Man dies after being tasered

New Posts

Here is more.....

"He was kind of pacing around, grabbing his beard, grabbing his head and hair, and they were trying to get a hold of him. He was being disorderly,” said Sgt. Barb Jones, of the Orlando Police Department.

Police said that when they tried to restrain Johnson, he violently resisted, and that one officer deployed his taser. Johnson was handcuffed, but became unresponsive while officers restrained him on the ground. Police said they immediately began CPR. Johnson was transported to Dr. Phillips Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

Johnson’s behavior led police to suspect mental problems, or substance abuse.

“I don't know why he was here, what he was doing here. What I can tell you is that his behavior was completely irrational," said Jones.

Investigators said there is video of the incident, but that has not been released.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating.

All officers involved are being placed on administrative leave during the investigation.



http://www.wftv.com/news/27634047/detail.html
 
Well, he shouldn't have violently resisted then. That's a chance he took and he lost.
 
Hopeful One said:
Well, he shouldn't have violently resisted then. That's a chance he took and he lost.
Click to expand...

I don't think the cops did anything wrong, but if it's a mental problem I'll feel sorry for him. If it was drugs, not so much.
 
Hopeful One said:
Well, he shouldn't have violently resisted then. That's a chance he took and he lost.
Click to expand...

My, but what a perfect German you would have made in 1933!

We don't know what the man did that was so irrational. Grabbing his beard? What's been reported so far hardly sounds dangerous to himself or others. And while a taser is usually non-lethal, it is still a violent attack and should be used only when absolutely necessary.

It has been linked and discussed here in the past that some experts are concerned that police are too quick to use tasers because they falsely think of them as "harmless."

We don't know that this now dead man was well, physically or mentally, or even aware of his surroundings. We don't know whether he was actually resisting or whether he just appeared to resist or whether the police are lying. If he was resisting, we don't know what he thought was happening to him or why people were restraining him.

We also don't know that the police did anything wrong.

But since we don't know, it seems a little early to be so heartless and judgmental.
 
I am going under the assumption that the police weren't lying and that he was posing a risk to others. Obviously if they're lying and they tasered him for no reason, that's another story. If he was mentally ill, that's very sad. I'm not being heartless and judgmental. I have a huge heart. But if you resist police officers, you're taking a chance and you're putting your life on the line. They have to look out for their own safety and the safety of innocent bystanders first.
 
Hopeful One said:
I am going under the assumption that the police weren't lying and that he was posing a risk to others. Obviously if they're lying and they tasered him for no reason, that's another story. If he was mentally ill, that's very sad. I'm not being heartless and judgmental. I have a huge heart. But if you resist
police officers, you're taking a chance and you're putting your life on the line. They have to look out for their own safety and the safety of innocent bystanders first.
Click to expand...

But a mentally disturbed person could be EXPECTED to react
Irrationally, right? And police officers should be trained to deal
with the mentally ill.

I don't know the particulars in this case, but if the use of the
Taser was the first response by the officers, then it was wrong.

Tasers should be the final response before an officer is forced to use his gun.
It should never be used until other non-lethal attempts. Btw, officers did
not say the man was a danger to himself or others unless I missed
that statement. They said he was unruly.
 
kgeaux said:
But a mentally disturbed person could be EXPECTED to react
Irrationally, right? And police officers should be trained to deal
with the mentally ill.

I don't know the particulars in this case, but if the use of the
Taser was the first response by the officers, then it was wrong.

Tasers should be the final response before an officer is forced to use his gun.
It should never be used until other non-lethal attempts. Btw, officers did
not say the man was a danger to himself or others unless I missed
that statement. They said he was unruly.
Click to expand...

My bad: they said he was disorderly, not unruly.
 
Steely Dan said:
I don't think the cops did anything wrong, but if it's a mental problem I'll feel sorry for him. If it was drugs, not so much.
Click to expand...

we had a case similar to this in my town a few years back. I think there is a civil suit from the man's family. The man had a history of mental issues and cocaine abuse. He was acting irrationally and broke into a womans home and was violent and scary. When cops arrived he resisted and continued resisting. He died. It was only after the rucus had died down that the woman recognized the man as someone she had know twenty years ago in HS and been friends with.

weird. NObody really knows why the man thought her house was his and what was going on in his head that day.
 
We've had several deaths around here-- one guy, arguing with a neighbor, had a heart condition and died.
 
tlcox said:
we had a case similar to this in my town a few years back. I think there is a civil suit from the man's family. The man had a history of mental issues and cocaine abuse. He was acting irrationally and broke into a womans home and was violent and scary. When cops arrived he resisted and continued resisting. He died. It was only after the rucus had died down that the woman recognized the man as someone she had know twenty years ago in HS and been friends with.

weird. NObody really knows why the man thought her house was his and what was going on in his head that day.
Click to expand...

I hope that family never gets dime one in their civil suit. If I were ever on one of these juries I can assure you my vote would be for the cops. I said in another post that I look at things like this; If that guy had never invaded the woman's home and didn't act irrationally, would he be alive today? IMO, you have to put 100% responsibility on the guy.
 
Two ideas come to mind aside from drugs -- diabetes or a blood glucose condition. It's highly unlikely that he would have had the strength to fight off five guards under those circumstances though, and they would have noticed sweats and skin that is cold & clammy to the touch.

Heart conditions are why tasering should only be used as a very last resort, when the officers' lives are endangered. It's impossible to determine a person with a heart condition just by observing them.

Sad that with CPR on the scene they were unable to revive him.
 
Hopeful One said:
I am going under the assumption that the police weren't lying and that he was posing a risk to others. Obviously if they're lying and they tasered him for no reason, that's another story. If he was mentally ill, that's very sad. I'm not being heartless and judgmental. I have a huge heart. But if you resist police officers, you're taking a chance and you're putting your life on the line. They have to look out for their own safety and the safety of innocent bystanders first.
Click to expand...

BBM: Why would you assumed such a thing? How random!

I certainly believe in respecting police--for their safety as well as mine. But sometimes they make mistakes. And sometimes they don't, but the people with whom they are dealing are unwell or unaware of what is asked of them.

But even assuming the police acted flawlessly in this case (by no means certain) and assuming the victim was for some reason acting disruptive with full knowledge of the risks and full control of his own behavior (highly unlikely), the end result was still a death and worthy of our compassion.

Capital punishment for grabbing at one's own beard is a tad harsh!
 
Steely Dan said:
I hope that family never gets dime one in their civil suit. If I were ever on one of these juries I can assure you my vote would be for the cops. I said in another post that I look at things like this; If that guy had never invaded the woman's home and didn't act irrationally, would he be alive today? IMO, you have to put 100% responsibility on the guy.
Click to expand...

How can you put "100% responsibility" on a man with "a history of mental issues"? If mental illness didn't involve a reduced ability to control one's thinking and behavior, we wouldn't call it an "illness." It would just be eccentricity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 206 more.
Total: 3,376 (members: 207, guests: 3,169)

Online statistics

Members online
207
Guests online
3,169
Total visitors
3,376
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,826
Messages
17,959,681
Members
228,621
Latest member
MaryEllen77
Back
Top