Here's one that should start a nice debate...

[Corrie]

I'm just feeling evil.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...-state/1215862

The girl is 20 years old, is captured by the police and handcuffed. At some point she escapes with the handcuffs still on and while she is running she is tased in the back, falls forward, cracks her skull and becomes a vegetable.

There are soooo many issues with this one. First of all she was running away from the police, an obvious no-no. She is 100% in the wrong in that regard.
The issue becomes more complicated when you hear some of the details. The police procedures are that a taser should never be used on someone from behind when the suspect is running from you for this very reason. The whole incident was recorded by accident and as soon as the officer realized the camera was on he turned it off. The video shows that the girl was still cuffed and was not escaping very quickly. The cop was a big fatty but he probably would have had no problem catching up with her and detaining her. He had his taser out immediately and did aboslutely nothing to try and stop her before using it.
Finally, this girl was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor. Was all of this worth doing over a misdemeanor?

There is a video of the incident and while I haven't seen it, I heard the entire thing and heard it described on the radio along with an interview with her attorney. The sound of her smacking her head on the pavement is pretty disturbing.

Anyways, have at it. I'm sure there will be some dissenting opinions on this one.

[elVarouza]

My question is the following. Why didn't the officer pursue the woman? Based on the article, it seemed as if she provided no threat to others, nor was she a threat to escape. It's all speculation without knowing all of the details though.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

The cop didn't follow accepted procedures, there was no immediate danger that should prompt him to abandon those procedures (suspect is running to attack someone) and the suspect was severely injured in the process. I can't watch the video at work, so I can't tell how tense the situation was when this went down. If it was a generally high pressure, high tension event with a bunch of other shit going on, then that would tend to justify the actions. Assuming that is not the case, then yeah, the cop severely fucked up.

The department may want to look at their training process and make sure that they are learning the correct way to use the taser under pressure and stress.

[Corrie]

My question is the following. Why didn't the officer pursue the woman? Based on the article, it seemed as if she provided no threat to others, nor was she a threat to escape. It's all speculation without knowing all of the details though.

There is a video of the entire incident. There's not really a lot of stuff to speculate about.

I know you can find it on Kevin Hayslett's facebook.

[FKYT]

This seems pretty straightforward. The police have a policy against tasering in the back while someone's running away --> policeman tasers someone in the back while they're running away --> bad things happened.

[No Quarter]

Well, let's look at the root cause and that should answer any questions.

Root cause - tweaked out woman was involved in a hit and run accident. Wonder how that victim fared? - Fault = Tweaked out woman
Second event in the chain - Same tweaked out woman, in custody after being arrested for the hit and run accident, runs from the police. Fault = Tweaked out woman.

Let's start looking at the world through the filter of personal responsibility for one's actions shall we?

I am sure that the officer is carrying the weight of this outcome on his conscience and it is no cake walk for him either. His livelihood and his family's lives are negatively affected by the actions of this tweaked out woman.

Sad to see yet another wasted life, but sad is no antidote to responsibility for one's stupid actions.

No Quarter - it's a state of mind.

[The Emancipated Freak]

The chick was stupid for running away from the scene when it could all be sorted out, but the cop could have obviously caught her. He was trotting after her and it was clear that he would have caught her. Not to mention the fact that evidently, it didn't occur to him that asphalt is fucking tough.

The guy should be fired for being a dumbass.

[KAG]

The cop didn't follow accepted procedures, .......

Yes, he did.

........there was no immediate danger that should prompt him to abandon those procedures ......

Yes, there was.

The department may want to look at their training process and make sure that they are learning the correct way to use the taser under pressure and stress

He used it correctly.

The police procedures are that a taser should never be used on someone from behind when the suspect is running from you for this very reason.

Where did you read this? I must have missed it in the article. What I read was that Taser use on a handcuffed prisoner was limited to certain situations, an escaping prisoner being one of them.

If you don't want to be tased in the back while running, don't run from the cops in Texas. It's the easiest way to end a foot pursuit and we're good at ending foot pursuits

He had his taser out immediately and did aboslutely nothing to try and stop her before using it.

Except advise her she was under arrest and not free to leave. And handcuff her. And re-handcuff her after she removed her handcuffs.

Finally, this girl was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident....

While under the influence of 2 narcotics. She most certainly had additional charges coming.

There is a video of the incident and while I haven't seen it, I heard the entire thing and heard it described on the radio along with an interview with her attorney. The sound of her smacking her head on the pavement is pretty disturbing.

I just watched it. It doesn't even rate on the disturbing scale. I've seen much much worse. She easily could've suffered the same or greater injury had the officer tackled her.

My question is the following. Why didn't the officer pursue the woman? Based on the article, it seemed as if she provided no threat to others, nor was she a threat to escape. It's all speculation without knowing all of the details though.

He said he felt they were both endanger if she made it to the highway, which is right across the parking lot. And how exaclty was she "no threat to escape" when she was actively in the process of escaping?

This seems pretty straightforward. The police have a policy against tasering in the back while someone's running away --> policeman tasers someone in the back while they're running away --> bad things happened.

There is no such policy in place. He used the Taser according to policy.

Well, let's look at the root cause and that should answer any questions.

Root cause - tweaked out woman was involved in a hit and run accident. Wonder how that victim fared? - Fault = Tweaked out woman
Second event in the chain - Same tweaked out woman, in custody after being arrested for the hit and run accident, runs from the police. Fault = Tweaked out woman.

Let's start looking at the world through the filter of personal responsibility for one's actions shall we?

I am sure that the officer is carrying the weight of this outcome on his conscience and it is no cake walk for him either. His livelihood and his family's lives are negatively affected by the actions of this tweaked out woman.

Sad to see yet another wasted life, but sad is no antidote to responsibility for one's stupid actions.

No Quarter - it's a state of mind.

Good post.

[barnone]

cops can basically get away with murder these days so this comes as no surprise

[KAG]

The chick was stupid for running away from the scene when it could all be sorted out, but the cop could have obviously caught her. He was trotting after her and it was clear that he would have caught her. Not to mention the fact that evidently, it didn't occur to him that asphalt is fucking tough.

Actually it is SHE who apparently did not understand how tough concrete was, as SHE is the one who initiated the situation on a concrete surface, knowing full well that her efforts would end one way or another, on that same concrete.

The guy should be fired for being a dumbass.

Fortuntely for him your uneducated and inexperienced opinion carries no weight, and the FHP has reffered to their policy and established use of force law.