November 21, 2008
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Tasering a Pregnant Woman
I found an article today that is a few years old while I was searching for another article.
It was a news story about a cop that tasered a pregnant woman. She was 8 months pregnant and was pulled over by a cop for speeding and wouldn’t sign the ticket.
The interesting thing in the article was a comment by the Sheriff who said, “It just doesn’t look good to the public.”
There was also new guidelines for dealing with children, the elderly and handicapped from the case. Here is the link: Link
I got the impression from reading the article that the police were going to adjust their guidelines because people were uncomfortable seeing certain people tasered. In other words, it would be ok to taser a large black man but you might want to be careful about tasering a pregnant woman.
Do you think it is wrong for the police to taser a pregnant woman?
Comments (152)
yup
I’d say yes, but then the tall guy in the blue uniform behind me will taser me.
So instead I’ll say, NO OF COURSE NOT.
pleasedonthurtme…
woot! i was first!
but seriously, the baby gets just as much of the shock as the mom did- even if the mom was in the wrong- the baby was innocent.
So if she’s armed and dangerous, we shouldn’t have to take her down because she’s pregnant? I think not. I feel sorry for the kid she’s carrying, but there are rules and she doesn’t have special needs, we all have to abide by them. She choose not to sign it, there are consequences.
I don’t like cops to have tasers anyway. they have guns, batons, and mase. Why do they need to have tasers? Cops down here are dirty, I hate cops. They abuse their power too much, at least down here they do. I have only known one good cop in my life and he works for the SWAT team. And he’s an older man.
Seriously, though. Tasers should be used only in situations where officers would normally have used their guns. (Instead we find them used as devices to force cooperation.)
If the pre-taser days, when an officer pulled over a pregnant woman and she refused to sign the ticket, would he have drawn his sidearm? Probably not. I mean, unless she’s did something actively threatening…
Tasers, whether used on pregnant women or “large black men,” were supposed to be nonlethal alternatives to firearms, not an officer’s personal cattle-prod.
@awokenfatality - That doesn’t mean it’s okay to tase. He could have cuffed her.
I don’t think this situation warrants a taser but just b/c the public doesn’t like seeing a pregnant woman being tased just doesn’t mean she can’t have it done. That’s ridiculous that some people should be and some shouldn’t just because of what they look like. That’s stupid.
yess that sucks for the woman who was preggo.
Yeah, because the baby gets jolted too…
I think there are alternate things besides tasers that could be used to deal with a pregnant woman. Considering how vulnerable the unborn child and his mother might be at the time, they shouldn’t risk the murder of a baby.
Though,I do know a few women I’d like to taser.
@awokenfatality - Actually, tasering is “non lethal” force. If she were armed tasering would not be an option
I don’t know. Does a taser hurt the baby? And does she have to sign the ticket? If she didn’t agree to it, then she doesn’t have to sign and they should have taken her to jail. Unless she was an adamant threat, she shouldn’t have been tasered.
You have got to be freaking kidding me. What an idiot. That lady should have sued the policeman. how dangerous can an 8month pregnant lady be? Man. Sometimes I just hate cops. (ok well the stories anyway)
It definitely depends on the situation. In this circumstance, he should not have tasered the woman, but if she was a threat to people or the police officer then taser the bitch. Tasering the pregnant woman and having innocent people not get hurt is a lot better than not tasering the woman and innocent people getting hurt.
the woman shouldn’t have been tasered regardless of pregnancy…at least if she was not threatening the officer ….i agree with ChrisRusso, a taser is not meant to be a cop’s cattle prod…
Of course it’s wrong!
On another note: Who wants to trade one of those against my pepperspray?
I have been trying to think of circumstances that I would feel comfortable using a taser. I can only think of a few.
1. Riot situation
2. Violent/disturbed person out of control (physically subdue for their own good)
Yeah it is wrong. It’s not the babies fault it’s mother is a dumb ass. And the last time I checked, you can’t be forced to sign anything you don’t want to. Especially if it can be used against you in court. Thats called self-incrimination, and we’re protected from it by the fifth admendment.
@babymama1210 - That is true, unless she resisted arrest which in the article they can’t say if she did or not, the reason why the cop tasered her.
