Good news: Cop tasers 72-year-old great-grandmother
posted at 7:35 pm on June 9, 2009 by Allahpundit
Stage two of my plan to give our new registrants a proper Hot Air welcome. We’ve already had multiple Palin posts; the obligatory 800-comment police brutality thread is next. Then all that’s left is a post on atheism and my work here is done.
The dashcam audio’s a little hit and miss so you’re probably better off skimming the partial transcript before watching. As I’ve said before in our endless taser debates, I thought the stun gun is only to be used to subdue a perp who presents a physical threat or who can’t be subdued any other way. This huge cop was incapable of wrestling granny’s arms behind her back to slap the cuffs on? What if he tased her and she had a pacemaker? Verdict: Desk duty for six months.
Blowback
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Did we watch the same video? She said it, like I said, after he called her bluff. Then she tried to get back into her car and basically challenged him to arrest her. He called her bluff and she’s a sore loser.
The cop was asserting authority, naturally, but rightly so.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Bingo. As soon as she said she’d sign it, the cop should have presented it for her to sign. Instead, he escalated the situation. That was stupid and his fault. He did it because of his own ego. He could’ve defused the situation and he didn’t.
Sydney Carton on June 9, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Speeding or jaywalking are not the issue here. Its her reaction to the citation.
Imo, your attitude is a good example of way emotion based judgments are not a good quality to have when dealing with strangers.
Itchee Dryback on June 9, 2009 at 8:47 PM
because he wasn’t raised properly to begin with. He was never taught to respect his elders. He was never taught not to put his hands on a woman, especially and elderly woman. He didn’t like this old lady and he was going tos how her just how big, tough and powerful he was.
Her biggest mistake was assuming he was a man – a real man. A gentleman who was raised properly and she could have very well paid for that mistake with her life. Old hearts stop very easily when electrocuted.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Her biggest mistake was assuming he was a man, not acting like a complete imbecile on a dangerous stretch of highway?
Wow.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 8:48 PM
“Called on her bluff?” So what, she’s an old lady. You’re telling me mr. cop had a better place to be and just HAD to get her to sign RIGHT NOW OR ELSE? He treated her like she had a pound of crack in her car.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 8:49 PM
God granted old people the wisdom to find fault with everything.
– Grandpa Simpson
That doesn’t give big tough men with badges the right to push them and then electrocute them.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 8:49 PM
I reiterate: the cop should have let her sign the ticket when she finally agreed to it. He should have defused the situation. He did not. It was entirely his fault that it escalated.
He was stupid.
Sydney Carton on June 9, 2009 at 8:51 PM
How am I being emotional? Use some common sense. Clearly this lady was no harm to him and he was wasting time even warning to tase her. It’s really quite simple. Simply hold her up against her truck (which I’m sure he could). Without ripping her arms out of her socket, pull her arms behind her back. Then finish with click, then click.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Which one of you can honestly dare to suggest that so much as one single founding father of this once great republic would have approved of this?
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 8:28 PM
amen
SHARPTOOTH on June 9, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Definitely an option. However, there is a school of thought amongst police officers to never second guess your actions during a traffic stop. It leads to hesitation. That same logic (in some) officers dictates that once a violator chooses a course of action the crime has been committed and cannot be “undone.” It would not be unlike grandma saying “can you follow me for the next couple of miles? I will go 10 under the speed limit to make it even.”
In some states refusal to sign a citation is a crime. In others you are still considered in custody for the original traffic infraction. Either way, the stop cannot be concluded until your appearance is secured by a signature bond or financial bond. Some departments have policies against allowing a violator to sign after an initial refusal.
Frankly, grandma is not high on the radar screen for a hard core criminal. Letting her sign the citation would have saved him all this hassle.
There might be an untold story for this stop. I would be interested to see what Grandma’s record is. It might explain why the cop took his stance. If she had a history of resisting or disorderly he might have been less inclined to give her a break and let her sign the ticket.
Inzax on June 9, 2009 at 8:52 PM
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 8:40 PM
My God… you really are an useful idiot, aren’t you? My points were valid against the stupid comments you made about “Speed Traps”. That is an excuse. She wasn’t tazed for not signing the ticket, just because it helps your losing argument. My point about “your new president” was to illustrate how some people who are too stupid to drive, let alone vote, will end-up voting for anybody who holds the same misguided opinion as themselves. And don’t worry… I won’t “Procrate”. What a Dumb@$$.
ronnyraygun on June 9, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Thats just woefully pathetic reasoning not really justifying a response. Its all just made up crap.
