Texas constable's office defends Tasering of grandmother

[Flesh Thorn]

at what point in a person's life do they become unaccountable for their actions?

Remember Dick Cheney and his negligent shooting of another hunter. I wonder why he wasn't tased ? Oh yeah he signed the........ I wonder why there wasn't a charge ?

[Invictus]

I watched the video and thought he did the right thing.

That being said, I've got a lot of respect for the LEO's on this board and would be interested in how some of you might have handled it differently. Specifically.

Bob, to your point, wouldn't you be concerned if you had to manhandle her that could have made the situation worse? Or that she might break a hip? She already signed the ticket and was making a move to try and get back in her vehicle. What next? Keep in mind that very busy road with less than 2 feet of shoulder right behind them.

[Boudicca]

She had a couple of choices to make; she chose poorly. She got what she asked for.

Can't wait to see how she acts towards the judge... he better have his tazer handy.

[RangerX]

I still don’t think tazing old folks is okay. Whether or not they deserved it it’s still wrong. Besides it’s not like she did something WRONG or worth the time to discipline her. Imagine she had the write to contest the ticket and go to court. How this ended up this way to me was the fault of the LEO. He should have saw that the lady has an issue, which wasn’t worth the trouble. The day that people start to fear law enforcement is the day that the state becomes a police state. Hitler used his brown shirts and got his way. All I’m saying is that sometimes a bit of humanity goes a long way. I’m soft you say? I guess so when it comes to the elderly. Most of them are standing with one foot in the grave and are fed up with life’s problems so why make it worst?

Brother, you need to come spend some time in one of the Walmarts in the outskirts of suburban Atlanta. You might want to Taze a few cotton toppers yourself.

I can't figure out where the concept came from that somehow reaching Old Fart status suddenly makes someone a decent human being. A douche bag at 40 will probably be a douche bag at 80. Just with their left blinker stuck on.

RangerX walks away grumbling about fat old fuckwits riding scooters around Walmart like they own the fucking place, nearly squashing RangerX's daughters toes in the meantime.....

[centermass]

O/C could have taken the wind out of her sails just as well.

[Boudicca]

When I get older, I'll have to try stealing shit I dont' want and then pretending to forget about it when I get caught.

I'll keep a sling-shot on my porch to shoot the neighborhood kids and cats with while I sit around cackling for no particular reason.

I figure all it takes is to say some stupid shit every once in a while, and you're "good to go".

("How you doin' ? -- "mayonnaise?".)

[Earthpig]

Bob, to your point, wouldn't you be concerned if you had to manhandle her that could have made the situation worse? Or that she might break a hip? She already signed the ticket and was making a move to try and get back in her vehicle. What next? Keep in mind that very busy road with less than 2 feet of shoulder right behind them.

I think the entire way he handled the stop was fucked up. He went from 0-100 in seconds (not that you shouldn't be able to.....I just don't think this warranted that response). Once he made the decision to arrest her (or instanter her for speeding, as it would be called in the Texas Traffic Code), he should've gained immediate control of her person. Looking at her size and body movements, that shouldn't have been tricky at all. He should've been able to manipulate a pair of cuffs on her without breaking her bones. She wasn't going for his gun, and she wasn't trying to assault him. She gave a feeble attempt at resisting. She also agreed to sign the ticket...albeit after the officer had made up his mind to cuff her.

From the second she said, "Take me to jail," he should've used at least a soft-hand tecnique to get her to the rear of the vehicle. Then, the second she started to buck up, he would've already had ahold of her, and could've easily got her facefirst against the tailgate. He seemed more concerned about his citation book and later, his taser. He didn't have his hands free to do much of anything. His cuffs should've been in his hand before she had two feet on the ground.

I agree that the woman asked for it. She was spouting her age from the very beginning, like she was above all that. She also said in her interview that the report (based on the video from the patrol car) was all a lie. Riiiiight. She had an agenda. I just feel like a properly trained LE officer could've handled that infinitely smoother and without the use of a taser.

Constables in this state have a horrible reputation. In Houston, their ranks consist primarily of guys who were DXed from the Sheriff's Dept or PD. Or guys who never made it that far. I've seen some massively fucked up scenes, thanks to those guys. But, that's another topic....

RLTW
EP

[Flesh Thorn]

Right or wrong tasing a grandmother presents a negative image kind of like beating Rodney King.

[Earthpig]

Right or wrong tasing a grandmother presents a negative image kind of like beating Rodney King.

Which is excatly what she was counting on.

RLTW
EP

[Invictus]

Bob, to your point, wouldn't you be concerned if you had to manhandle her that could have made the situation worse? Or that she might break a hip? She already signed the ticket and was making a move to try and get back in her vehicle. What next? Keep in mind that very busy road with less than 2 feet of shoulder right behind them.

I think the entire way he handled the stop was fucked up. He went from 0-100 in seconds (not that you shouldn't be able to.....I just don't think this warranted that response). Once he made the decision to arrest her (or instanter her for speeding, as it would be called in the Texas Traffic Code), he should've gained immediate control of her person. Looking at her size and body movements, that shouldn't have been tricky at all. He should've been able to manipulate a pair of cuffs on her without breaking her bones. She wasn't going for his gun, and she wasn't trying to assault him. She gave a feeble attempt at resisting. She also agreed to sign the ticket...albeit after the officer had made up his mind to cuff her.

From the second she said, "Take me to jail," he should've used at least a soft-hand tecnique to get her to the rear of the vehicle. Then, the second she started to buck up, he would've already had ahold of her, and could've easily got her facefirst against the tailgate. He seemed more concerned about his citation book and later, his taser. He didn't have his hands free to do much of anything. His cuffs should've been in his hand before she had two feet on the ground.

I agree that the woman asked for it. She was spouting her age from the very beginning, like she was above all that. She also said in her interview that the report (based on the video from the patrol car) was all a lie. Riiiiight. She had an agenda. I just feel like a properly trained LE officer could've handled that infinitely smoother and without the use of a taser.

Constables in this state have a horrible reputation. In Houston, their ranks consist primarily of guys who were DXed from the Sheriff's Dept or PD. Or guys who never made it that far. I've seen some massively fucked up scenes, thanks to those guys. But, that's another topic....

RLTW
EP

Good points, thanks. Hard to argue with your assessment and reasoning.

[K.Ingraham]

I'll keep a sling-shot on my porch to shoot the neighborhood kids with while I sit around cackling for no particular reason.".)

Don't wait until you're old, I have loads of fun with that now!

The minefield warning signs make nice conversation started with the locals LEOs as well.

[K.Ingraham]

EP or other texans; what's this 'constable' thing? You made it sound as if they are not full-fledged LEOs. What is this? Some sort of auxilery?

(We have 'police auxiluries' at the city level up here who have no authority beyond crowd control and are not armed. They get LEo training, but that's probably more to keep up their morale than anything else. Some real goofy wanna-bes in their ranks)

[Silverback]

EP or other texans; what's this 'constable' thing? You made it sound as if they are not full-fledged LEOs. What is this? Some sort of auxilery?

(We have 'police auxiluries' at the city level up here who have no authority beyond crowd control and are not armed. They get LEo training, but that's probably more to keep up their morale than anything else. Some real goofy wanna-bes in their ranks)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Constable" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[K.Ingraham]

an interesting construct. Thanks SB.