@ShamelesslyRed - That’s why I said take her down, I don’t think tasering would do much if she was armed.
i don’t see why she was tasered just because she wouldnt sign… isn’t that using unnecessary force?
Plus he’s also risking an injury to the baby – an innocent bystander.
I see no issue with it. It does look bad but I think the officer did was he felt was right, pregnant woman or not. The woman and her baby are fine, although the burns will scar
My husband has both been tasered (twice), pepper sprayed and beaten with a baton while in the police academy. He says he would rather get the taser. At least when the 5 seconds is over, it’s over. Tasers are not lethal force, it won’t even kill a small dog.
I don’t think is fair but that’s the way the World usually works, it’s ok to be harsh on some targeted gruops but caucasians, elders, pretty ladies can get it easier.
Hahaha, what a terrible picture… and yes, I’d say so. When you harm the host, you harm the parasite.
I want more facts in the case before I give an answer.
@Ayliana87 - The signature is simply to verify that the officer issued the ticket. It’s also used to verify that the signature on the driver’s license matches the person the ticket was issued to. It’s not a confession. Driving is not a right, so the 5th Ammendment doesn’t apply here. A breathalizer test is also self incrimination, but it’s been ruled as legal by the courts when self incrimination was used as a defense.
I think it’s wrong to taser anyone, mainly because we have had quite a few deaths alone here in Tennessee that they said were caused by the taser gun. I say shoot them in the foot, just enough to do minor damage, so they can arrest them, lol,
But tasering a pregnant woman…surely there is another way to subdue a pregnant person. Geesh, too dangerous for the baby!
*Shrug* I think she deserved it, she resisted the police, and who knows, she could have been dangerous. You can’t just expect anyone who is out of the norm to not be dangerous.
Elderly man? Knife in his pocket.
You just never know. If it’s my safety vs. hers, and she’s the one committing the crime.. guess what, I won’t vote for her.
it is wrong to taser anybody if there is NO harm done. though i would think the pregnant woman is safer being shot in the leg than getting tasered because of the baby. need to think about the innocent life inside growing, even though the mom may not be innocent at all.
well, it seems like a risk to the unborn child so YES it’s wrong.
does this question even require an answer?
the answer by the way… is HELL NO NEVER EVER
oh yes!
Ya know…you really dug “under” the barrel with this question. Has anyone every called you a shit stirrer? or bottom feeder? You are not theological…you are pharisaical. ‘what has a man gained (in this world)….if he loses his soul (for the next?)’ Boy oh boy, are you ever taken up with your own ego.
Why question the obvious right?
I see this from two different sides: one as a newly pregnant woman, and two, from having been to jail and prison. I think it’s wrong for anyone – black, white, old, young, disabled, pregnant, etc. – to be tasered unnecessarily. But as someone pointed out above, if the lives of others are in danger – if the pregnant woman is wielding a gun or weapon and threatening to hurt herself, others or the officers, then yes, in the interest of safety she should be tasered.
For something like not signing a ticket? NO ONE should be tasered for that. The ticket will be processed through the proper legal steps with or without the person’s signature and she would’ve still had to either face the charges or appear in court to defend herself.
What ‘the public’ does or doesn’t want to see should be irrelevant to officers having to protect themselves and the general public in this case.
First of all, I resent the implication that its not ok to taser a pregnent woman – but ok for a black man (as stated by the writer). Race was not an issue here. The issue was not that a caucasion was tased.
I don’t think her gender was the issue here. Women have been tased before.
It was because she was PREGNANT and the problems it could have caused to the health of the unborn child. (be it causing health problems to the child directly or causing pre-mature labor…you just never know)
Seeing as she was not threatening the officer but just refused to sign a ticket….. there was ABSOLUTELY no reason he should have tased her and taken a chance of harming the health of that child.
If she was brandishing a gun and was a harm to herself or others at that very moment… then it MAY be better to tase her.
But we see that wasn’t the case. Just because someone verbally argues with you or refused to sign a piece of paper…. that is not ok to tase them. YOU CANNOT FORCE SOMEONE TO SIGN ANYTHING. Its not ok to beat them with a stick in such situations either, so why tase them? That would apply to pregnant woman, and to men, of any race, religion, or creed.
