72yr old grandma gets tazered

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO You did see the physical threat and aggression, right? The cop had not frisked her, so he had no way to know whether she had a knife or gun on her (it's Texas after all - I'm sure no offense will be taken!).

Dont mess with...

[lets-retire]

From the short amount of video posted it appeared the officer used the appropriate level of force. I will, however, reserve my opinion until after everything is cleared out. The first part of the traffic stop was not shown, so nobody knows what happened then. I count several crimes committed by the woman, that could result in going to jail.

Anytime an officer goes hands on with a person it becomes very dangerous for the officer. Using the Taser allows the officer to subdue an uncooperative person while lowering the amount of danger the officer is facing and lowering the potential injury to the subject. If the officer decided to go the old fashioned route the woman would still be very sore, at the minimum.

[jambo101]

Seems just about every one is in agreement that it was ok for the officer to taze the old woman, kind of a sad state of affairs when every one agrees that the cops only recourse to a mouthy grandma is to taze her, wonder what he would have done if he didnt have the tazer,shoot her?

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambo101 Seems just about every one is in agreement that it was ok for the officer to taze the old woman, kind of a sad state of affairs when every one agrees that the cops only recourse to a mouthy grandma is to taze her, wonder what he would have done if he didnt have the tazer,shoot her?

The policeman would then have to use physical restraints to keep her from leaving. She could then have hit or bitten him, causing him to use more force, perhaps knocking out some of her teeth, or breaking some bones. I can imagine it getting a lot uglier.

About the patient patrolman with the belligerent man who kept calling him names, that was so funny. I would not know if the audio was dubbed to make the driver's insults worse like FB suggested, but judging from the car rocking back and forth, the driver was VERY agitated. That's one FUNNY video, and if the verbal insults were real, this patrolman was a saint.

PS. I watched the video again, and twice the driver reached over and grabbed the paperwork from the cop's writing pad. That's a real agressive behavior! This cop deserved a medal.

[JOHNNIE36]

The bottom line is that you MUST obey the law. If they say get on the ground, you better get down. Hands behind your back! Yes sir! It's for their safety and yours. This is the way they are trained and it pisses them off when you don't comply. Every officer is different and in some cases you may not get the best one to deal with, but you better comply. I don't care about that woman being 72. She was out of line. Yeah, he could have done something different but he didn't and he was perfectly within his rights and duty and so be it. CASE CLOSED.

[samclem]

There's no doubt that she needed to be physically controlled and arrested--8 minutes in a situation where both were at risk due to her erratic behavior is about 7 minutes too long.

I wonder what the cop trainers will say when using this in class. It would seem to me that he had the option of grappling with her and taking her down (arm/wrist lock with a leg sweep, etc), maybe a similar move backed up with the baton, or using the tazer. One advantage of having hold of her is to prevent her from staggering into traffic. A disadvantage with wrestling her down is the increased chance of snapping one of her bones or even a hip--not a minor thing. The tazer probably put her at greater risk of cardiac arrest than other methods. Keeping his distance probably kept him safer from her and from getting pulled into traffic.

She started it, she continued it, she could have gotten reasonable at any point and things would have been fine. Watching the video is a lot different from being on the spot, and I think the cop's actions were acceptable and I hope this doesn't wind up hurting him or his department.

vicente - Unfortunately, there's no way to show the public the 98% of cases there everything goes well. It's the flashy/interesting videos that make the news, no one wants to see the "good" stuff.

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambo101 Seems just about every one is in agreement that it was ok for the officer to taze the old woman, kind of a sad state of affairs when every one agrees that the cops only recourse to a mouthy grandma is to taze her, wonder what he would have done if he didnt have the tazer,shoot her?

What would be your recourse Jambo101? Are you in the law enforcement field?

[aaronc879]

I don't believe the officer used excessive force. He didn't have backup. Trying to take her down to cuff her would've put both of them at greater risk. He acted approprietly.

[bbbamI]

Situations and videos like these make me wish every community had a citizen's police academy like we have. The course is fascinating. The public not only learns about keeping themselves and their property safe, they get a better understanding of how law enforcement works.

