Cops Using Tasers - This Time It's A Woman...

[Dan Mc Intyre]

I guess she's just lucky he didn't grab his .45 by "accident" and shoot her like that other well trained stupid fu***** a$$**** did. Bet that was a laugh riot back at the station (club house).

Jeez, now it's even women and kids. Can't wait to hear the justification for tazing a quadriplegic.

But oh yea, we really have to worry about their "moral". Hell, I bet that was a real moral booster for them.

And then it's typical cop BS. "You shouldn't have taken a swing"! RIGHT, sitting in the car on the phone. Must have been a VERY powerful woman. I dunno, I think if I was black I'd sure as hell get on the phone if I got pulled over. Ya never know...they might be sodomites armed with broom sticks!!

[88BlueTSiQuest]

I don't particularly see the tazer as such an inhumane thing.... After all, what other tools do the cops have in their arsenal that can stop a criminal in their tracks but are also willing to use on themselves as proof that it isn't dangerous.

We just recently had a news conference in which the cops used the tazer on each other, and it aired on the news, just to dispel the myths behind the tazer.

I don't see the cops shooting at each other with their guns, or bludgeoning each other with their stun sticks to prove the safety factor in those devices.

I find the tazer to even be more humane than pepper spray. I've been zapped a few times, and could hardly remember how that feels. But I damn sure remember what soap in the eyes feels like, and I'm sure that doesn't even compare to pepper spray.

[vangndy]

anyone watch the video with commentary? FYI that video on the front page is the third and the other two show the vehicle passing th unmarked mustang and the dialogue prior to the officer running the license. the third video picks up after the license came suspended and the officer intended to arresting her. She wasn't pulled over and immediately asked to exit the vehicle as was noted somewhere above. IMO i think he was very patient with her, although i would have dragged her out and cuffed her before using the tazer.........

[tobster1911]

Uhmmmm.... I just got home to be able to watch the video......did no one notice that there appears to be two, count them, 2 officers there? Now why would the not be able to handle this without the Taser?

Someone else already pointed this out but my biggest problem with police is that they seem to have forgotten who they work for. They demand respect for their position which is understandable but the have NONE for the people they pull over. I have had an officer cuss at me before....over doing donuts in a empty dirt lot....

The big problem is, try to prove that an officer has done wrong. It is next to impossible to hold them accountable for their actions. You will always be presented as a criminal trying to escape what you deserve. Not saying that is the case here....just in general.

[nostatic]

i wasn't there, but at the risk of monday morning quarterbacking, the cop seemed pretty quick to escalate. 15 seconds from walking up to pulling her out, 30 seconds to tazing her. And it seems like she was talking on the phone telling whoever she was being arrested. Unless she was obviously armed and dangerous, couldn't they have taken a bit more time before tazing?

I'm not saying cops don't have an incredibly difficult job, and that this woman wasn't a piece of work. But it seems a bit quick to jump...

[88BlueTSiQuest]

Originally posted by nostatic
But it seems a bit quick to jump...

This could all simply be a case of not knowing all the facts. Who knows what the green screen in the cop car said when he ran the tags... Could of had a line in there 'considered armed and dangerous', or possibly even a background history of violence.

Or..... Maybe the cop dropped his doughnut, and bumped his head on the steering wheel while reaching for it, this could of put him in a bad mood.

[turbo6bar]

Are those against the use of the taser with the woman against the war started in Iraq?

In both instances, we have individuals who don't submit, and in both instances we have a show of excessive force. Weird thing is I'm in favor of the taser on the gal, while I believe Saddam was railroaded by bullies in the US. Go figure.
jurgen

[island911]

15 second wait before the taze

vs

10 years wait for Saddam (and SOMEONE who doesn't like US was funding bin-boy .. . hmmmm)

[turbo6bar]

Saddam has thumbed his nose about nonexistent WMD for 10 years. OK. Since the evidence seems so light, Saddam knows at worst, he might get shot with a taser gun, but only if he doesn't put down the cell phone.

[vash]

all good points.

but a three week rookie of elpaso PD was shot and killed because he hesitated and missed with his tazer. domestic violence call, where the guy wouldnt cooperate. badguy got to a gun and shot the kid in that big artery in the leg. he bled to death. badguy then realized what he did, dropped gun and gave up to the partner. sounded like an eff up, on someones part, but i kept my opinion to myself.

i couldnt be a cop. i would tazer everyone. way to trigger happy/scared of death.

[cool_chick]

There was a pilot taser program here in Chicago. Two times within a week, one man died, one 17 year old kid was in the hospital for a week (this was a few months now, not sure what happened to the 17 year old).

Chicago suspended the program after the death (the second event).

Sidenote, both were victims of mental illness. Can't remember the incident of the man now, but the 17 year old kid was running around and hollering up and down the halls of an apartment building.

[Moses]

Originally posted by cool_chick
...the 17 year old kid was running around and hollering up and down the halls of an apartment building.

That's far more threatening than the woman who won't get off her cell phone. Maybe they should have shot the 17 year old.