If the pregnant woman was trying to pull a knife or a gun on him…no, I don’t think it would be wrong in that case because obviously he’d be acting in self defense…no matter how sad the outcome could be. As a parent she should be protecting her child. However, in this situation, that doesn’t seem to be the case and I think the moron should be tasered repeatedly himself….okay, okay, or atleast dismissed from his job.
Yeah. And sadly, people would think nothing of it if a large, black man was tasered but would be up in arms if a preggo was.
Crap. Was she or the baby injured or otherwise adversely affected?
@weirdbean - again, this has nothing to do with race.
White people get tased all the time. Women get tased.
The issue is she was PREGNANT.
This issue was she was just refusing to sign a ticket. You cannot FORCE someone to SIGN SOMETHING. The ticket would have been processed anyways.
If black man was tased simply for refusing to sign something while he sat in his car… no threat to the officer. HELL YES that would be a problem. People would have a fit over that too, rightly so.
And if the pregnant woman (of any race) was an actual threat to herself or others, then Yes, tase her. But she was just verbally argueing about the ticket and wouldn’t sign it. You cannot tase someone for that.
That officer was a bully with a control complex and took it out on her.
either taser everyone who doesn’t cooperate or don’t taser anyone at all.
Yes, because the fetus gets tased! He wasn’t speeding. Maybe they can tase her after it’s born…retroactive tasering.
yeah I think it’s wrong for a pregnant woman to be tasered, because the baby could be harmed (not necessarily from the tasering itself) but from the emotional shock and stress the mother undergoes when she is tasered.
Also, I don’t think anyone deserves to have been tasered in this case. Who was this woman endangering by refusing to sign the ticket?
I don’t understand why you compare a large black man to a pregnant woman. Who cares if a large black man gets tasered (if he deserved to be)??
yes the pain and shock could harm the baby
Fair game??
lol…no, for the baby’s sake
@JadedWolfStudios - If she had brandished a gun at the officer or another person he would have pulled his gun and shot her, regardless of whether or not she was pregnant, that’s what officers are trained to do. The taser is meant to be used in situations where a detainee is being uncooperative or resisting arrest.
Did y’all actually read the article??? The woman was being uncompliant and resisting arrest. It was her fault she was tased and I don’t think the officers involved overreacted at all! Police officers have to apply the law uniformly regardless of the person’s condition…just because this woman was pregnant doesn’t mean she could justify resisting arrest. Sounds to me like SHE was putting her unborn child in danger, not the officers!
@MlleBaroque - Yes, I admit, I was just stating my opion off the blog. I did not read the link. Still haven’t. If she was infact being arrested (and not simply being given a speeding ticket as the blog stated) then that is another matter.
And as I had stated in my past two comments on this… if a pregnant woman was being a threat to the officer or a danger to herself or others, then its ok to tase her.
(And I have seen circumstances where a person brandishing a gun was taken down by non-lethal means such as tasers and other non-leathal weapons.)
Thanks for pointing out the info in the link that the blog writer failed to mention.
he was trying to tazer that unruly fetus!
People should only be tasered once tasered at. You know – like how police cannot shoot until they are being shot at. Otherwise it’s not self-defence – it’s an abuse of the cop’s taser privileges and that taser should be taken away.
I doubt that an 8-month pregnant woman is much of a threat to a cop. I doubt she needed to be tasered.
If a cop ever tries to taser me….oh……I WILL be mad!
It ceased to be a normal traffic stop when she refused to exit the car. At that point, the officer did what he felt needed to be done. While no, it doesn’t look good that a woman eight months pregnant was tasered, perhaps she should have thought about that prior to placing herself in the situation. The officer was doing his job. But for her actions, this would not have happened.
Actually….you know what…
I think the cop should ask the woman if she is pro-life or pro-choice. If she is pro-life, the cop is technically tasering a poor, helpless unborn child and tasering should no be allowed. But if the woman is pro-choice, her grouping of cells shouldn’t factor into whether or not she gets tasered!
