Is it necessary to taser an 82 year old woman?

Question

CHICAGO - Chicago's police department is investigating an officer's use of a Taser last month on an 82-year-old woman who was swinging a hammer when police arrived.

Officials with the city's Department on Aging went to Lillian Fletcher's home Oct. 29 to make a welfare check, and called police when they saw Fletcher in a window swinging a hammer back and forth, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said Tuesday.

Officers arrived and in an attempt to subdue Fletcher one of them used their Taser, Bond said. The department is trying to determine if the officer violated department policy regarding the use of stun guns.


Fletcher's granddaughter, Traci Taylor, told the Chicago Sun-Times that her grandmother suffers from schizophrenia and dementia.


"My grandmother is easily confused," Taylor told the newspaper, adding that the elderly woman can be belligerent but is about five-foot-one and no more than 160 pounds.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/taser_elderly_woman

How strong could she really be that police - more than one officer had to taser her? I find this outrageous

I'm betting one of them was a female cop. I ran into one once when trying to apprehend a runaway who was 15 and drinking with a bunch of 40 year olds, and this girl took a swing at the cop and broke her sun glasses so the cop said "I dont nee this" and left.

I phoned back and requested that they send me a "real cop". One who could take punch and didnt care if HIS hair got messed up.

Disclaimer: I KNOW there are darn good female cops out there, I have worked with them too and seen them take down a 200 lb 6'2" man with no problem -- AND rub his face in the dirt "
:-) my exe husband in fact - you gotta love it when you see that and OMG a WOMAN did it !

Answer 1

schizophrenia is a real disease, I take care of a person who has this illness , he can be tremendously strong and hard to control when he is off his meds. He has pulled knives on neighbors. Perhaps if they would have called a family member with her medical history, it would have been wiser, then called the mental health crisis unit for assistance.

Answer 2

This is ridiculous. People have died from tazings and I understand that the manufactor is making one that is even stronger. What ever happened to old fashioned police work. The sad part will be that the police department will do its own internal investigation and find that the officer was within his rights. I personally witness the young man across the street get tazed 9 times before he died. There were 8 officers there and you would think someone could have just tackled the guy even though he was high on speed.

Answer 3

I've worked on a psychiatric unit for 33 years and you'd be surprised at how strong older people can be. Same with small children. When a person is what the world calls "out of their mind", they sometimes have the strength of 10 men. I do not in any way think a taser should be used on an old lady, but if we werent there, we really have no way to judge. People are so fast to judge the police, but who do they call when they need help?

Answer 4

Under any circumstances this is totally unacceptable behaviour by ANY police, man or women. I tiny lady like that could have been "helped", and subdued, easily, by any cop.

I don't have much respect for the police these days. Most of them are bullies, think they are "Rambo", and that includes the women, and totally misuse their authority at the wrong times. And DON'T use it at times when they are really needed. And the police department sit back and cover up for them. Happens all over the Western World.

Answer 5

One would think not...but then when we don't know the actual details, you never know...cops in these parts tasered an 8 yr old! It later turned out the child was absolutely uncontrollable and very violent...

Cops I know sometimes cross the line, but in some circumstances, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't - and attempting to physically restrain someone elderly or a child can lead to even more charges of unnecessary force.

Answer 6

Police officers don't "play nice" with anyone who has a weapon. A crazy old man in my town (in NW Oklahoma) was hacking on his walls with a hatchet and yelling. It went on for hours. The neighbors called the cops. The old crazy man came to the door with the hatchet in his hand and the cops promptly shot him to death. The neighbors were horrified but the police officers said the shooting was justified. I think the old woman was lucky the police officer used the Taser instead of a gun.

Answer 7

Here in Calif. the police officers are so small, it takes 5 or six to take down one medium size law breaker. They would probably spray her in the face with pepper spray. Thats one of the worst I have heard of. Seems like they could carry nets and toss a net over someone like that.

Answer 8

Maybe since she was swinging a hammer but you would think they could have waited for a family member or just until she got tired or calmed down.

Answer 9

Unless she posed a danger to anyone else who may have been in the house with her it was simply a waiting game the cops should have played.

Answer 10

Hmmm, tough question. Maybe the officer could have tackled her. But a tougher question is why a crazy lady is on the loose. I would hate for her to hit one of my children with a hammer.