Itchee Dryback on June 9, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Is it possible that granny did not realize that the signature request was not an admission of guilt? I could understand not wanting to sign that you were guilty, if that is what you thought you were being asked to do. Then it seems that the cop’s push escalated things.
AnotherOpinion on June 9, 2009 at 8:53 PM
You keep on talking about this made up crap, but then you can’t even admit that he did push her…
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Granny needs a drink. The cop needs an enema.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 8:54 PM
What’s next? Grandpa in his 90s in a wheel chair drove out of the cross walk stripes in the wheel chair. Get him face down in the street and cuff him! What a hero!
Jeff from WI on June 9, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
I’m confused as to what that has to do with tasering at all? That sounds like a case when the officer should have used his own gun and would have been in the right to shoot the old guy… but this bears no similarity to the old woman here, nor the story I posted. I don’t get it.
And, btw, I think that the officer was in the right to use the taser, law-wise… I just don’t know if I trust tasers or not, since people keep dying from their use. Hence the comment about maybe only using them when the officer’s physical wellbeing is in danger (or when a bad guy is running away).
Christina D on June 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Blow out the tires on the wheel chair?
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
This sadistic poor excuse for a man wanted to inflict a little pain on the old lady to teach her who was boss. He’s luck he didn’t kill the old lady. I wonder if there are other woman in this guy’s life who have been “taught” similar lessons at his hands. We may find out now.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
First, you don’t know that she didn’t, though I doubt she did. Second, yes, you have to comply with the law. It doesn’t work on your timetable; you’re making excuses that are non-sensical. It was like she said, “Oh, hold on sir, wait a moment,” she said “No!” (with some f-bombs mixed in). Painting her like some sort of wronged Betty White is way off base.
No one said that the cop had the “right” to electrocute old ladies at random. What we’ve argued, as best as I can tell, is that in this specific situation on the side of a “dangerous” highway with oncoming traffic, the cop had a legitimate cause to use the tazer.
No one who argues that she shouldn’t have been tazered has shown that they would seriously prefer for her to be tackled, wrestled, bear-hugged, or anything else. You’d find fault with the cop regardless, as shown by the rants about “infringements on liberty!” and such.
On the side of the highway, she picked a fight. He requested she sign. She wouldn’t. He proceeded to arrest her. She resisted. Tazing is absolutely justified.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Exactly. But his big tough-guy ego wouldn’t let him. He’s supposed to be a professional at what he does. He isn’t.
infidel4life on June 9, 2009 at 8:56 PM
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Now, now, stop being so emotional. Use reason. Clearly the taser has been the rational weapon to use since Noah’s Ark.
Yeah, maybe granny called him fat when he was a kid.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:57 PM
You should think before you post.
You’re spinning off into space and its just making you look irrationally emotional.
Just trying to help.
Itchee Dryback on June 9, 2009 at 8:57 PM
That’ll do too.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Drop the line already. Everyone knows how “rational” your argument is…
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Oh pulease! I hope you’re just trying to win the argument and don’t actually believe what you wrote.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 8:58 PM
God didn’t give the old people the right to slander the names of cops who were just doing their job. If you don’t like that resistance to arrest is grounds for tazing, take it up with the legislators. I don’t ask the cop on the side of the highway with cars whizzing past him to host a Ricki Lake special on how grandmas should just release their anger, complete with tears and hugging. I ask him to enforce the law.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Nothing like calling out spelling mistakes via comments. Just Awesome! So, your rebuttal is, “my points were valid against the stupid comments you…” Really, that’s what you’ve got?
This President, in case you haven’t noticed, is not just mine, but yours as well (unless of course you’re from retard-land). If you really want to go down this path, would you care to comment how many of the GOP and Dem candidates in ’08 would have supported tazing granny over this incident? I mean, after all, you seem to think that only “my president” is suppoortive of the argument I’m putting forth. I’m presuming Palin, Mitt and McCain would been pro-taze?
And lastly douche bag, what of the fact that she offered to sign the ticket when she got out?
