72 year old woman tasered in Austin. Justified?? (Dallas: moving, suite)

[BentBow]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Well, the fact that she said in the interview that she was not argumentative or uncooperative, only to disappear into thin air once the video was aired, loses her a good deal of sympathy from me. I suspect she didn't think about the fact that there would be a video of her behavior. Getting upset at the time is one thing; lying about it after the fact is quite another.

Exactly!!


She just a lying old B.

[love roses]

I live in Williamson County, Hutto in particular (notorious even in Williamson County for hothead cops) and as much as people here dread run ins with these cops, we've learned to watch our mouths. Not all of the cops here are that bad but there are a few you don't want to be pulled over by. Lucky she didn't get pulled over out here because tazing probably would have been the least of her worries.

[ILikeSmartHippies]

Originally Posted by love roses

I believe they do. I think I've seen it on my friend's husbands belt before. But, I have a feeling that even were this guy to use pepper spray, there would still be calls for him to be fired for spraying it.

Tasering has shown to have some possible medical side effects... whereas pepper spray does not as far as I know. Though I guess if they are near traffic it would not be a good situation for it either, to have the woman freak out and run into traffic or etc.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by homeinatx

No-one is trying to justify her behavior. She behaved appallingly. She broke the speed limit and refused initially to sign the ticket and swore at him. For this he was willing to risk killing her. I think we are in different orders of criminality and stupidity here.

Exactly! We all have a right to and need to expect better from our law enforcement officers.

How would you feel if this was your stubborn old, pompous, hormonal, weak and aging mother? Would you think she deserved it if he pulled the trigger?

[Chris2000]

I guess my concern is simply what could have happened if the woman had not been stopped. As an officer I would imagine you are not just thinking in the moment, but trying to guess the unknown.
I cant allow the woman to get back in her car, I don't know whats inside the vehicle, a gun, pepper spray, who knows. Also what if I let her back in the car, I go to call back up and she drives out into traffic. Maybe she causes an accident, maybe kills somebody. MAYBE nothing at all happens we just follow her till she stops again and arrest her, but I cant take the risk.
Everyone is right the woman is small, and I could probably overtake her, but lets say she struggles I have to take her to ground and I break her hip, or a leg, or a couple of ribs??? I would have then had to do much more physical damage to her.
We can all see that the woman is being difficult, why is it so hard to see that as an officer you don't just get to deal with the obvious situation presented to you. You also have to deal with all the possibilities. In that context tasing her doesn't seem like such a bad thing. She is fine, and the situation has been diffused.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by love roses

But do you have a life threatening job where at any call you get you could potentially die?

With concealed handgun permits the norm in Texas (and I'm a supporter) ANY interaction could be a potentially life threatening one. It's their job. If they can't handle it, well...there are others.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Chris2000

I guess my concern is simply what could have happened if the woman had not been stopped. As an officer I would imagine you are not just thinking in the moment, but trying to guess the unknown.
I cant allow the woman to get back in her car, I don't know whats inside the vehicle, a gun, pepper spray, who knows. Also what if I let her back in the car, I go to call back up and she drives out into traffic. Maybe she causes an accident, maybe kills somebody. MAYBE nothing at all happens we just follow her till she stops again and arrest her, but I cant take the risk.
Everyone is right the woman is small, and I could probably overtake her, but lets say she struggles I have to take her to ground and I break her hip, or a leg, or a couple of ribs??? I would have then had to do much more physical damage to her.
We can all see that the woman is being difficult, why is it so hard to see that as an officer you don't just get to deal with the obvious situation presented to you. You also have to deal with all the possibilities. In that context tasing her doesn't seem like such a bad thing. She is fine, and the situation has been diffused.

So, its OK if he does it to your Mom, or wife?

[homeinatx]

This is how I see it: As is appropriate, she has been charged with resisting arrest. However, the enforcers of the law should not be above the law. Now he should be fired and charged with reckless endangerment. It is recognized scientific fact that tasers can be lethal to the elderly. If he was not given adequate instruction in the appropriate use of a taser gun, the relevant authorities in Travis County should be sued. The police are here to protect us, not to be willing to kill us if we refuse to sign a form, have a bad attitude and swear at them. The cop had tough choices and I don't know what I would have done in his situation, but he is trained and paid to serve and protect, not to put a life at risk, because he did not know what else to do. He did not know whether or not she had a pre-existing heart condition - not uncommon in 72 year olds. His willingness to fire the taser gun speaks to either gross ignorance or blatant disregard for her life. Either way, I don't want such a person carrying lethal weapons in my county.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Seriously, the unknown??? What was she going to do? Tackle him when he turned his back? If the issue was stopping her from getting back in her car perhaps he could have used a big bear hug. He certainly was big enough to provide one. And all this chatter about he is in a no-win situation is hilarious. She is 72 years old, small, UNARMED. Get a grip. The police officer is not the victim here and it's laughable to try and make him into one.


I cannot wrap my brain around an argument that says swearing at a police officer is enough for them to use force. Wow, that is so amazingly crazy. Hot heads have no place in law enforcement where carrying weapons are involved.

THERE WAS NO WEAPON INVOLVED. If there was it would be another ball game but there was no weapon. I suppose swearing might be considered using a weapon in that department. Who the heck knows.

There was no weapon. What was the threat?

I suppose there are variables I'm not aware of. Maybe she was a superhero and was about to use her super powers on him.

[statefan]

This is how I see it: SHE had several opportunities to comply with the officer, before SHE was tasered. SHE chose to continue the confrontation. SHE escalated the confrontation by verbally assaulting him, attempting to return to her vehicle, pulling away from him as he tried to handcuff her and refusing to listen to the officer. HER actions led to HER consequences. SHE broke the law!