Would you have tased this 72 yr old woman?

[fightingquaker13]

The more I view this, and several other versions of it, the more I think the cop was a idiot. These "Tasers" have been involved in nothing but controversy and expensive law suits since their introduction. The more widespread there use, the more problems they seem to create. Their use has become much too profound. While there is an advantage to some of these "less than lethal" devices, there is also an abuse factor because they are in fact "less than lethal". Cops, and everyone else know they can't call a bullet back, so people use extreme discretion before dropping the hammer. With these things, along with "stun guns", pepper spray, bean bag shotshells, and all of the rest, it's anyone's guess.

Much of this stuff simply pi$$es people off when used in the wrong circumstance. Several years ago my wife and I were at a local bar when a obviously drunk patron made an obscene comment to my wife. While angry I simply told him to sit down and shut up. He walked up to me and started getting in my face. It got a little louder when the bartender came from around the bar, (on my blind side), and tried nailing ME with a "stun gun". I felt a slight shock, (I was wearing a flannel shirt with a tee shirt underneath). I can't tell you how angry that made me. I took the thing away from him and threw it as hard as I could against the wall, breaking it into several pieces. My wife gathered her things and we left. The next day I went back and talked to the owner. He explained the guy who I described was a "regular", and a friend of the bartender who tried to nail me. This is the kind of crap that goes on all the time with these things.

Because these things won't cause permanent harm, they are used way too frequently. This cop / old woman video is just another example in a long list of these kind of things being used when they shouldn't. Cops have been running into feisty 70+ year old old ladies long before "stun guns" and "Tasers" came along. They used talent and discretion in dealing with them, not high voltage. People need skill in dealing with these type of situations. You won't get that out of a can or battery.  Bill T.

+100. How many times was Rodney King, a real dagerous criminal tazed and it still did no good? Honstly, I do think that it does make, some, but not the majority of cops lazy. Try to talk her down, if not cuff her. If you can't do both of these things, you weren't trained right. What if she had a pace maker? Something you should think about when dealing with an elderly person. It just seems like too many cops are both under trained and oversold on this stuff.
FQ13

[billt]

Yet another very dangerous aspect of these things has been created with so many more women being brought into the front lines of police work, i.e. patrol duty where cops can and do run into most anything. The woman's place may not be entirely "in the kitchen", but it sure as hell isn't trying to break up a fight between 2 drunk 250 pounders trying to beat the crap out of each other. It simply creates a more dangerous situation with a bad outcome much more prevalent. As society moves in this politically correct direction, or as "Harry Callahan" put it, "Stylish", we seem to have to come up with new ways to justify the end result. All of this "less than lethal" stuff has become the result. I'm all for technology making the job of police and street cops easier and less dangerous. But as story after story unfolds with these things, it seems to not be the answer many were hoping for. Instead it has become part of the problem.  Bill T.

[Pathfinder]

Yet another very dangerous aspect of these things has been created with so many more women being brought into the front lines of police work, i.e. patrol duty where cops can and do run into most anything. The woman's place may not be entirely "in the kitchen", but it sure as hell isn't trying to break up a fight between 2 drunk 250 pounders trying to beat the crap out of each other. It simply creates a more dangerous situation with a bad outcome much more prevalent. As society moves in this politically correct direction, or as "Harry Callahan" put it, "Stylish", we seem to have to come up with new ways to justify the end result. All of this "less than lethal" stuff has become the result. I'm all for technology making the job of police and street cops easier and less dangerous. But as story after story unfolds with these things, it seems to not be the answer many were hoping for. Instead it has become part of the problem.  Bill T.

+100

[fightingquaker13]

I'd make it plus fifty, because the same could be said for a scrawny guy, or a 280 pound doughnut muncher. There ought to be a uniform PT standard for street duty. If fewer women than men make it, so be it. Just meet the standard or write tickets, or work in the crime lab or whatever.
FQ13

[billt]

There ought to be a uniform PT standard for street duty. If fewer women than men make it, so be it.  FQ13   

That won't happen because your second sentence explains why there is no standard in the first. It's the same with fire"men". I guess the term now is "fireperson". Some years back when it started to become popular for more women to become fire and police "people", I had a friend who was a fireman. He told me part of the physical test he had to pass to get into his department involved dragging a 100', 4 inch hose filled with water that was curled back in a "U" shape 50' out. You were timed. He said the first 50' was easy, but the last 20 feet were really tough. When they decided they had to let women into the department they DRAINED THE WATER OUT OF THE HOSE! Based on the above who would you want coming up a ladder to rescue you from your upstairs burning bedroom? This is a classic case of one step forward, 10 steps backwards. The sad part is people are going to die for society to be politically correct. Many see zero problem with that.   Bill T.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

 There is a law suit going on in Conn. (Hartford IIRC ) 2 White guys and a bunch of Black Firemen sat a promotion board, The White guys passed and the Blacks didn't so the Promotions were canceled.
Affirmative action in action.