Jeff Payne is a detective serving the Salt Lake City corporation.

Payne attended Weber State University. He was a paramedic, studying emergency medicine. When he is goes to duty, he transports patients to nearby hospitals.

On August 31, 2017, surveillance and body cam video was released of Detective Payne forcibly arresting a nurse, Alex Wubbels, at the University of Utah hospital after she refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient. ^[1] The incident occurred on July 26, 2017. ^[1]

According to Wubbels, Detective Jeff Payne needed either a search warrant, the patient's consent or the arrest of said patient. Many social media users and news commentators criticized Detective Jeff Payne for Alex Wubbels' arrest. Some have alluded to a Supreme Court ruling Birchfield v. North Dakota , where Justice Samuel Alito deemed it unconstitutional to require drunk drivers to submit to a blood test without a warrant.

Payne’s report identifies the patient as 43-year-old William Gray, a reserve officer in the Rigby, Idaho, Police Department, who suffered burns during a July 26 crash in Cache County.

The National Nurses United called the incident a disgraceful and outrageous act of violence for the officer to drag the screaming nurse out of the hospital in handcuffs.

Payne has been suspended from the department’s blood-draw unit, but remains on duty as a detective in investigations amid reviews by the department and a civilian review board.

The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake is conducting an independent investigation into whether any criminal acts occurred. Payne has also been placed on paid administrative leave.

The Salt Lake City police chief, Mike Brown, and mayor have apologized and changed department policies in line with the guidance Wubbels was adhering to in the July 26, 2017 incident.

On September 1, 2017, prosecutors announced a criminal investigation into the incident.

A second officer was also placed on administrative leave.

Officer Payne stated he was following the orders of Lieutenant James Tracy, who told Payne to arrest Wubbels if she continued to refuse him to get the blood sample.

On September 5, 2017, Payne was fired from his part-time position at Gold Cross Ambulance.

On September 8, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated that it is examining whether federal laws were violated during the incident.