Where’s the Justice for Briana Ojeda?

Nearly six months ago an 11-year-old child lost her life when a police officer chose apathy over action. Now New York City officials seem to be practicing that same level of apathy in failing to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. Petitions have been signed, legislation introduced, and a lawsuit filed; but NYC has done nothing.

I first reported on this case in September, a month after Briana Ojeda needlessly lost her life. She was suffering from an asthma attack as her mother rushed her towards the hospital. Her journey to medical help was stopped by a member of New York’s finest, Officer Alfonso Mendez. In Carmen Ojeda’s haste, she had turned the wrong way on a one-way street and Mendez pulled her over. But, when she explained her daughter was in need of emergency assistance, Mendez smirked, saying, “I don’t do CPR.” It was during those critical moments that Briana’s family believes her life could have been saved.

The incident uncovered a lack of satisfactory procedures and protocols when it comes to officers of the NYPD and CPR. Although officers are trained and certified in CPR at the academy, that’s where the strict adherence to certification stops. After that point, how often an officer is recertified seems to depend on how inclined he is to seek recertification. In other words, it’s not a hard and fast requirement.

Immediately following Briana’s death, people being crying out for change. After all, are the police only there to make arrests and write tickets, or are they public servants who can be turned to in times of emergencies? If the cops are at the scene of an accident before the EMS, shouldn’t they at least try to help? Over 430 Change.org members so far have said yes, NYPD must do better when it comes to CPR training and recertification.

Briana’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in November, naming Officer Mendez and the department as defendants. They waited four months after her death to file suit and the family’s attorney suggested the delay was, in part, because they wanted to give the police commissioner some opportunity to reform the existing lack of CPR rules. “We are suing them for letting this child die and not making any effort to give her CPR, and to punish the police commissioner for not stepping up to the plate and immediately changing police protocol and procedure.”

The lawsuit isn’t the only push for change, however. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced “Briana’s Law” in the New York State Assembly last fall. The legislation would require yearly recertification for NYPD officers, something that should have been done long ago. It also makes it a misdemeanor offense for an officer to refuse to assist someone in medical distress -- and a felony if that person dies. Ortiz stated, “When an officer joins the force, they take an oath to serve and protect those in their community and we would expect no less.”

On Halloween weekend, Assemblyman Ortiz, the Ojeda family, and activists within the community marched to the Brooklyn Supreme Court steps in an effort to bring attention to the case. They’ve been circulating a petition to gain support for Briana’s Law, with over 5,000 signatures at the time of the march. All of this done in an effort to keep Briana’s story in the spotlight. But unfortunately, like many other cases like it, this one is fading from the mainstream media.

The legislation still appears to be pending, though no action has been taken on it since September. The family hasn’t been featured by any of the local NYC media sources since before the holiday season, and if the story continues to fade from view, you can bet the NYPD Commissioner won’t complain. Don’t let it. Keep the memory of this child alive and help the Ojeda family advocate for change in the departmental CPR policies.

Too often cases of injustice cause a big uproar in initial months but the roar fades to a whisper before real progress is made. Don’t let that happen here.

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Photo Credit: Ojeda Family