Tough to watch, oh yeah, she was handcuffed.

http://globalgrind.com/node/826679

This is one of those ugly things. On drugs, arrested for wrecks earlier, bolts and heads into the street. So the question is does the officer have a responsibility to stop her by chasing her down at the risk of both going into traffic or tase? If he did not and handcuffed she made it to the main street and got nailed by a car then what? Who gets sued? Somebody will!

One wishes a different outcome but if I was the officer I would have just pursued, hopefully catching her before entering traffic. She was drugged up and out of control and at some point we all are accountable for our own conduct. It is sad she will not survive as she is to young to be checking out.

It looked like he could have just grabbed her? She's in cuffs they know who she is.....

Who is to say that tackling her and/or going hands-on wouldn't not have resulted in a similar or worse outcome.

Her injuries are a result of having hit her head on the pavement, not the tazer.

From a reasonable use of force standpoint, the officer acted entirely within clearly established legal guidelines for the application of reasonable force.

Injuries from having been tazed are often significantly less substantial than what result from going "hands-on."

The only thing I could find fault in is that it didn't appear as though anyone called for medical attention immediately, which should have happened based on the nature of the fall. They should have taken spinal precautions as well and not let her move around once on the ground.

Super sad situation and I feel terribly for everyone involved.

They should have tazed her. She took off and was a risk to herself and others.

Now the lack of even checking her for injuries and getting an assessment of how she was doing is another thing. They should have kept her down and checked for truama. At the very least called for better trained personel to do so. The city or state will likely a large sum since they didn't.

"what do you think about this tazing?"

I think she shouldn't have run from cops. Pretty simple really.

I think tasers are pretty amazing tools and I think cops should have both lethal and non-lethal options at their disposal AND have the training and judgement to know when to use one and not the other.

I have two problems with tasers though. The first is that it is pretty clear that the known dangers of them have been hidden and/or downplayed by the Taser International (the corporation) for financial reasons. The second, is that their use has become completely commonplace for passive, non-violent offenders.

I also agree with AP...seems like the fuzz thinks the Tazer is a harmless little tool that replaces a good chunk of actual police work.

Fish on...

Todd

Good shot, she should count her lucky stars that she was not sitting in a corvette in Everett because we all know how that went down.


Fishy

Don't see an issue.

She was in control of everything all along the way. She made a series of bad choices.

1. Got a suspended license by making a series of bad choices previous to the day in question.
2. Had two hit & run accidents on one day.
3. Chose to take both uppers and downers.
4. Tried to escape.

Take stupid chances, win stupid prizes.

100% justified... if it were the cop that tripped pursuing her, smashed his head on the curb, everyone would be saying "thats the risk of being a police officer"...

well, thats the risk of being a drug addict trying to flee the cops, regardless if you are cuffed or not... anyone remember the chick on Police Chases that was handcuffed and jumped in the officers car and took off endangering everyone on the road? pretty defensless little girl huh....

There have been a number of cases in court recently and almost without exception, courts are saying that tasing passively resisting people is not a reasonable use of force.

Because these tasers are relatively new to the legal system, policies and applications are still evolving. Fortunately, the courts are being pretty proactive and the decisions coming out recently are good for everyone.

Again, tasers in and of them selves are pretty harmless. The two small darts are more harmful that the electricity, and they don't hurt that much at all.

Now what happens after someone loses control of their muscles, as the unfortunate video shows, can definitely carry some potential for injury. Awareness of these issues (trauma from falls, drowning, igniting OC spray, etc.) is part of all standardized trainings these days.

By the way, the Officer wasn't cleared cuz it was the right choice. He was cleared because he was working in accordance with the agencies policy and his training. The agencies policies should change in my opinion.

she already ran twice in 1 day previous to this time... how many chances should one get?

but your right, he should have just let her run onto the highway and get splattered, so people could say it was his fault for not catching her that she got killed...

or he should have tackled her, and if the same situation of her hitting her head happened, people could say that it was his fault again...

like i said, if it was him that got injured, everyone would be saying thats the price of being an officer of the law...

why on gods earth are you defending a coke head half way heroin addict chick that decided to flee the cops after she was arrested?

im sure there are places, small towns and such, that you wouldnt hear about, that the cop would have just shot her with a real gun...

moral: DONT RUN FROM THE DAMN COPS...

she also had her hands cuffed IN FRONT of her, it wasnt like she had them behind her back, and had zero chance of stopping her fall... she would have been far more coordinated not hopped up on Coke and synthetic Heroin..

yeah, she whapped her head, but how do you know that the effects of a litteral 'Speed Ball" depending on how she took the drugs, isnt part of the reason her brain is fried?

as far as the dude by you getting shot...

1, if a cop tells you to drop something, and dear god, by gunpoint, YOU BETTER LISTEN...

2, dont put yourself in situations where cops are going to confront you.. if you do, thats your problem..

3, dont ever run from the cops, in a car, on foot, after you have been arrested, dont run EVER...

if he shot her with a rubber bullet, and it bounced funky, and hit her in the temple, killing or comatosing her, it would still be his fault by some people... if she didnt put herself in the position she did, none of this would have happened... im not saying she deserves to be a vegetable, because its not my right to judge, but, if you mess around with officers of the law, you are going to get whats coming to you... so dont do it, plain and simple.. or do do it, and you can end up laying next to her in the hospital...

Pretty much how I feel.

if a cop tells you to drop a phuckin spork, you better listen... they were nice enough to let her keep her hands in front of her, likely to make her feel more comfortable... 99 percent of cops would have placed her hands behind her back, untill processing was finnished and she was sent to a jail cell... but no, she still runs... like she did 2 times earlier that day...

since her hands were in front of her, and the cop grabbed her, she could have attempted to grab his gun.. if she would have, and shot the cop, there would be 2 things being said right now... 1, some people would have been saying that he should have used a taser, the other people would be saying that thats part of the dangers of being an officer of the law...

its a lose lose situation period, for all partys involved... and people should learn not to run from the police... ESPECIALLY after you are in custody..

see, my point exactly... the cop will be crucified by the public regardless of the outcome... lose, lose...

even if a cop is nice, they are still considered bad by some people, usually those people have no regard for the law... because if you did, you wouldnt be arguing about this right now... i just hope that you never make a stupid desicion like her, and many others have made, because bad things will come your way... ill pray for you...

also, if this broad was stealing the kicker off the back of your boat, and a cop showed up, and she ran right by him, and he shot her with a taser, whapped her head off the bumper of your truck and died... GUARENTEED, you wouldnt be saying the things you are saying, matter of fact, you would likely be defending the cops actions...

you can say im full of sh!t all you want, but you know damn well in the back of your head im dead on in regards to what i just stated about it involving you...

but you know damn well in the back of your head im dead