Unless she has a gun in his face, there are much safer ways of getting her to sign the ticket. Like explaining to her that she needed to sign the stupid thing, since she said she didn’t know that she had to.
FUCK THE POLICE.
End of story.
i feel like cops use tasers when there is ABSOLUTELY no need. the one mentioned here – completely ridiculous. sure, if she’s holding a gun to someone’s head… but for not signing a speeding ticket? my god, we’ve got some fucked up people trying to “keep order” in this country.
Wow, that is unbelievable! I’m almost speechless but then it’s as if this world is just full of insane people! He will, hopefully, get what he should for that. I wonder what the baby’s father had to say about this!
Personally, I think tasers are the stupid mans police tool. The situations they were designed for are limited, yet police are trained to use them in situation where they cannot get a suspect too conform, or are out numbered.
There has to be a physical threat though,
if you’re a cop, you’re either lazy or a retarded… or you’re one of the few cops who is a normal human being. But we all know cops are just sheep, with a parent or sibling complex.
Cops in Ireland don’t even carry weapons, we have ATF’s but a cop on a street just carries a night stick and a stab proof vest.
They’re still pigs of people, but at least they’re not threatening.
ok so (becuz i didn’t read the article) if she was tasered merely becuz she refused the sign the ticket that is kind of crappy. Just so you kno not signing it does not make it less valid since they can mail you tickets that u never signed such as parking tickets etc.
But yes it IS wrong to taser a pregnant woman ESPECIALLY for something like that. Was there harm to the baby after birth or cause her to go into labor?
ok i went back and read it:
You failed to mention the police tased her not once but 4 TIMES over a ticket. Just because she refused to sign. A definate abuse of power!!! So i stand by my anwer before that YES it is WRONG (under these circumstances). Makes me ashamed of being from Seattle but doesn’t surprise me either. Cops there (as else where in this state that i have seen) have a GOD COMPLEX. Meaning that most of them think you should obey them just becuz they wear the uniform even when they are wrong lol.
Yes
@SunnyMitsu - they tasered her not once but 4 times while she sat in her car! then drug he out onto the ground and cufferd her.
Yes, it’s wrong to taser a pregnant woman because it affects the baby too.
Uh yeah, you never know what it could do to the baby and t could have sent her into labor. You never know when your pregnant.
I would say depending on the situation. If it was just a matter of not signing a ticket i would say she shouldn’t have been tasered, maybe slapped around a little, but not tasered. (that was a joke for all you pregnancy enthusiasts). But of course the media doesnt always report exactly what happened.
For a refusing to sign a speeding ticket,that is insane. If she is out of control and can not be subdued, it is better than shooting her.
I have to say it depends entirely on the situation. In the one listed above, well, that did not seem to warrant a taser. But if she were holding hostages or robbing a bank, well, yeah, that would seem to warrant being tasered.
I guess they need to use their best judgement. They could’ve cuffed her, right? I mean, if she was holding a grenade, shoot her leg or something. In this situation it would be tricky.
@one_trached_momma - Yes. That’s horrid!
I didn’t mean “once” as in “one time.” I meant “once” as in: the cop should only taser someone after they have been threatened.
@devilscrayon - I see you removed your comment to me. Thank you.
Not if she deserved it.
Yes.
@SunnyMitsu - I couldn’t take out curse words with editing so I opted to delete the whole thing.
I still mean what I said about the breadth and depth of your ignorance… and that it was by far the dumbest thing I’ve read on the internet:
Actually….you know what…
I
think the cop should ask the woman if she is pro-life or pro-choice.
If she is pro-life, the cop is technically tasering a poor, helpless
unborn child and tasering should no be allowed. But if the woman is
pro-choice, her grouping of cells shouldn’t factor into whether or not
she gets tasered!
Its wrong to taser ANYONE just for the simple fact that she wouldn’t sign the ticket. She was of no threat to him. Does anyone know what happened with the UCLA taser case? I haven’t heard about it in awhile.
besides her being pregnant, I don’t think the cops should have used a taser at all. She was not endangering anyone, just that she did not want to step out of the car and she refused to sign the ticket.
On the cops part it sees he used excessive force because it she was only going 31 miles per hour in a school zone which is 20.
