Posted on 05/29/2010 10:19:58 AM PDT by Drew68
OLYMPIA — Sarah Harris goes through the motions of her day trying hard not to think about what life was like a year ago — or what it would be like now if not for "the incident."
She feels guilty leaving the house, even if only for a couple of hours to visit her mom or sister, to run errands, or go grocery shopping. She still cries every night.
Her husband, the first boy she kissed and the only man she's ever loved, suffered a catastrophic brain injury when his head slammed into a concrete wall after a brief footchase with two King County sheriff's deputies on Mother's Day 2009. He's now confined to bed, unable to talk, walk or do anything for himself.
Christopher Sean Harris spent six weeks at Harborview Medical Center, where his family was encouraged to remove him from life support because doctors didn't think he'd ever come out of a coma. But he did, and was transferred to an Edmonds nursing home in June.
Sarah Harris, who worked as a manager for Nordstrom and dreamed of becoming a buyer for the department store, gave up her job to care for her husband.
"I loved my job, and I miss it all the time," she said. "But I knew there was no way I could go back to work and leave him alone in a nursing home all day. There was no decision to even make."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
:) How would the following post be rated? (underlines by me)
Unfortunately do to medical reasons the answer may never be known. In this case the officer acted as Judge, Jury and executor.
According to the video, the police officers were dressed in standard uniforms with badges clearly visible on their chests and insignias on their sleeves. At least where I live all the local cops wear black uniforms. And since you noticed the suspects hands, you must have noticed that he threw something to the ground with his right hand right before he was hit. Perhaps that's why he was running.
now can you respond.
Tasers have been deadly in rare cases.
Did you notice that the suspect threw something down with his right hand right before he was hit? How did the officer know that wasn't a weapon in his hand?
And if the suspect wasn't so focused on dumping whatever it was, perhaps he would have taken a more defensive position rather than squaring up to match blows with 250 lbs of flying doughnuts.
Did you justify the actions of the police at Ruby Ridge or Waco?
Like getting hit by a Mack Truck.
"Tasers have been deadly in rare cases."
I should clarify my earlier comment about them. I said I wasn't a big fan of them. What I should have said is that I'm not a big fan of what seems to be becoming an increasingly frequent pattern of their indiscriminate misuse. Why it seems to me, from what I've read and seen of this instance, that a taser would have been appropriate here is because there was so much sketchy information. The article says police were responding to a "bloody" barfight..not a shooting, maybe a stabbing...the police didn't know if the guy was armed, much less if it was even the right guy. Certainly his running raised suspicion, but when you say he was "squaring up" with the officer, I think that's a pretty subjective interpretation. It's pretty apparent to me that he stopped and turned, about the time he didn't realize the cop wasn't going to stop or slow down and started raising his hands to brace him self more out of instinct than anything...just like anybody would if they saw someone twice their size charging at them at full speed.
Furthermore, if the cop suspected the thrown item was a weapon, the first thing he did in the seconds after getting to where the guy had dropped is to drag the so-called "fleeing felon" directly back to the thrown item! That's enough to convince me the cop wasn't even aware of the item or didn't have any suspicion it was a weapon.
Now back to my point about a taser...if he had used one here, the guy may well have smacked his head on the concrete (although I suspect it wouldn't have been with the same force) and even if it did end up with the exact same result, I'd be defending this officer instead of second guessing him.
Above and beyond the specifics of this officer's activity in this case, any person witnessing this video, or reading about this incident is going to have a greatly increased distrust and skepticism of the police. Any officer working this neighborhood, or any detective conducting a future canvass of the people who were there in future cases are going to get a lot less cooperation than they would otherwise. This officer has not only put the wrong guy in a bed for life, but he's elevated the community's mistrust of the police in general, and he's compounded the difficulty of the jobs of his fellow officers...and as far as I can tell didn't even get a written reprimand.
Benefit of the doubt has to be earned back after it is thrown away. Ditch the ninja suits and combat uniforms in order to have a voice at the table. Also, give more priority back to helping motorists with a flat tire in the dark over cruising for more tickets to write and y'all might garner back some of the public respect you threw away. And drive a standardized recognizable vehicle.
