72-year-old Great-Grandma Tasered

[Sweejak]

Mack has something to say. And maybe it's just me, but I see a straight line from electronic people control to robotic killing, the most cowardly form of 'warfare' ever.

Update on the Travis County Taser Story:

Sgt. Major Gary Griffin, Travis County Constable’s Office Precinct 3, applauded Deputy Chris Bieze's actions by saying he “didn't break nothin’.” (LINK)

You got that? Bieze didn't break nothin'. That's good. I'm glad he didn't break nothin'. We're all glad. Would've been too bad if he'd broke somethin'.

When Griffin said this, he was making the point that the woman should be glad Bieze used a Taser instead of a nightstick. People get hurt by nightsticks, you see, whereas it don't hurt people none at all to get hit by a Taser. Don't break nothin'.

It is revealed in the same story that Bieze is the Taser instructor for Precinct 3. Presumably, then, as the precinct’s resident authority on Tasers, he is aware of the potentially harmful effect of sending 50,000 volts of electricity into the neck of an elderly woman, to say nothing of the injury she might have suffered falling to the ground.

Yet he did it anyway!

You will recall that, earlier in the confrontation, Bieze shoved the woman—shoved her so hard it knocked her backwards a step or two, and could have easily knocked her down and broke somethin'. This was done for her safety, Bieze later said, to get her away from the traffic.

Which sounds dubious to me. Is this how you would have ushered an elderly woman away from traffic. Take the test below to compare your handling of the situation to the way Deputy Bieze handled it. It’s multiple choice, so it should be easy …

(1) You’re a cop. You’re trained to deal with the public. You pull over an elderly woman for speeding. She’s upset, refuses to sign the ticket. You order her out of the car. Once she’s out of the car, you realize you need to usher her away from the traffic for her safety. You have three choices. You can: (1) calmly explain why she needs to move and gently place your hand on her shoulder, (2) scream in her face and punch her violently in the shoulder, or (3) stick your thumb up your butt, waddle back to the squad car, and cram another donut into your fat swinish face.

(2) You’re a cop dealing with an upset elderly woman. You’ve just made the situation worse by screaming at her and shoving her. You’re also the precinct’s Taser instructor. You know that Tasering an elderly woman could cause cardiac arrest or that she could hurt herself and break somethin' in the fall. Faced with the dilemma of how to get her to comply with an order, you have four choices. You can: (1) Taser her anyway and hope she don’t break nothin’, (2) use your nightstick and hope she don’t break nothin’, (3) stop barking orders and try using the calm tone of voice one usually uses when dealing with agitated, elderly, or infirm persons, or (4) radio headquarters with your immediate resignation and get a job more suited to your abilities, such as shoveling shit at the dog pound.

(3) You’re a cop. You have just Tasered a 72-year-old grandmother. All the bad choices in your miserable, worthless, futile, pointless, rotten life have led up to this unfortunate moment. What can you do now to redeem yourself? You have three choices. You can: (1) render aid to the screaming injured woman who for all you know, might've broke somethin’ when she fell, (2) continue to bark orders and threaten her with more Taserings even though it is now impossible for her to move, or (3) take out your Taser, pull down your pants, and shoot yourself in the ass, you fucking idiot.

http://mackwhite.blogspot.com/2009/06/h ... taser.html

[Pele'sDaughter]

She's hired an attorney, so we'll see what happens. They shouldn't be allowed to use the tazers except under STRICT guidelines just like firearms. Same for the other weapons in their arsenal right down to pepper spray.

What can we expect, though, when torture is official policy.

[vigilant]

I just watched the video again on television news and saw something in the video I had missed previously. Immediately after he jerked her out of the vehicle she immediately said several times, "i'll sign the ticket, just give me the ticket and i'll sign it"

Instead of saying "ok, here it is, sign it and be on your way" he just stood there and started yelling and shoving her around. He didn't give her an option to sign the ticket.

That little useless bastard, for all practical purposes, cornered her, boxed her in, and left her no choice at all but to be tased because no matter what she did from that point he obviously wasn't willing to accept it as compliance. The video showed her back off the road as he had demanded. Then she got pissed and declared that she was getting in her vehicle to leave.

I don't blame her. She wanted to sign the ticket and he had decided at that point OBVIOUSLY that he wasn't going to let her sign it. He wanted to tase the lady, and after watching the news video clip it became all too apparent that he was setting her up with that 'quick rapid fire command, no time to comply, tase your ass off' scenario. She asked to sign the ticket more than once.

He's a mentally unstable shithead, and if her lawyer can't find a way to get his ass fired its a loss for everybody. He cornered the lady...

[Sweejak]

Family Outraged After Officer Shoots Their Dog

"Two grown men that can't gather up a five-pound dog – and they're trained police officers – sounds ridiculous to me."

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story/Fa ... DkUzA.cspx

[beeline]

LINK

Posted on Fri, Oct. 8, 2010


Man with mental illness killed by Taser in conflict with police

By Robert Moran

Inquirer Staff Writer

An 18-year-old man with mental-health problems died Thursday after being hit twice by Taser cartridges during a confrontation with police in Northeast Philadelphia, a Police Department spokesman said.

Patrick Johnson was pronounced dead at 1:10 p.m. at Nazareth Hospital, more than an hour after police were called to his home in the 6900 block of Souder Street, said Lt. Frank Vanore.

Johnson had a record of being violent with police, including an episode in which he "went after an officer with a butcher knife," Vanore said.

"We've been to this location 14 times," Vanore said, adding that Johnson had "a history of mental illness."

Two officers trained to deal with mental-health issues responded to 911 calls around noon and found Johnson moving in and out of the house breaking items, Vanore said.

The officers tried to resolve the situation, but Johnson continued to behave violently, Vanore said.

"The incident took some time," he said.

At some point, Johnson armed himself with several sticks and tried to set them on fire on a stove, and then attempted to attack the officers in his house, Vanore said.

An officer fired a Taser at Johnson, but it had no effect, Vanore said.

Johnson was then hit by a second Taser cartridge and collapsed, he said. Johnson received first aid at the scene and then was transported to Nazareth, in Northeast Philadelphia, where he died.

The cause of Johnson's death is under investigation, Vanore said.

He could not recall whether anyone had ever died in Philadelphia after being subdued with a Taser.

A man in front of the house declined to comment, saying the family was too upset. Two neighbors who did not want to give their names said Johnson was known to have mental problems.

The Police Department has expanded the use of Tasers in recent years. They were introduced as a way to subdue suspects without using a gun. Only officers who have received crisis-intervention training can use Tasers.

Philadelphia gained unwanted notoriety in May when police fired a Taser at a 17-year-old who ran onto to field at a Phillies home game.

The incident raised questions about the need for using the Taser when no one's life was in danger.

Amnesty International, which alleges that Tasers are being used excessively in situations that are not life-threatening, has reported that 351 people have died in the United States between June 2001 and August 2008 after being struck by a Taser.

Last year, a Philadelphia man died after being hit by a Taser fired by Pennsylvania State Police on I-95 in Tinicum Township, Delaware County.