72 year old woman tasered in Austin. Justified?? (Early, Howe: resort, rain)

[mimimomx3]

In my opinion, she should have to pay her ticket and face charges of resisting arrest. He should be disciplined for unnecessary use of force.

[CptnRn]

I agree!

[cls88]

Originally Posted by statefan

It is a helpless cause, much like she is. Some people just don't get it.

and I would not bother any more.

[austin-steve]

He should be disciplined for unnecessary use of force.

Describe the force he used, and the less forceful alternative that would have resulted in the woman becoming compliant?

I suppose he could have corralled her into "time out", preventing her from leaving the shoulder of the road while he waited for backup. Then we'd be looking at a video of four Constables surrounding a foul mouthed old lady and trying to bring her to submission without touching her. That hardly seems like a more favorable video to be making the rounds. Imagine the late night fodder.

I think the taser was the least possible use of force once it was determined that cooperation would not be forthcoming, and assuming the officer was not going to engage in a Mexican standoff on the side of a dangerous and busy highway.

Steve

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

We shouldn't treat individuals differently, but apparently we should. It's not allowed, but if you don't do it, you get in trouble and splashed all over the news.

What irks me is that these news stories are always precipitated by someone behaving badly, often very badly, but instead of holding that individual accountable, first and foremost, for the consequences of that chosen behavior, it's the law enforcement response or reaction to that behavior that receives all the scrutiny and harsh judgement.

I know I'm not raising my kids to think like victims, or to blame others when their bad bahavior causes them unhappiness. I wish the news media and general public would call these things for what they are. In this case, a really stupid belligerent old lady getting exactly what she deserved, and an officer, confronted with this moron, trying patiently to do it right and resorting to what seemed like the next best step at the moment. I can't judge him, only her. She caused it all.

Steve

Apparently I have to spread the rep around before giving you more - which is odd, but there it is.

Very well stated. There's way too much of making excuses for those who violate the law while castigating those who enforce it these days.

If you don't like the laws, work to get them changed. Don't make "victims" of those who break them and villains of those who enforce the laws as they exist. That's just childish. (Well, maybe adolescent would be a better description.)

Are there bad cops? Yep, absolutely. Is this officer one, based solely on looking at the video without a pre-disposition to think that cops are wrong? No, he's not. He's a police officer in a bad situation with a belligerent and uncooperative perpetrator where either or both of them could be badly injured or killed by a motor vehicle at an moment due to the perpetrator's continued behavior (crowding him toward the road, trying to run around him into the road to get to her vehicle where she might or might not have a weapon, resisting arrest).

The way she kept saying "72 year old woman" as if that made any attempt to enforce the law "wrong" sounded practiced, as if she uses that excuse all the time and expects it to work (in which case, shame on the people around her who fall for it) and also sounds remarkably like the attitude of people who think that she wasn't the one responsible for the entire situation.

Breaking the law has consequences. Live with it.

[mmac12]

Originally Posted by love roses

If you think it's laughable that an unarmed 72 yr. female can pose any danger to a young, trained police officer then you may want to see what Ray and Faye Copeland did to several 20 yr. old men on their farm or look at answers.google.com (question: motivations for murder). Someone posted an excellent reply about how elderly can become extremely angry if they feel threatened and can be a serious danger regardless of how old the person they are angry at is. You may also want to read the story of Helen Golay and Olga Ruttershmidt. This 72 yr. old granny could have gotten angry enough to wrest that cops handgun out of his belt and the story would probably have a different outcome all around. Another possibility is that her behavior stems from Dementia, but we don't know that for sure.

You keep saying would of could of etc. she was unarmed and never did anything to threaten him .. and now his has officially lied about what transpired but you still thing she is the only one culpable!! I wish you would get real, beause if it happened to you , you wouldn't be so self-
righteous

[love roses]

Have you ever had a knife held to your throat by a Mexican gang member in North Houston? I have, so I know what that thin line feels like. You say I am saying woulda coulda a lot, but others are too. "What if she had had a pacemaker" "What if she had gone into cardiac arrest, had neurological damage." But that didn't happen either.

By the way, in the knife incident, I was smaller than this guy and unarmed and didn't provoke anything. Although the guy I knew that drug me to that side of town almost got his rear end kicked by me once we were out of there.

If you were the cop and that happened to you maybe you wouldn't be so self righteous either.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by love roses

Have you ever had a knife held to your throat by a Mexican gang member in North Houston? I have, so I know what that thin line feels like. You say I am saying woulda coulda a lot, but others are too. "What if she had had a pacemaker" "What if she had gone into cardiac arrest, had neurological damage." But that didn't happen either.

By the way, in the knife incident, I was smaller than this guy and unarmed and didn't provoke anything. Although the guy I knew that drug me to that side of town almost got his rear end kicked by me once we were out of there.

If you were the cop and that happened to you maybe you wouldn't be so self righteous either.

good for you!!!!

[artsyguy]

You are personalizing this situation. This has nothing to do with you or Mexican gang members. Stop personalizing. You are making mountains out of mole hills.

The cop was out of line, and incompetent.

The old lady was within her first amendment rights. She was not read her rights during the arrest either which is against policy.

If she breaks the law there is due process. You are innocent until proven guilty. A confession or non confession cannot be coerced in any way, that is against the law. Due process also includes a person in authority giving the person the freedom to all of their rights to remain silent, to a defense attorney, etc. This is not Nazi Germany. This is the United States of America. They have different processes.

Originally Posted by love roses

Have you ever had a knife held to your throat by a Mexican gang member in North Houston? I have, so I know what that thin line feels like. You say I am saying woulda coulda a lot, but others are too. "What if she had had a pacemaker" "What if she had gone into cardiac arrest, had neurological damage." But that didn't happen either.

By the way, in the knife incident, I was smaller than this guy and unarmed and didn't provoke anything. Although the guy I knew that drug me to that side of town almost got his rear end kicked by me once we were out of there.

If you were the cop and that happened to you maybe you wouldn't be so self righteous either.

[mmac12]

Originally Posted by artsyguy

You are personalizing this situation. This has nothing to do with you or Mexican gang members. Stop personalizing. You are making mountains out of mole hills.

The cop was out of line, and incompetent.

The old lady was within her first amendment rights. She was not read her rights during the arrest either which is against policy.

If she breaks the law there is due process. You are innocent until proven guilty. A confession or non confession cannot be coerced in any way, that is against the law. Due process also includes a person in authority giving the person the freedom to all of their rights to remain silent, to a defense attorney, etc. This is not Nazi Germany. This is the United States of America. They have different processes.

Sorry I couldn't rep ya again I couldn't of said it better