Cop tasers 72 year old

Whether she needed it or not, sending electricity through the body of someone that age can be dangerous. A broken bone would have healed had it came to that, but if her heart had stopped or went into a deadly arrhythmia and an ambulance couldn't have gotten there soon enough she could have die.
...really, though, you should know that sort of stuff.

I dont agree with that at all! He could have handled that in a much better way!

I watched the video.

My mother is 76 and after a stroke, which she is 100% recovered from, she gets confused easily.
When she is confused, she gets defensive.
She also has an ICD which she doesn't broadcast about.

Had this been my mother, the tasing most likely would have killed her.
I think a broken bone would be preferable.

This was a bad judgement call, if a young officer in his prime can not subdue a 72 year old woman without resorting to a taser, then he belongs behind a desk.

If a cop can't handle criticism, he's in the wrong line of work.
He should have tackled her.
Better a little criticism than a possible wrongful death lawsuit, not to mention the incredible guilt he would suffer had she died.

Spunk has nothing to do with how the neurons are firing, tasing is extremely dangerous to the elderly.

You should have some basic knowledge of heart conditions and what an electrical current can do to a sick heart. Since the heart is controlled by basically that, it can even be dangerous for one without a serious condition.
If you had been subjected to a taser a few years ago, what could the consequences have been?

She was being combative and argumentative, and deserved to be arrested. I don't agree with the tasering, though. Cops are trained to physically restrain people without necessarily tackling them. He was twice her size, even with her being combative he certainly could have grabbed her arm and pushed her against the hood of his car without nearly the risk to her health that the taser posed.

She should not have been as much of a jerk as she was, no matter her age. But if the police are relying on their tasers so much that they can't physically restrain a 72 year old woman, there's something wrong with their training.

She was in the wrong for being rude to him, but I think tasering anyone is a bad idea much less an older person!

IMO most cops are A** H**** with too much power. There is no reason that he couldn't have physically restrained her.

My thought s exactly...

IMHO tasers are LETHAL weapons

Ok, I could have sworn you mentioned some arrhythmia before. Must be mixing you up with someone else!

Someone on another forum said something that makes a lot of sense. The good cops get promoted. The ones like to pull power trips, have ego problems, and are generally not that great of people get stuck dealing with traffic and lower end jobs that puts them more in contact with the public...

The lady was all over the TV two weeks ago when this first came out, claiming the officer's written report was falsified. She may not have known she was on video. Now that the video has come out corroborating his report, she is refusing all interviews and won't answer her door or telephone.

That about says it for me.

Hmm, my first thought is all this stupidity could have been avoided if they didn't have the "sign the ticket or I'll take you to jail" business. What's that crap all about? Just have the officer write "driver refused to sign the ticket", sign it himself, get a witness and this sorry affair never happens.

As for the tasering, I think the officer was out of line. Tasering should be reserved for situations where the person poses an imminent threat to themselves, the officer, or another person - basically for all those situations that the police used to lament about because "Well, I didn't want to shoot the guy, but I had no choice ..." Because the taser is considered "non-lethal", I think it gets used as a 'quick-fix' in many situations where it isn't appropriate.

This woman was REPEATEDLY told she would be tased if she did not start cooperating with the officer. She was combative and a danger to herself and others driving along that highway. She told the officer she was going to leave ("Im getting back in my car") and then appeared to be walking away from the scene. Could he have physically restrained her? Sure, but then everyone would be mad about that! What if he broke bones! What if during the struggle they both ended up in oncoming traffic? She certainly did not appear frail and just because she is older does not mean she has no physical strength.
Being 72 is no excuse to ignore the law, and the officers trying to enforce it. IMO this officer was in a no win situation, whatever he did to restrain this woman would have angered someone because of her age.

Before I saw the video, and was merely going off of descriptions of the incident, I would have thought the officer completely justified, and would have given little regard to age, particularly in the wake of an 88 year old shooting up the holocaust museum.

Looking at the video though, it does seem a tad absurd, given the difference in height and strength between the two. I mean, the next step was just to handcuff her, right? And yet, Trillcat said it best, maybe the officer thought the best-case scenario was a hands-off approach with as little physical contact as possible. He probably knew he was in a no-win situation with an obnoxious elderly woman; he was probably already thinking about when the video would hit the news!

As always, lots of grey area. Just another judgment call seemingly made easier with hindsight, I guess. Eh.

