cop slams eldery lady with knife

[John]

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/08/video-ohio-cop-bodyslams-knife-wielding-grandma/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xW_-bSxTyI&feature=related

DISCUSS

IMO she didnt look very threatening. those two ladies were standing right there, not even fazed, doesnt seem very threatening to me. yes she had a knife, she wasnt waving it at the cops... the cops could have def. handled it a lot better.

[Disclaimer]

I dunno... I'm on the fence on this.

On one hand, it's the officers duty to neutralize the threat - who knows how strong this elderly lady really was? Was the cane fake? How crazy is the suspect? Why did she not comply with the command to drop the knife?

On the other, it's an old lady.

Tough call.

[fusion]

She got what she deserved. The officer asked her to put it down and she didn't comply.

[ross]

you just can't trust old people anymore...they're fucking nuts and some have incredible strength, like the strength of 10 men.

btw..around 3:30 can the guy on the phone say "man" or "bro" one more time?

[ChickOn2]

oh wow... this is in Whitehall? Good job, Columbus.

Officer Dangbruh..? Care to speak up in defense of your occupation?

[fusion]

Old people can turn freakishly strong especially if their head isn't on straight.

What if she hadn't disarmed the older woman and one of the on lookers got cut or stabbed by a wild swing of the knife by grandma? People would be screaming because the cops didn't do enough to stop her.

[V4junkie]

A knife is a potentially deadly weapon, I can't see the video but what if she was on meth and had that extra strength/pain tolerance (or any other drug/psychosis)? It would've only become apparent once it was too late. You just can't underestimate anyone holding a weapon at close range.

[Aerik]

I'm inclined to think this could have been handled better. Without more information, it's hard to know-- did she have dementia? Had she threatened anyone ealier? She looked kind of lost, wandering around with the knife. The people standing around didn't look particularly scared.

I would say that they treated her like a much bigger threat than she probably was. But, like I said, without more backstory it's hard to make a real judgment in this kind of situation.

And it was Whitehall. /facepalm

[Angrish]

drop the fukin knife dumbass........How many ppl know that having anything threating around a cop is going to get you fukd up!....EVERYONE

I grew up in whitehall,Its a shit hole now.and the way crime is growing there I'm surprise they didn't shoot her.

That wall mart on main is crazy if you are not packin a heater.

[Angrish]

oh wow... this is in Whitehall? Good job, Columbus.

Officer Dangbruh..? Care to speak up in defense of your occupation?

Would it have been better if she stabed the cop first?

[Tonik]

LEO says put the knife down you put the knife down. The LEO showed restraint and some bravery and professionalism by going hand to hand rather than tasing the lady or shooting her.

Old lady or not, you don't wave a knife around a cop.

[Aerik]

From everything I've read since my last post, it sounds like she was an Alzheimer's case-- if we were talking about a healthy person in their 30's, sure, you'd be pretty much right. In this case, I think there was probably some better way to disarm her.

And her daughter earns some stupidass points for leaving her alone in the car.

[MeefZah]

Some one called the police because the woman was brandishing a knife.

The police have an obligation to respond.

The police respond to find some elderly nitwit holding a knife, with reports that she has threatened others with it.

The police ask her several times to put it down and she refuses.

She gets put down so as to disarm her.

She almost immediately gets medical treatment summoned by the police.

An entire gaggle of welfare addled imbeciles is standing around judging the cop's actions and causing a bigger scene, prompting the ultimate mass response from other WPD and CPD officers.

Did I miss anything with the facts?

My assessment, after 13 years in law enforcement:

I'm pretty sure when the officer went to work that day she wasn't saying: "I'm gonna find me some ol' bitch and fuck her up".

She took the dispatched call and did the right thing to protect herself and everyone else. It wasn't pretty, but police work rarely is.

What would you guys rather have seen happen? Someone else get stabbed? The officer get stabbed? The old lady start to cut on herself? How about a 8 hour standoff where the police tried to negotiate with someone who obviously has dementia?

My impressions of the video, absolutely, the officer did the right thing. I'd have done the same thing, in fact, if the woman had been any more threatening - as in holding the knife raised up, yelling at me, I would have SHOT HER. As it was, I didn't percieve a threat imminent enough to use deadly force, but there is definetely a threat there.

Those of you who scoff, or say: other cops wouldn;t handle it the same way, I suggest you grab a knife and randomly walk around parking lots of major US cities, then get back to us after the various take downs and arrests and break down what agency hit you where and with what.

There is nothing that could have been done by police to make this look good, except maybe switch out the players: older black female cop takes down younger white female armed with a knife. 'Course, then, we'd never have heard about it.

[Angrish]

I like the part "I'm going to find some ol bitch and fuk her up"! priceless

[Aerik]

It's not quite accurate to say that it'd be the same situation if an older female cop took down a young white female with a knife-- a young woman is a much bigger threat than an Alzheimer's patient in her 80's. And telling me to walk around with a knife is similarly inaccurate: I'm 26, 6'2'' and 215 lbs. I would be a very real threat, and would probably be shot, or at least Tazed.

