72 year old woman tasered in Austin. Justified?? (required, career)

[TexasHorseLady]

I was just wondering what the reaction would be if the person behaving in the way the "grandma" did was, say, the same age as the officer, male, but slight in build. Is there perhaps a double standard, or should the law apply to everyone the same?

Clearly grandma didn't think it should apply to her. Do you think it should apply to her, or, for that matter, you?

Oh, and looking at the video yet again, I still see a relatively gentle shove.

[CptnRn]

I wonder how gentle you would consider it if he shoved you that gently. I imagine you would be spitting bumble bees.

[love roses]

Got a reply from my friend. Her husband says APD policy is not to tase anyone over 65 and under 14. This is not the policy of other departments. So, that cop may very well have been within his rights, as far as that department is concerned , with tasing her. His personal opinion is that the woman brought it upon herself and the cop was not really out of line. The only thing he did wrong was to let it go as far as it did. He should have had her restrained immediately. In his 5 yrs with APD, he's only had to do one arrest for someone not signing a ticket. Drivers are not supposed to get in their cars and drive away for not signing a ticket. It is an arrestable offense.

[statefan]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I wonder how gentle you would consider it if he shoved you that gently. I imagine you would be spitting bumble bees.

Guess that is the difference between me and the old lady. I and most law abiding and respectful citizens, wouldn't have put myself in that situation.

[Indigoblue]

He is glancing at the highway before he pushes her back. I think it's safe to assume that he could see cars moving very rapidly towards them and wanted both of them in a safer spot in a hurry. If he at that point had had an instinct that she wouldn't obey if he had told her to move back, it would have been quickly proven true He asked her to move back several times, and not only did she refuse to several times, one time she even lunged towards him, causing him to step back closer to the highway to avoid what he probably thought was going to be an attack. And I would not underestimate her ability to attack or resist getting handcuffed. She appears quite lithe and fearless (in the dumb kind of way) in the video.

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I wonder how gentle you would consider it if he shoved you that gently. I imagine you would be spitting bumble bees.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I wonder how gentle you would consider it if he shoved you that gently. I imagine you would be spitting bumble bees.

I wouldn't be dumb enough to let it get that far.

[tiffany_ga]

Originally Posted by SnappyBob

I saw the footage last night on the news. Personaly, I think they both should be ashamed of themselves. The woman was being very combative and I think she should have been cuffed and arrested for such but I think it could have been done without the taser. Tasering someone is not a trivial thing. People have been known to die from it. Tasers were first touted as being a good tool to use instead of leathal force. So are we to assume that without the advent of tasers he would have been forced to shoot this lady? She should be fined for her behaviour and he should be given some time off without pay for his. If you can't handle a 72 years old woman without first paylizing her with a taser perhaps you need to find some tamer line of work.

I completely agree with you... What man, or woman for that matter, can't handle arresting a 72 year old woman?

But tasers (even though I HATE pigs) are a good thing to have when that's the only way you can control someone who is either causing harm or about to cause harm to another individual. I would rather be tased than shot... maybe that's just me though.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by Indigoblue

He is glancing at the highway before he pushes her back. I think it's safe to assume that he could see cars moving very rapidly towards them and wanted both of them in a safer spot in a hurry. If he at that point had had an instinct that she wouldn't obey if he had told her to move back, it would have been quickly proven true He asked her to move back several times, and not only did she refuse to several times, one time she even lunged towards him, causing him to step back closer to the highway to avoid what he probably thought was going to be an attack. And I would not underestimate her ability to attack or resist getting handcuffed. She appears quite lithe and fearless (in the dumb kind of way) in the video.

My friend says her husband told her 9 warnings is way more than sufficient. This is where the cop went wrong, giving her more warnings than is necessary.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by statefan

No, she said, " Give me the ****** thing and I will sign it", in regards to the ticket.

Which in my opinion falls safely within her 1st amendment rights.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by tiffany_ga

I completely agree with you... What man, or woman for that matter, can't handle arresting a 72 year old woman?

But tasers (even though I HATE pigs) are a good thing to have when that's the only way you can control someone who is either causing harm or about to cause harm to another individual. I would rather be tased than shot... maybe that's just me though.

I've never tried to arrest a stubborn 72 yr. old woman so I'm not gonna try and pretend I know whether it would be easy or not. My grandma is 90 and if she didn't want to do something, she'd probably beat us over the head with her walker before doing something she didn't want to.