Naked deaf guy just out of the bath tub gets tasered

[Dion]

Guess a bath towel is now considered a lethal weapn.

Please don't tase me bro, my towel is not loaded!

Donnell 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.

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.

Once the facts were all sorted out, officers repeatedly apologized to Williams. Police wish it never happened, but with the information they had at the time, their choices were limited.

http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=7446220

[Reggie Dunlop]

Sounds like a very unfortunate incident. The police seem genuinely red-faced about it.

I know various police departments have gone to great lengths to cultivate a multilingual force, but I wonder if American Sign Language is included.

Communication for deaf folks is tough enough in the best of times, but emergency situations must be terrifying for them.

[Hemi-Cuda]

he's deaf, but he can still speak. even if he has a speech impediment like many deaf or hearing impaired people do, they should have still been able to understand him if he kept yelling "I'm deaf!". sounds like a cop with an itchy taser finger to me

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

he's deaf, but he can still speak. even if he has a speech impediment like many deaf or hearing impaired people do, they should have still been able to understand him if he kept yelling "I'm deaf!". sounds like a cop with an itchy taser finger to me

I'm certainly not absolving the cops here. I would guess the deaf guy wasn't outright physically aggressive.

But combine fright and a speech impediment and the result might be incoherence. I think I'd be a bit freaked out too if I saw a bunch of gun barrels pointed at me coming out of the shower.

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I'm certainly not absolving the cops here. I would guess the deaf guy wasn't outright physically aggressive.

But combine fright and a speech impediment and the result might be incoherence. I think I'd be a bit freaked out too if I saw a bunch of gun barrels pointed at me coming out of the shower.

I tell you I wouldn't be at my best in such a situation.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

But combine fright and a speech impediment and the result might be incoherence. I think I'd be a bit freaked out too if I saw a bunch of gun barrels pointed at me coming out of the shower.

lol I'd be scared too - a shock to the system.

Gotta think they'll be reviewing the policy on taser use in this case.

[Devils'Advocate]

Ah, whatever. If he didn't want to be tasered he shouldn't have been deaf.

-=-=-=-=-=-

As for a multilingual police force, 3 years ago I took American Sign Language just for interests sake (I do have an aunt who is deaf, but I only see her 3 or 4 times a year). There were 10 of us in the class, two of whom were learning so that they could pad their resume to get into the police department. The competition is very hard to get into the police force - that the guys wanting to get in need every leg up they can get. So learning different languages is a great way to spice up the application. Personally, I think sign language had to be the easiest language in the world to learn. No verb tenses. No articles. No prepositions. It's amazing the number of words in the english language that we really don't need to communicate.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Dion

Guess a bath towel is now considered a lethal weapn.

Please don't tase me bro, my towel is not loaded!

Donnell 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.

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.

Once the facts were all sorted out, officers repeatedly apologized to Williams. Police wish it never happened, but with the information they had at the time, their choices were limited.

http://www.kwch.com/global/story.asp?s=7446220

I just can't wait for the day when people like you get your way. One day, an actual incident that requires the use of the taser will come up, and then a moment of hesitation will cause several cop deaths.

They were responding to a freaking GUN call - turns out to be false, but you gotta be kidding me if you're going to make them think twice about their actions when their own lives are at stake and a gun could be in play. What the hell did you want the cops to do? Bring nothing to a gun fight?

Unfortunate, but you have to let the cops do their job. Mistakes happen, but in this case, noone was killed or hurt and that's the most important part. I'm sure the man will get his due compensation and it'll all be even in the end.

I'm still not sure what your agenda is with all your anti-cop postings - there's been at least 3 that I remember in the last month. Are you trying to change our society to one where the cops are powerless or something?

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by Regorium

I just can't wait for the day when people like you get your way. One day, an actual incident that requires the use of the taser will come up, and then a moment of hesitation will cause several cop deaths.

They were responding to a freaking GUN call - turns out to be false, but you gotta be kidding me if you're going to make them think twice about their actions when their own lives are at stake and a gun could be in play. What the hell did you want the cops to do? Bring nothing to a gun fight?

