MILWAUKIE, Ore. — By the time Milwaukie police officers arrived at the hospital on Dec. 12 to take away Jean Michael DesCamps, 26, the man was no longer forming words, only moaning, and appeared unable to stand up on his own. He was visibly emaciated, covered in bruises and lesions.
But Providence Milwaukie had discharged him and emergency room staff said that he refused to leave, so the police officers were tasked with taking him somewhere else. Though there were warrants for his arrest, the jail refused to take DesCamps in his condition.
After initially debating about whether to take DesCamps to a homeless shelter or deposit him on the street, the officers decided to take him to a behavioral health facility. They eventually handcuffed him and loaded him into the back of a cruiser.
More than an hour passed between the officers' arrival at Providence Milwaukie and the time at which DesCamps was declared dead outside of the Unity Center for Behavioral Health in Portland, most of that time catalogued on bodycam video released Friday by the Milwaukie Police Department.
While some sections are redacted for privacy reasons, and Officer Timothy Cleary does on several occasions cover the camera and mute his audio, the nearly two-hour-long video largely details the entire ordeal from start to finish.
Bodycam video timeline
The video begins just before 10 p.m. on December 12, 2023. Officers from the Milwaukie Police Department arrive at Providence Milwaukie and head straight to DesCamps' room. Hospital staff give them a report.
"He was going to get a ride to a homeless shelter and then he refused to leave," a staffer says. "He was pleasant, he was conversant the entire time, until right when his discharge arrived.
"He was evaluated medically. There's no medical problems for him. This is a chronic problem. There's not thriving chronically but there's no medical reason for him to be here anymore," the staffer insists, calling the state DesCamps was in "all behavioral."
The officers take about twenty minutes to consider what to do with DesCamps, determining that the jail will not take him. Around 10:10 p.m., they make plans to transport him to a shelter, then they move him from the bed, into handcuffs, and into a wheelchair.
Around 10:20 p.m., two Milwaukie officers get DesCamps into the back of the patrol car. Then the officer wearing the body-worn camera — Officer Clearly — goes back inside the hospital to pick up DesCamps' discharge paperwork, capturing this interaction:
"Why is he being released?" an officer asks.
"He's doing it electively," a staffer says. "He walked in here."
"Ok, we're going to walk him to the front because we have no place to take him," the officer says.
"Bus station is fine," a different staff member says.
"We had him set with a shelter, and he didn't want to leave. He wanted to sit here all night. And so that's how that went for him," the first staffer follows up.
The hospital staff continue to insist the situation is not a medical problem, and police retort with "it's not a police problem either."
When police leave the hospital, they place the 26-year-old on what's called a peace officer hold, or POH. Then, two officers, Bradley Walther and Cleary, transport DesCamps to Unity Center for Behavioral Health in Portland, about a 15 minute drive from Providence Milwaukie.
Around 11:05 p.m., the officers find DesCamps unresponsive in the backseat. They check for a pulse, then pull him out of the car, uncuff him, and begin CPR. Someone calls 911, and within five minutes, first responders arrive on scene.
More than 20 minutes later, Jean Michael Descamps is declared dead. Officers note time of death as 11:31 p.m.
As the body-worn camera continues to roll, Milwaukie officers can be heard expressing their anger and frustration at both the chain of events and the hospital.
"The supervisor's like, take him back in the hospital and they refused him. They said, you're going to drop him off at a bus stop and let him freeze tonight? He's not verbal, he's not talking. He's got involuntary drool, and they're like 'nope, there's nothing wrong with him,'" one officer can be heard saying. "It just pisses me off. That guy does not need to be dead right now."
'An unfortunate opportunity to review the system'
The Milwaukie Police Department said that it released the footage Friday in response to records requests. Since DesCamps family members and other "involved parties of interest" have since viewed the footage, MPD said it would begin honoring those requests.
“Through our initial and ongoing review, we see every indication that our Officers were trying to improve Mr. Descamps situation by getting him additional care and treatment," Milwaukie Police Chief Luke Strait said in a statement accompanying the release. "This is an unfortunate opportunity to review the system as a whole and evaluate any shortcomings that could contribute to an outcome like this. This sad event has been difficult and troubling for the Descamps family and our Officers. Our hearts go out to the Descamps family and friends.”
The Portland Police Bureau is conducting an investigation into the circumstances of DesCamps' death. According information shared thus far by the agency, the man's death "was likely related to a drug overdose" and contributing natural causes, citing initial findings from the county medical examiner. A final determination awaits the results of a toxicology report.
In response to KGW's request for comment after the Milwaukie police bodycam video went public, Providence acknowledged in a statement that it "fell short" in its care for DesCamps prior to his death:
"Providence is sorry about the death of Jean Descamps, and we extend our apologies and sympathy to his family and friends for their loss. In this case, we fell short of our goal of providing safe, reliable, compassionate care to our patient.
"The Milwaukie Police Department video is difficult to watch, and Providence is committed to doing all we can to learn from this and improve our response to our most vulnerable patients.
"Immediately after we learned of the death, Providence Milwaukie Hospital began a thorough internal review of our processes and procedures. We are working with our colleagues at Oregon Emergency Physicians – the organization that provides the doctors for our emergency department – as well as the Oregon Health Authority. Providence leaders have already taken action, and are identifying additional actions we need to take so that people in our community can be confident in the care we provide.
"Finally, on behalf of all our caregivers at Providence Milwaukie, we give you our promise: We will do better."