93 Year Old Dementia Sufferer Tasered!

[Ken4155]

Surely they must have had an inkling that tasering a 93 y.o. wouldn't end well?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/police-tasered-93-year-old-disabled-care-home-resident/ar-AA10iHk6?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ebb37ce1c067470f95d45fbff658a65b

[FatticusInch]

Ken4155
//He was in a wheelchair, Fatti. In a room away from other residents//

Still armed with a knife though and in an unstable frame of mind.
What if locking him in made him turn the knife on himself?
No winners in any of this, Police dealt with what they were presented with in difficult circumstances and the threat to them and himself was negated.
I doubt staff are trained to deal with armed assailants, that’s the job of other agencies whom they contacted.

[Ken4155]

^
So they tasered him to stop him from self-harming? How does that work on a 93 year old.
I've always been led to believe tasers are a last resort, Fatti. This one was deployed "Within seconds"!
I do believe some would be singing from a different hymn sheet were this their 93 year old relative?

[pixie374]

Not if he was about to put a knife across his throat. Tasers are meant to have a temporary effect, and maybe it did. We don't know yet.

[FatticusInch]

Ken4155
//So they tasered him to stop him from self-harming? How does that work on a 93 year old.//

No idea because I don’t know what that particular police force’s SOP’s are in regards to dealing with assailants armed with a knife.
I would surmise that each officer deals with each case on its merits?
Some may deem a baton strike is necessary, others a taser.
Do any of us know the man’s behaviour and demeanour as the police arrived? Was he in an agitated and threatening mood? The link is a bit short on such detail.

[Gromit]

It doesn’t sound good does it.
A very elderly wheelchair bound man with one leg, is locked alone in a room. There were two officers and just him, and the police have to use their weapon of last resort, a taser, to subdue him?
Be interesting to see the body cam if they have one, or care home CCTV.

[FatticusInch]

The bodycam footage will indeed prove vital.
What perplexes me is if the fact that he was wheelchair-bound, separated from other residents and 93 is so relevant, why did staff feel the need to call the Police?
I reckon there’ll be a bit more to it than the sensationalism in the headlines.

[Ken4155]

^
SOP maybe?

[William51]

I knew when they came in Tasers were wrong for our police force and this is another case of a Taser being used inappropriately. The officers deserve to be prosecuted.

[FatticusInch]

Ken4155
//^
SOP maybe?//

Indeed, if that’s the call when residents threaten staff with knives?
That’s why I can’t fathom why some reckon the staff should have been able to deal with it without the need for Police? Strange.

[Deskdiary]

Just in the local news the coppers may possibly face manslaughter charges.

As a rule I’m a big supporter of the police as I think it’s a thankless job, and certainly not a job I’d like to do.

However…

Tasering a one-legged, wheelchair-bound, frail old man seems ridiculous to me. Surely one of them could have just gone behind him and grabbed his knife-wielding arm to disarm him.

Or just wheel him away.

[FatticusInch]

Deskdiary
//Tasering a one-legged, wheelchair-bound, frail old man seems ridiculous to me. Surely one of them could have just gone behind him and grabbed his knife-wielding arm to disarm him.//

Of course, why didn’t they think of that?
PMSL, do you actually read what you write?

Make sure you’re first on scene whenever there’s anyone wielding a knife in your local area, you’ll be more than welcome to make the first attempt I’m sure!

[Deskdiary]

Are you compensating for something fattichusinch?

I only ask as there’s been some keyboard warriors on AB in the past, but you’ve taken it up a notch.

I’ve been a desk jockey all my life, but even I reckon I could have dealt with a 93 year old, wheelchair bound frail old man without resorting to a weapon.

[bhg481]

DD - no mention of "frail" in the link.

[Deskdiary]

If you’ve got one leg, you’re in a wheelchair, you have dementia, and you’re 93, it’s safe to say frailty is implied.

Plus there’s the pictures, so doesn’t need to be implied.

PFC Santiago will be along in a minute to rubbish it though - hey ho.

[gness]

My 89 year old mother with Alzheimer's was far from frail. She may have had difficulty walking but when I leaned over to tuck a blanket around her legs and she drew scissors from the side of the sofa to try to stab me she wasn't frail. It remains to be seen what exactly these officers faced.

[FatticusInch]

Deskdiary
//I’ve been a desk jockey all my life, but even I reckon I could have dealt with a 93 year old, wheelchair bound frail old man without resorting to a weapon.//

Organise a Batphone for yourself with local plod, you sound just what they need.

[wolf63]

I doubt that the police officers had time to think through the pros and cons of using a taser. They did what they felt was right in the circumstances. Maybe they should have used other means to secure the old guy - but they didn't.

[gness]

Don't know the whole story in this case, Wolf but when my mother tried to stab me I just ran for the door and left her. If she'd stabbed herself, which was likely, so be it. But the police wouldn't have had that choice. Bit of a rock and hard place perhaps?