And I don't think anyone here is saying the officer was looking to rough up an old lady. I just happen to think that the threat was not immediate enough to warrant that level of force that quickly.

Incidentally, I like how all the bystanders were 'welfare-addled imbeciles'. Would you have said the same thing if it had been a white crowd?

[Disclaimer]

I think the people that let that old lady out of the ol' folks home should also be speared to the ground by Terry Tate.

Who's turn was it to watch her?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHhwxRls2Y

Edited August 11, 2009 by JRMMiii

[Angrish]

It's not quite accurate to say that it'd be the same situation if an older female cop took down a young white female with a knife-- a young woman is a much bigger threat than an Alzheimer's patient in her 80's. And telling me to walk around with a knife is similarly inaccurate: I'm 26, 6'2'' and 215 lbs. I would be a very real threat, and would probably be shot, or at least Tazed.

And I don't think anyone here is saying the officer was looking to rough up an old lady. I just happen to think that the threat was not immediate enough to warrant that level of force that quickly.

Incidentally, I like how all the bystanders were 'welfare-addled imbeciles'. Would you have said the same thing if it had been a white crowd?

I doubt he would ........White ppl dont just radomly hang out in front wallmart all day fukin off.I'm saying this because I've been to that wallmart,Its like a fukin block party out front with any drugs you could possible want! When that placed open there were ppl getting robbed alll the time in the parking lot ......like 3 a week.

[MeefZah]

It's not quite accurate to say that it'd be the same situation if an older female cop took down a young white female with a knife-- a young woman is a much bigger threat than an Alzheimer's patient in her 80's. And telling me to walk around with a knife is similarly inaccurate: I'm 26, 6'2'' and 215 lbs. I would be a very real threat, and would probably be shot, or at least Tazed.

And I don't think anyone here is saying the officer was looking to rough up an old lady. I just happen to think that the threat was not immediate enough to warrant that level of force that quickly.

Incidentally, I like how all the bystanders were 'welfare-addled imbeciles'. Would you have said the same thing if it had been a white crowd?

I'd probably shoot you based on your avatar. That looks menacing.

Have you ever "fought" with a demented old person? I have, several times. Local nursing home has a bad habit of letting the Alzheimer's patients run amuck and when they can't catch them we gt the call. You can reason all day long but it's like pleading with a rock to go back inside and get out of the street. Ultimately, there is no other option but to get hands on, as gently as you can, but I'm here to tell you there are some strong fucking geezers out there. Age / appearance has nothing to do with it.

I used the "welfare" line based on the fact that it was at Wal-Mart, but based on the vocabulary, diction, and general inappropriate use of English from most of the non white bystanders, I'm gonna hold fast to my statement. Ebonics makes good cell phone video, ye-yeeeah!

[max power]

drop the fukin knife dumbass........How many ppl know that having anything threating around a cop is going to get you fukd up!....EVERYONE

I grew up in whitehall,Its a shit hole now.and the way crime is growing there I'm surprise they didn't shoot her.

That wall mart on main is crazy if you are not packin a heater.

Never go to columbus without it.

Incidentally, I like how all the bystanders were 'welfare-addled imbeciles'. Would you have said the same thing if it had been a white crowd?

At the whitehall walmart in the middle of the afternoon, um, yeah.

This sucks, but is exactly what the cops are trained to do. Eliminate the threat.

I'm surprised they didnt taze her, but that probably would have killed her.

Edited August 11, 2009 by max power

[OfcMav]

I just happen to think that the threat was not immediate enough to warrant that level of force that quickly.

If you are the local expert on use of force, how do you suggest the situation should have been resolved since you must be an ibadass with that avatar and all knowing of police procedure?

[Angrish]

Whitehall is trying real hard to clean up their city,Getting rid of those fuk death dogs that run the streets and the gangsta that hold their pants up on the coners,Give them a break its a tuff job.A friend of mine terry got shot in the face as a cop in whitehall 5 or so years ago. Whitehall needs to be turn upside down and shakin hard to rid of these fuks.

[OfcMav]

Have you ever "fought" with a demented old person? I have, several times. Local nursing home has a bad habit of letting the Alzheimer's patients run amuck and when they can't catch them we gt the call. You can reason all day long but it's like pleading with a rock to go back inside and get out of the street. Ultimately, there is no other option but to get hands on, as gently as you can, but I'm here to tell you there are some strong fucking geezers out there. Age / appearance has nothing to do with it.

I used the "welfare" line based on the fact that it was at Wal-Mart, but based on the vocabulary, diction, and general inappropriate use of English from most of the non white bystanders, I'm gonna hold fast to my statement. Ebonics makes good cell phone video, ye-yeeeah!

[MeefZah]

Hey whats up... Ryan, is it? I believe we have a mutual friend, OPD119?

[Wheezle]

+2 I hate trying to get dimentia patients to cooperate when they don't want to. I've gotten my share of bruises and fat laps from them geezers! Damn are they strong sometimes!

[Angrish]

+2 I hate trying to get dimentia patients to cooperate when they don't want to. I've gotten my share of bruises and fat laps from them geezers! Damn are they strong sometimes!

Do they over power you?........come on thats funny:D