Taking Responsibility
My thoughts and opinions on the local news this morning:
Taser
This one really bothers me. A 13-year-old girl was tasered by an off-duty policeman here in Sioux City a day or two ago.
It seems that the policeman was working as a security guard at the roller-skating rink when a fight between two 14-year-old girls broke out. When the man tried to break up the fight, one of the girls wouldn't listen and kept fighting, prompting her 13-year-old sister to jump in and start fighting as well. After being kicked and bitten, the policeman pulled out his taser and used a "short burst" on the younger girl, thus subduing her and stopping the fight.
The two sisters who resisted were taken to jail (or juvenile detention, I guess), and were apparently released to their mother shortly thereafter.
The mother is raising a fuss about this whole thing. "My daughters are going to carry this brutality around with them for quite some time," she said on TV. "Why that man had to use such force on an 85-pound girl is beyond me." She's appealed the matter to the City Council, who's reviewing and investigating the incident.
Police Chief Joe Frisbee issued a short statement on TV that went something like, "There were three combatants. One of them obeyed the officer, stopped fighting, and answered his questions truthfully. She did not go to jail. The other two continued fighting. They went to jail." In a later interview at the City Council, the Chief said the officer was licensed to carry and use a taser, and "utilized it minimally" in the altercation.
To me it seems pretty simple. Take responsibility for your actions. This is a prime time to teach a lesson to these young ladies -- if you disrespect authority, use violence instead of diplomacy, and ignore lawful commands, you will be punished. There is nothing personal about this.
If, at the age of 13, I had gotten into a fight, I doubt my parents would have even bothered to find out what caused the fight or who was right or wrong -- they simply would have drug me home by my ear and taught me not to fight.
Is it right for police to taser 13-year-old girls? Hmmm... Ask it another way. Is it right for 13-year-old girls to attack police officers and get away with it? What made this girl think she could beat up a policeman and receive no repercussion? Could it be that she's never been disciplined, or taught to respect elders in general? Or rather has she been taught that she can do whatever she wants, as long as she plays the role of wounded victim afterwards? That seems to be the lesson she's learning now...
You can learn more about the incident HERE.
Murder
This one's a little more clear-cut. "Yes, I shot my husband, but I don't remember doing it, therefore I shouldn't go to jail."
Well, do you know that killing people is against the law? Did you kill someone? Yes? Okay, what's the question?
Take responsibility.
Violence
This story positively sucks. There's nothing good at all about this. I didn't see it on the news, but my beloved Austrian snowflake Dagmar told me about it.
A 14-year-old boy was standing on 14th and Douglas waiting for the school bus when two men approached him and asked him for a cigarette. The boy told them he didn't smoke. The men then beat the boy so severely he's in the hospital now -- I don't know what his condition is, but it sounds kinda bad.
The city responded by saying they'd "move the bus stop to a safer location." Well, that's a good start. But how about making the first location safer while you're at it? Simply saying, "well, since that neighborhood's so bad and violent, we'll move the bus stop to a different location" means that the thugs won! They just took over the neighborhood.
I hope they catch the two buttheads who beat the boy, and I certainly hope and pray the boy recovers. And I hope the city wakes up to the fact that ignoring violence and gang activity is not the answer.
Taser
This one really bothers me. A 13-year-old girl was tasered by an off-duty policeman here in Sioux City a day or two ago.
It seems that the policeman was working as a security guard at the roller-skating rink when a fight between two 14-year-old girls broke out. When the man tried to break up the fight, one of the girls wouldn't listen and kept fighting, prompting her 13-year-old sister to jump in and start fighting as well. After being kicked and bitten, the policeman pulled out his taser and used a "short burst" on the younger girl, thus subduing her and stopping the fight.
The two sisters who resisted were taken to jail (or juvenile detention, I guess), and were apparently released to their mother shortly thereafter.
The mother is raising a fuss about this whole thing. "My daughters are going to carry this brutality around with them for quite some time," she said on TV. "Why that man had to use such force on an 85-pound girl is beyond me." She's appealed the matter to the City Council, who's reviewing and investigating the incident.
Police Chief Joe Frisbee issued a short statement on TV that went something like, "There were three combatants. One of them obeyed the officer, stopped fighting, and answered his questions truthfully. She did not go to jail. The other two continued fighting. They went to jail." In a later interview at the City Council, the Chief said the officer was licensed to carry and use a taser, and "utilized it minimally" in the altercation.
To me it seems pretty simple. Take responsibility for your actions. This is a prime time to teach a lesson to these young ladies -- if you disrespect authority, use violence instead of diplomacy, and ignore lawful commands, you will be punished. There is nothing personal about this.
