The Travis County Constable’s Office has released the dashcam video of the tasering of 72-year-old Kathryn Winkfein by Deputy Chris Bieze. We previously discussed this story but the video is highly disturbing in the decision to shoot the 4’11” great grandmother. Before he fires the weapon, Winkfein responds to Bieze’s threat to taser with an “I dare you.” He didn’t need a double dare.
The video clearly shows an uncooperative and belligerent Winkfein. However, as we have often discussed on this blog (here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here), officers now routinely use tasers when there is a failure to obey commands — a casual use of the weapon that has resulted in injuries and abuse in some cases.
The incident occurred on May 11th when Winkfein was stopped going 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. When she gets out of her truck, Bieze pushes her away from traffic. Winkfein immediately used her age and gender to taunt Bieze. “You’re gonna shove a 72-year-old woman.” Bieze is clearly dealing with an unpleasant situation and belligerent individual. However, he quickly escalates the situation and threatens to taser her. He tells her, “if you don’t step back, you’re going to get Tased,” Bieze says. She then responds with “Go ahead, Tase me, I dare you.” He appears to take her up on the dare.
I do not see how the police could view this as a proper use of a taser. Bieze threatens to taser her again if she does not put her hands behind her back. He then tasers her again. He then charges her with resisting arrest.
The video is a textbook example of how tasers have served to escalate the level of force in such encounters. While Bieze might have called for back up or physically restrained Winkfein, he moves almost immediately to the use of the taser. The fact that Constable McCain would watch this video and find (here) that Bieze acted properly raises serious questions of his own judgment.
We previously blogged on the case of Jared Massey, a 72-year-old great grandfather who was tasered for refusing to sign a ticket. He was awarded $40,000 as compensation for the assault by Trooper Jon Gardner.
For the full story, click here.
Introducing Taser Shield! Just think when your local boys in blue attempt a Granny taser take down, Taser Shield leaps to your defense with a deflector shield that immediately returns the charge back to the tasee. Built in squawk box blasts out taunts like: “Woa! That’s gotta hurt.” Or, “Take that, sucka.” Plus you get not one but two velco strap wristband Taser shields. Yes deflect like Wonder Woman for only $99.99. Sold online only. Not available in Texas. 100% Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
he should probably not be a police officer. that was not very smart. I also think it is time to treat tasers as deadly weapons of last resort. police use this to much.
That cop needs to be sent to Gitmo for the full treatment.
Jill,
Your statements are fairly representative of how I think something actually work in the real world. Currying favors is actuality. It reminds me of Schindlers List, albeit, for certainly more human reasons. He was successful in his quest because or as the show portrayed him, not afraid to take a chance and once his word was given he knew how to use the system that he despised to helping people.
George,
When my husband came home from Viet Nam he said civilian society didn’t mean anything to him. He had been living in a place with no rules and where human life meant nothing. So coming home was a very weird thing to him. Our vets are doing at least 3 tours and some of them are on their 7th tour. When they get home they get some reentry training if they’re lucky, mostly they’re just left to their own devices. Putting them in law enforcement with no time or help to re-adjust to civilian society makes for a dangerous situation, for the vet and for civilians. I’ve had dealings with some of these people on the Canadian border and it’s not pretty. Someone I know came home from Iraq and got a job in DC–not a good thing. Our vets deserve all the time they need to reenter civilian life, not a quick shove into law enforcement. But again, I think this serves a police state well. They don’t care about our soldiers or our civilians and not caring allows them to put our soldiers in law enforcement, using them again while having people who have a lot of confusion, anger and despair that’s had no place to go, have power over civilians. That’s a train wreck waiting to happen.
I’ve also been thinking about how the Gates arrest show a police state at work. Gates was unjustly arrested because he appeared to be just a normal citizen. His arrest was completely undistinquished in this regard. What happened afterwords showed the other level of corruption that occurs in a police state. A police state runs on political favors and personal connections. He got out of the normal chain of events (and I’m glad he did) because Obama is his friend. Police states are corrupt in just this manner. If you are connected or rich enough you will be kept out of trouble or at the very least, can mitigate the problem. It is why we do not see any of our political elites arrested for war crimes. They are relying on their connections and thus remain untouchable.
Well what you didn’t know is that granny is really “Ma” Barker, and the quick thinking officer stopped her before she could flee to get help from the rest of the Karpis-Barker gang.
I do think we have seen peace officers morph into officers of citizen compliance. I think this is part of the US being a police state. There is too little emphasis on resolving a problem. Rather it seems, people are being shown they must fear and obey the police. Tasers are used as instruments of “pain compliance”. This “pain compliance” aspect was proudly trumpeted in Taser Inc.’s video demo (shown in an earlier post). Using pain to enforce obediance has many uses, from stopping people who are demonstrating against an unjust govt., to torture in our prisons, here and abroad, to sending a message to the citizens to stay in line. It’s clear when officers use tasers to speed up their order at McDonalds, they are being taught that citizens should do their bidding, no matter what. The random nature of taser use is scary. It says the police may harm you for no reason at any time. I think this govt. likes people to have that fear.
From Jill’s post above:
Since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the USA after being shocked by a Taser. Of those deaths, 85 have occurred in the USA since Amnesty International released its report (in November 2004) calling for a suspension on the use and transfer of these weapons. Amnesty International raised its concerns in its previous report that the number of Taser-related deaths had been rising each year. There were three deaths reported in 2001, 13 in 2002, 17 in 2003 and 48 in 2004. In 2005 there were 61 Taser-related deaths, and by the mid February 2006 there have already been 10 deaths.
