Florida deputy drags mentally ill woman through courthouse by shackled feet...video

a reply to: Tangerine

Yep she is lucky to have not been hogtied and hauled off. She was dangerous and violent. Methadone in the loonie bin was what she was after rather than cold turkey in the poky.

a reply to: olaru12

very very sad! you can almost see him smile when the other guy comes up.

I don't know why any one would defend this type of action. there are SOOOO many ways to deal with this other then dragging someone across the floor.

he should be ashamed of him self.

3NL1GHT3N3D1 ....... she's sick man, where's your compassion for another human being. and the other people saying he showed restraint and that she had it coming, karmas a female dog. hopefully you don't get dementia or ALZ and if you do maybe someone will drag you down a hall.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: boymonkey74

Since you work in a similar field I'd be interested to know what you would have done.

Well, if you've got two people you can use a transport hold. There's a variation for rear handcuffed people that works pretty well, even if they don't want to go. Unless you're Godzilla two moderate sized guys can force you to walk merrily along without handcuffs. Hard to believe the guy hasn't been through at least the CPI course, this is pretty basic stuff.

originally posted by: Bedlam

Well, if you've got two people you can use a transport hold. There's a variation for rear handcuffed people that works pretty well, even if they don't want to go. Unless you're Godzilla two moderate sized guys can force you to walk merrily along without handcuffs. Hard to believe the guy hasn't been through at least the CPI course, this is pretty basic stuff.

My daughter had it done on her by Cumberland County Sheriffs in NC. She was ticked off, but she wasn't harmed in any way. They were trained in how to deal with special needs children and mentally ill. If you called 911 and mentioned there was a mentally ill person, someone trained in how to deal with them would come with the officers to the location to ensure they were cared for in the proper manner and try to minimize things getting out of hand.

originally posted by: antar
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Listen I came into this thread hoping to band with others against the tyranny, the cruelty against a poor defenseless mentally ill little woman, BUT, with eyes wide open it did not appear to be so cut and dry.

If i'ts a fight I will fight but I see nothing out of line here other than a poor option for handling a bad situation. Not only was she in contempt of court but was disruptive to the very system and others who deserved their day in court as well.

That's how I see it. This situation was far different from a situation in which some poor deluded person screaming that bats are eating them is clubbed over the head and dragged by the hair. I am strongly opposed to police brutality but this was far from brutal treatment.

a reply to: Tangerine

You do not know that she does not have the cognitive function to understand her position.

And you do not either !

When she was talking in the video she seemed fully aware of what was happening and why and was able to state her position.

In that vid she was screaming uncontrollably not really a sign of awareness ... her position was quite clearly very scared and very stressed

She was simply pitching a fit as recognized by anyone who has spent time with a two-year-old.

i have 2 kids over the age of two ..... yes it looked like a hissy fit for all we know she has the temperament of a 2 year old...she is mentally unstable who knows what is going on in her head

Whereas a two-year-old can be incapacitated and transported against his will fairly easily, an adult can not.

I would argue she was treated like a 2 year old having a hissy fit...

May I suggest that you volunteer to station yourself at that courthouse and sweet-talk people who are "acting-out" into being good little kids and not committing felonies? I suspect that your attitude will change the first time one of them punches out your lights.

Good one ...i believe she was handcuffed how do you propose she would be able to even throw a punch ? and more to the point what makes you believe this woman was violent and posing a threat to the guards ?

I think you missed the part where she was sitting on a bench or chair in the courthouse hall talking to her mother. That would seem to indicate that she had been allowed to say goodbye to her mother. Take an inch, take a mile.

This may be the case and i believe it is possible that this is the part of the story where the "mentally unstable" comes into play...neither of us have any idea what is going on in this woman's head,so lets not pretend we do

originally posted by: Tangerine

originally posted by: antar
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Listen I came into this thread hoping to band with others against the tyranny, the cruelty against a poor defenseless mentally ill little woman, BUT, with eyes wide open it did not appear to be so cut and dry.

If i'ts a fight I will fight but I see nothing out of line here other than a poor option for handling a bad situation. Not only was she in contempt of court but was disruptive to the very system and others who deserved their day in court as well.

That's how I see it. This situation was far different from a situation in which some poor deluded person screaming that bats are eating them is clubbed over the head and dragged by the hair. I am strongly opposed to police brutality but this was far from brutal treatment.

