As her husband begged them stop, Texas police repeatedly shot and Tasered a demented 67-year old

[AnotherMcIntosh]

wife holding a letter opener.

The husband said he called the Dallas Alzheimer's Association hotline after his wife became agitated with him while holding a letter opener. In his federal complaint, he said that the Dallas Alzheimer's Association then contacted Lewisville police without his consent.

When the police arrived, a police sergeant "immediately attempted to remove David from the back yard while holding an orange shotgun in his hand." When the husband saw the shotgun, he tried to explain that he could calm her down and that no force would be needed. As indicated in his complain, he repeatedly pleaded with the sergeant to "put the gun away."

The police ultimately shot her with less-than-lethal rounds several times, including after she managed to get back on her feet while trying to walk away from the officers. They also Tasered her twice.

"After an ambulance took Delores to the hospital, David says, the police "declared 'exigent circumstances' and searched their home against his objections."

"While David continued to shout his disapproval at the officers, he was told that they 'saved his ass today, ...'".

{One of the officers} "then called the Dallas Alzheimer's Association and reported that David could not take care of Delores."

The husband also stated that his wife's wrist was broken in two places and she needed 17 staples inserted for injuries inflicted by the police. In addition, and what the husband says is worse, is that the episode "increased the severity of her Alzheimer's and she now requires around-the-clock nursing staff."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/09/26/61509.htm

[gopiscrap]

1. This is one of the reasons why so many people hate cops

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. And a reason why some of us will never go to Texas.

What's wrong with the Texas cops?

Is it the heat? Or the water? Or the steroids?

[gopiscrap]

3. Exactly

[Th1onein]

5. They are overcompensating for a lack of........well....take a good guess.

[Unknown Beatle]

12. Is your hatred for Texas

so strong that it blinds you into seeing that police departments nationally have been militarized. The reality is that the police the nation over are out of control.

Until people start realizing that rogue police are running roughshod on citizens, no matter where you live, the more police take advantage of that fact.

[Eleanors38]

15. You're closer to the truth.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

16. You are misstating what I've said. But I've seen this before from you.

[Unknown Beatle]

21. How did I misstate you?

And a reason why some of us will never go to Texas.

What's wrong with the Texas cops?

Is it the heat? Or the water? Or the steroids?

I pointed out that it's just not a Texas problem but also with police nationwide. And I've seen dozens of posts from different people that since it's a Texas shooting or whatever, they specifically write something about Texas. "Well, what do you expect, it's Texas." "Is it any surprise that it happened in Texas." "Those crazy people from Texas." Not just involving cops but about anything negative that comes out of Texas. You get the point.

If it's happening in Texas, it's happening everywhere in the US.

Please be more specific, what have you seen from me before?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

29. I stated "What's wrong with the Texas cops?" You misstated that I have a "hatred for Texas".

At no time did I express a "hatred for Texas".

Nothing that I said justifies your false statement "Is your hatred for Texas so strong that ..."

We're done.

[kentauros]

34. This sentence alone:

"And a reason why some of us will never go to Texas." is easily construed as hate for Texas, because it is often used by the haters here on DU.

If you don't want to be accused of hating a state, restructure the way you write your sentences so that they cannot be misinterpreted that way.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

38. Why do you have a reading comprehension problem? Where did you go to school?

[kentauros]

42. No reading comprehension problem here.

However, I do have to ask, did you miss the following in my post, emboldened for easy discovery:

"And a reason why some of us will never go to Texas." is easily construed as hate for Texas, because it is often used by the haters here on DU.

If you don't want to be accused of hating a state, restructure the way you write your sentences so that they cannot be misinterpreted that way.

What part of what I said did you not understand or comprehend?

[indepat]

43. Have lived in Texas and gone to Florida on several occasion, but will never again set foot in

either state albeit out-of-control militarized police forces are as ubiquitous as loony obstructionist Republicans.

[tblue]

18. I didn't need another reason

but this alone would do it. When cops brutalize an Alzheimer's sufferer, especially if there is no recourse, I don't want to go there and I don't want anyone I love to set foot there. I did this month but only passing thru the airport -- where there's a Fox News store!!!!

[jsr]

4. Give them a medal for this heroic act against a 125-lb elderly woman with dementia

[pitbullgirl1965]

6. Remember the 95 yr old man?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023352849
What the hell? Old people, dogs, downs syndrome adults, they're thugs and bullies.

[Downwinder]

8. and the 107 year old

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1039302

[jsr]

10. Yep. Disgusting.

[Iggo]

41. We can call them "thugs" and "bullies" and a whole bunch of other stuff.

But right on the face of it, they are cowards.

They'd rather kill someone than do the dangerous job they signed up for.

I've said it a thousand times, and I'll say it here again: If you are too afraid to scrap with an old lady with a letter opener, then you're too much of a coward to be a cop. Please choose another profession.

[pitbullgirl1965]

44. A + Their job isn't even in the top 5 most deadly jobs n/t

[Downwinder]

7. Serve and protect.

They came after the youth,
Now the are after the aged and infirm,
Who will be next?

