72-Year-Old Woman Tasered: Kathryn Winkfein Tased By Texas Police

Just another case of a cop who has no people skills, using a taser to force his will on person. I am so sick of Cop always backing other cops when He obviously overreacted. This cop seems like the type of guy who never fit in during school and was made fun of, now has a gun and a taser to make people do what ever he wants. Thugs and drug dealer walking around and this jackaz needs to taser a 72 year old, give me a break. This guy should be locked and tased himself. If you are a policeman and you are afraid to pull normal people over without unsnapping your gun or think that if someone does not do what you tell them or call you a name or whatever, go get a job at walmart or somewhere else you can feel safe. why is it police in England fell no need to even carry gun, but America is full of crazy Grandmas.  Cops should be ashamed of this guy, and if you back this guy, your a jackaz too!

Someone should check on his mother and grandmother, Just to see if they are secure and safe.

yep what is next

I saw this and was so appauled to think that a officer would go that far especially when she said that she'd sign that ticket, I realize it was after the two had argued for a few minutes I know that she too was in the wrong for being so noncompliant in the first place and it would have saved a lot of grief on both parties in the long run never the less she did what she did. He did not have to taser her I believe that he could have kept her out of harms way with out using it. He never said that he was trying to keep her out of traffic he just told her that if she didnt stop he'd taser her. These can and have been proven to deadly what if she had a pace maker to regulate her heart it could have stopped it non the less as a person with a caring heart no matter how  fistie this women was in no way a threat to herself or that officer so it shouldnt have been used. I believe if they are to be used a officer should use them if they feel their life is in danger which as you can see it wasnt he was just over reacting alittle to the situation. The main thing is the women is ok but in the future I hope that she just signs the ticket and takes it to court in the 30 days to fight it the easier way. Grandmas are special no matter what the ages are but the I think Grandma should get to taser the cop just to let him feel what she felt what do you think

As an "old school" Texas law enforcement officer with over 20 years experience in the field I found the video to be very uncomfortable to watch. I started out in law enforcement back in the early 80's when all we had were batons. In the 90's police officer's switched to using ASP's (we all know how those can be employed if you are familiar with LAPD and Rodney King) and as technology advanced, the taser was issued. I was always taught growing up that you were to be respectful to law enforcement officers, but my parents also taught me to be respectful to my elders as well. Yes, if you refuse to sign a speeding ticket a law enforcement officer has the obligation and duty to place you under arrest, but he also has all the pertinent information on the ticket to have an arrest warrant issued for you if you fail to appear in court. It used to be that 80% of law enforcement work involved public relations, some of us out there have forgotten that. I feel it could have been handled another way by both parties involved. We should all never forget to live by The Golden Rule.

There was no reason for such disrespectful and harsh treatment of that poor woman.  That "officer" clearly abused his "powers"...and should be disciplined....lucky the lady didn't have a heartattack when he tasered her....outrages!  Take him off duty before he hurts someone....he needs anger-management AND better people skills....

THIS IS WIN!!!!!!!

This policeman is a bully and should be removed permanently from the force. There is absolutely no reason for a policeman to take anyone who has no prior record to the stationhouse for a speeding violation.  Absolutely none.  I would imagine it was a warm day in Texas and this officer was looking for a way to get in by the air conditioning and the soda machine rather than being out in a warm police car and sitting for hours.  Further, how many decades younger and pounds heavier was this bully officer than the elderly 72 year old woman who was alone, without witnesses or protector  when the bully made his move? I rather doubt that this bully would have harassed and tasered the woman had she not been alone.  Why isn't the police force out really protecting the public safety by getting the drugges, alcoholics, menaces using their cell phones while driving, rounding up illegal aliens, rounding up real criminals instead of this garbage?  Because it is not about safety at all but an easy mark and dollars in fines to keep the bad system paid for and up and running. 

I cant believe some of the comments here, some of you idiot people think that the officer did his job by using a taser on a grandmother. Where is that ok in any rational line of thinking. A no good out of shape cop saw it necessary to taser a LADY over the age 70. He represents the good ole U.S. We need good representation in every aspect of functioning in this country. I call on every hiring entity in this country to dare to hire rational thinking , educated, fair, in shape, respectful and descent people to help represent this country in a good  and professional manner. No more getting your brother, cousin, sister, father, uncle, friends etc. a job, because this video is what you get. As for the cop, suppose a fellow officer taser your mother. "Now do you get it".

This shows one of America's self acclaimed finest. PUBLIC SERVANTS that abuse their position and do not do their duty in protecting the public's interest should be REMOVED from duty, NO QUESTIONS ASKED! This video is just an example of what is happening throughout the U.S. but this time it was caught on film.

Power hungry public servants with an I.Q. of a worm that take their lack of self confidence and pride out on the general public should be dealt with accordingly, but what do you expect from Texas. I mean there is a reason why Bush feels at home there. Ride em cowboy!

