Bloodied 70-year-old woman cuffed for having a brown lawn

so the cops can just roll up, knock on your door and ask/request your name and if you don't give it to them, you can get popped?

i always tell my wife if the cops EVER come to this door, do NOT open it....if you wish, give them short answers through the door, but do not open it...
can the friggin cops then kick it in?

man, i need a cop free zone

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by LDragonFire
We can start by creating civilian oversight of our police and policies.

How do we start this? I want to join. I'm getting sick of hearing of police abuse whether it be tasering 6 year olds or trumping up charges on camera. I want to start policing the police.

You need to contact your city government, perhaps start some kinda petition, check out and learn your local laws, then proceed accordingly. They tried this a few years ago in St Louis but failed for now, the cops were Really against this, but eventually I think it will be the norm across the country, because of incidences like this, and the tasering events that continue to occur.

Okay the lady was 70. Did they think maybe she couldn't get out there to do it? At the rate this country is going she could be retired and forced to work at wal-mart since the government really give a rats ...... This makes me sick. If anybody tried to get my grandma like that, I would have heads. Literally have heads......all lined up on silver platers..... this just sickens me

Its amazing now they will try to arrest you for anything, and then when you "resist" because the reason they are arresting you is ridiculous, they just get you for "resisting arrest". The Kerry student comes to mind. This scares me because I know I would resist if my rights were being violated.

I really hate to judge a situation without more details. And the CNN article provided really didn't give a whole lot of details. Before I let my emotions get the best of me and succumb to the obvious intent of the sensationalized headline and run around screaming "police state! police state!", let me think out loud for a moment.

What kind of neighborhood does this woman live in and is there a Homeowner's Association contract that she signed stating that there needs to be green grass?

How many warnings has this woman had in the past? Is this the first run-in she's had? Did the neighborhood try to deal with it with letters finding that they got no response so had to call the authorities?

How beligerant was this woman in reality? Judging by her looks, she looks like quite the cranky old lady and maybe really got out of hand. I'm sure the cops didn't just start pushing her around for the heck of it. And it sounds like she tripped herself up, not that it was the cops fault.

Is this a story that her defending attorney put out just to get sympathy for the poor little old lady? Maybe the poor little old lady is really a drunken booze hag and really let the cops have it! Who knows? Do you?

These are all questions I have to ask myself when I see things like this. The media likes to sway everybody's emotions without really giving us all the facts so they can push their own agenda and get ratings.

I'm not saying they were right or they were wrong in their actions, but just suggesting that before we turn rumour into fact and let our emotions sway us, let's take a little more into consideration, y'know?

Originally posted by closettrekkie
How beligerant was this woman in reality? Judging by her looks, she looks like quite the cranky old lady and maybe really got out of hand. I'm sure the cops didn't just start pushing her around for the heck of it. And it sounds like she tripped herself up, not that it was the cops fault.

wow, i am speechless.

OMGZ.

I'm also speechless, but I can still type.

Sigh. It doesn't matter what the particular offense was, or what the woman's response was.

Do we really want the cops coming into your neighborhoods and targeting civilians who are not criminals or predators, just minding their own business?

Cops are there to protect us from the predators. They should NOT be treating civilians, law abiding citizens with the same demeanor.

Criminals often understand the law. They may need to be handled a bit more rudely.

But Civilians do not understand. If they fight back it is NOT because they are perpetrators or dangerous, with criminal intent and a danger to society. The 'resistance' is just a reflex; they don't know what they're doing. This is different from a career criminal who is exploiting the system and is prepared to mount a violent response.

This is very bad news for everyone. Soon, just the sheer number of these egregious acts will serve to inure people to them and it will become commonplace.

When that happens; when there is no outcry or outrage, then the powers that be will have won and they can do ANYTHING to you without fear of repercussion.

Please try to understand this - the isolated incident and particulars about how someone's grannie looks 'mean' are not the point.

(sorry for the rant)

So you take one point out of my post and you're speachless. Good for you. Totally taken out of context. I didn't say that they were right in what they did, I said more had to be taken into consideration. But you guys just want to live by emotion and not look at things from both sides.

Originally posted by Subcomandante
After the events in Florida with Kerry, this sort of thing doesn't really hit me as a surprise. The Brown Shirts are coming back.

Stop. Think about that statement for a while.

Now think about how all those report of Iraqi dead or chaos in middle east has made us numb to the fact that abuses are happening there as well. Do you think it's possible the reason so many of these sort of reports are suddenly surfacing is to prepare the populace to be numb or unaffected by news of such abuses?

