Friday, April 14, 2006
Tazers Used to Subdue Disturbed Woman and To Kill Loose Cow
Remember how we’ve been told that tazer guns are only used to subdue the most violent criminals? Hm...and I remember how SWAT teams were only going to be used in very special, extra-dangerous situations with armed and murderous criminals. That goes along with the famous “it’ll be a slam-dunk” line about Iraq.
Everything that goes on is for our own good. We’re told that over and over. And how the government—particularly law-enforcement—is out to help us feel more secure, safer in our homes and day-to-day activities: “To Protect and To Serve.” But not to deal intelligently with the emotionally disturbed or—cows.
Here are a couple of stories about the reality:
Taser used to get woman to leave mayor's office
Shreveporter insisted on meeting with Hightower, who was said to be out until Monday
April 14, 2006
BY THE NUMBERS
50,000: volts of electricity a Taser delivers.
21: greatest distance, measured in feet, a Taser can be deployed at a target.
5: seconds a Taser model X26 can be used before automatically shutting off.
By Joel Anderson
joelanderson@gannett.com
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060414&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=304140007&SectionCat=NEWS&Template=printart
Yolanda Shamp was going to wait however long it took Thursday to meet with Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower.
Problem was the mayor wasn’t there, and his office was about to close for the day.
Shamp still wanted an audience with Hightower. And she didn't leave her seat on the second floor of Government Plaza until an officer zapped her with a Taser.
The 36-year-old Shreveport woman eventually was booked into Shreveport City Jail on one count each of entering and remaining after being forbidden and resisting an officer. Her bond was set at $508.
Witnesses told police that Shamp arrived at the mayor’s office about 4 p.m. seeking a meeting with Hightower. When told that the mayor wouldn’t return to the office until Monday, Shamp reportedly said she would wait until he arrived.
Shamp sat on a bench outside the office even though the mayor’s assistants repeatedly told her that a meeting wasn’t going to happen, said Liz Swaine, Hightower's executive assistant.
Still, Shamp waited.
“She wouldn’t tell anybody why she was here or what her issue was,” Swaine said.
When Shamp refused to leave when the office closed for the day at 5 p.m., Swaine called police to intervene.
Officers tried coaxing Shamp out of the building. When that didn’t work, they warned her that she would be arrested and subdued with a Taser if she didn’t comply with their orders.
“I’m not going to leave,” Shamp allegedly said, according to Swaine.
An officer tried to lift Shamp out of the chair, warning her that he would use a Taser on her if she continued struggling. He finally used the Taser, Swaine said, knocking Shamp to the floor on impact.
“She was screaming real loud and she was on the ground,” Swaine said. “It was very disturbing. You never really know what to feel when something like that happens.”
Emergency workers at the scene determined Shamp wasn’t injured during the arrest.
When asked if she had any comment as she was led out of the building in handcuffs, Shamp stopped and said: “I’m Valerie Plame of the CIA.”
Once outside the building, Shamp wriggled free from the grasp of an officer and started yelling at her son, who arrived shortly after she was arrested. Shamp quickly was placed back in custody and driven to the City Jail.
Shamp's son Cartavian Shamp said his mother suffered some sort of mental problem three years ago but wouldn’t go into further detail.
Antonea Wesley, a stepsister of Yolanda Shamp and custodian at Government Plaza, didn’t even recognize Shamp as she was being escorted out of the building in handcuffs. Shamp seemed fine when they had spoken Monday, Wesley said.
“I’ve never seen her act like that before. She’s never done anything like this.“
©The Times
April 14, 2006
_______________________________
MSNBC.com
If you zap a cow enough times, it’ll die
Bovine in traffic takes big on-ramp to sky after deputies stun it repeatedly
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:33 p.m. ET April 14, 2006
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - Sheriff's deputies killed a cow that wandered into traffic near a shopping mall by repeatedly shocking it with a stun gun.
The animal escaped Wednesday from a field near the mall and eventually trotted onto a freeway ramp.
Deputies decided to stun the cow and tie its legs with a long leather strap ordinarily used to restrain people. But the cow quickly recovered from the initial electric shock, and deputies zapped it repeatedly.