While the woman was not exactly following orders as you teach your children to do from a very young age with police officers, she was pretty old and small. I wish the video showed the enire stop. I wonder if she was mouthy because he is black. Or if he doesn't like old white women or somewhere in between with both of them. If he didn't have the Taser then he would of had to sit on her and/or club her. While tasing hurts more momentarily she seems a little frail sit on and hit with a billy club. If old people don't have to obey the law then we should let Bernie Madoff out of jail and give Leonea Helsly her money back.

@ John Allen. Wake up! You are living in a fantasy world! I got a question for you: When was slavery abolished in the States or better yet in Mississippi? In year 1995, if you did not know that you dumb F***! Where were the rights of all during the times of segregration? I guess you still believe that the government had nothing to do with the assignations of J.F.K. and Martin Luther King? What is with Guantanamo Bay, where international human rights are being violated?

So John, stop living in your fantasy world and believing all what is feed to you and wake up. While you are at it get the stars and stripes out of your A**!

SHE SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED THE OFFICERS ORDERS IT WAS CLEAR SHE WAS COMBATIVE AND SHE BROKE THE LAW.

He should have held her on the ground and got her again.  She deserved much worse than she got. 

Ok for all you cop haters out there.  A senior citizen 88 years of age walked into a museum and opened fire killing a 6-6 guard that was twice the seniors size.  Senior citizens are just as crazy as everyone else and capable of killing anyone, at any time, anywhere.  Her age has nothing to do with the situation.  She was combative, argumentive and would not follow simple request from the officer.  What if granny pulled out a gun and shot and killed the officer?  Officers will use only that force necessary to effect an arrest, detention, or mission.  The amount or type of force needed will be determined as an incident progresses.  An officer must react to the aggressor in a manner that will limit injury to himself/herself, the suspect, and the public.  If the officer followed departmental policy on use of force then he acted correctly.  So lets look at the use of force continuem.  First is officer presence.  Yup he was there, she knew he was a police officer.  Next is verbal commands.  Well you can plainly see that he was given verbal commands and she was not responding.  Next is hands on light touch.  Officer did this and attempted to place her in handcuffs.  Next all depends on his training and department policy.  Some departments either state you use strategic blows, arm barrs and other types of subject control.  Other departments insert TASER here to limit a physical altercation.  I has been proven that a TASER causes alot less physical injuries to suspect and officers when deployed then physiacl altercations.  Yes you can say , well he should have just grabbed her and subdued her because he is twice her size.  Well if he did this and broke her arm or hip and caused her to have a heart attack, you cop hater's would be saying well, he should have Tasered her.  Plus in a physical altercation anything can happen, granny could got away and ran in front of a vehicle or worse yet the officer and granny could have fell into the roadway.  There is no doubt that this officer need a class on public relations and there is no excuse for his out burst and temper tantrum.  But the facts of the case clearly point that the officer used the correct use of force.  Remeber all this could have been avoided if grouchy granny would have signed her ticket.

THIS IS WHAT YOU GET NO MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE! THE OFFICER IN MY OPINION DID NOTHING WRONG, THIS LADY THOUGHT SHE WAS ABOVE THE LAW JUST BECAUSE SHE IS 72. COULD IT BEEN HANDLED BETTER? I GUESS IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION, IF THE OFFICER WOULD HAVE GOTTEN VILOLENT WITH HER PEOPLE WOULD CRY POLICE BRUTALITY SO WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE? THE FACT IS IF SHE JUST WOULD HAVE SIGNED THE TICKET ALL THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED!!!

Well we have finally completed our transition to a police state. It started with the government using things like the drug war (which is only a war in America on the government end) Before we knew it some small rights were stripped away by our Supreme Court in regards to being in automobiles. It has now come to pass that police can legally violate the 1st 2nd 4th 5th and 6th amendments to our US constitution when we are out in public. (It won't be long before that falls over to our homes) police have murdered many people in the last few years and the way district attorneys are able to control grand juries these police officers get away with the murders. It is a little like Nazi Germany where the quazi government said that certain rights needed to be stripped feom certain people to protect all. Then inthe end no one had any rights but by that time the police states power was too far gone and no one was immune. This is where we now are, no one can be safe in excecising their rights when it comes to police, they have attained absolute power in America. BUT we haven't gone too far yet. If we all stand up NOW and say enough is enough we can stop this madness, get involved locally and nationally with groups that legally challenge police state mentatality.

So I guess being old gives you the right to be combative and ignorant. If the officer would have used method to control this women he would be crucified. He was in a lose lose public nightmare, cause the age of personal responsibility is gone. Do what you want and find something to blame it on age, race, sex, adhd , State control… So much of what happens today just boils down to WAM (WHAT ABOUT ME).

