Chicago Police Taser 82-Year-Old Woman

[Jenn! 918]

I smell bacon.

[almaty 19]

lol...yeap..not coming from the waffle house either

[SteveLaura 0]

I work with people living with mental illness. Every program I run, I invite a local CIT officer in to discuss their work and how they de-escalate incidents with people living with mental illness without resorting to tactics outlined in the article. The CIT team in Milwaukee is small, but growing. They are veteran cops with extra training, and they have told me that sometimes they are pulled in different directions. Their supervisors want them to deal with the situation quickly so that they can move onto the next incident. Their training tells them that 'talking people down' takes time.

Like I said, CIT training should be available in all states. It's not a solution on its own (more officers are needed also) but it's a great start.

[Drew and Tik 0]

Well what the rulebook says is all well and good, but it has to be tempered with a bit of common-sense.

I'm not saying I would necessarily tazer her, like I said, I would probably go for pepper spray if talking wasn't working, simply because of her age and discretionary reasoning that there would be possible health risks with the tazer. Not that there aren't risks with pepper spray, or even hand-to-hand combat really. I think very, very few cops actually want to have a confrontation with an 82 year old woman. If the situation called for it, which I'm not saying it did or didn't, none of us were there and know all the facts, I definitely would not go hand-to-hand with someone who had a weapon, regardless of age or perceived ability to harm me.

[almaty 19]

I work with people living with mental illness. Every program I run, I invite a local CIT officer in to discuss their work and how they de-escalate incidents with people living with mental illness without resorting to tactics outlined in the article. The CIT team in Milwaukee is small, but growing. They are veteran cops with extra training, and they have told me that sometimes they are pulled in different directions. Their supervisors want them to deal with the situation quickly so that they can move onto the next incident. Their training tells them that 'talking people down' takes time.

Like I said, CIT training should be available in all states. It's not a solution on its own (more officers are needed also) but it's a great start.

it is in illinois..the Alton area has one..and i was affilaited with it..as does chicago.,.they probably, did not want to wait till they arrived so, they popped her..