82-year-old Tasered by Chicago police

tkj24

tkj24

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82-year-old Tasered by Chicago police


Published: Nov. 6, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Print story Email to a friend Font size: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.


© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
 
Okay I realize the police have to protect themselves and she did have a "weapon". But come on, she's 82 the officers couldn't get the hammer away from her without tasering her?
 
DeeDee said:
Okay I realize the police have to protect themselves and she did have a "weapon". But come on, she's 82 the officers couldn't get the hammer away from her without tasering her?
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That is what I was thinking. My Grandmother is 87 and has alzheimer's. Surely they could have got behind her and held her till they could get the hammer.
 
There's no way she would have understood what "drop it or we'll TASER you" meant.

Those officers need to toughen up, take the rist of a bruised rib, and just taken the hammer away. Any cop that can't take a hammer away from and elderly woman has no business on the street.

I'm not even going to touch the 'they forced their way IN to the house.'

Thank goodness, who know what kind of repairs she could have done to that house!
 
I'm just waiting for the youtube where she's screaming, "Don't tas me, bro". Just be thankful the police has tasers. In the past they would have just shot her multiple times and the police board would have put it down as a justified shooting. We aren't as free a society as many want to believe. But, that's for the podium I guess.
 
Why were the cops invading her home in the first place?

A "well being check"? She answered and told them she did not want to open the door. What is wrong with that? What cause is there to invade someone's property? No crime was being committed.

If there was any question as to her well being, someone from the family or social services should have been called to go there and reason with her before any force was ever used.

I see this as an invasion of one's home by the police for no just cause. But Chicago police don't have a very good reputation for restraint anyway.
 
Guido said:
What cause is there to invade someone's property? No crime was being committed.
.
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Wrong! She had a hammer in her hand!! and one of the officers CLEARLY heard she was busy trying to 'hang her family on the wall' ....

177390933_b61b549f68_m.jpg
 
vanzetti said:
Wrong! She had a hammer in her hand!! and one of the officers CLEARLY heard she was busy trying to 'hang her family on the wall' ....
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Wrong on you!

I don't have the original story to go on......only what was posted here:

"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. "

Sounds to me like the cops didn't encounter the hammer until after they broke into the house........... a home invasion. If the woman has dementia, no wonder she had a hammer in her hand when strangers are trying to break in.
 
[vanzetti]Wrong! She had a hammer in her hand!! and one of the officers CLEARLY heard she was busy trying to 'hang her family on the wall' ....
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to that Statement......?


When Fletcher refused to open her door, police were called. Although Fletcher cracked the door, she still refused to let her visitors into the house.

But police officers wouldn't take no for an answer and pushed their way in. Fletcher ran and got the hammer she keeps beside her bed.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/636574,CST-NWS-mitch06.article
 
I can see where the cops were probably making logical decisions right up until they actually tasered here.

They were called upon to check on her. I would think that when she answered the door she was at the very least acting strangely given her mental condition. Given the situation I would hope the police would have checked it out further. The only problem I have with this is them choosing to taser her. I can't imagine a policeman not being able to disarm an 82-year old woman without resorting to tasering her. They have to have had some kind of training in the use of these weapons. I'm also sure that somewhere in that training they are instructed that they can be fatal if used on elderly people.

At the same time, I feel that police are often held to an unreasonable standard. For all of the complaining about them forcing their way in, if they hadn't done so and she had actually been in danger they would have been crucified in the press for not acting to save her. :mad:

And why in the hell was this woman left alone? It seems a little self-serving for the woman responsible for leaving her alone to be the loudest voice in condeming the police officer's action. Had she not left her alone, none of this would have happened. Is her outrage an attempt to soothe her own guilt? :unsure:
 
Actually it seems to me that this situation comes up all too often where the officers have to make a choice between deadly force, tasering or just trying to wrestle the person down. Maybe they need another choice...

2005-09-0254_edited-1.jpg


Throw a freaking net over the person. No one gets hurt and even if you don't fully cover them the net should impede their movement long enough to take them into custody.
 
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