The more I read comments like yours the less I’m surprised that jackasses like Olberman are able to get away with their smears of conservatives–its because idiots like you scream and drown out the normal folk.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Deploy a spike strip before he gets away.
infidel4life on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
emailnuevo, you seem to be ignoring the fact that once she was taken out of the car, she did agree to sign the ticket. He could have immediately presented the ticket for her to sign at that point, defusing the situation. He did not. Instead, he chose to escalate the situation.
Are you suggesting that it’s a good thing that cops choose to escalate situations? It put his life in danger from the oncoming traffic, it put the lady’s life in danger, and now there’s a media circus. All because he chose to escalate the situation instead of letting her sign the ticket when she finally said she would. He was stupid.
Sydney Carton on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Where there is smoke there is usually fire.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Says the guy insinuating that the guy’s a wife-beater. That’s rich.
Which part do you not believe I meant?
P.s. Thank you for acknowledging that I won.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
Remember you said this crap when Obama makes any criticism of himself illegal and you get arrested for just thinking the wrong thing. Because yes, that is exactly what this is about. What the cop should have dont is got back in his cruiser and went on about his business and mailed her a summons.
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
I wonder how you’d feel if that was your mother.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:00 PM
A few more quick hits for some of the other comments here:
1. Yelling at her like that was perfectly fine and a good first step. There we see “verbal commands” and “command presence” being used together. He was, for lack of a better term, attempting to “scare her” into complying with the forthcoming arrest rather than use any physical force. She didn’t listen.
2. There are those who have said, “well, he should have just let her sign the ticket when she said she would.” WRONG. She had that opportunity. Once she was ordered out of the vehicle, the officer had made up his mind he was going to arrest her. Once the decision is made by an officer and/or the “magic words” are said (you’re under arrest), the arrest is going to happen, regardless of what “bargaining” the subject wishes to do. This is one of the Golden Rules of police work – once an arrest is started, it will be finished.
3. As much as I dislike 95% of what the guy has done and stands for, this has nothing to do with The Won.
:/
RedNewEnglander on June 9, 2009 at 9:01 PM
It’s past your bed time sonny.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Does anyone know off hand, did Dirty Harry ever taser any old ladies in the Dirty Harry movies? I can’t remember anything like that.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Sorry (Ok, I’m not really sorry) she had it coming and asked for it. Oh no a 72 year old. . . well she should defiantly known better. She was already endangering lives, but I guess the people on the road crew don’t count. And then lying about it . . light her up again.
- The Cat
P.S. About restraining her and putting on the cuffs. Catch 22 with brittle bones, easily bruised, bad joints. . .
MirCat on June 9, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Maybe he should have just let her walk out onto the road into the oncoming traffic.
Problem solved.
manofaiki on June 9, 2009 at 9:02 PM
My mother wouldn’t behave like that.
- The Cat
MirCat on June 9, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Hey new HA members, please slow down. I’m gagging on popcorn over here…
Ugly on June 9, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Finally, a coherent point! (I’ve seen your name before on the list, but I’ve been busy a’brawling.) But I think you’re ignoring the “I’m not going to jail! Nyah!” lines from the woman. If the woman is presented with “sign or go to jail,” and she tears him a new one saying she won’t sign, the response is “Fine, have fun in jail.” The job is to enforce the law, as far as I’m concerned. There are bad, poorly judging cops, but this is not one of them.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Fine, but why did he push her then? If he was afraid of braking bones I think he wouldn’t be pushing her…
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Uh huh.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
There are five ways to tell the character of a man: his eyes, the friends/associates he keeps, his favorite quotes, his favorite beer and how he treats old ladies.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Dude, I don’t see any newbies… :(
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
Clearly he would have insisted that the cop taze her a couple of extra times just for good measures.
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
So what is copper’s character like?
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
If the officer’s physical well-being is in danger, in many situations they can respond with deadly force.
You are arguing that tazers should only be reserved for situations where the cop’s life is in danger (if I understand you correctly.)
My inclusion of the Vetter shooting is to demonstrate that police can be over-cautious in dealing with senior citizens and the results can be tragic from that side as well.
Was the officer over-zealous; yes. Was what he did illegal or even unethical; I highly doubt it.
darclon on June 9, 2009 at 9:04 PM
First, that’s hysterical. If Obama does what you think he will, do you really think tazing all he has up his sleeve? It’s a counterintuitive argument.