Dragging a chained person by the chains isn't brutal? May the Creator have mercy on you.

originally posted by: diggindirt

originally posted by: Tangerine

originally posted by: antar
a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Listen I came into this thread hoping to band with others against the tyranny, the cruelty against a poor defenseless mentally ill little woman, BUT, with eyes wide open it did not appear to be so cut and dry.

If i'ts a fight I will fight but I see nothing out of line here other than a poor option for handling a bad situation. Not only was she in contempt of court but was disruptive to the very system and others who deserved their day in court as well.

That's how I see it. This situation was far different from a situation in which some poor deluded person screaming that bats are eating them is clubbed over the head and dragged by the hair. I am strongly opposed to police brutality but this was far from brutal treatment.

Dragging a chained person by the chains isn't brutal? May the Creator have mercy on you.

What Creator is that? Why bring imaginary beings into this? But, now that you have, why didn't he step in and prevent this from happening?

She was being pulled along a slippery floor; she wasn't being dragged over jagged concrete. When he stopped and she was asked to get up, rather than getting up she amped-up the fit-pitching. Now I ask you which would likely have caused her more physical damage, being pulled along a slippery floor or grabbed, flipped onto her stomach, put into some kind of hold and yanked to her feet and dragged in a standing position? Because it was videotaped, the deputy will likely lose his job and the woman will win a big monetary award which she will likely spend on her favorite drug(s). Then she'll likely end up back where she is now.

a reply to: olaru12

Do you have the raw footage that doesn't have a voiceover during when the bailifs/officers are talking? I'd really like to hear what they're saying.

Other than that--yeah, this officer appears to be a jackass.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

NOT how a 2 year old is treated for a "hissy fit". Your perception is askew. A 2 year old can be reasoned with, loved into obeying the most basic of rules of social etiquette. This crazed woman posed a real danger to the bailiffs and to the general public. She had to be removed somehow.

If you go batsheet crazy in a courtroom and refuse to leave without further distraction, you will be taken out.

The lady was too much and is probably hip to the system, she got what she wanted which was to be sent to a psyc evaluation and not jail for her abuse of the law and herself. She knows the system and was working it.

We do not see what lead to the dragging of her, my guess is that the courtroom attendants did not want to get battered by the woman. If she would not walk, then dragging was the only way.

originally posted by: smurfy

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Vasa Croe

I thought people get trained to transport people safely and correctly?.
Yes she should have been removed but in a safe and respectful manner.

WTF is a wheelchair?

Thing is police are prone to tipping people out of them rather than putting them in one..just to see what happens.

There are always going to be problems when people are combative even in mental institutions. The only way to help deal with this is to have special psychiatrically trained officers. Believe it or not prisons areas are set up for such people and they often times do well even for people who are in for...well, they would not make an ideal room mate.

I see too many people here seem to be out of touch with reality and especially in these situations.

a reply to: Tangerine

While I would tend to agree with you normally, I think the main point here is to ask why she was declared mentally incompetent.

I have a son with Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism), and he has gone into fits of anger and emotional outbursts, one even so severe that he stated that he wanted to die and asked me to shoot him (it was heartbreaking...I didn't know what to do). When he gets into these types of emotional rages, it's not something that can logically be turned off, and he has to 'recover' at his own pace and, usually, by himself--no amount of talking it out works when they are severe, to include asking or being told to get up.

Asperger's also makes him highly sensitive to pain...I've slid shirtless across a "slippery" floor like this before; it certainly doesn't tickle.

I'm not saying she had Asperger's, and I'm not saying that she has really anything that defends her actions, but what I am saying is that you can't assume that your view in this situation is the only acceptable possibility. The deputy, and those around her, could have handled it in a myriad of different ways, but they chose the least-humane option, and now they're getting called on it.

And if you've ever paid attention to my posts in this forum, I generally can find a decent reason for an officer's actions/reactions, but not here.

As ive continued to read this thread, all the arm chair police officers are out in force. what we saw was a glaring exampleof poor training ,bad decision making ability,what we called rambo mentalityand more than likely breaking department policy, + putting the department and himself in jeopardy of a lawsuit.

