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Georgia police use Taser on 87-year-old woman using knife to cut dandelions

gdgyva said:
and how long do you watch her....30 minutes? an hour? longer

what happens if another call comes in? what takes priority? the 87 year old grandma with a knife that you want to leave alone, or the armed robbery now taking place 2 miles away?

Do you think officers think about these contingencies?

People with dementia/alzheimers can be dangerous to themselves and others....especially with a knife. Since she wasnt communicating, could that be a decent thought process?

Maybe just maybe...these things were thought about....i dont know....i wasnt there....the officers were

ANd yes, i do tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in these cases when not all the facts are yet in
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The original report said she was looking for something like vegetation with a bag.

The cops SAW her cut a weed and stand up with it. Dandelion, evidently. Some people eat it.

So by all indications she was collecting weeds for some reason. KnIves are used to cut weeds. She had a bag. They saw her use it to cut a weed and stand up with it in the same hand she had the bag.

So they had zero indication of wrongdoing but 100% verification of innocent behavior.

A hammer is a weapon but they don't confront every construction worker they see with one. Especially if he is working.

Because there is obviously a legitimate, legal reason for him to have it.

So it's about procedure and dominance training.

They get pissy when you understand and are complying but make it clear you think they are being stupid with body language alone.

There is a problem with cop culture, and it needs to be addressed.

When I was a child seeing a cop made you feel safe.

Now I am compelled to tell adolescent males to be careful around cops as their punkass attitude could actually get them killed.
 
Grandma's can be pretty feisty. I've seen some mean ones. I saw an old one walking down on Central Ave today who looked like she could take a punch, or throw a good one. Looked about 80, all tatted up, and a dirty tank top, cig hanging off her lower lip, but pretty good pecs and a bad attitude. Since I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole, I would probably taser her if worse came to worse.
 
First an 11 year old girl, now an 87 year old woman.
 
MrPeanut said:
Well considering that the person who called them said she could barely get around I would imagine one of these officers could find their nut sack and try to guide her away from the building.
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Shoot man. You don’t know. She was out there cutting damned lions with that knife.

Wait. Police use walkie talkies. I think I see what happened when Barney got the call.
 
So how do you get an 87 year old to put down a knife?
 
What if...? said:
The original report said she was looking for something like vegetation with a bag.

The cops SAW her cut a weed and stand up with it. Dandelion, evidently. Some people eat it.

So by all indications she was collecting weeds for some reason. KnIves are used to cut weeds. She had a bag. They saw her use it to cut a weed and stand up with it in the same hand she had the bag.

So they had zero indication of wrongdoing but 100% verification of innocent behavior.

A hammer is a weapon but they don't confront every construction worker they see with one. Especially if he is working.

Because there is obviously a legitimate, legal reason for him to have it.

So it's about procedure and dominance training.

They get pissy when you understand and are complying but make it clear you think they are being stupid with body language alone.

There is a problem with cop culture, and it needs to be addressed.

When I was a child seeing a cop made you feel safe.

Now I am compelled to tell adolescent males to be careful around cops as their punkass attitude could actually get them killed.
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just all seems crazy to me....
5b719f3456dca.image.jpg
 
TU Curmudgeon said:
What you seem to have forgotten is that those were American police officers and that they were NOT "wearing a stab proof vest". What they were wearing was "ballistic protection gear" and knives are NOT "ballistic" weapons so their "ballistic protection gear" would have been totally useless against a knife.
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I think you will find that an 87 year old woman will have difficulty stabbing a police officer through such a level of armour.
[Please excuse the sarcasm that just dripped off your monitor.]
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Ah, yes, I see the insurance definition problems of modern poliing coming along...
 
tac138777 said:
So how do you get an 87 year old to put down a knife?
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Do 87 year olds not have the right to bear arms?

Unless she was doing something illegal or had done something illegal why should be required to put down her arms?
 
The next time you see one of the people defending the cops purport to express a concern about government or government agents abusing their power, just remember this thread.
 
Tim the plumber said:
I think you will find that an 87 year old woman will have difficulty stabbing a police officer through such a level of armour.


Ah, yes, I see the insurance definition problems of modern poliing coming along...
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Their knecks and arms and legs are still exposed.

The way cops handle knives is not good here. But then, they have done studies on cops in the UK, and they get cut way too much too. Life isn’t a Jason Bourne movie where you can use a towel to take away a knife.

This situation is different. She is 87. I’d be concerned she would hurt herself falling or with the knife if she was acting “crazy” and wasn’t speaking English. I understand wanting to stand back. It is so subjective on what “could be done” and what should be. I feel bad for people who have to make the decision regularly. But still. I doubt this was handled well.
 
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Mr Person said:
The next time you see one of the people defending the cops purport to express a concern about government or government agents abusing their power, just remember this thread.
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Talk to some firemen. I have a relative who was shot at trying to put out a house fire. People are ****ing crazy. And besides prison guard and psych ward people: cops probably deal with the craziest. No matter how good you do at training you will get bad eggs. I think you are not understanding that the people who tend to support cops are annoyed that the other side defend scumbags.

That isn’t an excuse to do wrong. Or for this incident. But you are making a blanket statement as if this incident defines all police. It doesn’t. It is a hard job. And people are assholes. And use of force guidelines suck. They are too restrictive in some areas and too lenient in others.
 
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Lord Tammerlain said:
Do 87 year olds not have the right to bear arms?

Unless she was doing something illegal or had done something illegal why should be required to put down her arms?
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From the Article:

Etheridge responded along with two other officers Friday after an employee of a local Boys and Girls Club called 911 to report a woman with a knife was walking outside and would not leave.
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Yea. She doesn’t have the right to do that. She needed to be disarmed and dealt with. I figured there was more to this than the top post said.
 
tac138777 said:
From the Article:



Yea. She doesn’t have the right to do that. She needed to be disarmed and dealt with. I figured there was more to this than the top post said.
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She doesn't have the right to walk outside armed?
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
She doesn't have the right to walk outside armed?
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She was on private property where children were at. No. She doesn’t have that right. She needed to be disarmed and removed from the premises.