Americans desire public servants who enforce the law, not swaggering thugs enforcing the edicts of a political elite class. If you continue to act like the latter you will continue to garner more ridicule than praise.
That's a hint.
I think that a point that EVERYONE is missing is this young wife's dedication to her husband. That, in itself, is amazing. Catastrophic brain injury aside... imagine how lucky this young man is to have such a wife.
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
Just how many ‘collars’ have you made? Where were you a cop? In case you did not see the video, this suspect was not in custody, he was trying to evade Police custody and he clearly discarded SOMETHING from his pocket a split second he was pushed to the ground. As a former cop I am sure you can appreciate the Officers’ perspective, not knowing why this suspect was running or why he had his hands in his pocket. Judging from your perspective on what happened, I doubt that, If you were a cop, you encountered situations where you had to make a split second decision.
Clearly this man was attempting to run from the cops and he knew they were cops. He clearly discards something from his pocket as he slows down (But is still running not standing still) Like I first said, I am wasting my time with the Cop bashers here on FR. At least you have common sense.
The people who die from Tasers mostly die from the effect of the Taser, not hitting their heads.
even if it did end up with the exact same result, I'd be defending this officer instead of second guessing him.
All that means is you have a double standard. From what I can tell, more suspects die from Tasers than striking their heads after being subdued.
Above and beyond the specifics of this officer's activity in this case, any person witnessing this video, or reading about this incident is going to have a greatly increased distrust and skepticism of the police.
I'm in the group of "any person" and there are others who see that the officer's actions were justified. Criminals and other cop haters may think differently. I doubt if their opinions are changed by this incident.
This officer has not only put the wrong guy in a bed for life,
The severity of the accident was tragic, however if blame is to be placed it should be put on the suspect. He most likely was committing a crime, thus his primary concern was dumping evidence rather than protecting himself. Second, he was fleeing, which most likely was another crime and brought the legal use of force into play.
and as far as I can tell didn't even get a written reprimand.
Not surprising since he did nothing wrong.
BTW, why do you think the reporter failed to mention the object that was thrown to the ground? And why do you think she tried to portray the officers as not wearing easily identified uniforms?
"BTW, why do you think the reporter failed to mention the object that was thrown to the ground?"
BTW, why did you fail to address my remarks as to why the cop dragged the guy right to and on top of that object if he was so fearful that it might be a weapon or contraband?
When I first looked at the video I reacted to the hit on the wall based on some early comments. Reading more, you have to take the video in context.
They guy was slowing down as he sees the cop heading him off. He slows down, tosses the dope and faces the cop. The cop may even have reacted to the guy going to his pocket (thinking maybe a gun) and made sure the guy went to the ground. If you take time to think about why the guy is going for his pocket, you are dead if it is a gun.
It is a sad accident but bad things happen when you are a bad guy running from cops.
He is a minimum wage doper that lives with his father, father's gf and gf's kids. He should be trying to make a life for him and his wife instead of out drinking with buddies at all hours and paying buddies $60 to drive him to Seattle to get dope at 1 AM in the morning.
Accidents happen. It is best not to place yourself in the wrong place. He should have been home in Olympia with his wife instead of buying drugs in a dark alley in Seattle.
Your whole post is a rant not applicable to this case. They were not wearing ‘ninja’ suits. They were enforcing the law as we expect them to. If you don’t want the cops to keep control of street thugs and dopers, just say so. But I do.
Totally amazing considering that she was suppporting him before the injury and he was out spending the money on drinks and drugs and not at home with her.
Regardless, they still can be fatal. 245 deaths between 2001 and 2007. I wouldn't want to get hit with one.
The point is neither Tasers or knocking someone to the ground is considered lethal force, but tragic accidents do happen.
BTW, why did you fail to address my remarks as to why the cop dragged the guy right to and on top of that object if he was so fearful that it might be a weapon or contraband?
Once it was on the ground he could see it wasn't a weapon. But in the half second he had to react after seeing the suspect turn toward him with something in his hand he could have thought it was a weapon.
Your turn.
Uhhh... when you disobey a lawful order to stop and run from the Police then toss drugs on the ground you have alot of explaining to do.
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