Don't Taze my Granny!

[Drolefille]

Another article with more and relevant information omitted in the original (still shouldn't taze the old lady)

Police have admitted using a Taser to incapacitate the suicidal woman Dec. 22. Officer Duran wrote in a police report she pulled a kitchen knife from under her pillow and threatened to kill him. "I tried talking to Varner and calm her down but nothing would work," he reported.

The officer reported she took "a more aggressive posture on the bed" when other officers arrived. He reported she raised the knife above her head and said, "If you come any closer, you're getting the knife." He reported he feared she would injure someone.

Police went to the apartment Dec. 22 after her grandson called 911 for a paramedic to check on her. "She says ... her life is over. She wants to end it. ... She's taken some medicine. I don't know what she's taken," Tinsley said in the 911 call. "I can't get her to tell me what she took. ... She's kind of upset and everything else."
...
Duran reported Varner had looked him in the eyes after he arrived at the apartment and said to him, "If you try and get the knife I will stab you and kill you. I killed four Japs in World War II and I would not bat an eye killing you."

Duran also reported, Varner talked of killing police again after being taken to Parkview Hospital in El Reno. "Varner told me she was going to kill every officer that was in her apartment when she got out. Varner told me she was going to snap my neck like a twig just like she did during World War II."

Varner's attorney, Dell, said both Varner and the grandson said she told police to leave her apartment but they deny she threatened to kill officers. They also denied that she talked in the apartment of killing Japanese.

The grandson "said she didn't say anything like that at all at the apartment," the attorney said.

The grandson recalled she did say things at the hospital about having killed Japanese but "there was never any threats to the cops," the attorney said.


Read more: Source

[PiKA2001]

Hmmm....

[RU OX Alum]

I bet the cops are lying.

[navane]

Speaking as a Firefighter-EMT, I'm suspicious of the fact that the grandson called 911 asking for a Paramedic and 10 police officers showed up instead. That doesn't make sense to me. I can see one patrol car arriving on account of the report that she may have been suicidal....but 10 officers? And there's no mention of Paramedics having gotten there first? No, something's wrong there.

I have a feeling that the grandson told the dispatcher about granny's knife, or the dispatcher could hear gran screaming about killing in the background, and that's why half the police dept showed up. I mean, dispatchers do get stuff wrong sometimes, but this seems like a case where gran went off the deep end and the police were called for the assist. (For safety, law enforcement needs to clear the scene before firefighters or ambulance crew are allowed to come in).

I doubt that the police intentionally stepped on her oxygen tubing; it was probably an accident given all of the commotion. Though, because they are not likely EMTs, they probably didn't think to be more gentle with her when grabbing at her skin.

I'd be interested to listen to the tape of the 911 call.

.....Kelly

[Kevin]

newsok.com has the recording. No crazy granny in the background.

El Reno is a special place.

[Drolefille]

We have specially trained police here who come out with the EMTs for psych calls. Even when coming to one of our agency sites, they don't bring 10 people - so that's beyond weird - and we have suicidal people all the time. But we bring them onsite, and take some of our clients out there to talk to them about our clients' experiences.

Also included in their training is having them take a test, while listening to consistent "voices" over headphones and occasionally having someone yell at them. Welcome to some our paranoid schizophrenic individuals' lives.

Sounds like this police dept. has had trouble before though.

[Kevin]

From what I'm hearing, the caller was a known entity.

Still, I think a lot has to happen before the police department's behavior is understandable.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Kevin

From what I'm hearing, the caller was a known entity.

Still, I think a lot has to happen before the police department's behavior is understandable.

Hey, most of my clients are known entities too

But, I agree I just hope that they are forced to fully explain their actions, preferably in front of a judge at this point.

However, while the police can take you to the ER to be evaluated, I don't know of any place in the US where the police can admit someone to a psych ward or hospital and then require someone to stay. Those decisions are made by a doctor and there are standards that have to be met to involuntarily admit someone even just for an observation period.

Unless the cops and docs have some sort of (unethical) deal where they auto-admit anyone the cops bring in, or the cops lied, she probably needed to be in the hospital and grandson should stop whining about that. (Hello, suicidal.)