72yr old grandma gets tazered

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[ERD50]

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

Yes, and that makes the "grandma" description relevant to the story.

She has (unfortunately, IMO), passed down these genes. That (again, IMO), is sad.

If she has any contact with her offspring, she sure is setting a bad example. Hopefully, the offspring are wise enough to see it as a lesson on what NOT to do.

BTW, I also think the other "good cop, crazy guy" video is dubbed in. I'm not going to listen again, but I got that impression - check to see if the sound changes as the guy gets in/out of the car. You should pick up some directional cues, and I recall it sounding the same all the way through. Like someone reading into a microphone in a static position.

-ERD50

 

[dex]

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?

It is a more sad state of affairs to use such poor reasoning. Agreeing that the police officer took appropriate action does not mean approval for an escalated response.

 

[dex]

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,

The police officer was arresting her (I don't know the ticket signing aspect) but, the arresting aspect is not something, once announced, that can not be ignored.

 

[HFWR]

Dont mess with...

DFW

 

[REWahoo]

I saw some news coverage last night saying the District Attorney was preparing to present the incident to a grand jury for possible (although highly unlikely - this is TX ) indictment of the officer. It was also mentioned the lady was facing a charge of resisting arrest.

 

[FUEGO]

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

I think it is sign the ticket, merely acknowledging receipt so you can't later argue you were never presented with the ticket. I assume if you do not sign the ticket, you can elect to be arrested for the offense and be processed like you normally would if you were arrested for any other offense.

 

[FUEGO]

Wonder what he would have done if he didnt have the tazer,shoot her?

Generally speaking an officer cannot use deadly force to effect an arrest unless the one being arrested is resisting with deadly force or force that would cause serious bodily injury. Think if she had a knife or a gun, then, generally speaking he could shoot her. Short of that, probably not reasonable force to shoot her to effect the arrest.

 

[ziggy29]

I think it is sign the ticket, merely acknowledging receipt so you can't later argue you were never presented with the ticket. I assume if you do not sign the ticket, you can elect to be arrested for the offense and be processed like you normally would if you were arrested for any other offense.

That's my understanding. I wish the OP would answer the question as to whether or not the fact that she was a 72 year old grandma instead of a 22 year old man influences their opinion of the cop's actions.

 

[FinanceDude]

That's my understanding. I wish the OP would answer the question as to whether or not the fact that she was a 72 year old grandma instead of a 22 year old man influences their opinion of the cop's actions.

OP probably won't answer, because it is a loaded question. To assume ALL senior citizens are angels is a bad assumption. How old was the guy who shot the security guard at the Holocaust Museum, 80 something?

 

[jambo101]

My original post was why did the cop let the situation get to the point of having to use the tazer,arent cops trained to diffuse situations just like this one? why didnt he just give her the ticket after her refusal to sign it and walk away and let the legal system take care of it,people get tickets every day and some people refuse to sign them but they dont all get tazered for getting feisty with the officer, i think this bully just wanted to find an easy mark to try out his new toy and a 72yr old grandma was his speed.

 

[Leonidas]

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

No, the choice is sign the ticket or go to jail. A traffic violation like speeding is a criminal offense - the lowest category of criminal offense to be sure - and there has to be some kind of surety that the defendant will satisfy the court on the charges. That means pay the ticket or go to court.

In most places a promise to pay the fine or appear in court will satisfy as surety. But, at the officer's discretion, and in compliance with local court rules and the police agency's policies, you can be arrested for minor traffic offenses and be required to make cash bond. Although in Texas, a resident of the state cannot be arrested for speeding if he or she agrees to appear in court or pay the fine.

In Texas, there are only three ways to not have to sit in jail awaiting trial for any criminal charge: Pay a cash bond to the Sheriff of the County, have bail agent put up a guarantee that they will pay the cash bond to the Sheriff if you don't come to court, or be released on a personal recognizance bond. The latter is just a written promise to appear in court as required. Without one of those three being satisfied, you sit in jail until the judge makes a final disposition on your case. In the case of a traffic citation, the violator's signature is a form of a personal recognizance bond

My original post was why did the cop let the situation get to the point of having to use the tazer,arent cops trained to diffuse situations just like this one?

We agree partly, you always attract more flies with honey than vinegar. But, there are some factors to consider here that you are not taking into account.

