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

[cswurt]

Still better than shooting her with a gun.

Until they create a non-lethal weapon that stuns the target AND surrounds them in a fluffy foam so they don't bang their precious little bodies on the pavement when they go down, you're just going to have to accept these little accidents.

 

[DoPo]

Sure, the cop shows stupidity and ignorant on their actions but the intention was not to seriously injure the other party.

That's probably little comfort, though.

In any case, then doesn't the question become whether or not the police officer should know better, and should he be accused of negligence, say, not malice?

Yes, possibly. I'm not a legal expert, nor experienced in police protocol but for me at least, it seems possible.

I did link to a document I found online while looking for more information. For the benefit of people who don't want to flip through pages of text to find it (so everybody), here it is [http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/centers/scjc/library/tasers.pdf]. It doesn't apply for that guy, as it's not about Florida, but it does bring up relevant points. Mainly, that tasers are dangerous but largely the police use of them is not regulated.

 

[USSR]

Ha. We can't call the cop fat or use stereotypes when talking about him, but of course we can on the woman. She was a lowlife so this is a fate she deserved? But she was just scum so its all good right? Just another scum off the streets right? This is how we should judge human life right? If someone breaks the law then they deserve any fate they get? If someone breaks the law they are scum and that's the end to it? If not, then why judge her life like that? Yes she was an idiot, but to say she deserved her fate based on who she is as a person is incredibly low.

I'm sorry, when did I call her scum?
I haven't given my opinion about her, only that this guy is being overly judgmental.

 

[Silas13013]

Edit: useless troll post. Delete and move on.

 

[Phisi]

He shouldn't have relied on the taser at point-blank range, that much I can agree on. But when you run from the police, you're pretty much begging to get taken down.

They caught her on hit-and-run charges. I don't feel too sorry for her.

Charges doesn't mean a conviction. Police can charge anyone for anything if they think they have the evidence. How can you not feel sorry for someone who is seriously injured? Justice does not mean revenge.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Still better than shooting her with a gun.

Until they create a non-lethal weapon that stuns the target AND surrounds them in a fluffy foam so they don't bang their precious little bodies on the pavement when they go down, you're just going to have to accept these little accidents.

Unless US police officers routintely shoot handcuffed suspects running away in the back, that's something of a false dichotomy, isn't it?

 

[White Lightning]

If you break the law you deserve the punishment you're going to get, if instead of running she had manned up and faced the consequences for her crime she wouldn't of been injured, and if she had not broken the law in the first place the whole situation could of been avoided.

 

[DoPo]

Charges doesn't mean a conviction. Police can charge anyone for anything if they think they have the evidence. How can you not feel sorry for someone who is seriously injured? Justice does not mean revenge.

Resisting arrest? Running away from the police station? I'm pretty sure they had all the evidence they needed for those.

And excuse me for repeating myself but: running away from the police station. Under what circumstances is that OK? Seriously, how often are innocent people charged with imaginary stuff and they decide to take justice in their own hands (or legs) and bail out?

 

[Zx30]

While it's unfortunate that she became injured, there's always consequences for what you do.
She became a drug addict, she caused two hit and runs(possibly injuring innocent people), and ran from the law.

She did everything wrong and she got herself in this position.

No human deserves to suffer pain, but her actions had...unfortunate consequences.

 

[cswurt]

Still better than shooting her with a gun.

Until they create a non-lethal weapon that stuns the target AND surrounds them in a fluffy foam so they don't bang their precious little bodies on the pavement when they go down, you're just going to have to accept these little accidents.

Unless US police officers routintely shoot handcuffed suspects running away in the back, that's something of a false dichotomy, isn't it?

Yes. Poor, innocent girl.
I'm sure she didn't deserve to be in those cuffs either, right?
I'm sure if you just sat down with her and gently explained the error of her ways while offering her cookies and milk, she'd resolve to change her ways and there'd be no need for the police.

That's what tasers are for, of course. For incapacitating someone without the need of blowing a hole through their back.
If someone is resisting arrest and they're up close, mace 'em or restrain 'em.
If someone is resisting arrest and they're getting away, why risk a foot chase when you can taze 'em?
It's her own fault. If she hadn't run, she wouldn't have been tazed.
If she hadn't broken the law, she wouldn't have been arrested. If she hadn't been arrested, she wouldn't have felt compelled to run. If she hadn't run, she wouldn't have been tazed.
Her fault.

 

[Shadowkire]

The cop could not have foreseen the extent of injures a taser caused the girl. A cook serves peanuts to a diner who is allergic but the diner never informed the cook. Is the cook now a sadistic murderer?

