Deaf man tased
Posted on December 4th, 2007 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, Donnell Williams, Kansas, police, tasing, your rightsDonnell Williams had just gotten out of the bath tub, wearing only a towel around his waist, when he turned the corner to see guns pointing right at him.
“I ain’t never been so scared,” says Williams.
Police forced entry into Williams home while responding to a shooting, but it turned out to be a false call. They had no idea at the time the call wasn’t real and that Williams is hearing impaired. Without his hearing aid he is basically deaf.
“I kept going to my ear yelling that I was scared. I can’t hear! I can’t hear!”
Officers were worried about their own safety because at the time it appeared Williams was refusing to obey their commands to show his hands. That’s when they shot him with a Taser.
Seems to me that the cops were little trigger happy. I’d think a man dripping wet in a towel who’s yelling he’s deaf would be enough reason not to tase him. I doubt he was coming across in any sort of aggressive manner. And what about the entering of his home? How’d they decide to enter his home?
14 Responses to “Deaf man tased”
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December 5th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Note to self: Next time I’m about to draw down on police officers I should point to my ear and shout, "I am deaf! I am deaf!".
Really though, it’s a sticky situation. You bring up a good point about the cops entering his home. I’d like to know why they did it. Assuming they did have probable cause, ie. they heard gunshots and someone screaming, they probably should have held the deaf guy at gun point until he calmed down. I don’t see any reason to taze him unless you see a weapon capable of hurting the cops at a distance.
Also not that it excuses their actions, but who doesn’t know what to do when the cops point a gun at you? Typically you shut up, raise your hands and kneel. Even if you are deaf this seems kind of obvious.
They really should offer courses in dealing with police officers in school. Even the police officers I speak to think this would be a good idea.
Lastly the fact that this is tagged, "Kansas police tasing your rights", is outstanding. xyz I think you should draw a comic for that phrase.
December 5th, 2007 at 8:23 am
I don’t expect someone who just got out of the bathtub and is probably still soaking wet in a towel to act completely rational when a gang of cops show up in their bathroom. Especially when you couldn’t hear them coming in. They effectively snuck up on him. The cops approached him so if they felt threatened it’s because they placed themselves in the situation.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:40 am
The tasing part bugs me too. It sounds like they could have just waited with their guns drawn and badges out. I don’t think a half naked guy is going to suddenly "produce" a weapon from his "prison purse".
December 5th, 2007 at 9:58 am
There is a lot of information about this on the web. There is also apparently a video about it, but I haven’t watched it yet. My favorite site so far is this one, even though it is a little TFH.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:11 am
It’s just the local news report. How is ‘a little TFH’? It’s just the local news station website.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Arghh! My links got all screwed up. That previous post should have read:
There is a lot of information about this on the web. There is also apparently a video about it, but I haven’t watched it yet. My favorite site so far is this one, even though it is a little TFH.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Now that is an appropriate usage of TFH… though the thread itself isn’t. There isn’t a lot of info out there on this. These were better documented.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:57 am
I like the last part of the thread where the guy implies that police officers try to stir up race relation problems because they are masons.
Your videos reminded me. A moronic coworker of mine, who has never gotten a ticket before, recently received a ticket for driving in the shoulder. When the cop pulled her over she got out of her car and walked towards the cop. When she told us this we all replied (damn near in unison), "What are you retarded? Do you want to get tased?"
December 5th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
That is the action of an individual who ignorantly thinks cops are still peace officers their to protect you.
So did she get tased?
December 5th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Nah, it would have made my day if she got tased. She’s painfully ignorant.
Interestingly enough I’ve approached Trenton cops randomly to ask for directions. I don’t think I would do that in the suburbs.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Damn! In that one video they felled the woman like a tree. It’s amazing how having the majority of your muscles contract at the same time can do that to you.
I think cops are often afraid to be physical with someone because of all the lawsuits. Kristen works in a facility that has to actively restrain people and apparently there are a lot of issues with how you go about doing it. Face down restraint is usually out because the people can be smothered and joint locks are out because they can cause broken or hyper-extended joints.
It’s almost as if tasers have been painted as this magic bullet that will restrain people for you without actually hurting them. Truth of the matter is restraint is an art and requires years to hone. It seems to me many of these problems could be solved if the cops spent a little more time talking and letting people flip out, kinda like the Canadian cops I’ve encountered do.
Who cares if someone smashes up your holding area? They’ll tire themselves out and you can fine them for it later.
Also, why don’t cops have bullet proof vests and helmets? Why don’t they take more courses on peaceful mediation? If I was a cop I’d want that. It’s almost like we make them vulnerable and put them in tough situations holding guns and tasers.
Oh and before you comment about the RCMP, I am well aware of some of the deaths they have caused. I still think they are less uptight than US cops.
December 5th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I wasn’t going to comment… but given you brought it up: just found this. This is cute too.
They have them. They just don’t wear them all the time. Doesn’t make sense. Do we know they didn’t in this case?
December 5th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
How about tasing kids?
I’m not even looking for all these. Just in my new feeds.
December 5th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I like your links. Especially the one where the guy talked about hippy lettuce. The problem with cops is they don’t realize their job is to absorb shit from citizens, protect other citizens, and follow the law. That being said if I was a cop I’d have a helmet and body armor with a chest plate. If I’m going to have to put up with assholes I want to be damn near invincible. Wrestling a drunk is not always easy.
It’s like when I see new teachers crying. I basically tell them that if you can’t put up with verbal abuse get out of the business. It’s your job to stand there while people curse you out and discipline them following the incident.
Consequently we already have a segment of the population familiar with handling assholes. They’re called bouncers. I’ve never seen a bouncer who needed a taser.