Cop Tasers Fleeing Handcuffed Girl, Head injuries put her in vegetative state

[Trippy Turtle]

Well I don't like the idea of using tasers but in whatever country she is in I think the general idea is that if you run you will be stopped. She could have been a little smarter about the whole thing.
Also being injured does not make her a better person, she still committed a crime. She was involved in two hit and runs and driving without a licence. She put everyone else in danger so the cop that tazed her did the right thing.

 

[Chevalier noir]

Was the Cops reactions over blown probably, but ultimately her condition is a direct result of her choice to run. Had she not run she would not have been tased. had she not run giving the cop an opportunity to tase her she would not been a vegetable.

And again she was not tased because she may have been accused of 2 hit and runs she was tased trying to flee from arrest. Which is illegal, so regardless of her involvement to the suspected hit and runs she was still breaking the law.

Furthermore I am not really arguing the legal or moral right and wrong of this. I am arguing that the simplest way this could have been prevented is from the women to have not tried to flee in the first place. She made the choice to run first. The fat cop's decision to taser her came later and was the direct result of the women's decision to run, therefore it is her fault.

As a rule I assume all Cops are dicks and therefore try my hardest not to give them a reason to shoot at me.

I'm not standing here accusing the cop of murder, what happened to the girl was arguably both their faults. But I'm not putting any blame for her injuries on anyone.

Yes, fleeing from arrest is illegal. Yes that means she was breaking the law. Those are facts. It is also true that the cop using his taser on a handcuffed fleeing suspect was also wrong, a violation of his code of conduct and his officer training.

Before any emotion enters into this, without blaming anyone for her brain injuries, the cop is still in the wrong for using the taser. That is also a black and white clear as crystal fact.

I'm just irritated at the number of people who think the cop was justified using that much force when the rules the police are sworn to uphold say otherwise.

He is a professional authority figure and they should be held to their own standards at least.

 

[Black-6]

Piss off the cops and ya get zapped. And lets be honest, no matter what he did, people would have bitched about it.

 

[Notere]

***** earned it. Rodney King should have been hit harder. And if you're mad about the tazer, he could have just whipped out his baton for the extra reach. Actually, that would have been a better video. Chasing after her, whacking her on the head like a kid with a stick chasing a metal ring back in the day.

 

[Notere]

Double post WHAT?

 

[rednose1]

While it was pretty stupid to run from the cops, I don't think he should've used a Taser. That close, he could've easily chased her down. She couldn't pull a knife, gun, lightsaber, etc, and he was right there. Bad call in my opinion.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

What if he belly flopped onto her and on the way down she cracked her skull too would you call that murder?

Sorry for bugging ya but the imagery I got from that made me burst into quite the laughing fit...

...does that mean I'm a terrible person?

OP: there is no clear victim here... well, there is, BUT it was a mistake to run from the cops, it was a mistake to use the taser and it was an unfortunate event that followed... I think that nobody is really at fault here...

 

[bean burrito]

I can't really feel too bad for her. It takes a special kind of stupid to run from the police AFTER you're already handcuffed. And it really isn't their job to run you down if you run. If I had the tool to stop you from running right now, rather than continuing to chase you for however long, I'd do it too.

Yes. Yes it is their job. Tasers are designed to be used as a medium between yelling and shooting

Yes she was a dumbass for running, but she posed no threat to the officer. In my mind, this isn't a question of whether or not the cop is in the wrong because the woman ended up in a vegetative state. This is a question of the morality of nonlethal devices such as pepper spray and tasers. They are being used far too frequently in situations that do not warrant that amount of force.

An excellent TED talk on the topic can be found here (although admittedly it focuses on Australian law)
http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_coleman_the_moral_dangers_of_non_lethal_weapons.html

 

[Xanthious]

This is all pretty simple if you ask me. The cop didn't make the decision for her to go do a bunch of coke. Somehow I would wager that when she decided to get into a vehicle, thus risking the lives of countless innocent motorists, the cop wasn't there with a gun to her head forcing her to do so. Finally, after she was apprehended and in police custody I can almost guarantee that the cop didn't force her to try and escape. This woman made all of those choices on her own.

I don't worry about getting put into a vegetative as a result of deciding to flee from the cops because I've committed multiple hit and runs after doing a shit ton of coke. Ya know why? Because I don't do that kind of thing!

The bottom line is I don't really give a flying toss what happens to criminals at the hands of the police. You don't want to get tased/beaten/shot by police then don't break the law. If you go out and break the law then don't expect to find any pity because YOUR choices have put you in a bad situation.

