Tasing old ladies

[Jared Lash]

Surprised to see there isn't already a thread on this. A 72 year old woman gets argumentative with a highway patrolman who eventually tasers her.

I'm sure the question is whether the police officer acted appropriately but the takeaway lesson for me is this - no matter who you are, don't dare a cop to taze you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdDdwxJyZZI

[FreaqyFrequency]

Controversial to be sure. Those screams were pretty chilling.

However, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing if I were in his shoes. Sadly, my own mother is a little like this at times.

It goes a little far to say she got what she deserved, but I would say that this displays the reason why you don't want to get confrontational with an officer over ANYTHING.

[rollerberg2000]

I misread the title I thought it was tasting old ladies.

Fiesty little lady, I don't see why she had to be tased. Zip cuff her to the bumper of her truck if you want her to stay put, but using a taser would be my last resort if I were in the officers place. What if she had a heart condition? We'd be reading a different story, and one person would be dead and a mans career over.

[warwick.hoy]

I know nothing about tasers,...but poor judgment on both of their parts. What if the lady had a pacemaker? He could have killed her, and the way he was screaming at her is little hard to take.

In instances like these I wonder if the cop is looking for an excuse to tase her, just for some sort of sick enjoyment.

[MadMan118]

Originally Posted by rollerberg2000

I misread the title I thought it was tasting old ladies.

As did I. All I can say is from first hand experience(dont ask, I was young, and stupid, and probaly high) is that this thing hurts like you would not beleive.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

What if the lady had a pacemaker?

By that logic tazers shouldn't be used at all.
A friend of mine who is 25 has a pacemaker. (Some sort of heart disease he had whole his live.)
Anyone could have one.

Good thing police don't use tazers over here.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

"She's coming right for us!"


Sorry, couldn't resist. That is pretty hellish tho

[mike_v_s]

Do most people feel that tasers are useful law enforcement tools or should they be replced with somethig else? Is the issue the situation in which it was used or the age of the tazed? At what age should an officer not use a taser? Would you feel the tazing was justified if she were younger?

Just curious.

Mike

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

Do most people feel that tasers are useful law enforcement tools or should they be replced with somethig else? Is the issue the situation in which it was used or the age of the tazed? At what age should an officer not use a taser? Would you feel the tazing was justified if she were younger?

Just curious.

Mike

Like I said two posts above.

Age doesn't matter when it comes to upholding the law.
Concerning tasers... hard to give an opinion on that for me. Cops here don't use it.
I think tasers are more a form of torture than law enforcement. But I can be wrong on the effectiveness on them.
There are many people with medical conditions where tasing can hurt them badly.


The law must be equal for everyone.

I didn't get any pleasure from seeing the old lady getting tasered. I saw nothing that I consider extremely horrific.

Old lady should have coorperated more. She was endangering herself and the policeman by reacting so frantic next to a busy highway.

IMO, she asked for hard handling.
But I don't agree on police using tasers.

[jdieh1]

Originally Posted by MadMan118

As did I. All I can say is from first hand experience(dont ask, I was young, and stupid, and probaly high) is that this thing hurts like you would not beleive.

I misread it as well. We should make a club...

But seriously... What can cops do to control people? Here in Australia they are talking about taking damn guns away from police officers... Soon they'll just be a bunch of civilians in uniform who can't do anything to control people.

[Sonic_Death]

The police officer did the right thing.

The problem I have is that there is a 95% chance that the lady is not seriously dangerous and does not have a weapon. Therefore, I figure the officer had many other options before using his tazer on her. They cannot be too careful I suppose though... it is controversial, that's for sure. I do not think that an officer should be reprimanded for doing his job, which he did, so you can't really yell at him.

[AxtoOx]

With that camera running (or not), that big Texas cop was in a no win situation. Imagine what would have happened if he had to restrain her and she would have resisted. The President would have said her civil rights were violated and sicked the full power of the federal gov. after him.

Seems like that happened once before.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by AxtoOx

With that camera running (or not), that big Texas cop was in a no win situation. Imagine what would have happened if he had to restrain her and she would have resisted. The President would have said her civil rights were violated and sicked the full power of the federal gov. after him.

Seems like that happened once before.

I think mentioning the President is being unnecessarily political.


As for the woman getting tasered. I honestly feel there is a racial angle here. She is a 72 year old white woman, who is probably used to having cops defer to her. She thought getting roughed up was something cops did to Blacks and Mexicans, or really, really sassy white kids.