My mother doesn’t sound like she spends her nights in the barracks.
Hateful right-wingers never sleep!
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:05 PM
That’s complete bull$hit. You write this like the cop is God, and once his words are uttered it’s game over. Slow down there fella. We have rights, that a good many men died fighting for. All of this nonsense about cops ordering citizenery as though they’re subjects is offending to anyone who believes in liberty. A 72 year old woman refused to sign a ticket, and this guy took her down like she was Pablo Escobar hauling crack across the border.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 9:05 PM
LOL (I actually did). Well that makes it OK to break out the cattle-prod!
infidel4life on June 9, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Don’t taz me sonny boy.
Mavs00 on June 9, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Uh huh.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:06 PM
how on earth did cops do their jobs before they were issued tasers a whole 5 years ago? I mean golly gee, why even mess with the pretenses. . . if a cop wants to talk to somebody, they should just tase them first and ask questions later.
Bottom line is that they need to outlaw tasers because cops don’t know how to use them. Ask yourself if the cop would have used a billy club in this instance. If he wouldn’t, he shouldn’t have tased her.
Get rid of the tazer, give them a billy club.
ThackerAgency on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
That’s exactly what they used to say about the Stasi and the KGB too.
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Anybody can tell, he was clearly afraid for his life.
What a jerk. Grandma was being a bit disingenuous as well, but she didn’t need to be tazed in my opinion.
Geronimo on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
My mom would sign the stupid ticket and argue it in court, like any rational person.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
I’m willing to concede that he wasn’t breaking any rules. Ethical… eh… well, I wouldn’t force him onto Dr Phil’s show, but maybe they could teach him to deal with such situations in a more tactful, calm manner… maybe there’s a better word for what I’m trying to say. Essentially remind him he doesn’t need his taser gun to peacefully subdue her.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
He probably shouldn’t have taken any chances and should have just shoved the old hag into traffic. Some people just have to be shown the hard way who is boss. She probably won’t live much longer under Obama Care anyway.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:07 PM
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 8:59 PM
douche bag, turd-blossom, retard-land? What are you… 4? No screaming coming from me. It doesn’t take that much energy to put down a small child like you.
ronnyraygun on June 9, 2009 at 9:08 PM
I don’t know, might have something to do with don’t become irrational and run out into traffic coupled with don’t get near my gun.
- The Cat
P.S. She’s clearly insane and shock treatment is good for what ails ya.
MirCat on June 9, 2009 at 9:09 PM
I turn 6 on Saturday. Hopefully the party won’t get too out of hand, lest ronnyraygun and his posse show up and taze us for disturbing the peace.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Did the cop tail this woman from the moment she left her house? Is there some secret file on her activities in at the police station detailing her associations with freedom-loving poets or something? It’s absolutely disgusting to associate our policemen (I mean the country, as I’m not a Texan) with Eastern European thugs. I am overjoyed that you’ve obviously never had to deal with an actual police state, though.
Is the problem with the guy using the tazer, or the tazer’s existence? Because I can’t even tell anymore.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:09 PM
You are in for some shocks in your life
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:09 PM
And if Turd-blossom was good enough for Karl Rove, it’s good enough for you.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 9:10 PM
You think there was a way that involved no pain, no violence, and no force to subdue her?
You did just say “peacefully” subdue her.
apollyonbob on June 9, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Again, I don’t object to him actually pushing her away from the traffic, but to argue that he didn’t sans taser subdue her because he was worried about her bones is an argument that is hard if not impossible to make.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:10 PM
That’s why I suggested that he have an enema and then a colonoscopy.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Think about what you just wrote and then think about what that big, strong public servant did to her.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:11 PM
You just dont get it. You have been conditioned like one of Pavlov’s dogs to submit to authority for any reason that any LEO tells you to. You ARE A SLAVE and dont even know it.
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Really demonstrates what not to do when confronted by
an Officer, best move, shut your mouth and comply, even
if you feel he’s wrong, you can fight that in court.