They get a taste of what it is like to be a police officer; the rules the officers have to abide by, the laws, having to size up a situation in a heartbeat, etc. It also gives a chance for the officers to listen to the citizen's concerns and perhaps improve public relations.

People come away with a much better understanding and I think that is imperative for a united community.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambo101 Seems just about every one is in agreement that it was ok for the officer to taze the old woman, kind of a sad state of affairs when every one agrees that the cops only recourse to a mouthy grandma is to taze her, wonder what he would have done if he didnt have the tazer,shoot her?

So, if we have a different view of this from you, that makes it "sad"?

I'd turn your statement around - I think it is sad that someone who has reached the age of 72 has no respect for the law, and does not know better than to follow orders from a police officer enforcing those laws.

If she would have done as she should, there would have been no incident. Now, had the officer just tazed her unprovoked, that would be different. But that is not what happened.

Seems like people on the forum both with and w/o law enforcement experience are not defending the woman, and not judging the cop too harshly under difficult circumstances (count the cars going by).

Nope, my concerns are for the cop, not the woman.

-ERD50

[NW-Bound]

Talk about police brutality, here's a real one.

YouTube - Police Brutality

[NW-Bound]

Here's the danger of a seemingly routine traffic stop.

YouTube - Trooper/Deputy gets hit by vehicle on traffic stop

[NW-Bound]

How about one more?

You would agree "grandma" got taser'ed for her own good.

YouTube - Police Trooper Hit By Truck

[clifp]

I don't underestimate 72 year old lady. I know one 76 year old lady, that could kick a lot of overweight cops butts. She skis black diamond slopes at places like Jackson Hole, and Aspen. Takes week long horseback camp trips in the Arizona desert and forest in Germany. Swims the 2.4 mile roughwater swim faster than I do. She is able to walk/jog up to the top of the lifeguard training hill in the qualifying time of the Oahu lifeguard. Finally she also paddles the 41 miles outrigger canoe between Molokai and Oahu every year (it takes 7 to 8 hours)

I also know a 74 year old lady that routinely does half marathons. 1.2 mile swim,56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run.

Of course neither one of these ladies is stupid or classless to cuss out a cop doing out his job.

[harley]

Unbelievable. What a bunch of old hard asses! "Dammit! Tase the old woman!"

You know, I see obnoxious old people weekly at the grocery store, blocking the aisles and bumping you with their carts. I'd love to be able to tase them, but I'm not allowed. Cops get plenty of perks (no speeding tickets, free doughnuts and coffee, etc). But they don't get to tase obnoxious old women unless I do too. This is a democracy! I'm a taxpayer!

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley Unbelievable. What a bunch of old hard asses! "Dammit! Tase the old woman!" You know, I see obnoxious old people weekly at the grocery store, blocking the aisles and bumping you with their carts. I'd love to be able to tase them, but I'm not allowed. Cops get plenty of perks (no speeding tickets, free doughnuts and coffee, etc). But they don't get to tase obnoxious old women unless I do too. This is a democracy! I'm a taxpayer!

I guess the question for those who think that she was treated with excessive force. Is if you didn't have a taser and you were the cop what would you have done?. I think that putting cuffs on her is more likely to result in danger to the cop and they woman than using the Taser. But I claim no expertise beyond watching cop shows...

[jambo101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger What would be your recourse Jambo101? Are you in the law enforcement field?

i would not have had her exit the car, her verbal rantings would have been ignored,she would have got the ticket whether she signed it or not,

I have every respect for the law i just dont have respect for some power tripping thug who's only recourse to a feisty grandma is tazering her which fortunately didnt kill her.

[clifp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jambo101 i would not have had her exit the car, her verbal rantings would have been ignored,she would have got the ticket whether she signed it or not, I have every respect for the law i just dont have respect for some power tripping thug who's only recourse to a feisty grandma is tazering her which fortunately didnt kill her.

I know standard procedure is to have the citizen sigh the citation. If they don't do so, it probably makes the court case more difficult.

[jambo101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifp I know standard procedure is to have the citizen sigh the citation. If they don't do so, it probably makes the court case more difficult.

I believe your choice is to sign the ticket or go to court.

[travelover]

All I can say is God help whoever lives with this woman. You know this outburst is not the first.