Every week you hear some ridiculous thing about tasers. The police really need to consider how they are training their officers and what education they are giving them about tasers. I agree with whoever said that they should only be used when as an alternative to shooting someone who poses iminent danger to themselves or others. I don't think speeding really warrants a tasering, when the woman clearly posed no risk to herself or others.

That said, I've never heard of a cop who just tasers someone who is going about their business, not breaking their law, and obeying the authority of the police. So, I don't feel a tad bad for the "great-grandmother" (funny how the media sensationalizes the 72-year-old woman by making us think of our own grandmothers....she can't just be a 72 year old woman who was indeed being argumentative, combative, and disrespectful) who clearly thinks the law doesn't apply for her, just because she's lived a few extra years in this world.

Yes, the cop could have restrained the woman another way, I'm sure. But perhaps he has been trained to use the taser over physical contact (who knows). There was really no winning for this officer. I have no doubt that she would have fought back had he tried to restrain her, which could have easily lead to a "police brutality" video instead of a "police tasering" video.

The real issue is that officers are being given these tasers...and clearly being trained to use them in any situation that becomes difficult. There needs to be clear rules.

I don't know how it works, but the officer should have been able to just let the woman drive away after taking her name, address, and license plate number....and follow up later to ensure that she shows up in court...with an extra charge for refusing to cooperate at the scene. He's already go the in-dash camera to prove his case that a) she was legitimately being pulled over for speeding, was argumentative, and refused to sign the ticket.

So, to summarize all the goobly-gook, I don't fault the officer, and I don't feel bad for the woman. But, do I think that it was right that an individual who posed no real danger got tasered during a road-side stop for speeding? No. I don't blame the officer for that, however, I blame the institution.

This was on the news shortly after that 80-something year old man shot & killed a guard in the Holocaust museum. These days - doesn't matter how old you are - you just don't know. I don't think the cop was wrong to have tasered her. I'm sorry, but she could've walked up to her car & pulled a gun. I know of some idiot who did that here, the cop didn't taser him - he went to the car & pulled a gun. He was speeding & that's why he was pulled over.

Physical restraint would've likely ended with her fighting back physically. She was warned she would be tasered multiple times - if she was too dumb to head such a warning, that's her business!

You know what, I think he did the right thing.

She was being aggressive, attempting to get back in her car and he warned her several times.

Age has nothing to do with it. There are health risks with tasering to anyone irregardless of age.

We've all heard of 20 and 30yr olds dying due to improper tasing, or side effects from it. Her being of older age really has nothing to do with it. Her attitude however does...the fact that she was being combative and aggressive, refusing to do as ask, and warned ample times, I see the officer as having done nothing wrong and agree with his actions completely.

Sure, there is always other options.... depending on what that particular county's regulations on how to handle aggressive persons is. He could very well have been following protocol and based on the fact that his superior reported he did his job and noone was hurt backs up that he didn't do anything wrong.

The supervisor said it best:

"Regardless of your age, you are personally held accountable for your actions".

This woman made the choice to be tasered, the Officer gave her plenty of chances to smarten up.

What I find even worse, is this woman lying about it. Playing the poor me, I'm a great gramma, I didn't do anything BS.

Good one for the police releasing the video

She was being physically aggressive.. It escalated from a routine road side stop for speeding, to resisting arrest.... to me, that involves some sort of physical aggression. Generally people don't get charged resisting arrest for just standing there saying Nope, I resist, then getting in the car.

I guess, my point is that it wasn't just a routine stop.

I do agree that there was other methods he just have used.... he could have physically restrained her and chanced hurting himself or her, etc. This was done safely and effectively in an aggressive situation is all I'm trying to say.

Firstly, I do not believe cops are a-holes. There are some I'll agree just as there are some Starbuck employees who are a-holes, some firemen, some plumbers, etc. - you get my drift.

This woman was using her age to be defiant, argumentative, and just plain nasty. That officer was in a total no win situation. If he had restrained her, as one poster said, it would have been seen as police brutality. If he had let her get in her car and drive away and she had an accident that hurt or killed someone, the officer would have been in the wrong for letting her drive away. Also, as another poster said (Keycube I think), I'm 62 years old and have never had a police office stop me or bother me if I was not doing something I should not have been doing, like speeding, etc. In my experience, police don't just stop you and taser you if you aren't doing anything wrong.

