72 Yr Old Grandma Tazed

[klonk]

I think traffic laws could be done away with if everyone had a good education in physics, with emphasis on energy generation and transfer. Since not everyone has a head for numbers, square of the velocity and all that, I would say you should compete in a demolition derby before you get a driver's licence. WHAT NOT TO DO.

[Dmitri]

Some belligerent, 72 year old lady going 60 in a 45 zone with folks working on the side of the road is a legitimate threat to human lives.

Yes she is. So let's shove her around and taze her, exactly like we would some crackhead who jumps out of the car swinging a machete, or a senator in his Porshe, or a 17 year old girl who just learned how to drive, or a fellow police officer who had a little bit to drink on his 50th birthday. All must be equal before the law, right?

I'm not arguing she should have gotten away with it.
I'm just saying he's not a robot and shouldn't forget he's dealing with human beings...

Oh well.

There are very few men suited to be police officers.

+42.
And even though this is true for most occupations, in areas like police work that sort of thing becomes a lot more pronounced.

Can't do nothin' about it though, it's life; nothing's perfect and won't ever be.

[fuga]

Some belligerent, 72 year old lady going 60 in a 45 zone with folks working on the side of the road is a legitimate threat to human lives.

Yes she is. So let's shove her around and taze her, exactly like we would some crackhead who jumps out of the car swinging a machete, or a senator in his Porshe, or a 17 year old girl who just learned how to drive, or a fellow police officer who had a little bit to drink on his 50th birthday. All must be equal before the law, right?

I'm not arguing she should have gotten away with it.
I'm just saying he's not a robot and shouldn't forget he's dealing with human beings...

If she was reasonable, she would have just signed the ticket. It's not like she was Tank Man standing up for some injustice. She chose to escalate the situation and limit his options. It could have been a lot worse than her getting tazed. She seemed to forget that she was dealing with a human being trying to just give her a simple traffic ticket.

I am coming at this partially from two events here in the Bay Area. One where a situation really escalated and rather than tazing a suspect, a police officer shot him in the back and killed him. That's more of a problem than a belligerent speeder getting tazed. Second, a drunk speeder who ran through several stop signs and killed an 8 year old girl and caused her father to lose his leg. As someone who mostly gets around via walking or biking, I have zero tolerance or sympathy for drivers who are reckless.

[cerebus]

And, just for the record, if a crackhead jumps out of a car swinging a machete at a cop, he will be shot, not tazed.

[Michael]

One where a situation really escalated and rather than tazing a suspect, a police officer shot him in the back and killed him.

Which was that? You talking about the Fruitvale (sp?) BART station execution?

[fuga]

Yes, but it was a killing not an execution. My point in bringing that up was simply that tazing, as bad as it is, is not as bad as getting killed, and that in the grand scheme of things far worse than the tazing incident (which only has legs because it was an old lady).

And, as an aside, here's how the drunk driver reacted during his court appearance after killing the little girl. With his drunk driving record, he should have been off the roads long ago. I have no sympathy for speeders who refuse to accept responsibility for when they get caught.