[gtar100]

9. So who hired these idiots and what other "heroic" actions have they taken?

This kind of shit doesn't just suddenly happen out of the blue. It seems that this town and towns all across the US need to rethink their idea of what a good police officer really is. And unfortunately the actions of the knuckledraggers at the bottom are just a reflection of those higher up the food chain. Though the police chief may or may not have been there, dollars to donuts he picked these idiots out precisely because they fit the profile of the idiots he needs. Seriously, the consequences have got to go upward because all the actions of these jackasses clearly indicates they have no business being police officers. So who gave them the job! And who gave the chief his position?

Come on all you good cops out there - you know who you are - doesn't this shit piss you off too? You want to be defined by all the lame ass jerks who have no business wearing a badge? The ones who operate out of ego and not good sense and a drive to help the community. What do you have to say about this travesty? If all of you don't speak out against this sort of behavior, then you deepen our distrust of you and you're no better than these dunces. We need *good* police officers, not idiots like these who do this kind of bullshit.

[bbgrunt]

11. It's clear that it is now SOP to just kill and/or torture

anyone considered a troublemaker of any kind--especially if they are one of the "useless eaters" who are old, sick, or poor.

[Gravitycollapse]

13. M.C.A.B.

[Comrade Grumpy]

14. It's time to call for a national commission on law enforcement standards and practices. n/t

[avaistheone1]

17. That really is an excellent idea.

Now that you mention it I can't understand why your idea isn't already being widely discussed.

Law enforcement is way out of control in many parts of this country.

k&r

[msanthrope]

33. Traditionally, two branches of government, the legislative and the judiciary,

have given wide latitude to local law enforcement. Why? Because our founding fathers after their experience with the Redcoats did not want to militarize a national police force. So federal authorities are restricted as to the policing of states, and our Federal Constitution is merely a floor when it comes to our civil rights---our states may grant us only more, not less.

Our federal judiciary has always made a point to respect the authority of local law enforcement. Why? because local police should be more directly responsible to the electorate that they work for..the state legislatures should bea responsive to their voters... thus the police are enforcing laws that have been enacted by legislators who are directly responsible to the people. This is seen as a closer civil tie to the will of the electorate then policing by an executive agency.

take a look at the screaming that happens when you try to federalize background checks and gun ownership.....

[silvershadow]

19. As a former LEO, I can't disagree with this. There are *way too many incidents

of officers doing this type of thing. It has gotten exponentially worse with the militarization that has taken place since I left law enforcement (read: since 9/11, though clearly even before that). I am glad I am no longer in it, as I not only couldn't condone this stuff, I find it abhorrent. Their duty is to protect and serve, and they should take an oath to first do no harm, as doctors do (not that that would solve the problem, but it might help re-focus a few).

[AnotherMcIntosh]

39. In addition to the greater police militarization, the increased use of steroids seems to be related.

There is no way that the police supervisors can see the oversized LEOs working for them, and see the violent displays of their uncontrolled tempers, and not even suspect steroid usage.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

20. Cue badge sniffers telling us it's not all cops in 5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .1.. .

[marshall]

23. I didn't realize Alzheimer's patients got so violent

I think of them as confused and disoriented, but I guess that makes them likely toget agitated. But I don't think it is common, which is likely why the association called law enforcement.

[Tanuki]

24. Most don't, but it's more common than you might think.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/30/alzheimers.violence.caregiving/index.html

http://www.alz.org/care/alzheimers-dementia-aggression-anger.asp

[Ms. Toad]

26. Actually, violence is very common.

And the fact that it is common - and that people with Alzheimer's can do a lot of damage, especially to a spouse who is frail because both are likely to be elderly - is probably why the Alzheimer's association called the police.

There really is no way to reason a violent Alzheimer's patient out of the agitation, and there are medications which are often prescribed to minimize the violence (with a negative impact on the rest of their remaining mental faculties). It is one of the tragedies of Alzheimer's disease.

I don't know the circumstances the police encountered in this particular home, but there are circumstances with Alzheimer's patients in which that level of force (particularly with a police department not specifically trained to deal with Alzheimer's disease) might be necessary to prevent the person with Alzheimer's disease from harming someone else.

[enough]

27. In some patients, the aggitation becomes so intense that it manifests as

pure rage. When this happens the person can be extremely difficult to control, and if the person is big and strong, it can be dangerous for people trying to help. We had this problem with my father, a tall strong man who remained physically healthy for years after his diagnosis of Alzheimer's.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

30. When you say, "I didn't realize Alzheimer's patients got so violent," in what way was she

"so violent"?

[Dash87]

35. Per the story, she had a letter opener.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

37. Per the story, she was HOLDING a letter opening. Per common logic, holding does not equal "violent."

[randome]

25. This is a very confusing, poorly written article. Bad grammar, too.

So I wouldn't take it at face value.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[DLevine]

28. Cowardly thugs. nt

[littlewolf]

31. I wonder if they rolled up in their APC I really do not trust cops. nt

[B Calm]

32. Do they give IQ tests for police?

[Dash87]

36. They do - it's the only profession where a lower score is desirable, and scoring too

high can end your career as a police officer.

[Iggo]

40. Yay, Cops!

They're the best!