Something to think about.

Originally posted by closettrekkie
So you take one point out of my post and you're speachless. Good for you. Totally taken out of context. I didn't say that they were right in what they did, I said more had to be taken into consideration. But you guys just want to live by emotion and not look at things from both sides.

haha whatever man, you said that she looked mean, and then started drawing assumptions from there, based on an assumption.

Originally posted by Boondock78
can the friggin cops then kick it in?

Not without probable cause. I'm lucky to have security cameras in my building (hated them at first but after a few criminals were caught it wasn't so bad) that would capture what happens at my doorstep. So, I welcome them to try and come in and get by my rights. It will be on tape.

Originally posted by closettrekkie
Maybe the poor little old lady is really a drunken booze hag and really let the cops have it! Who knows? Do you?

I doubt if she's some drunken booze hag, she'd be living in a well-to-do neighborhood that required your lawn be green (the movie "The Colony" comes to mind). Anyway, just my opinion.

Originally posted by Beachcoma

Originally posted by Subcomandante
After the events in Florida with Kerry, this sort of thing doesn't really hit me as a surprise. The Brown Shirts are coming back.

Stop. Think about that statement for a while.

Now think about how all those report of Iraqi dead or chaos in middle east has made us numb to the fact that abuses are happening there as well. Do you think it's possible the reason so many of these sort of reports are suddenly surfacing is to prepare the populace to be numb or unaffected by news of such abuses?

Something to think about.

Very good point. I'm happy to say that although it doesn't surprise me, I'm still reviled by such things. It's the middle Westerners who don't care until it happens to them. And actually happens to them. It's times like these you realise that listening to Huey P. Newtons rants against the police back in the 60's was not just hot air.

I can grow three pot plants here in New Mexico. But what if my back hurts too much and I can't water them and they die. They will come and throw me on the ground and that is where the whole back injury came from.
Arrrrrgh!

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by Boondock78
can the friggin cops then kick it in?

Not without probable cause. I'm lucky to have security cameras in my building (hated them at first but after a few criminals were caught it wasn't so bad) that would capture what happens at my doorstep. So, I welcome them to try and come in and get by my rights. It will be on tape.

my front and back door





they are miced too..wireless...i can hook up two more as well...

btw, i got these for cops as much as people coming around

What the hell is this? I just read the post about the cops tasering the wheelchair woman for 160 seconds until she died. I am getting really pissed off reading about this kind of stuff. What kind of person arrests a 70 year old for what cannot possibly be more than a bylaw infraction? Give the woman a warning, or if this is a repeated problem, hit her with a fine. End of story.

The cops should also take into account that it may be possible that the 70 year old is not physically capable of maintaining her lawn to the bylaw standard. I have no idea if she can or not. My grandma is in her 80s and still gardens for hours a day, so it's possible.

I wonder if you can perform a citizen's arrest on an abusive cop... I wouldn't try it, though, you'd probably get tasered for an hour and sentenced to life in prison, if you survived.

reply to post by xmotex


You just made my day, before I got to your post, I was thinking the same thing, so much for the free nation.

In my neck of the woods you get a fine for watering your lawn under drought conditions.

reply to post by closettrekkie


Hell she may have been a drug dealer in disguise, right?

And since when is an act of terror to be cranky in you own home?

None of the above including she been a drunken old lady in her own home gives the right for police brutality.

Originally posted by Griff

Originally posted by Boondock78
can the friggin cops then kick it in?

Not without probable cause.

BZZZ wrong, the cops can now kick your door in just by saying you might be a terrorist threat. Note that the FBI has labeled many types of crimes as terrorism, drug growing is now domestic terrorism, protesters can be labeled as terrorist, there are many stories. And alls they have to do is believe you might be. If they come up to you in a bar ask you some current event question, just by answering it they get their label. Police are being taught people that cite constituional rights might be terrorist.

What do you get, a patriot act and a secret search, your neighbors are told you are being investigated, then they are told if your neighbors tell you they told them anything they will go to jail. No kiding, not only can they tell everyone you know, they can make them not talk about it to the press or you.

Originally posted by Redge777
BZZZ wrong, the cops can now kick your door in just by saying you might be a terrorist threat.

Welcome to Nazi Amerika. I stand corrected. Thanks.

thats great, i live directly by the local airport. its kind-of like in my backyard, except a big fence and some distance seperates us. i can still hear/see each plane clearly.

they'll kick mine in and say they thought i had missiles or some gay #..

[edit on 9/19/2007 by runetang]