72 year old woman tasered in Austin. Justified?? (home, construction)

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

There is something seriously wrong if we are hiring constables that can't control an unarmed 4'-11", 72 year old grandmother without using a taser twice. What, was he afraid he might get scratched?

who says old people and minors cant be dangerous.
crazy people can be very very strong. if they are old they can also be injured very easily despite their strength when they are out of their head.

[1979]

Absolutely this woman should have been tased! I saw the footage on the Today Show, and she used her age and her gender to justify not cooperating. I am more outraged that she was stopped for going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. I think cops should have better things to do, than nit-picking speed limits.

[LindaGrace]

He kept yelling at her to put her arms behind her back. She may have been physically unable to do that. I expect he could have found another way to restrain her without resorting to the tazer.

I saw that the officer said she pushed him into traffic. She must've had some kind of adrenalin rush going - he outweighs her by at least 50 pounds.

I agree that in the video she was beligerant and apparently cussing up a blue streak. THIS is enough to cause him to tazer her? What is this fellow going to do when confronted with a REAL criminal - someone his size or bigger, stronger, and with a real intent to hurt him? I guess he'll shoot the guy.

[TexasGirl@Heart]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I would be very concerned about the potential for a taser to induce cardiac arrest in a 72 yr old woman.

This is a concern to me as well! There was an incident here in Pittsburgh where a 20 some year old male was tasered and died as a result! A 72 yr old unarmed woman--c'mon!! You mean to tell me he couldn't arrest and cuff her without the use of a taser?!?!? She was unarmed!!! She could have easily went into cardiac arrest especially where he tasered her! She pointed to an area on her upper left chest.

[smilinpretty]

The police/sheriff officers are trained to handle situations like this. I have seen them grab a arm and pull it behind the suspects back and handcuff them. There are procedures that ought to have taken place and if this woman wasn't cooperating there are other alternatives other than the method he used.

Humm, I wonder why they are not releasing the police video?

[smilinpretty]

A few years back, I was speeding, not intentionally, the speed limit changed and I was unaware. I happened to glance to my right and saw the speed limit sign and then I saw highway patrol car going in the opposite direction I was and I looked down at my speedometer and said to myself, I am busted. So, instead of putting on my breaks, I just let the car slow down, knowing the officer was going to turn around and nail me. He pulled me over and asked me if I knew how fast I was driving and I told him I thought I was driving the speed limit. He had a attitude right from the start. He asked why I hadn't put on my brakes when I saw him..and I told him I realized just at that time I was going over the speed limit and I more than likely was going to be ticketed so I allowed my car to slow down by itself. He became furious upon hearing that and he told me from now on when I see a patrol car, and I am speeding, to put on my brakes. He acted so mean. I know if I had acted inappropriately, this officer would have not acted kindly to me.

[SnappyBob]

I think that was the police video that was on the news clip. I wonder if they would have released the video if she had died in the incident. All were luckey that this incident didn't go terribly wrong.

[SnappyBob]

Originally Posted by smilinpretty

A few years back, I was speeding, not intentionally, the speed limit changed and I was unaware. I happened to glance to my right and saw the speed limit sign and then I saw highway patrol car going in the opposite direction I was and I looked down at my speedometer and said to myself, I am busted. So, instead of putting on my breaks, I just let the car slow down, knowing the officer was going to turn around and nail me. He pulled me over and asked me if I knew how fast I was driving and I told him I thought I was driving the speed limit. He had a attitude right from the start. He asked why I hadn't put on my brakes when I saw him..and I told him I realized just at that time I was going over the speed limit and I more than likely was going to be ticketed so I allowed my car to slow down by itself. He became furious upon hearing that and he told me from now on when I see a patrol car, and I am speeding, to put on my brakes. He acted so mean. I know if I had acted inappropriately, this officer would have not acted kindly to me.

I wonder if that's where the phrase "copped an attitude" came from.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by smilinpretty

The police/sheriff officers are trained to handle situations like this. I have seen them grab a arm and pull it behind the suspects back and handcuff them. There are procedures that ought to have taken place and if this woman wasn't cooperating there are other alternatives other than the method he used.

Humm, I wonder why they are not releasing the police video?

no friend if you twist the arm of a crazy old lady behind her back while she is fighting you will break her arm.
this is early training for dementia in geriatric nursing, you dont do this friend ever.

[Dr.Mom]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I would be very concerned about the potential for a taser to induce cardiac arrest in a 72 yr old woman. Of course, the cop could have wrestled her to the ground and broken her hip! My point is, yes she needed to be restrained but if the cop hadn't been instructed in least restrictive techniques for preventing and managing aggressive behaviour (PMAB), then he was worringly under-trained. Was this APD? I saw the footage on tv up here from Philly but didn't catch the full story other than it had happened in TX. Ideally he should have been able to get granny in a basket hold from behind, purposefully cause her to lose her balance and ease down to the ground while holding her from behind with her arms restrained, then cuff her. This is done all the time by well trained psychiatric inpatient nurses and aides.

I agree with doctorjef. Unfortunately I've had to restrian psychotic patients that were more than twice my size but I was well trained to do so and I had them in a basket hold and guided them to the floor before they even realized what had happened. For the both this woman's safety and that of the officer, this is a much more controlled situation than using a taser on someone. Especially by the side of a busy highway.