I don’t know the effect on babies that are tasered still in the womb but it seems the baby came out to be healthy.
… people get tasered for ‘not signing’ things? are you kidding? youre fast deteriorating into a police state over there it seems, thats sickening. Stuff like that should only be for extreme situations where an officer fears for their safety or the safety of another member of the public.
The police are there to keep the public safe, not to terrorise them.
Of course it’s wrong, there is no telling what kind of damage it might have done to the baby.
@devilscrayon - Well, I am sorry that you are so quick to judge me. And I’m sorry that you allow yourself to call people you have never met or talked to such harsh names.
Those who read my comments often or talk with me understand that I like to make fun of issues that are deeply disagreed upon and overly discussed – like the aboriton issue.
If you want to keep your opinion of me as an ignorant idiot..iIf you can’t take it as satirical humor now that I have explained that my comment was…that is fine, since I don’t know you anyway.
thats is crazy , how could u taser a pregnant woman, just from her being pregnant shes not that song, there could have been a different way he could have dealt with the situation.
Of course, what is she going to do… run ?
In most areas you do not have to sign the ticket, nor can they force you into signing it. Read the fine print. The way some police forces get around this is by having a disclaimer that states that your signature in no way admits your guilt, only that you received the ticket and are aware of why you are getting it. I would be very interested to learn how this case turned out because I suspect that this particular police force got a huge lawsuit, not just for tasering a pregnant woman, but perhaps for trying to force her to sign the ticket in the first place. However, the woman was pretty stupid and probably escalated the incident into a confrontational one instead of just signing the ticket. By the way, I have politely asked police officers why I needed to sign a ticket (long time ago) and they were nice enough to give me an answer. It is all in how you come across as well.
duh.
@SunnyMitsu - you came up with the idiot part on your own.
It was completely wrong for him to taser her for that reason ANYWAY, let alone being pregnant.
Also, considering that’s a viable child at that point, he’s essentially tasering another person who has nothing to do with the crime (the baby) so yeah, wicked wrong even legally.
That’s why all these guys who kill their very pregnant wives get charged with TWO homicides. Because the child is survivable outside of the womb, so it’s the same as killing (hurting, etc.) an infant, which is a separate crime.
Ouch.
You purposely made it controversial by comparing a large black man and a pregnant woman. The only reason people found it horrible to use a taser on a pregnant woman is because it would be dangerous to the baby’s health.
i personaly feel that was wrong something could have happen to the baby man
First off, I would think its wrong but what if she was being beligerant and out of control? He shouldnt tase her for Not signing the ticket….he can just leave the ticket in her car or mail it to her home. Now…if she evaded arrest, tasing, dropkicking her….is fair.
Pregnant women are Not above the law
If women are pregnant and murder someone, they can actually get away with it in most places, because of the argument that their hormones are completely out of whack. Of course, they’re declared unable to care for the child based on mental abnormalities, so it gets taken away when its born. If a woman can get away with murder based on hormones, what about the hormones driving them to do some other crime they normally wouldn’t do?
Not to mention, tasering a pregnant woman is tasering an infant.
Personally, if I were that woman, and my baby suffered ANY abnormality (physical or mental), I would so blame it on that cop and the precinct, and sue their asses off for everything they had. And that’s assuming it survived. If it didn’t, then hell, I’d be after them for killing my baby.
If you’re 8 months along, it’s pretty much assumed you want the baby, and tasering that woman and potentially harming the baby is dead wrong, just like tasering old people who could have a pacemaker and may die from a jolt.
Added:::::
The lady should be aware and more careful since she is carrying a child. If mothers can abstain from drinking caffeine such as soda……..they CAN abide the law and not get themselves in a situation where they need to be tased.
And if they are tased…..CPS should look into taking her child from her since that Mind of hers cant be smart enough to know that…..
She is, in fact, herself putting the baby’s health in danger. SHE is doing it. She is wrong
yes. point blank period…its not like she’s carrying an alien or whatever or something not of the heterogenic DNA of mankind…soo yea…its def wrong…
I think he was out of line. He wouldn’t have drawn a gun on the woman so why did he tase her?