Wrapping this up the woman has no one to blame for her condition but herself. The cop was well with in his legal rights to use a taser to bring her down. She is in the condition she is in now because of her choices and she has no one to blame but herself.

 

[Doc Theta Sigma]

You don't run from the police. Everyone knows if the police have to come and get you, they're bringing an arse kicking with them. Or in this case, a taser.

 

[daveman247]

Unfortunately, "Upstanding Cop Does Job" will never make headlines.

Indeed, backwards media is backwards. Only bad things make headlines.

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

The girl was wrong for resisiting arrest and fleeing even while handcuffed. The police officer was wrong for resorting to using a weapon on someone who posed no threat.

They were both wrong. Can't we be happy with that? I see no hero, no justification for the actions of both people involved... Just two people who both did the wrong thing.

Sometimes nobody is right.

 

[Phisi]

I agree that she evaded arrest but that is it. If someone starts attacking me and I defend and they fall on the floor, I have to stop, I do not have the right to keep attacking just to make sure they cant attack me anymore. There is a limit on acceptable force and the cop shouldn't have used the taser, there was no danger of her harming anyone, she was handcuffed and the cops are there to minimise harm not to cause it. If you have cops that do that then you really need to raise the bar on entry.

 

[karloss01]

And it isn't murder, it isn't like he pulled out a gun and unloaded into her skull.

Might has well have, as she's now brain dead the only difference between her and a corpse is a heartbeat. she was two feet in front of him, he had back-up and had the advantage of have free hands.

Cop should be locked up, it was lazy, reckless and pretty much ended a life.

 

[RJ 17]

I think this music video applies quite nicely to this thread...never thought I'd get a chance to embed this and have it actually be on topic.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Go Cops as sung by Ruck Ruck Ali.

<spoiler=Warning: Explicit Lyrics>

 

[Chevalier noir]

She ran while handcuffed, she got tasered. Her fault in my eyes. The vegetative state is just an unfortunate accident and I don't think the police officer should be punished for it.

Again, people act as if this is somehow true. The officer is in violation of his own training on several levels. He broke the rules he swore to work by, that is generally something you get punished for.

the last part is the important part.. now it was investigated and,by a board of his peers, he was cleared... that IS EXACTLY how our legal system works... you can armchair lawyer all you want but legally he was in the right and as such has been acquitted... there is a reason why we use juries and judges instead of just a clerk checking reading the law and letter for letter enforcing it... you can have any opinion you want but it doesn't matter because as far as the law is concerned... fleeing to resist arrest IS a valid reason to use 'reasonable' force and what is or isn't reasonable force is for others in the judicial system to determine not you... hell I personally think OJ did it doesn't mean I walk around claiming factually that he is a criminal because that is slander/libel... which is technically illegal and what you are doing against that officer right now

"situations that conflict with this policy." Should not include a 20 year old 100 pound suspect attempting to flee. Police are trained not to use excessive force unless the subject presents a clear and present danger to herself or others. The suspect fulfilled neither of those conditions on her own.

I'm not going around claiming that the cop is a criminal either, necessarily. Just that he was in violation of the above quote regarding tasers and excessive force. That he got acquitted anyway is another matter entirely. That the court ruled in favor of the cop here is nothing short of appalling, but you are right that would be my opinion.

I'm just glad that in a country where the government can lock you up indefinitely on no charge(cause that is how our legal system works now) you seem to think the courts ruling in this case is ok. But your right, how we feel about this is another subject, I do think its bull though. Don't know how your comfortable with it, but hey.

Otherwise, yhea. I guess technically I have to concede your point.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

"I know that I can?t just jump on her. I?m three times her weight. If we go down, one, or both of us, is going to get hurt. The taser is the intermediate weapon of choice," he says.

Quoted from some article mentioned earlier. His choices were pretty much tackle her or tase her. The taser, she might not have been hurt, tackling her would DEFINITELY have hurt her. It's unfortunate that she was injured, but it's more unfortunate that people are stupid enough to be calling him a murderer.

 

[pirateninj4]

I can't really feel too bad for her. It takes a special kind of stupid to run from the police AFTER you're already handcuffed. And it really isn't their job to run you down if you run. If I had the tool to stop you from running right now, rather than continuing to chase you for however long, I'd do it too.

Actually it is exactly their job. Tazer is only supposed to be used for restraining out of control people.