A taser on an elderly? This is dumb, sick, or both. Look me in the eye and tell that the officer was actually incurring any risk of physical harm at any time! Oh, but wait, there IS something definitely wrong in Texas. How dare people complain about crime when authorities lose all sense of proportion? How lame.

From my understanding of the purpose of the taser-gun I thought it was to use non-lethal force to detain a person who they are unable to subdue.  Was the 72-year old too much of a force to reckon with?  He is obviously a large man and could have no doubt taken her down.  Seriously, if you are a police officer and you are unable to take down an old woman maybe you should find another line of work.  I believe that the officer's ego got in the way of his judgement and he decided to tase her out of impatience.  I believe this is happening all too often these days.  The lady did not pose a threat.  I have seen too many news stories of people being tased by the police.  They always say they tased the suspect then the suspect tried to flee so they tased them again.  Hmm...gee.  What would you do if you had that many volts of electricity flowing through you?  You would probably try to get the hell away from it wouldn't you?   A less than deadly force?  I think we need to re-evaluate this system and re-evaluate the officers using it.

Thanks, Jon.  The poor sweetie was most certainly argumentative and she seemed to pull away from the officer.  But to Taser an elder was a horrid thing to do.  He threatened to do it again, and I believe he would have.  He would have killed her with that Taser if she had been able to stand and defy him again. 

No one gets too old or too young to be tasered by police in the USA.  The youngest victim I read about was only six years old, and I believe the child was Autistic.  Two 15-year-old children were tasered to death in Michigan within a month of each other this year. 

Police and their so-called "non-lethal" Taser toys are something!  I am glad the great grandmother lived.  Oftentimes, people who are Tasered do not die immediately, and many have lasting neurological damage.  I feel so sorry for her and her family and hope she will be OK a month from now. 

GOD BLESS OUR ELDERLY CITIZENS.  SAVE THEM FROM THE POLICE!  AMEN.

I watched the video several times, also. she was resisiting and trying to get away. but taser? come on, she was a tiny woman, and he is a strappy, burly ox. he could have restrained her in a much gentler way, that would have been more effective. he probably could have stopped her just by talking to her gently and respectfully, instead of yelling at her.

So...Hoss Cartwright can't subdue Thumbellina without using his Taser gun.  A likely story!

Where did this moron come from anyway?  Were the cops hard up, so they went and recruited punks they found standing on Interstate overpasses throwing rocks at the cars below?

Ever hear of the blue code of silence?  That is how this kind of thing has grown to be an out of control problem.   They keep protecting each other and the system reaches a point where it no longer makes corrections when someone who is not mentally solid enough to be a police officer shows problems.    We also have police trainers who answer to this kind of thing with vague remarks like the officer reacted appropriately, indicating that the current training of police officers is a matter of public concern. 

What ever the reasons something must be done.   The police them selves are becoming more public enemies than public servants.  At the same time there are many rational police officers who use measures of good sense and do not find them selves in this situation.  Other officers need to learn from those good examples rather than this ridiculous para military mentality that seems to be the growing trend.

can't believe what I just saw, this over grown prick needed to use what could have been deadly force to handle that little old woman?? sure as hell don't want him policing my neighborhood, she was probably scared to death of him and was trying to put a safe distant between.

Absolutely ridiculous!  The police officer should be fired! He doesn't have a clue how to handle a minor situation.  This could have been completely avoided with a few soft words.  We wouldn't allow animals to be treated like this!  Heads would roll and we are going to allow this??  This would have never gotten out of hand had he not started screaming at her and pushing her.  She just pissed him off and he wanted to show his authority.  He can lie all he wants.  He pushed her because he was mad - NOT BECAUSE OF TRAFFIC!!!!

Congratulations, Jon! I linked your article to Care2 News and it made front page yesterday. It was front page all day today and engendered much lively debate.  Please take a look when you get time.  You know how powerful the Taser industry is.  I believe it came off front page immediately when I wrote a comment and mentioned the new terms that are substituted for death-by-taser:  "Excited Delirium" and "Sudden Death After Arrest Syndrome."  Those are highly valued terms used to help Taser manufacturers save themselves in lawsuits, so whenver you write an article on Tasers, it is best not to use those terms if you want high visibility.  They represent money saved to the "non-lethal weapon" crowd.  Amnesty International reports that 355 people have died after Tasering since 2001.  I believe the number is actually higher, but you may already know that some medical examiners have been ORDERED to delete Taser references from their reports on the corpses that are still piling up from Taser use by police officers in America and abroad. 

Enjoy reading the comments at the second link below!

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I agree with Graham Dawes:

"This is not about disobeying a police directive. This is about the tactics required to keep a particular situation under control. The cop has anger management issues and clearly has no skill in performing his job other than with a guerrilla-like mentality.  The fact that she was physically frail should of course be calculated into the BEST POSSIBLE way you might manage this scenario"

This fellow gives cops a bad reputation, which is a great shame with so many admirable police out there doing a difficult job.