FUCKING COP. dumb dick
@oOBuBBLes711Oo - she didn’t get herself into a position to be tased. the cop put her in that position.
why do women always feel that they should take responsibility for someone else’s actions?
the cop tased her for a situation that did not require it.
@oOBuBBLes711Oo - yes, let’s take away YOUR baby, cause you were drive 32 miles per hour. let’s blow this situation more out of proportion. that is they right idea.
in other news… if u haven’t heard yet, i guess the iphone-glitch couple ended up getting a divorce
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1952067.ece
@devilscrayon - Yes. It’s true that you did not say IDIOT. I used that word in replace of the word “dumb” which is the word you used.
why not taser her? if the person is not cooperating she should receive no quarter. send the bolt.
uh yea.
I’ve seen/heard too many stories about tasers being used when they weren’t needed.
Yes, that’s terrible. A fall is very dangerous for a pregnant woman – it could cause a miscarriage (which would kill a person that hadn’t done ANYTHING wrong…yet). Thus, tasering a pregnant woman is far more dangerous than tasering someone else.
Er, yeah.
I’ve seen enough true life cop shows (lol) to know that most of the time when people get tasered in the back, they usually fall on their face. So no, I don’t think an 8 month old pregnant woman should have been tasered. If she fell full force on her stomach, her baby would die or be seriously injured and that would be bad.
@cre13 - if i might comment, the public might frown upon it because of how it “looks” but i think pregnant women shouldnt be tasered because of HELLOOO health conditions?! that dose of electricity already may or maynot cause damage to or kill the lady (yes adult sized people have been killed by tasers) but what about the unborn baby who is much smaller?? that baby could be killed!! its pregnant ladies should not be tasered because of health complications and the increased risk to the baby and the mama’s health. DUH.
@slit_the_light - don’t duh at me, that’s not nice.
The health problems are a wonderful reason NOT to tase a pregnant woman. But because of what the public thinks about what it looks like? THAT’s stupid. And that’s all I was saying.
on a separate independent comment, i think cops are too trigger happy with the tasers in general.
How about NOT hiring scrawny little wimps who don’t even have the strength to restrain a pregnant woman without causing physical harm to her? If they could do that, the only person at fault would have been her.
you shouldn’t taser anyone- it’s just cruel.
@cre13 - i must have misunderstood, it appeared that you were supporting the “don’t taser pregnant ladies just because it looks bad” arguement.
but im sure theres people out there that missed the health risks and simply said that it looks bad. that comment is for them.
@marsianer - never mind. i found who that comment should have been directed at instead. (just for the record, marsianer, i would say this next bit to your face if i could see it, and i really wish i could)
yes, lets invent yet another form of abortion. give the piggy permission to murder the innocent baby. YOU DUMBASS!!
@slit_the_light - no big deal. it’s hard to tell exactly what people mean sometimes online.
@TheWireChecker - some people are dangerous and may willingly show intent to harm a cop, i can see where the taser comes in.
women 8 months pregnant, not signing a speeding ticket, just no. they do not fall into that category.
I think tasers are over-used with police officers anyways. I mean its not to be used at a means of cooperation. That’s wrong.
Tasering a pregnant woman… I don’t think so. I mean, do we really know the affects of it? Could it cause early labor or a miscarriage if early in pregnancy? I mean, it could potentially cause harm to the fetus couldn’t it?
i don’t think tasering anyone is right in that kind of a situation.
I really think it would depend if it were a life threatening situation, but overall – nope.
wtf shes pregnant of course cops shouldnt taser her
Yes, it’s wrong to taser a pregnant woman. Not because she is a special person, but because it must affect the baby.
Refusing to sign a ticket shouldn’t require a tasering anyway.
They changed their guidelines “for dealing with children, the elderly and handicapped” too, huh? I sincerely hope they weren’t tasering THOSE people before. -_-
aside from the fact that she’s pregnant, nobody should be caused physical harm for refusing to sign a ticket. although, in any other case, a pregnant woman should be dealt with in the gentlest of ways because any harm to her could cause harm to an innocent infant.
They taser too many people, period.
