Did Anyone Ever LOOK At It Before Saying He Was Faking?

     Those who work in law enforcement seem to have all developed this very negative, jaded view of those who suffer the misfortune to be incarcerated for whatever reason. There are certain "facts" that are believed to be the 'Gospel According to Law', and no matter what evidence there may be to the contrary, they are not going to go against their gospel. Here are the facts:
                  1. All convicts lie.
                  2. All convicts who ask to see the doctor are just drug-seeking.
                  3. Even if there are wounds which look bad, the convict is lying about it,                 they were probably already there before he was arrested.

     This gospel appears to have been in use when a 22 year old Florida man who had been jailed for armed robbery and resisting arrest died in the hospital following being bitten by the K-9 unit dog during the arrest. (I guess I'd resist too if I was being chased by a dog that I KNEW would take a chunk out of whatever part he could grab if I stopped!!) 

Fla. Inmate Accused of ‘Faking It’ Before Dying From Police Dog Bite

      According to the article I read (see the title link above) "Max Gracia, 22, would likely still be alive if he had been given proper medical care and not punishment after his repeated pleas for help." That's what is so sad about this, to think that if one person in authority had bothered to check, this young man would still be here. Does human life mean so little now? 

     This young man had not only been bitten, the dog had held on to his leg for three minutes! Can you imagine? Pinch yourself on the arm, and then hold it like that for three minutes. Personally, I doubt if you make it to one minute; you won't if you're doing it right! It will hurt too much for too long! Now just imagine that dog's teeth buried in your arm for that long, and of course the dog has been trained to hold on no matter what so he's not just standing there quietly;  he's snarling, and tossing his head, and squeezing his jaws together every time you draw a breath (which causes you to move slightly). Just imagine how much pain that would be!! Then you manage to pull away from the animal without losing your arm, jump over a chain link fence, and dive into a lake. Now you're in this dirty water with open animal bites for who knows how long; you're finally picked up and taken to jail and you're thinking "Well at least I'll get some treatment now." WRONG!! You're taken to the jail alright, but you are not only not given any treatment for the wounds, you are told you're faking the pain so you can't have any pain meds! Then as if to add insult to injury, they're going to move you to a new cell with a camera so that they can 'monitor' you, but because you are incapable of getting up off the floor and walking to the new cell you are cited for punishment!!

     Now by this time, Gracia's leg should have shown obvious signs of infection and inflammation; did no one ever actually LOOK at it?? And if they did, how can they justify saying that he was faking? There is just something totally off about this whole thing; it is my understanding that when a person is incarcerated they are automatically 'examined' (if you can call it that) by someone with medical training to assess the person's physical and mental state before they are thrown into 'gen pop' (general population - allowed to move freely among other inmates). If this was done, then someone should have seen his leg had a serious wound; why wasn't some kind of treatment given? 

     What has been happening with law enforcement on the street for several  years is now invading other facets of the system as well. It's not just uniformed officers on the street shooting or choking the people they've sworn to 'serve and protect', it's not just the guards in the jails looking the other way while drugs flow freely in and out their doors, now it's the so-called 'medical staff' withholding necessary treatment and those who work guarding the injured and ill sanctioning it by looking the other way! So many people are saying that we should "stop playing the race card"; I would be glad to stop playing it if someone could/would show me proof that it's happening to other races on the same scale (relatively) that it's happening to blacks. I would be grateful to anyone who could send me some links to proof that I am wrong, that it is not happening  on a much larger scale to African Americans (both male and female) than anyone else. 
     Max Gracia, 22, died in the hospital from dog bites which were allowed to fester until they became infected, resulting in E. coli infection and then septic shock. 

"The medical examiner ruled Gracia's death a homicide."  
  (The full article can be read at this link.)