Where does responsibility fall for blood left at scene of arrest?

John Schneider • jschneid@lsj.com • April 27,
2010

LANSING - At about 7:30 p.m. Monday all hell broke
loose in front of John Pemberton's house, at the
corner of Willard Avenue and Grant Street, in south
Lansing.

Police cars swooped in with their lights blazing, an
ambulance showed up ... Pemberton didn't know
whether to go outside for a peek, or hide under his
bed. Ultimately he ventured out just as some
Lansing Police officers had a man pinned to the
ground near the door of Pemberton's garage.

The man, Pemberton said, was "bleeding profusely."

Once the situation was under control, the officers
escorted the man from the scene. They put their
rubber gloves and other trash in a bag, but left two
pools of blood on Pemberton's driveway.

When Pemberton asked the officers about the blood,
they asked to use his garden hose, but it wasn't
long enough. The officers left. The blood remained
on Pemberton's driveway, and had dried by this
morning.

Refusing to accept the implication that the cleanup
was his responsibility - and nervous about dealing
with what he called a "biohazard" - Pemberton
personally visited LPD's South Precinct. According
to Pemberton, a woman there told him, "If it were my
property, I would be out there with a brush."

I phoned LPD - not necessarily because I thought
Pemberton had suffered an injustice, but simply
because I was curious about the proper protocol.
After checking into the situation LPD spokesman
Noel Garcia said a crew from Bio Clean Services -
the company LPD uses for such chores - would be
sent out to do the job.

But then I began to wonder if that was overkill.
Should Pemberton have done taxpayers a favor by
simply drawing a bucket of hot soapy water, and
doing the deed?