Does the baby feel it? At 8 months along I can’;t imagine it not being able to…
Tasering should be a last resort. There are many ways to deal with aggressive people, restraining them without inflicting harm. Tasers should be used only when absolutely necessary. Honestly, having been pregnant myself not that long ago I can’t see what an 8 month old pregnant woman could’ve been doing that threatened a cop enough to feel he had to use a taser on her. Seems like an abuse of power more than anything.
Shit no I don’t think it’s wrong to tazer some empregger’d hussy who probably deserved it anyway. She was obviously some uppity bitch if she wouldn’t sign the goddamn ticket like a reasonable human being, and was probably getting all “sassy mostefa” in the officer’s face if he tazer’d her to begin with. I mean, just because some slut spreads her legs for anything wearing pants means that 8 months later she gets to get out of a ticket just because the cop should be too much of a wuss to put her future juvenille delinquent hellion-spawn at risk by tazering her criminal mumsy into proper law-abiding civilian order? You know it and I know it, no officer of the law is going to go around intentionally harming a pregger’d woman, unless she is being a giant fuckin’ pain in the arse, and even then, she must have been over and beyond the call of being a giant fucking bitch for him to have done that, so yes, she should have been tazed until her fucking eyes bled, that’s my opinion.
hmm wouldn’t that cause the potential for death to the fetus? high doses of electricity is not safe for fetuses. what about causing unstoppable contractions that cause a premature fetal birth? seems like one of those moments where a call for backup would have been waaaaaay smarter.
besides how was it justifiable? refusing to sign a ticket is grounds for arrest but unless violent resistance (from a fat 8 mo preggers woman, really?) is taking place.
Yes. Are these policemen stupid? A pregnant woman is almost completely defenseless. What good would it do to taser her? Police are a bunch of wusses if you ask me considering they have to use a taser to take down a pregnant woman.
a bit harsh, but she didn’t coaperate with the officer.
not sure, i lean a bit to the pregnant woman’s scar, but the law is there for a reason (even if it’s harsh alot of times)
If she were threatening the officer or the public, yes. The alternative would be a mace, a stick, or a gun. The taser may be the best of those evils.
I would sue the crap out of the police department if they tazered me while pregnant! That is soooo wrong!
@SuperSafe68 - The point is that it harms the baby too. The tazer can cause the pregnant mother to move in an uncontrollable fashion and could lead to her traumatizing her abdomen and the baby. Plus, any stress mom feels, the baby feels as well. And, refusing to sign a ticket is not a felony. They could charge her without her signature, so it’s not as if she did something that harmed anyone.
Well, a pregnant woman should not be getting involved in activities that could cause her to get tasered. Yes, the police should take the woman’s condition into consideration since she has an unborn child inside of her, but that should not be the end all be all. If they start making exceptions for some, before too long, they’ll need to make exceptions for so many others. But again, police should use proper discression.
I think we’re only hearing one side of this story.
I’m sure the officer would have told the woman that he was gonna taser her if she failed to comply. It’s not like some cowboy movie where he draws and shoots. If the woman did not want to sign, could he not have taken her to the station? Same to the woman, could she not have requested to call someone (husband, friend, another cop) or offered to go down to the station to clear it up?
I’d say yes just because of how susceptible the fetus must be. It’s like… electro-abortion.
Sick. It’s just another example of how cops are abusing their powers which they already have too much of anyway. She wasn’t a threat, so what possible reason could he have to taser her? Because she pissed him off? He should have his badge taken away and be put in jail.
Tasers are too dangerous to use as a tool of forced cooperation, unless that person is obviously dangerous. A pregnant woman speeding 12 miles over the speed limit does nto qualilfy. She was in the wrong, but there were better ways to handle the situation. It would have taken more paper work, but they had her information, all they had to do was issue a warrant later. More of a hassle, less painful and less likely the judge will throw it out. Police officers are acting like scared little sissies. Unless the woman poses a threat (like serious bodily harm) there is no reason to tase her, especially if you have more than one cop there.
Was she big and black?
if she is breaking the law, yes.
Being pregnant myself, I’m not sure. If I was doing something worse than just not signing a ticket, then yeah sure taser me. But if I’m just not signing a ticket, I don’t think they should taser me or any pregnant woman. It could seriously hurt the baby. But I don’t know what to think. I’m between the two at the moment and can’t make up my mind.
