garnered widespread outrage after body camera footage was released by Wubbels’ attorney in August 2017.