OGDEN, Utah — The Weber County Sheriff’s Office has hired a former Salt Lake City Police Department detective who was at the center of a viral controversy in 2017.
SLCPD fired Jeff Payne in 2018, citing numerous policy violations committed during Payne’s arrest of Alex Wubbels, a University Hospital nurse who refused to allow Payne to perform a blood draw on an unconscious patient.
The incident attracted nationwide attention and calls for action after videos of the arrest were released. In the footage, Wubbels shows Det. Jeff Payne a print out of the existing policy her hospital and the department had agreed to, which only allows blood draws from a patient who gives consent, who is under arrest, or if police obtain a warrant.
Payne was hired on August 9 as a part-time, non-sworn civilian corrections assistant assigned to the medical unit in the Weber County Jail.
“We are aware of his background including the incident that occurred at the University of Utah Hospital in 2017. In reviewing this information, we did not see anything that would preclude us from hiring him as a part-time civilian employee,” a statement from the Weber County Sheriff’s Office said. “We acknowledge the concerns raised from the incident at the University of Utah. We stand behind our decision to hire Mr. Payne as a civilian employee and wish him success here at the Sheriff’s Office.”