If, at the age of 13, I had gotten into a fight, I doubt my parents would have even bothered to find out what caused the fight or who was right or wrong -- they simply would have drug me home by my ear and taught me not to fight.
Is it right for police to taser 13-year-old girls? Hmmm... Ask it another way. Is it right for 13-year-old girls to attack police officers and get away with it? What made this girl think she could beat up a policeman and receive no repercussion? Could it be that she's never been disciplined, or taught to respect elders in general? Or rather has she been taught that she can do whatever she wants, as long as she plays the role of wounded victim afterwards? That seems to be the lesson she's learning now...
You can learn more about the incident HERE.
Murder
This one's a little more clear-cut. "Yes, I shot my husband, but I don't remember doing it, therefore I shouldn't go to jail."
Well, do you know that killing people is against the law? Did you kill someone? Yes? Okay, what's the question?
Take responsibility.
Violence
This story positively sucks. There's nothing good at all about this. I didn't see it on the news, but my beloved Austrian snowflake Dagmar told me about it.
A 14-year-old boy was standing on 14th and Douglas waiting for the school bus when two men approached him and asked him for a cigarette. The boy told them he didn't smoke. The men then beat the boy so severely he's in the hospital now -- I don't know what his condition is, but it sounds kinda bad.
The city responded by saying they'd "move the bus stop to a safer location." Well, that's a good start. But how about making the first location safer while you're at it? Simply saying, "well, since that neighborhood's so bad and violent, we'll move the bus stop to a different location" means that the thugs won! They just took over the neighborhood.
I hope they catch the two buttheads who beat the boy, and I certainly hope and pray the boy recovers. And I hope the city wakes up to the fact that ignoring violence and gang activity is not the answer.
posted by Chris the Hippie at
6:40 AM
7 Comments:
There was a similar incident in our little desert town. It made national news since the incident was caught on the school bus security camera. You can see the story here. The follow up, which I could not find the story for is that the mother of the guilty girls went BALLISTIC in court becuase her girls were sentenced to community service (really a ridiculously small amount of time, like 20 hours each or something like that - basically a slap on the wrist.) The mother screamed and yelled and raged claiming her girls weren't responsible because the girl who took the beating CALLED THEM NAMES.
Meanwhile, the girl who was beaten had to have several stiches and suffered from a skull fracture (a crack of the eye-socket).
Now, when I was going to school, if I had beaten someone on a school bus, I would not only have been EXPELLED, I would have spent some time in the county "juvie", and then, worst of all, I would have had to face whatever punishment my parents would have dealt out. The would have not only let me face the consequences of my actions, they would have made absolutely certain that I got the point by dealing out further consequences.
I've often wanted to kill teenagers (annoying beastly creatures) but not REALLY. And yeah they should be taught a lesson for attacking a cop trying to break up a fight. That's not behavior to be encouraged of course. But to TASER an unarmed 13 year old KID? Are you kidding me? In whose world should THAT be legal? You should only be permitted to use those things on someone if your life is in mortal danger. If this cop's life was in danger from three 13 and 14 year old girls he might want to rethink his occupation.
Lock the kids up for a night then let their parents do their bit and see how sorry they are in the morning, don't shoot electricity at them, dumbass.
i really dont like the Taser.
that being said, you have a stance I can realte to...how did these kids feel it was ok to attack a Cop...or any adult for that matter?
i really dont like the Taser.
that being said, you have a stance I can realte to...how did these kids feel it was ok to attack a Cop...or any adult for that matter?
I don't envy the person with that job. What can you really do to stop 13 year old girls, besides say, "Is that Hannah Montana?"
The taser is the non-(potentially)lethal alternative to a gun or billyclub. I'm 100% for the use of tasers. It is temporarily incapacitating with few serious side effects or complications.
i don't want this to become a pansy-assed entitled society that takes the power and authority away from those who protect us.
Don't want to get in trouble with the law? Then don't break the law and follow authority's directions.
People need to remember that kids are just people who need to be taught how to be responsible contributory adults. Kids don't need "protection", they need to be educated and experience consequences of their actions.
Regarding the use of a taser on a 13 year old.
As a father of teenage girls, I can tell you I wish I had a taser at one point or another. Have you ever tried to break up a fight between a 13 and 14 year old? I still have scars on my arms from the claw marks. One guy against two teenage girls - even if the guy was built like Arnold in the first Terminator movie and trained like Chuck Norris in his 20's - the girls will still have the upper hand. Yes, lock them up, but before you can do that, you've got to subdue them.
Which would you have the officer do? Threaten the girl with deadly force (which is what they used to do before tasers became available) or use a method with less deadly and lasting effects? If someone tasers one of my kids, I'm not asking "why was the police officer so mean" I'm asking "what in the name of Francis McDoogal did my kid do and what am I going to do about it when I get her home?"
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home