thank god our police arn't armed

[deggers316]

the police who taserd a blind man with a white stick "with no verbal warning" want sacking,if you cant tell the difference between a white stick and a samurai sword at 30ft it (there very different) beggars belief the were accepted in the force !

[jno]

sandyRoe, I think the moral is to adopt a meek and submissive posture at all times when, for instance, taking a baguette home from Sainsbury's.

[anotheoldgit]

I tend to agree with Sandy and Sqad on this, he could have been waving his stick around in a seemingly aggressive way, we do not know the full circumstances that faced the police, or the prior knowledge that they had received.

So before we all go on a journey of 'police bashing' let's wait until we hear more from what information comes from any future inquiry.

[jno]

how's a blind man supposed to know if he's seemingly aggressive?

[deggers316]

http://www.dailymail....en-samurai-sword.html

[dotty.]

just to clarify, the gentleman with the white stick was not in 'the back streets of choey' he was walking past the parmisan and peppar restaurant on one of the busiest short streets that run at right angles to the main street and which at that time , (late afternoon) would have been quite busy with shoppers leaving the car park which is adjacent to where he was stopped and the royal bank of scotland car park, which is in front of where he was walking. the street isn't residential at all, it is a business area and so i was confused as to why someone on the news page said it happened right outside his house though. anyway, i still have not found out who actually had the samurai sword.

[Thatcherite]

It's quite clear what's happenned here, this is jobsworth black and white copper of the week. Old boy ignores command, tazer him, they are the rules, do not think for self, that's not allowed. He could tell it was and old bloke with a white stick but he was just applying the rules literally.

Squad, PMSL!

[McMouse]

I believe the trouble really kicked off when the old guy yelled 'banzai'

[Sqad]

dotty

\\\5.45pm last Friday when he was walking down an alleyway \\

OK...NOT back streets.

[jackthehat]

The man has been interviewed on the local news.

I fail to understand why the police officer concerned couldn't distinguish a 'white-cane' from a samurai sword.......

One of the 'benefits' of being able to use a taser is that there is a buffer-zone of safety between the police-officer and the potential assailant. This is increased when the assailant is facing away from the office......as was the case here.

[Tizzi24]

I would think tasers are used thousands of times a year and this is just one incident which went wrong. The police have a very hard job and have to make a decision in a split second.

[Baldric]

Shot him in the back eh! that officer was in a really threatening situation wasn't he? being walked away from by the suspect, this story does nothing to improve the publics perception of the force whatsoever.

[jno]

"police seldom shoot blind people" isn't much of a defence really.

[Baldric]

"A decision in a split second"

Like, 'How much further shall I let him WALK AWAY from me?

[dotty.]

no not a back street, it's a short busy street, i park there every time i go into chorley as my doctors surgery is in the next street and it's car park is always full. it's usually packed with shoppers cars and the asda pick up piont is about 10 feet from where he fell, he was probably walking towards the passage way between argos and the nat west bank which is the main walk through from the pay and display car park. it's making chorley sound like it's an oliver twist setting! in any event, this man is a retired company director who probably had nothing more intimidating about him than him white stick and blazer, actually, i wonder if he was walking to the catholic club which is to the right of where he was heading? there's a bowling green there and there are always games going on if the weather is fine.

[whiskeryron]

//actually a highly trained police officer probably with several year experience, you're armed with a taser, pepper spray a baton.//

Police now about to be equipped with white sticks to counter white stick carrying terrorists.

WR.

[LazyGun]

Seems a pretty disgraceful action by the police officer in question to me. The idea that a white stick can be mistaken for a samurai sword at Tasering distance seems absurd to me.

It will be interesting to see more detail, but the implications, from the interviews with the man who was tasered, suggest that the officer in question over-reacted or panicked even.

[bazwillrun]

"The idea that a white stick can be mistaken for a samurai sword at Tasering distance seems absurd to me. "

virtually what I was going to say.

I find it incredulous that this plod couldnt get within a safe enough distance to see the difference between a white stick and a frikkin sword ?!

this plod shouldnt be allowed on the streets whilst carrying any sort of offensive weapon , hes a liability to everyone

[Mick-Talbot]

Idiot!

That is the only word I can use to describe this moron of a police officer.

The man looked like he could hardly walk, surely it was obvious this was no samurai sword wielding nutter, even from the other side of the road .....Idiot!



(the annoy kid from next door often plays with a plastic sword, I think I will ring the cops an see if I can have him tasered)

[pdq1]

I think the policeman involved should go to Specsavers.