Yeah, not signing it DOES NOT deserve a taser.
Seriously, rodney king pops in my head.
@slit_the_light - i see your point and i agree- i just wish there was a better way then taser happy cops electrocuting people. A pregnant woman isn’t a threat- really who is she gonna hurt? If she tryed to run how far is she really gonna get?
“It just doesn’t look good to the public.” –Sheriff
Which? Not signing the ticket or tasering a woman who is VERY pregnant?
REMEMBER FOLKS: SHERIFFS ARE ELECTED TO OFFICE!!!!!!!
Voting for Sheiff is as important — and in many cases, more important – as voting for President of the USA. As vote the people, so do the lawmen….
I fucking hate cops even more now.
Bacon with fire arms, that’s all they are.
yes.
but sometimes… some people who have special circumstances think they can get away with stuff.
I did some research on the subject and the odds of actually injuring the unborn child are slim. I’d say around 8% at best.
Still, if I were the officer in question I would not want to take that chance.
I was under the impression that tasering was supposed to be used ONLY when an officer felt his own safety was threatened. So was this cop a fag? Was this irate pregnant women too much for him to handle? What about a call for backup? I hope the cop was fired. (you only got one eprop Dan for running a rerun article)
The big question is what did this lady do to deserve getting tased? If she was doing something that warranted being tased is she fit to raise the child?
Uh, tasering anyone for not signing a ticket is abuse of power. It doesn’t matter if the ticket is signed by the person receiving it. It matters only that the reporting officer sign it. The guy was just an asshole with a 10000 volt dick…
Doesn’t seem right to me, however, the bottom line is that you comply with authorities.
Well, it’s not like she was carrying a huge rifle in her hand with knives in the insides of her jacket, and a bomb in her other hand. All she did was refuse to sign a ticket; the officer’s life was not at risk. Even if she wasn’t pregnant, she still shouldn’t have been tased.
@Annalovesjustin - well, all that matters is the child wasn’t inflicted with anything when birthed.
Tasers, whether used on pregnant women or
“large black men,” were supposed to be nonlethal alternatives to
firearms, not an officer’s personal cattle-prod.
@ChrisRusso -
Exactly.
Good God; yes, it’s wrong! Unless that cop was in imminent peril of his life from that expectant mother in some way, he should never have used any method to subdue her that might have harmed her unborn child. A taser’s charge can knock down a large man in good physical condition. Can you imagine what effect it might well have had on the child in the womb? That was not just irresponsibility on the policeman’s part. That was criminal negligence and endangerment of a child. If I’d been his shift supervisor, he would have seen his last day on the force right then and there.
yeah, cause it could be harmful to the baby.
@ChrisRusso - agreed, you win best comment. there haqs been a dramatic increase in taserings, where before cops used to tap presure points, now they tase. problem is, there is no volume control on the taser. a nightstick/flashlight can be wilded with more or less force as required, but the taser has about as much restraint as a handgun.
Depends… did th bitch deserve it?
Probably……
I think it’s silly to taser someone simply because she was unwilling to sign a stupid piece of paper. The smart thing to do would have been to issue another ticket for being uncooperative.
@awokenfatality - She wasn’t armed or dangerous. She just wouldn’t get out of her car to sign a speeding ticket that she that she felt was not deserved. She was posing no threat to the officer. She was a pregnant lady sitting in her car with her child.
A pregnant woman should not be tasered. It is a risk to the life of her baby. That officer could have handcuffed her and removed her from the car if he felt it was that important.
horrible stuff.
@Riftsong - She was also charged for resisting arrest, they can’t really prove it but they can’t deny it. She shouldn’t have been speeding anyways.
Wouldn’t that affect the baby? Yea…. maybe not so smart to taser a pregnant woman. And as to the situation, is it appropriate to tase someone because they won’t sign a ticket?? What was the cop thinking? Cops are getting taser happy nowadays. “Don’t tase me, bro!’
That’s just wrong… on so many levels.
Unless she was trying to physically harm someone, then maybe…But even then, there are ways of handling it, rather than tasering the woman! Geez…Just another reason why I hate the police.