Are you deliberately ignoring that part?
 
tac138777 said:
She was on private property where children were at. No. She doesn’t have that right. She needed to be disarmed and removed from the premises.

Are you deliberately ignoring that part?
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Was she threatening any of the children? No, she was removing dandelions and for that she was tazed.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Was she threatening any of the children? No, she was removing dandelions and for that she was tazed.
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You asked why she had to be disarmed. Because the cops don’t know what she is doing there. All they know is that the daycare called because an older woman WITH A KNIFE REFUSED TO LEAVE. You are trying to ignore that. You can’t. She DID need to be disarmed. It was handled poorly. But the cops can’t just let a bat **** crazy person wander onto a school ground with a knife to “cut dandelions.”

Do you not have kids? Children that matter to you?
 
tac138777 said:
You asked why she had to be disarmed. Because the cops don’t know what she is doing there. All they know is that the daycare called because an older woman WITH A KNIFE REFUSED TO LEAVE. You are trying to ignore that. You can’t. She DID need to be disarmed. It was handled poorly. But the cops can’t just let a bat **** crazy person wander onto a school ground with a knife to “cut dandelions.”

Do you not have kids? Children that matter to you?
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They saw what she was doing, collecting dandelions
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
They saw what she was doing, collecting dandelions
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A guy takes a gun into a bar and starts shooting. Hits a bottle. “He was just opening his beer.”

Face it bud. You are having to be deliberately obtuse to try and excuse the behavior. The sad part is? It doesn’t even absolve the cops from what they did. You are just being an anarchist. She didn’t have a right to be there. She certainly wasn’t allowed to be armed on the school grounds. And why did she need a knife? Not scissors? Why not pick them?

IF anyone is wondering why people defend cops, it is because people like you make excuses for criminal behavior.
 
celticwar17 said:
You could do that.... but you shouldn't expect others to take the same risk if they do not want to.
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By taking the job the cops accept a certain level of risk. The point of policing isn’t to make the cops 100% safe. It should be to minimize the risk to everyone - the cops, the person they’re engaging and bystanders.

That means you don’t necessarily tase an old woman just because she has a knife (which may not have even been illegal). Good that the cops didn’t tase her right off but really they should have just taken the knife away from her.
 
tac138777 said:
A guy takes a gun into a bar and starts shooting. Hits a bottle. “He was just opening his beer.”

Face it bud. You are having to be deliberately obtuse to try and excuse the behavior. The sad part is? It doesn’t even absolve the cops from what they did. You are just being an anarchist. She didn’t have a right to be there. She certainly wasn’t allowed to be armed on the school grounds. And why did she need a knife? Not scissors? Why not pick them?

IF anyone is wondering why people defend cops, it is because people like you make excuses for criminal behavior.
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So the old woman was showing criminal behavior by picking dandelions?
 
tac138777 said:
You asked why she had to be disarmed. Because the cops don’t know what she is doing there. All they know is that the daycare called because an older woman WITH A KNIFE REFUSED TO LEAVE. You are trying to ignore that. You can’t. She DID need to be disarmed. It was handled poorly. But the cops can’t just let a bat **** crazy person wander onto a school ground with a knife to “cut dandelions.”

Do you not have kids? Children that matter to you?
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They SAW her collecting weeds. The caller said that's what she was doing. Something with plants and a bag.

The quotes are upthread.

So they may not have understood what she was doing.

But they had all the clues.

Ao it was not a crazy old lady wandering around kids with a knife.

She just happened to be using a knife to collect those weeds.

A tool being used for a purpose, NOT a weapon in the hands of an unknown.
 
tac138777 said:
A guy takes a gun into a bar and starts shooting. Hits a bottle. “He was just opening his beer.”

Face it bud. You are having to be deliberately obtuse to try and excuse the behavior. The sad part is? It doesn’t even absolve the cops from what they did. You are just being an anarchist. She didn’t have a right to be there. She certainly wasn’t allowed to be armed on the school grounds. And why did she need a knife? Not scissors? Why not pick them?

IF anyone is wondering why people defend cops, it is because people like you make excuses for criminal behavior.
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Do you honestly think the cops would have acted differently if it was scissors? That's a "weapon" too.

I'm dying to see this "knife".
 
Skeptic Bob said:
With an 87 year old woman? I would take the knife away. Even without the training I have had and these cops should have had, that wouldn't be a difficult thing to do. That said, there may be other parts to this story I don't know about.
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You have got it right - as usual. We were not there. Nor, of course, was the writer of the news report.
 
What if...? said:
Do you honestly think the cops would have acted differently if it was scissors? That's a "weapon" too.

I'm dying to see this "knife".
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Yes I do actually. They stated it was a kitchen knife. So I am guessing 6-10 inch chef knife or something similar.

Are you saying she should be allowed on school grounds with a knife?
 
What if...? said:
They SAW her collecting weeds. The caller said that's what she was doing. Something with plants and a bag.

The quotes are upthread.

So they may not have understood what she was doing.

But they had all the clues.

Ao it was not a crazy old lady wandering around kids with a knife.

She just happened to be using a knife to collect those weeds.

A tool being used for a purpose, NOT a weapon in the hands of an unknown.
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And so when they ordered her to put down the knife and she doesn’t comply? When she was asked to leave and doesn’t? The fact is the cops DID act poorly. But you can’t pretend she didn’t need to be disarmed and removed from the premises. You can’t just wander onto school grounds with a knife.
 
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