If she shut up and took the summons, she’s home
in half an hour, she wants to play games look where it
got her. Not sure about that state, but in NY the
perp doesn’t have to sign the summons anyway, so
that was odd to me. What would I have done in his
shoes? Laughed it off, you don’t learn how to do
that in uniform, that’s a one way ticket to an ulcer.
ac1 on June 9, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Personally I think tazers have their place in the LEO’s toobox. In this case (IMO) it was the man who used it as a crutch for his unprofessionalism.
infidel4life on June 9, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Upstate 85
Yup…use “stop sticks” on Grandpas wheel chair. Show him who is boss!
Jeff from WI on June 9, 2009 at 9:13 PM
I think the officer’s physical well-being would be much better served if he spent less time tasing old women and eating donuts and pizza and more time at the gym.
MB4 on June 9, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Yes, and I put peacefully in italics. Maybe I should have put an *
*: Yeah, there will be physical contact, but we aren’t going to shoot hooks into your body, electrocute you, and have you fall to the ground.
How could he not have overpowered her without the taser and without significantly injuring her?
Seems like the PC way of dealing with things.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:14 PM
I live in Kalifornia,, so you obviously dont have a clue what you are talking about.
doriangrey on June 9, 2009 at 9:14 PM
If that’s the Golden Rule of police work, then it’s no wonder why cops are finding their integrity under increasing scrutiny. That Golden Rule is needlessly argumentative, especially in connection with a traffic stop.
It also accomplished nothing here. It put the officer’s life in danger of oncoming traffic. It put the lady’s life in danger of the taser and the traffic. It resulted in a lawsuit, and a media circus.
How can it be that the incorrect decision would have been to let her sign the ticket? It seems obvious that defusing the situation would have been more appropriate and would have served everyone better: the lady, the police, etc.
A mindless rule that once a cop says a “magic word,” he has to proceed with blind efficiency toward that goal, is not what makes good policing. Good policing is a smart cop using his brain to obtain law abiding results with minimum of harm and with proper deference to common sense and the law.
You’ll have to do better than that, I’m afraid.
Sydney Carton on June 9, 2009 at 9:15 PM
What I don’t get about all of you pro-taze folks is that you’re all up in arms about Obama’s expansion of executive authority, the growth of government, and the dissolution of the free market. While I agree with all of those objections, I don’t see why you turn a blind eye to law enforcement and proclaim cops as THE AUTHORITY, no questions asked.
kkaneff79 on June 9, 2009 at 9:15 PM
The officer seems to have followed “the rules.” But in this case, “the rules” seem a little crazy to me.
First, why does Texas require drivers to sign and accept speeding tickets? This seems like a sure way to cause confusion and start arguments. The officer has her address, why not mail the ticket? If necessary, add an extra fine for the cost of processing and mailing.
Second, is a Police Officer always required to follow the rules to the letter in every situation without ever taking anything else into consideration or ever back down from a confrontation?
This is an old person and old people can be ornery and stubborn because that’s the way we are. Add that this is a little old lady from Texas, and that might well up the orneriness and stubbornness by several magnitudes. Why not try to decrease the confrontation by not confronting her back, but by sweet talking her? Nope. Not tried.
Then at about 1:20-1:30 in the video, after the start of the confrontation outside the car, she offers to take the ticket. Why doesn’t the officer back down and giver her the ticket and let her go on? Nope. Not tried.
To me, this Tasering might have been avoided by following some common sense instead of “the rules.” Then, taxpayers, I assume, would not have to pay for the ambulance and hospital visit the Tasering required, and everybody could avoid the cost and lost time of the coming lawsuit.
However, if “the rules” are going to be stubbornly followed in all cases, regardless of the potential that a Taser can cause death, then, if not in this case, I expect Texas will eventually lose one heck of a lawsuit for causing the wrongful death of an unarmed person who argued instead of taking their traffic ticket. And then, “the rules” will be changed by a court instead of by people using some common sense.
Loxodonta on June 9, 2009 at 9:15 PM
That 72 year old lady being tazed is lucky she’s still alive.
Under Obama Care she’ll be too old for many medical procedures since actuarial tables say she’s probably only has a few years to live.
Jeff from WI on June 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Is there seriously anyone here that doesn’t think they could subdue grandma without the following:
Bloody Noses and Electricity?
Maybe the taser gun is so that granny can’t sue the copper…
Uh…
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Dude he didn’t need to taze her. But she deserves the resisting arrest charge.
ronsfi on June 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Wait, now, I might be a slave to Christ, but that doesn’t make me a slave to any man. Quite the opposite, actually.