—
This is incredible evidence that people die by taser all the time. In 2005 and 2006, the last year the Amnesty study reports, about 5 people per month died. That is horribly alarming. Now, if you factor in incidents like this, where the use of the taser was clearly optional, how many police officers MURDERED citizens in 2005 and 2006? And how many departments COVERED IT UP?
Policing should be as much about brains and force. It seems it has devolved into compliance at all cost, using as much physical force as possible (to show the “BAD GUYS” that you “DON’T MESS WITH COPS”) even when the guy holding the electric gun is an IDIOT and clearly doesn’t know the law or the Constitution. He just knows that “his brothers” will cover everything up for him, so it doesn’t really matter what he does.
My wife and I were talking over dinner last night, and started discussing the possibility that they are going to have to start paying cops $100,000 per year and requiring a law degree. Perhaps even if we had a few on every force who had the intellectual ability to know when NOT to taser someone, the world might be a little saner place. Right now, they recruit candidates right out of the ranks of enlisted men exiting the military (at least here in California), and these guys have been purposefully trained NOT to think for themselves, and to have their orders followed at all cost (just like they had to when they were the grunt or scum in basic…or whatever other colorful term they might come up with for us lowly citizens who have the audacity to ask that our rights be honored).
PS. Buddha, you are RIGHT ON.
Here are some candidates for the taser treatment:
Dem healthcare infighting intensifies
By Alexander Bolton and Jeffrey Young
Posted: 07/28/09 08:11 PM [ET]
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/infighting-intensifies-2009-07-28.html
See if you agree.
Grandma got hit by a taser,
She was driving 72 it seemed,
The speed limits only 45,
And the cop was a mere rookie
Who felt the need to hear her scream.
You can say there nothing quite like a quick jolt.
to stop the old ladies silly revolt.
You can tase her and then lace her after shes fallin to the ground.
Hit it.
The above sad song is sung to the tune of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”
I went to look up studies on Tasers. Certainly each of the cases we have seen call out for criminal and/or civil litigation and I’m not disputing this. I wanted to know if the use of tasers was as out of control and dangerous as it seems. Here’s some information from Amnesty International. It is older, from 2004-5:
“Tasers, powerful electrical weapons used by law enforcement agencies in, among other countries, the USA are designed to incapacitate by conducting 50,000 volts of electricity into a suspect. The pistol shaped weapons use compressed nitrogen gas to fire sharp darts up to 21 feet [7 m]. The darts can penetrate up to two inches [5 cm] of clothing. Electricity is then conducted down wires connecting the darts and the Taser gun. The electrical pulses induce skeletal muscle spasms immobilising and incapacitating a suspect and causing them to fall to the ground. They may also be used, in “drive stun” mode, as a close up stun weapon. The “drive stun” is specifically designed for pain compliance.(4)
Since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the USA after being shocked by a Taser. Of those deaths, 85 have occurred in the USA since Amnesty International released its report (in November 2004) calling for a suspension on the use and transfer of these weapons. Amnesty International raised its concerns in its previous report that the number of Taser-related deaths had been rising each year. There were three deaths reported in 2001, 13 in 2002, 17 in 2003 and 48 in 2004. In 2005 there were 61 Taser-related deaths, and by the mid February 2006 there have already been 10 deaths.
As with Amnesty International’s previous report, the organisation has gathered information from press, autopsy reports and police and paramedic reports and statements from coroners’/medical examiners’ offices. Amnesty International remains concerned that the large number of deaths in the past year fall into the same pattern as those deaths which had occurred previously. Of the 152 Taser-related deaths documented by Amnesty International:
o Most of those who died in custody were unarmed and were not posing a serious threat to police officers, members of the public, or themselves
o Those who died were generally subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks
o Use of the Taser was often accompanied by the use of restraints and/or chemical incapacitant sprays
o Many of those who died had underlying health problems, such as heart conditions or mental illness, or were under the influence of drugs
o Most of those who died went into cardiac or respiratory arrest at the scene
Amnesty International considers that the use of the Tasers in many of the cases which resulted in death was excessive, amounting in some cases to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In many of the cases reviewed by AI, those who came in contact with the police were not armed, or had already been restrained.”
Here’s a business opportunity for someone. Can you see the infomercial now? “Cops Gone Wild!!”
I’m waiting for the first pregnant woman to get tazed. That’s what it’ll take to wake people up to the abuse of these things.
Oh ok, I did hear her say it, but the way it is written in the story makes it appear she said it just prior to the cop firing the weapon. The story says “Before he fires the weapon, Winkfein responds to Bieze’s threat to taser with an “I dare you.”” I was watching the clip just seconds before the firing of the tazer but he doesnt taze her until 45 seconds into the clip. So, my bad, but it could have been written better.
Im not defending the prick cop, but I watched this video over and over and I honestly did not hear the woman say “I dare you”. She just says “Im getting back in my car” then she gets tazed.
Psssst . . . if you can’t stop a 72 year old without ANY weapon, you shouldn’t be a cop at all. If you get your kicks from tasing the elderly, you need a prison shower buddy.
Tase em Dano. The 50 cannot be disrespected. You can run, you can jump but you cannot hide from the HI 50.
Come on Wanna be a Real Cop or excuse me constable that needs no training other than being hired as the constable is an elected position in at least the state of Texas.
“Gates was lucky I guess, some days I don’t taser grandma’s and old men with canes”, said Stubby Oinkel, sheriff of Hardened Heart Township, Headstone, Arizona.
Whats up with these taser incidents lately?