I think it would have be very hard to find a Black or Latino grandma who would have given a cop that much back talk because they would have known he would crack their heads if push came to shove. Needless to say any man, especially any man who is not white, would never have acted that way. At least not without expecting some rough treatment.

[AxtoOx]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I think mentioning the President is being unnecessarily political.


As for the woman getting tasered. I honestly feel there is a racial angle here. She is a 72 year old white woman, who is probably used to having cops defer to her. She thought getting roughed up was something cops did to Blacks and Mexicans, or really, really sassy white kids.

I think it would have be very hard to find a Black or Latino grandma who would have given a cop that much back talk because they would have known he would crack their heads if push came to shove. Needless to say any man, especially any man who is not white, would never have acted that way.

I mean any President, it has happened. I was NOT taking a shot at the current one. Didn't mean any harm. My point was a situation like this did get federalized.

[Joe Gress]

Originally Posted by C'thulhu

But I don't agree on police using tasers.

It's either tasers, pepper spray, or a bullet. If you act like a jackass, your going to get one.


I would chose the taser.


My opinion stands as she got what was coming to her. A taser might have been a bit much, but if she kept acting hostile, and decided to start tussling with the officer, one of them could have very easily gotten hit by oncoming traffic. He did what he thought was best to keep both of them relatively safe. He did his job.


Oh, and everybody screams when they get hit with a taser and don't expect it. It might be a few hours before they are back up on there feet and moving like normal, but even a few minutes after getting tased they can at least move and cooperate. I'm pretty sure getting hit with pepper spary kinda messes up your eyes nose and lungs for quite a lot longer. And a bullet...

Yeah.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

Do most people feel that tasers are useful law enforcement tools or should they be replced with somethig else? Is the issue the situation in which it was used or the age of the tazed? At what age should an officer not use a taser? Would you feel the tazing was justified if she were younger?

Just curious.

Mike

While I'll say age isn't a factor when it comes to the law (well, as an adult anyway). I don't think it was the right thing to do. I'm sure he would have had no issue restraining her and getting her into handcuffs.

Tasers are useful, they are there to tip the balance in the favour of the police.

I wouldnt say there should be any black and white age limit at which to use them, it is a judgment call as to whether the police office would be able to restrain the person unassisted or not.

Tho she did seem like a pain in the *** and was warned. Makes you wonder how many other times she's used the "I'm a 72 year old woman, you can't do anything to me" attitude.

[Rocker949]

Originally Posted by MadMan118

As did I. All I can say is from first hand experience(dont ask, I was young, and stupid, and probaly high) is that this thing hurts like you would not beleive.

Oh, I take your word for it; I do believe.

[Rocker949]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I think mentioning the President is being unnecessarily political.


As for the woman getting tasered. I honestly feel there is a racial angle here. She is a 72 year old white woman, who is probably used to having cops defer to her. She thought getting roughed up was something cops did to Blacks and Mexicans, or really, really sassy white kids.

I think it would have be very hard to find a Black or Latino grandma who would have given a cop that much back talk because they would have known he would crack their heads if push came to shove. Needless to say any man, especially any man who is not white, would never have acted that way. At least not without expecting some rough treatment.

I can't say that I've ever seen any situation where cops deferred to anyone. That particular lady just didn't understand that universal truth, until it was directly demonstrated to her that is.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by joeinsprings

It's either tasers, pepper spray, or a bullet. If you act like a jackass, your going to get one.


I would chose the taser.

I chose pepper spray in that case.

I have a blood disease... I don't like being electrocuted. White blood cell count will be up more than usual and I'll feel ill for several days.


I do agree with if you act like a jackass you're going to be treated as a jackass.


I favor the use of bats by police toward hostile persons.
That's just fair straight-on restraining and defending. It might cause serious injuries but I don't consider that torture.
Tasers are just over the line of torture.

Off course, in this case with the old lady, I'd suggest that the cop would overpower her, handcuff her, and let her spend several hours in jail in the police station for not cooperating with law enforcement.

Beating an old lady with a bat just seems not so ethic to me.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Rocker949

I can't say that I've ever seen any situation where cops deferred to anyone. That particular lady just didn't understand that universal truth, until it was directly demonstrated to her that is.

She probably never got that out of hand before or else she may have been cranky at home with people who knew her and cut her some slack. Either way, I still think that a bit of color/class privilege was at play when she got so arrogant with the police.