She was involved in two crash crashes where she fled the scene of the accident, with out exchanging insurance information or even stopping to check if the other parties had any injures. She was also high on drugs. How many warning do you give this person? What happens if she got into another car and killed someone? I guess we have to forgive her and let her off with another warning cause at the end of the day she is still a person

He knew full well that the taser would take her down. That's why he used it. And she couldn't use her arms to break the fall, so how exactly is he excused for not realising this?

It wasn't a choice between 'tase' and 'let go'. It was a choice between 'shoot', 'tase', or 'capture'. He chose tase 'cause he's a fat bastard.

And anybody who says that she deserved it for being stupid...well. I thought we had come past that.

To be more precise, the officer's choices were shoot, taser, and TACKLE. As you have pointed out, the officer is overweight meaning a tackle would have sent the woman to the ground with the combined force of her weight and his, which would have increased the chance of injury.

Oh and if you watch any video of someone being tased to the ground, they can't break the fall because the electricity makes intentional muscle movements impossible. Now consider how many people have been knocked down by the use of a taser, how many have severe injuries? The officer had no reason to believe the woman would be harmed beyond the pain of the taser and some scrapes and bruises from the fall.

As for whether she deserved it, I think she didn't but I can see why others would: She broke the law by doing 2 hit-and-runs without a license and then when she was caught, she ran. Let us break that down:
1st chance- She gave this up by getting into a car accident and running.
2nd chance- Gave this one up by getting into a second accident and running.
3rd chance- Lost this one by running after being caught.

I wish she hadn't died, but I do not blame the officer for either his actions or their outcome.

 

[sabercrusader]

I can't decide really. On one hand, the taser was completely unnecessary. On the other, the girl shouldn't have run, and it's not like the cop really did anything bad per se. He caught her, and he couldn't have really expected her to get put in a vegetative state from it. I think I'll side with the cop, however, he does need to lose some weight, and learn that having a weapon does not excuse you from being lazy. Hopefully, this incident has taught him that, if he isn't fired anyways. I feel sorry for the girl, who made a couple bad decisions, then got put into the vegetative state unnecessarily.

 

[Thaluikhain]

That's what tasers are for, of course. For incapacitating someone without the need of blowing a hole through their back.

Yes, tasers are used as an alternative to shooting people.

No, you don't shoot people for running away.

Tasers are weapons. They are less lethal weapons, but weapons none the less. You are absolutely not supposed to use them in any way other than as weapons. You are absolutely not supposed to use weapons on people who aren't posing a threat, such as when they are handcuffed and running away.

Charge her with resisting/evading arrest or whatever, fine. But weapons aren't to be used unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Seishisha]

I feel there is a perfect idiom that fits this whole situation perfectly "you reap what you sow"

I also fail to see the source of controversy that this thread seems to have gained, personaly i have no sympathy for anyone who intentionaly breaks the law, as far as i am concerned the only person at fault is the girl, what happened to her is hardly fitting for the crimes she would have been convicted for but even so i can't help but think there is some poetic justice in all of this.

So its abit tragic and perhaps the police could have handeled the situation better, perhaps the cop is abit overweight or even unfit for duty, but im not the one to be the judge of that and i dont think anyone posting in this thread should be either.

At the end of the day the cop was doing his job and the girl was a criminal, she clearly had no intention of repenting for the crimes as evidenced by the fact she ran, as i said earlier its hardly fitting that she's now brain-dead, some would consider what happened to her to be worse than a prison sentence i certainly do but i dont think the cop is to blame in anyway, i seriously doubt there was anyway he could have predicted what would have happened, even if he had chosen to tackle the girl rather than tase her, there is no guarantee it would have turned out any differently.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Yes that was a bit overkill by the policeman, but it was her own fault for firstly, doing whatever got her handcuffed and in trouble with the police, and secondly for being stupid enough to run after being handcuffed. She did it to herself, the scum does not deserve any pity.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

People are being absolutely ridiculous in claiming she deserved it. No, being in a coma for maybe the rest of your life is not something anyone deserves. What is it with people and petty vengeance? Is it really that hard to try and be better than that?

Not so much petty vengeance as it is justice.

 

[NoBetterName]

I definitely think it's a tragedy that she ended up like this. So young, such a waste. I also believe that the tazer was overkill, from the looks of the video he could've easily grabbed her. But damn it, none of this would've happened if she didn't try to escape. It was over, she was cuffed, why on earth did she even try to escape?

Sad story.

this is where this argument should have ended. I can't add much more to what Trucken said but i will say that in MY opinion, everyone involved (the officer who tased the young girl, the girl, the other officers in the station,and pretty much the people who made this legal) are to blame.