If I had a son or daughter on the police force, I would encourage them to use their taser if they felt in any way threatened. And, again, as someone else said, in this day and age, especially in the US, where everyone and his dog is entitled to and does carry guns, I would not want my loved ones taking any chances. We are all responsible for our actions and she caused her own tasering IMO.

Maybe this old woman will think twice in future before shooting off her mouth.

I have just had a talk with a state trooper who lives here.
He's seen the video and his opinion was that, given this particular situation, it would have been wisest if the deputy accepted her refusal to sign and simply had her arrested (with backup) at her home later.

It was a judgement call and the deputy's judgement, while not wrong, was also not the best course.
Every situation is of course different.

I think the woman certainly should be punished. She obviously was one of the older people who thing they are entitled. The way she kept saying how old she was. But, I just don't know about the tazing. And I do think that cop was a jerk.

Yes, she was being aggressive. But, at that point in time, I don't think that she posed any real danger to the officer. That's all I'm saying. If he had some reason to suspect she may have a weapon on her at the time (which, I guess, is always possible), then that would pose real danger. But, he was a big man, the smaller, elderly unarmed woman posed no real physical danger to him. At least not in my outside view of the situation - the officer may have felt differently at the time. I have no doubt that he was following protocol.

My point is that I don't think tasers should be used just if someone is being uncooperative. If they are aggressive to the point that they pose danger to themselves, the officers, or the people around them, then, yes, taser them. But I think officers should be encouraged to use alternative methods as the situation warrants. Basically, just because they have it, doesn't mean they should use it in every situation.

I think what bothers me is the "I guess it is possible" she may have had a weapon. Why would it not be possible? Her age or fraility? An 88 year old man with handicap tags on his little red car just entered the Holocaust Museum here in DC and shot and killed one security officer on duty and anouther officer was wounded.

Any idea what the consensus would have been if he had allowed her to go on her way and she hit and/or killed someone? Would the cop not have been blamed for letting her go? IMO the police officer was in a lose/lose situation - no matter what he did he is going to be blamed.

If she had been drinking or under the influence a cop could be held responsible, since this was not apparently the case (no such charges alluding to it) she would be solely responsible considering she had been pulled over, written up and thusly warned.

My neighbor here though says that he can only speak for procedure here in California, but that this is one of many potential situations they are trained for.

This of course is all theoretical now, hindsight and all that

This "she could have had a weapon" business is a total red herring. If she were reaching in her pocket and pulling something out, or if she reached in the glove box and pulled something out, then there would have been an imminent threat to the officer. Just the fact they maybe possibly she had a gun in the glove box is NOT an imminent threat to the officer. She had her hands to her side when he finally tazed her - she was no threat, he just got impatient. Understandable given her behavior, but not, IMO, appropriate.

Thats what I was thinking. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You are never going to please everyone. Hindsight is 20/20 for all of us. He defused the situation in the way he felt was best in the moment...who are we to judge? Not like he kicked her when she was down like some incidences with that have happened with cops and citizens.

It is unfortunate about the tazers though. There was a young girl here in Boston a few years back who was tazed at a redsox game. After the game people were in the streets making a ruckus, like hundreds, she wasn't the only person there. She was trying to get above the crowd (and get out of the crush) by going up on some sort of building ledge (I can't quite remember what exactly) but the cop just saw someone there and tazed her because the crowd had him panicked. Not her fault she was stuck in this crowd, it could have been any of us. (They had a ton of witnesses saying she was doing absolutely NOTHING to provoke him) She died. THAT was a gross misuse of a tazer, but actually having someone being belligerent to you and refusing to be taken into custody is a different story. this woman in particular was given a CHOICE and CHOOSE to get tazered. Just another opinion and something to think about.

That does make a lot of sense. I don't hate cops. I have a lot of respect for someone who is willing to put their life on the line to protect the public. The problem is that when you give someone power over other people it gets abused. It just seams that there are a lot officers out there that abuse their power in every day situations (this being an example).

The officer has no problems pushing her. How hard would it have been to push up up against the car and put a pair of hand cuffs on her? Why was taser his first option?? It doesn't matter if the woman is 22,58, 72 or 100 the taser gun should not be the first option.

"If you don't step back you are going to be tased" Why not try "If you don't step back I am going to have to use force" Tasers are there to protect are officers NOT to be used as a convenience to them.