First, speeding in a construction zone is a more serious offense that just speeding down the open road. The workers are usually only protected by a line of orange plastic cones, and the willing compliance of motorists with reduced speed zones. But, people have problems complying with laws all the time, workers have been hurt and killed by speeding motorists, and the state considers the danger posed by speeding in construction zones to be more serious and thus they doubled the fines for speeding in those areas.

Second, given what we know about the situation, the lady had farther to drive and there apparently are many construction zones in that area; what do her statements and attitude reflect about her willing compliance to reduce her speed for the rest of her trip? And more importantly, what responsibility does the officer have to the workers and other motorists that she will encounter in the minutes immediately following the traffic stop? Her speed was significantly over the speed limit before she was stopped and got all pissy, I don't see or hear anything that tells me she feels as if she did anything wrong or dangerous. There is nothing in her conduct to indicate that she is going to stop posing a credible threat to the lives of innocent people.

why didnt he just give her the ticket after her refusal to sign it and walk away and let the legal system take care of it,

See all the above reasons first. But in this situation there is a real simple reason - in Texas, Constables are peace officers whose primary job and reason for existence is to serve civil and criminal orders of a Justice of the Peace for the same precinct that he serves. So, the court that has jurisdiction for the traffic citation he has just written is the very court whose papers he serves. When she doesn't pay the ticket or show up in court, who is going to have the responsibility of serving her warrant of arrest? He will.

Also, he is subject to the rules of the Justice of the Peace and the Constable he works for, and both or either of them could have established rules for dealing with violators who refuse to comply with the law or who refuse to acknowledge their responsibility to a citation. He might have been required to arrest her.

people get tickets every day and some people refuse to sign them but they dont all get tazered for getting feisty with the officer,

No, but they usually go to jail for refusing to sign and if they don't want to go to jail the taser is one of those tools to make them change their mind.

i think this bully just wanted to find an easy mark to try out his new toy and a 72yr old grandma was his speed.

NM

Edit to add - Forget to say this in regard to defusing the situation. It can be done provided you have the time to get through the communication roadblocks and filters that the offender is exhibiting. But, the side of a busy freeway is not one of them. It's way too damn dangerous to be out there playing games with somebody.

 

[ziggy29]

My emphasis added:

i think this bully just wanted to find an easy mark to try out his new toy and a 72yr old grandma was his speed.

In a roundabout way, you just answered my ongoing question. Thanks. Apparently age and gender are relevant factors in determining how police respond to an incident.

 

[FinanceDude]

My original post was why did the cop let the situation get to the point of having to use the tazer,arent cops trained to diffuse situations just like this one? why didnt he just give her the ticket after her refusal to sign it and walk away and let the legal system take care of it,people get tickets every day and some people refuse to sign them but they dont all get tazered for getting feisty with the officer, i think this bully just wanted to find an easy mark to try out his new toy and a 72yr old grandma was his speed.

Easy to armchair quarterback it when neither you nor I were there. Like Leonidas said, he took an ice pick in the back from a "nice old lady" one time.....

I think as a whole,cops are overworked, underpaid, and deal with the type of crap you and I can only dream about. However, that is only my opinion. I am pretty good friends with our village's police chief, and he gives me some really sober stuff to think about from time to time..........

 

[ziggy29]

Easy to armchair quarterback it when neither you nor I were there. Like Leonidas said, he took an ice pick in the back from a "nice old lady" one time.....

And let's not forget what an 88-year-old just did recently at the Holocaust museum.

 

[ERD50]

jambo, you are of course, entitled to your opinion of the matter. However, if you are going to claim that everyone is out of step (and "sad") but you, I think you need to at least get your ducks in line:

Speeding Ticket Urban Legends

Urban Legend #2

“The officer did not have me sign the ticket. If I do not show up for court the ticket will be dismissed.”

Some states have a line on the traffic citation where you acknowledge the summons and agree to appear for court.
...

In Texas if you refuse to sign the ticket you will earn yourself a “Go Directly to Jail” card.

So that seems to lead right into resisting arrest, and based on the traffic and history of people getting hit by the side of the road, I'd say endangering the officer and herself. Under those conditions, I'm not willing to second guess his actions. Maybe he could have handled it better, but I do not think any disiplinary action is required. Heck, I feel sorry for him having to deal with trash like this.

I'm glad we have those cameras, much better than a he-said-she-said situation.

Hah, in googling this, I found that some sites now refer to her as a "great-grandmother". By the end of the week, she will probably be elevated to Sainthood, or maybe she sewed the first American Flag or something? We ought to let her off the hook then, right?

-ERD50