Something to also remember is that police are not as "highly" trained as people think.thier conflict resolution skills are non existent,these skills are dependent on the personality of the particular police officer involved. the court deemed her mentally incompetent which basically means she does not have the mental capacityto understand the ramifications of her actions

A thug with a badge....

And before the arm chair officers flame me..i am a former detention deputy haveing worked in a detention center AND escorting and supervising court apperances.

a reply to: clearmind

You would see the same thing happening all over the world. Why is this so unbelievable? The floor there was nice and slippery too, as someone else here pointed out. Every situation is not perfect.

How long were they supposed to leave her there for? Until she dies from thirst?

You dont know what happened prior to the video taken. That is the problem with these videos. They usually start when some kind of action is taking place. This does make some sense since the person taping may not know how the situation will play out but I keep seeing people that do not take that into account.

a reply to: antar

I agree to a point....yes a 2 year old can be reasoned with once the 2 year old has calmed or been calmed down,if you try and drag a 2 year old down the hall whilst still in full meltdown it will just get worse....

Anyway it is crappy situation and i believe it was handled poorly and if thats how they treat her leaving the court room imagine how she will be treated behind closed doors with no witnesses ...she very well may have genuine concerns considering she was screaming about being beaten up...

the cop was just expressing his inner caveman. it happens. a lot, with the police.

Double or triple face palm for the" floor was slippery" ..and just the fact that there are other officers present that just spectate...from previous ecperience, leads me to believe that the officer dragging her is an officer with one of "those" reputations...meaning he is known as an a-hole.

So much for proffesionalism....

a reply to: clearmind



I forgot to go to court once and got a bench warrant. Totally my fault. I decided to spend 11 days in jail in lue of paying fines and community service.

I am a 30 year old white male from a good city/town in upstate NY(I still live here). I had never been in trouble before that required me going to jail(this was a DWAI).

It SHOCKED me how many mentally handicapped or just people who should have been in a psych ward and not jail were there. it was very sad. and trust me it was no act. a cell mate of mine tried to kill him self with a shoelace like 3 feet from me because he was a little 'unbalanced'.

the officers in the jail were NOT like this at all. I would say 80% were good men that were there to do a job and to do it well. the other 20% weren't as bad as this but would take joy in messing with or yelling at people.

its cops/officers like this that make ALL police related people look bad.

originally posted by: SlapMonkey
a reply to: Tangerine

While I would tend to agree with you normally, I think the main point here is to ask why she was declared mentally incompetent.

I have a son with Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism), and he has gone into fits of anger and emotional outbursts, one even so severe that he stated that he wanted to die and asked me to shoot him (it was heartbreaking...I didn't know what to do). When he gets into these types of emotional rages, it's not something that can logically be turned off, and he has to 'recover' at his own pace and, usually, by himself--no amount of talking it out works when they are severe, to include asking or being told to get up.

Asperger's also makes him highly sensitive to pain...I've slid shirtless across a "slippery" floor like this before; it certainly doesn't tickle.

I'm not saying she had Asperger's, and I'm not saying that she has really anything that defends her actions, but what I am saying is that you can't assume that your view in this situation is the only acceptable possibility. The deputy, and those around her, could have handled it in a myriad of different ways, but they chose the least-humane option, and now they're getting called on it.

And if you've ever paid attention to my posts in this forum, I generally can find a decent reason for an officer's actions/reactions, but not here.

The deputy absolutely did not choose the least humane method. It's not his job to sit patiently for an indefinite period of time waiting for her to decide when or if to accompany him. You said he could have handled it in a myriad of different ways: such as?

originally posted by: clearmind
As ive continued to read this thread, all the arm chair police officers are out in force. what we saw was a glaring exampleof poor training ,bad decision making ability,what we called rambo mentalityand more than likely breaking department policy, + putting the department and himself in jeopardy of a lawsuit.

Something to also remember is that police are not as "highly" trained as people think.thier conflict resolution skills are non existent,these skills are dependent on the personality of the particular police officer involved. the court deemed her mentally incompetent which basically means she does not have the mental capacityto understand the ramifications of her actions

A thug with a badge....

And before the arm chair officers flame me..i am a former detention deputy haveing worked in a detention center AND escorting and supervising court apperances.

OK, what would you have done to get her up off the bench or chair with her mother and down the hall to another room in a timely fashion?