[Tim Hancock]

A man died recently here in Toledo, Ohio a short time ago. He was lit up about five times, with the last few times happening in the local lock-up as he would not co-operate and continued resisting arrest even once he was in the jail building. I do not recall what he did to get arrested in the first place, but he had a long record. I think the local police chief and mayor suspended tazing for now.

This guy was later found to have a heart condition and/or drugs in his system (imagine that!). Even after all this, I feel the criminal brought all this on himself because had he used an ounce of brains this accidental death would not have happened. When a crackhead comes swinging now, I guess the cops will have to shoot him instead.

[Z-man]

BTW: It was not 15/30 seconds between the officer's first approach and the taser shot -- it was more like 4 minutes! Some of you folks should view the rest of the videos listed. You will see that far more time transpires between when the officer first approaches the woman for the traffic stop, (7:51:43) and when the taser is fired. (7:55:31). That's almost 4 minutes, not 15 seconds. And in those 4 mintues, the woman was certainly not cooperative. He called for backup, got her license and registration, explained why she was pulled over, and went back to his squad car. All this happened prior to the arrest video.

All I hear from one side of the argument is what the cop should NOT have done. Well, here's what the women should NOT HAVE DONE:

1. First and foremost, she should NOT HAVE been driving around with a suspended license. We don't know the story of why her license got suspended, but usually it is because of failure to obey the traffic laws MULTIPLE TIMES. The fact that she was telling someone on the cell phone that the police were going to arrest her kinda indicates that she knew something SHE did was wrong.

2. Secondly, she was speeding (51 in a 35) and had an inoperable brake light, had a cracked windshield, and wasn't wearing her seatbelt. (Check out the rest of the videos for these details) Ok, maybe you can excuse the brakelight, and possibly the windshield, but she should not have been speeding, and she should not have been driving without her seatbelt on. Most likely, the officer would not have bothered with the car if the only problem was the brakelight. (But that's stipulation)

3. She should NOT have opened the door once she pulled over. Was she planning on escaping? Was she going to pull a gun on the officer? That probably made the policeman suspicous of the woman. When you get pulled over, you sit in your car, door closed, hands on steering wheel, interior light on if it is dark outside and wait for the officer to tell you what to do.

4. She should NOT have kept the door open after the officer asked her TWICE to close it. She finally closes it after his third request. (One thing she actually did right.) But, she should NOT have argued with the officer about having to close the door.

5. She should not have argued about the officer not being allowed to use radar when he is driving.

6. She should not have accused the officer of being a racist.

7. She should not have sworn at the officer.

8. She should not have continued to badger the officer after he stated what she was pulled over for.

9. She should not have continued smoking and talking on the cell phone when the officer approached her the second time.

10. She should not have ignored the officer's warnings that she will be tased. The officer told her FOUR Times to get out of the car, and told her Three times that she will be tased. She should NOT have ignored those warnings.

11. Once tased, she should not have continued to not listen to the officer's requests. She should not have said she couldn't put her hands behind her back. (As she was being led away, it was obvious that she could)

12. She should not have still been hostile towards the officers after she was handcuffed.

13. She should not have denied that she struck an officer.

The short clip only shows the 'dramatic brutality' the cops use when arresting someone. It does not show the rest of the story. Did the officer use more force than necessary? I don't know what other options he had. HOWEVER, the fact is that the woman was given fair warning: she was told FOUR times to get out of the car, and she was warned THREE times that if she doesn't get out of the car, she will be tased. Had she complied, she would not have been tased, plain and simple.

-Z.

PS: I wonder how a taser effects a pace-maker or an ICD (Internal difibulator)

[Moses]

Look, I have no problem with police using force, even deadly force when threatened. Take a swing at a cop, get shot. I'm OK with that. Unless I missed something, that lady was not behaving in a remotely threatening manner. She was annoying and rude and stupid.

At the time the officer fired the Tazer, it was abundantly clear that the woman represented no physical threat. What you saw was lazy policework. Makes the officer and the department look bad. What's next? Issue cattle prods to the local constabulary? Bzzzzzzzt! Nice.

[Z-man]

Originally posted by Moses
She was annoying and rude and stupid.

There is a fine line between being annoying, rude and stupid, and being irrational and dangerous.

[island911]

. . . and supposedly the cops are trained to know the difference.

[lendaddy]

I didn't watch the video, but I get the jist. If this woman absolutely refuses to cooperate, what do you suggest the officer do? Drive away? I mean the video of him dragging a middleaged woman out of the car would look aweful bad too, yes? So what should he do?

[RickM]

Originally posted by Moses

Makes the officer and the department look bad. What's next? Issue cattle prods to the local constabulary? Bzzzzzzzt! Nice.

How do you propose they handle it in the future? If they attempt to physically rip her out of the car they'll likely hurt her pretty badly. Or would pepper spray be a better option?

I have an issue with them zapping her (more tan once) after she was on the ground. If they wanted her to put her hands behind her back then kneel down and do it manually. That was excessive and lazy, IMO.

Again, if just would've listened.

[lendaddy]

jinx