"We're not cowboys. I don't believe we have any rodeo champions on staff," said Sgt. Dave Reagan, a spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff's Department.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12307242/
Everything that goes on is for our own good. We’re told that over and over. And how the government—particularly law-enforcement—is out to help us feel more secure, safer in our homes and day-to-day activities: “To Protect and To Serve.” But not to deal intelligently with the emotionally disturbed or—cows.
Here are a couple of stories about the reality:
Taser used to get woman to leave mayor's office
Shreveporter insisted on meeting with Hightower, who was said to be out until Monday
April 14, 2006
BY THE NUMBERS
50,000: volts of electricity a Taser delivers.
21: greatest distance, measured in feet, a Taser can be deployed at a target.
5: seconds a Taser model X26 can be used before automatically shutting off.
By Joel Anderson
joelanderson@gannett.com
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060414&Category=NEWS03&ArtNo=304140007&SectionCat=NEWS&Template=printart
Yolanda Shamp was going to wait however long it took Thursday to meet with Shreveport Mayor Keith Hightower.
Problem was the mayor wasn’t there, and his office was about to close for the day.
Shamp still wanted an audience with Hightower. And she didn't leave her seat on the second floor of Government Plaza until an officer zapped her with a Taser.
The 36-year-old Shreveport woman eventually was booked into Shreveport City Jail on one count each of entering and remaining after being forbidden and resisting an officer. Her bond was set at $508.
Witnesses told police that Shamp arrived at the mayor’s office about 4 p.m. seeking a meeting with Hightower. When told that the mayor wouldn’t return to the office until Monday, Shamp reportedly said she would wait until he arrived.
Shamp sat on a bench outside the office even though the mayor’s assistants repeatedly told her that a meeting wasn’t going to happen, said Liz Swaine, Hightower's executive assistant.
Still, Shamp waited.
“She wouldn’t tell anybody why she was here or what her issue was,” Swaine said.
When Shamp refused to leave when the office closed for the day at 5 p.m., Swaine called police to intervene.
Officers tried coaxing Shamp out of the building. When that didn’t work, they warned her that she would be arrested and subdued with a Taser if she didn’t comply with their orders.
“I’m not going to leave,” Shamp allegedly said, according to Swaine.
An officer tried to lift Shamp out of the chair, warning her that he would use a Taser on her if she continued struggling. He finally used the Taser, Swaine said, knocking Shamp to the floor on impact.
“She was screaming real loud and she was on the ground,” Swaine said. “It was very disturbing. You never really know what to feel when something like that happens.”
Emergency workers at the scene determined Shamp wasn’t injured during the arrest.
When asked if she had any comment as she was led out of the building in handcuffs, Shamp stopped and said: “I’m Valerie Plame of the CIA.”
Once outside the building, Shamp wriggled free from the grasp of an officer and started yelling at her son, who arrived shortly after she was arrested. Shamp quickly was placed back in custody and driven to the City Jail.
Shamp's son Cartavian Shamp said his mother suffered some sort of mental problem three years ago but wouldn’t go into further detail.
Antonea Wesley, a stepsister of Yolanda Shamp and custodian at Government Plaza, didn’t even recognize Shamp as she was being escorted out of the building in handcuffs. Shamp seemed fine when they had spoken Monday, Wesley said.
“I’ve never seen her act like that before. She’s never done anything like this.“
©The Times
April 14, 2006
_______________________________
MSNBC.com
If you zap a cow enough times, it’ll die
Bovine in traffic takes big on-ramp to sky after deputies stun it repeatedly
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:33 p.m. ET April 14, 2006
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. - Sheriff's deputies killed a cow that wandered into traffic near a shopping mall by repeatedly shocking it with a stun gun.
The animal escaped Wednesday from a field near the mall and eventually trotted onto a freeway ramp.
Deputies decided to stun the cow and tie its legs with a long leather strap ordinarily used to restrain people. But the cow quickly recovered from the initial electric shock, and deputies zapped it repeatedly.
"We're not cowboys. I don't believe we have any rodeo champions on staff," said Sgt. Dave Reagan, a spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff's Department.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12307242/