There are ways to fight a traffic ticket. None of them is arguing with the cop on the side of a highway and resisting arrest. That’s called idiocy.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM
I don’t think it’s hard. Let me try:
When someone is actively resisting what you’re doing, it makes many of the techniques that are useful for restraining them dangerous to the person.
In the end, there is a cold but simple calculus that people are probably going to have to accept – until people stop suing cops every time they get bruised while resisting arrest, cops are going to go for the bruise-free option every time. Not to mention that it’s safer for her, and much more importantly, it’s safer for him. And as a man who risks his life every time he pulls someone over, he’s probably going to go the absolutely safest route.
I don’t believe that this is an unreasonable route for someone charged with enforcing our laws, in the face of lawlessness.
apollyonbob on June 9, 2009 at 9:17 PM
He +1
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:17 PM
I didn’t know that you could be jailed for not signing a ticket.
True_King on June 9, 2009 at 9:18 PM
Here’s an idea: don’t argue with the man with a gun. For the love of God it’s just a speeding ticket, if it’s that big of a deal, go to court over it, the police officer can’t undo catching you speeding.
Still, she’s 70 years old. How does “YouTube” not immediately run through your head when you draw a weapon on a 70 year old? Basically, he’s an idiot and so is she.
John_Locke on June 9, 2009 at 9:18 PM
Which is exactly how tyranny gets a foothold in a society. Not enough people seem to notice when that invisible line between authority and authoritarianism is crossed.
infidel4life on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I’m going to hope that was a joke. It’s hard to tell on this thread.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Well.. It seems to me that the woman was wrong in the way she treated the officer. However, and officer must control his temper and be immune to abusive language and not escalate the situation.
Next I’m confused about arresting someone who doesn’t sign a ticket. When did that become standard policy? I thought standard policy was to give the person the unsigned ticket, and note that the driver refused to sign. At least that’s what it said on my ticket last time I was ticketed- that was almost 10 years ago, so maybe things have changed, or maybe different jurisdictions have different policies. Although it seems a foolish policy to me- requiring someone to sign a ticket or else go to jail doesn’t seem like a wise policy to me- it just creates a potential flash point for conflict.
That said, if that is the policy it is not the officer’s fault. Still as several people have said, once she agreed to sign the ticket he should have accepted that as a way of de-escalating the situation.
That seems to be a repeated theme in all of these situations. The officer follows policy, the citizen challenges the authority of the officer, the officer escalates to reassert his authority, and then the citizen backs down. Only instead of allowing the citizen to back down the officer now refuses to de-escalate, and demands some higher level of submission.
I don’t know why. To “teach them a lesson” I guess, but that seems rather stupid. The only lesson they are teaching is that people should be afraid of police officers- and it can’t be good for officers when the citizenry hates, fears, and mistrusts police officers. Letting morons who challenged and officers authority to back down isn’t “letting them off the hook” it’s teaching citizens that if you obey the officer’s demands that he will be friendly- so maybe you should just do what the officer says.
Sackett on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
In that case he deserves to be charged with assault and battery on the elderly for the push that escalated the confrontation and then assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on the elderly for electrocuting her.
TheBigOldDog on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
An Indian respects a brave man, but he despises a coward like this outlaw with a badge.
Hinmahtooyahlatkek on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
You don’t seem to understand – it’s the risk of something happening that is unacceptable to the officer. He could probably subdue her physically without injuring her, or getting himself shot.
If he’s right, she avoids temporary pain that leaves no lasting problems (and no, doesn’t affect pacemakers or cause heart attacks).
If he’s wrong, she’s crippled, or he’s dead.
It’s risk management.
apollyonbob on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
You have some good points. Yeah, there should probably be less law suits. If she sues, it should probably be thrown out of court. That said, if the officer is worried about sue-happy grannies (due to bruising), then 1) why does he push her?, and 2) why does he tase her to the ground?
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I’d hope we can all agree on this.
Upstater85 on June 9, 2009 at 9:20 PM
Alright, I’ve held my tongue thus far, but enough’s enough: How many Ron Paul voters are on this thread? No one seriously talks like this. A woman is punished for resisting arrest and suddenly it’s the fall of China all over again?
I am insulted.
emailnuevo on June 9, 2009 at 9:20 PM
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