Dolnoslaskie

17th February 2012

Swidnica police are facing investigation by prosecutors after officers called to an incident mistook a woman for a shop dummy. The incident occurred last November when police received a call from an eye-witness who saw a woman fall from a window in a tenement in the city’s square.

When officers arrived at the scene it was dark and following a cursory inspection, they decided it was only a mannequin. When an ambulance arrived soon after, they told the medics it was a false alarm and there was nobody lying in the street. It was only when officers were called to the same incident again that they realised it was in fact a 54-year-old woman.

Marek Rusin, Swidnica Regional Prosecutor, told Gazeta Wroclawska that investigators were trying to establish if the woman was still alive when officers first arrived at the scene, and whether she might have survived if given assistance. Tests to this end are being conducted by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Wroclaw.

“For now, we’re looking into the death of the woman, officers exceeding their authority and failing to provide assistance. Whether there will be any charges wil depend on the expert report,” Rusin told the paper. The officers involved have admitted their mistake.

As far as the original incident is concerned, prosecutors have established that the woman either fell or jumped from the window. Murder has been ruled out. The police officers have already been found guilty by an internal inquiry of failing to carry out their duties properly.