82-year-old Tasered by Chicago police

[Bono]

www.newsdaily.com/TopNews/UPI-1-20071106-12032000-bc-us-grannytaser.xml

82-year-old Tasered by Chicago police

CHICAGO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The Chicago Police Department is reviewing whether proper procedures were followed in the Tasering of an 82-year-old grandmother.

Officers arrived at the home of Lillian Fletcher, 82, Oct. 29 for a "well-being" check requested by the city's Department of Aging. However, Fletcher refused to allow the police to enter her home and the officers pushed their way through the slightly open door, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

The officers said Fletcher attempted to attack them with a hammer before she was subdued by a Taser-wielding police officer.

"My grandmother is easily confused," Traci Taylor, Fletcher's granddaughter, told the Sun-Times. "She probably didn't know what was going on."

Taylor said her grandmother suffers from schizophrenia and dementia.

"The matter is being looked into by the Office of Professional Standards, and the Chicago Police Department will also be reviewing the matter to determine if procedures were followed," a police spokesman said.

Fletcher was hospitalized for five days following the incident and the Sun-Times said she complains about persistent pain from the burn on her abdomen, where she was struck by the Taser.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it. There needs to be more accountability, to prevent bullsh**t like the illegal detainment of people protesting the RNC in 2004.

[John Dibble]

Officers arrived at the home of Lillian Fletcher, 82, Oct. 29 for a "well-being" check requested by the city's Department of Aging. However, Fletcher refused to allow the police to enter her home and the officers pushed their way through the slightly open door, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

The officers said Fletcher attempted to attack them with a hammer before she was subdued by a Taser-wielding police officer.

The bolded part is what concerns me more than the tasering. If she didn't want them in there what gave them the right to push their way in? The whole problem would have been avoided if they just respected her wishes.

[bgwah]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it.

This reminds me of Naso talking about possibly becoming a police officer. It disturbed me.

[Bono]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it.

I mean, who would expect a job where you are in a position of almost unfettered power and with a mafia-like silence code to attract that kind of people?

[minionofmidas]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it.

I mean, who would expect a job where you are in a position of almost unfettered power and with a mafia-like silence code to attract that kind of people?

Yeah, I really wonder what Fern means by "bad apples" here. The problem is cops.

[ilikeverin]

I'm not entirely sure what's inherently wrong about Tasering an 82-year-old woman.  Would you rather she have been shot, bono?  The cops were just defending their right to self-ownership, mind you

[opebo]

Of course the problem goes much deeper than 'bad apples' - we all know that all cops are 'bad', by definition.  But it goes even deeper than this inherently nasty profession.. the system itself requires that blacks and poors be tasered, shot, etc., and whether it is indiscriminate or not is of little importance.

[Storebought]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it.

I mean, who would expect a job where you are in a position of almost unfettered power and with a mafia-like silence code to attract that kind of people?

Yeah, I really wonder what Fern means by "bad apples" here. The problem is cops.

Who will maintain public order if not cops (i.e., a regular civilian police force)?

I say this as someone who dislikes the police as well.

[J. J.]

First, police make me nervous. 

Second, knowing what my father was like, I can see a need for self defense.  He had to be restrained when in the hospital, because he tried to pull out the IV's.  Now, I don't normally support tying someone's hands down, but I felt it was necessary.

The police might have arranged for a "well-being" check with him or the family. 

Just because someone is old, doesn't mean he isn't dangerous, even without malice.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

The problem is the bad apples who become cops just to have power and abuse it.

This reminds me of Naso talking about possibly becoming a police officer. It disturbed me.