# Texas Cop Tasers Granny **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417 "2009-06-11T04:23:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/241 "2009-06-13T05:21:09Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > If tazers are the safest way to handle old people why don’t they start carrying them at the nursing home? There’s folks there who show aggression several times more intense then that old lady did. If it’s the safest way then why not? > > Wouldn’t hospitals use the safest methods? Yes, hospitals would use the safest method just as police officers would. In this case, there was one officer versus a nursing home full of orderlies. If there were 2 or 3 officers then I’m inclined to believe they could manhandle granny without a taser. However, If someone doesn’t want to be handcuffed, it is a damn hard thing to do without a smack-down, even a granny. It requires bending a person into a pretzel. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/242 "2009-06-13T07:17:09Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Go away coward we don’t need you here. > [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Have fun on ignorant cowards beach. I’m not sure what your problem is, lately, but you have been letting your temper run away with your keyboard a bit. Stop the personal insults ro stick to posting in the **Pit**. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/243 "2009-06-13T07:51:20Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I see it. I acknowledged pages ago that I see it. I just think it’s stupid and in this case it was used to escalate a very minor situation to ridiculous heights. I doubt there’s a person alive who agrees with every single law on the books in this country, but god forbid you express that disagreement around here. You’re slow, hyperbolic, “just don’t get” things, etc. You aren’t just disagreeing with that law. You’re calling the officer a schoolyard bully and accusing him of being a bad person. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/244 "2009-06-13T11:27:03Z")
I can’t help but wonder what other anti social behaviour this evil old woman has used the “I’m an old lady,you cant make me do that” gambit. Queue jumping? Stealing? Assault ? Who knows ?but it sounds like she’d pretty much honed her response to the LEO on previous occasions only this time she got called on it. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/245 "2009-06-13T12:59:31Z")
How would any of your responses be different if this was your grandmother or your mother? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/246 "2009-06-13T13:03:45Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I’m not sure what your problem is, lately, but you have been letting your temper run away with your keyboard a bit. > > Stop the personal insults ro stick to posting in the **Pit**. > [/Moderating] Been noticing that too. I think you’re right and I need to cool it.Been under a bit of stress, sorry for letting it bleed through to the forum. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/247 "2009-06-13T13:10:58Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Yes, hospitals would use the safest method just as police officers would. In this case, there was one officer versus a nursing home full of orderlies. If there were 2 or 3 officers then I’m inclined to believe they could manhandle granny without a taser. However, If someone doesn’t want to be handcuffed, it is a damn hard thing to do without a smack-down, even a granny. It requires bending a person into a pretzel. I have a lot of family that’s trained as nurses and nurses aids. They get trained in take down procedure. Which is a method of pinning someone to the floor. Orderlies aren’t always available fast enough when a patient turns unexpectedly aggressive. My mom also worked in adult fostercare home. They didn’t have any orderlies available there. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/248 "2009-06-13T13:21:18Z")
Every state has 'em. “Construction sites” with no dug-up road,with cones and barricades, but no apparent work being done today. And none having been done yesterday. And none about to be done tomorrow. Speed traps to garner big bucks from the “fines doubled in construction zone” laws in every state. Sometimes they’re semi-legit,i.e.,there’s work going on between mile markers 8 and 10, but the zone is bounded by markers 1 and 18. I’m not going to pass judgement on Granny’s alleged dangerousness without knowing if the construction zone was real or a gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/249 "2009-06-13T13:25:59Z")
> [@EasyPhil](#): > > How would any of your responses be different if this was your grandmother or your mother? No different,evil young people grow to be evil old people. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/250 "2009-06-13T13:28:42Z")
Hospitals do use tasars. Here is a youtube clip of a man trying to leave a Texas hospital with a baby : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vBVUusmP0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vBVUusmP0) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/251 "2009-06-13T13:50:41Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Hospitals do use tasars. Here is a youtube clip of a man trying to leave a Texas hospital with a baby : [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vBVUusmP0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vBVUusmP0) Not as a usual matter of restraint though. Using standard control procedures on him could have given him a chance to hurt the baby. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/252 "2009-06-13T15:39:42Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > She refused to bond out with her signature. That’s why she went to jail. I don’t know any jurisdiction that doesn’t do it this way. You don’t? It’s practice in quite a lot of places that you don’t have to sign the ticket. It varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/253 "2009-06-13T16:50:19Z")
> [@EasyPhil](#): > > How would any of your responses be different if this was your grandmother or your mother? I probably wouldn’t have posted, if only because I’d be ashamed to admit she was my grandmother? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/254 "2009-06-13T18:04:59Z")
> [@zenith](#): > > Every state has 'em. “Construction sites” with no dug-up road,with cones and barricades, but no apparent work being done today. And none having been done yesterday. And none about to be done tomorrow. Speed traps to garner big bucks from the “fines doubled in construction zone” laws in every state. > > Sometimes they’re semi-legit,i.e.,there’s work going on between mile markers 8 and 10, but the zone is bounded by markers 1 and 18. > > I’m not going to pass judgement on Granny’s alleged dangerousness without knowing if the construction zone was real or a gotcha. You do realize that constructions zones don’t always require digging up the road, right? In any event, it’s irrelevant whether the reduced speed limit was justified. The proper place to dispute a traffic violation is in court, not on the side of the road. ETA: Reducing speed isn’t necessarily just to protect workers, it’s often helpful to accommodate a bottlenecking of traffic produced by lane closures. It’s probably safer to adjust speed down in this case as well. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/255 "2009-06-13T21:04:53Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > No different,evil young people grow to be evil old people. You mean the cop right? He obviously lost it, do we really need people like him as police officers? I’ll answer, hell no we don’t, he should be fired. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/256 "2009-06-13T21:06:02Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > You aren’t just disagreeing with that law. You’re calling the officer a schoolyard bully and accusing him of being a bad person. He is, there’s a serious lack of professionalism here. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/257 "2009-06-13T23:38:41Z")
> [@EasyPhil](#): > > You mean the cop right? He obviously lost it, do we really need people like him as police officers? I’ll answer, hell no we don’t, he should be fired. No, it’s not obvious he lost it. In fact, I would say it’s obvious he followed protocol and that he gave her every option to avoid what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/258 "2009-06-14T00:27:14Z")
And as if tasing granny ain’t enough, now they’re going after her [weiner dog](http://www.ratemycop.com//index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=162&func=view&id=50199&catid=11) too. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/259 "2009-06-14T00:46:03Z")
How about this? He did most, if not all, things the right way. She pretty much did everything the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417/260 "2009-06-14T00:56:48Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > How about this? > > He did most, if not all, things the right way. > > She pretty much did everything the wrong way. How about this…no. He tasered an old lady. He chose a terrible and dangerous option. Is he admitting that the old lady was too tough for him to handle? He could have taken it easy and given her time to cool off. Tasering is the option below shooting, especially to an old person. He handled the situation badly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-cop-tasers-granny/499417.md?page=14)