Nor I ... but then, apparently unlike our friend, neither of us looks like this:
Posted on 09/19/2007 8:44:43 AM PDT by Cagey
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- A Clay County woman's family said it's seeking justice after their loved one died shortly after being shocked 10 times with Taser guns during a confrontation with police.
The family of 56-year-old Emily Delafield said it would take the Green Cove Springs Police Department to court, according to a WJXT-TV report.
In April 2006, officers with the police department said they were called to a disturbance at a home in the 400 block of Harrison Street just before 5 p.m.
In a 911 call made to the Green Cove Springs, Delafield can be heard telling a dispatcher that she believed she was in danger:
Dispatcher: And what's the problem?
Delafield: My sister is waiting on my property.
Dispatcher: Your what?
Delafield: My sister (inaudible) is on my property trying to harm me.
Officers said they arrived to find Delafield in a wheelchair, armed with two knives and a hammer. Police said the woman was swinging the weapons at family members and police.
Within an hour of her call to 911, Delafield, a wheelchair-bound woman documented to have mental illness, was dead.
Family attorney Rick Alexander said Delafield's death could have been prevented and that there are four things that jump out at him about the case.
"One, she's in a wheelchair. Two, she's schizophrenic. Three, they're using a Taser on a person that's in a wheelchair, and then four is that they tasered her 10 times for a period of like two minutes," Alexander said.
According to a police report, one of the officers used her Taser gun nine times for a total of 160 seconds and the other officer discharged his Taser gun once for a total of no more than five seconds.
A medical examiner found Delafield died from hypertensive heart disease and cited the Taser gun shock as a contributing factor, the report said. On her death certificate, the medical examiner ruled Delafield's death a homicide.
The family said it plans to sue the Green Coves Springs Police Department now that it has all the reports regarding their loved one's death.
"We're going to try to compensate the estate and the family and try to get justice," Alexander said.
He said he believes the evidence weighs heavily in favor of Delafield's family and that justice will be served.
"I think that this evidence is going to show, along with some of the evidence we've collected outside of here, that there is no reason Emily Delafield should have died that day," Alexander said.
He said he plans to file a notice to sue sometime before the end of the year.
Here’s another bone to chew on.
She had hypertensive heart disease. Well, if you know anyone with heart problems, they are often unreasonable because they don’t get enough O2 to their brains.
I also remember seeing an episode of Cops with a man very difficult to subdue because he was a diabetic going through a hypoglycemic episode. The cops thought he was a belligerant drunk.
Do I expect a cop to risk their lives simply because a person is ill? No. Do I expect them to use reasonable common sense? Yes. An old lady in a wheelchair is NOT a severe risk. If nothing else, she could be waited out.
Nor I ... but then, apparently unlike our friend, neither of us looks like this:
If you have a heart condition and a cop tells you to drop the knife you are swinging at people, maybe you should do it.
Suicide by cop.
Maybe you would like to volunteer for the job. Maybe she should have just dropped the knife. I am amazed how Americans have become conditioned to coddle criminal behavior. We are like sheep.
I have diabetes, I pray that I never get in an extreme hypoglycemic state and become disoriented or in some sort of stupor, else I might not OBEY some pissant with a badge immediately and find myself shot and killed and then to add insult to injury my family can read the majority of FReepers here who have forgotten to read the name of the forum, FREE REPUBLIC, not POLICE STATE REPUBLIC. I’ll probably have been asking for it.
I have long believed that the worst thing you can do is to call the Po-Po on a mentally ill family member.
I’m reminded of another case where a family called the police after their schizophrenic son was in the kitchen with a knife.
The family waited outside for the police to arrive and informed him of the situation. They clearly told the cop that nobody else was inside, but the cop charged in and was “forced” to shoot their son.
The officer clearly escalated the situation (yes) and then claimed self defense.
It’s just not worth it.
It’s not that cops are lazy, it’s because cops are REQUIRED by department PROCEDURE and POLICIES to use the stinking tazer.
I was nearly written up for not using my tazer. I choked a man who was armed with a handgun. The only reason I was not written up (our department says that the choke is ‘deadly force’) is because my POS taser was broke and being repaired.
I have no confidence in the taser. Cops all over the nation are now going to be held responsible for using the taser per dept. policy. And that’s wrong.
No wonder cops don’t want to do anything anymore.
“and a ‘family’ looking for an easy payday.”
Having a family member murdered by the state is “an easy payday”?!?
Cops used to be trained at this, and it shouldn’t be a big deal to disarm an old lady.
Unfortunately, the taser breeds laziness (along with EO hiring) and here’s a good example.
You know what you're problem is? You're just too open minded! LOL
I give you a great deal of credit for following the thread and hearing experiences from others here. It's a rare thing you did and I admire that.
When I was younger I too thought the police could do no wrong. I've experienced first hand some really bad policing where absolute power corrupted. I still maintain that most cops are hard working folks who really want to do the right thing but like any profession, some do go bad. And, because of the position they are in they have the utmost responsibility to enforce the law in a just and legal manner.
New Orleans probably had the most corrupt police force in the country and there are many examples of police brutality and unlawful shakedowns in that city.
Thank you. I must say that I learn more from FRiends on this website than you can imagine. Sometimes a good swift kick of reality is a good thing.
Thats going a bit to far, they should've just used wheelchair spike strips.
Did you skip over the part referencing her mental illness?
I can't believe how cold and callous some people are.
New procedures are being put into effect for situations involving schizophrenic, knife and hammer wielding, wheelchair bound paraplegics. Look under W for wheelchair bound, or K for knife wielding...
No. Son should have dropped the knife. You don’t invite armed people into that kind of situation. You handle it yourself or you accept that gunplay will ensue.
I used to work in EMS. Armed crazy people are NOT safe. They will kill you.
(and those rookies wonder why salty veteran POLICE keep that net and trident in the trunk of battered patrolcars.....)
5.56mm
Your exactly right. We were given tasers because the department doesn’t want us putting our hands on anybody anymore. The reason? Everybody thinks they can do exactly as they please and when they are arrested they sue the police department.
They all long for the “good old days” but when the police use “good old days” force they run to their lawyers and the newspapers crying like little girls.
It’d suit me if people didn’t call the police, handle it themselves.
keep reading the posts...
It was a woman that tasered her 9 times. The male police officer tased her once.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.