No problem with cops coming in with guns drawn, but the guy was obviously not armed. Was he hiding his weapon between his ass cheeks? The guy was wearing nothing but a towel.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by Sowa

No problem with cops coming in with guns drawn, but the guy was obviously not armed. Was he hiding his weapon between his ass cheeks? The guy was wearing nothing but a towel.

LOL, isn't that the truth.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Sowa

No problem with cops coming in with guns drawn, but the guy was obviously not armed.

How "obvious" was it when the police couldn't see his hands?

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.

Also, according to the article the man is quoted as saying "I can't hear" as opposed to "I am deaf." To me that is a definite distinction which clarifies things.

The bottom line is the taser was used as intended; do disable a suspect without doing permanant damage to him.

[MaxPower]

Originally Posted by Regorium

I just can't wait for the day when people like you get your way. One day, an actual incident that requires the use of the taser will come up, and then a moment of hesitation will cause several cop deaths.

They were responding to a freaking GUN call - turns out to be false, but you gotta be kidding me if you're going to make them think twice about their actions when their own lives are at stake and a gun could be in play. What the hell did you want the cops to do? Bring nothing to a gun fight?

Unfortunate, but you have to let the cops do their job. Mistakes happen, but in this case, noone was killed or hurt and that's the most important part. I'm sure the man will get his due compensation and it'll all be even in the end.

I'm still not sure what your agenda is with all your anti-cop postings - there's been at least 3 that I remember in the last month. Are you trying to change our society to one where the cops are powerless or something?

hahaha Anti-cop?!?! For posting a news report? I think you're clearly anti-naked deaf guy. Sorry, I mean, anti-naked unarmed deaf guy.

[return to the red]

Are we going to hear about every single use of a taser now?

[CaptainCrunch]

Lucky he wasn't on the can reading the paper. That would have been a mess

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Lucky he wasn't on the can reading the paper. That would have been a mess

yet also quite efficient.

[ericschand]

Originally Posted by return to the red

Are we going to hear about every single use of a taser now?

We are going to hear about it.

We are going to hear about it because of the number of deaths associated
with a supposedly "non-lethal" weapon.

We are going to hear about it because of the abuse.

We are going to hear about it because Amnesty International considers
taser use torture.

You know, I turn on Cops (yeah, sometimes I watch it when I'm bored),
and on that show, many many chases end up with the cop yelling,
"Stop now or I'll taser you!" or, "Get down now or I'll taser you!"

Immediately going to the threat of using the taser to gain compliance.
How long did it take the cops at YVR to bring out their tasers?
30 seconds or so?

Really, in 30 seconds, you have decided to take what is supposed to
be the same action as shooting someone with a gun.

A 70+ old woman needs to be tasered. A guy in a wheelchair.
Someone beligerent about getting a speeding ticket.

At what point will it someone acting suspicious, so taser them first,
then find out what they are up to?

That's why we will hear about it, and why we should continue to hear
about it. Until everyone bores of it, of course.

ers

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by ericschand

We are going to hear about it.

We are going to hear about it because of the number of deaths associated
with a supposedly "non-lethal" weapon.

We are going to hear about it because of the abuse.

We are going to hear about it because Amnesty International considers
taser use torture.

You know, I turn on Cops (yeah, sometimes I watch it when I'm bored),
and on that show, many many chases end up with the cop yelling,
"Stop now or I'll taser you!" or, "Get down now or I'll taser you!"

Immediately going to the threat of using the taser to gain compliance.
How long did it take the cops at YVR to bring out their tasers?
30 seconds or so?

Really, in 30 seconds, you have decided to take what is supposed to
be the same action as shooting someone with a gun.

A 70+ old woman needs to be tasered. A guy in a wheelchair.
Someone beligerent about getting a speeding ticket.

At what point will it someone acting suspicious, so taser them first,
then find out what they are up to?

That's why we will hear about it, and why we should continue to hear
about it. Until everyone bores of it, of course.

ers

Ok point taken but how about we hear some stories where the Taser has been used effectively. In this case would you rather hear Naked, Deaf man tasered or would you like to hear Naked, deaf man shot to death?

[Kev]

I thought this was a Family Guy episode??

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Regorium

I just can't wait for the day when people like you get your way. One day, an actual incident that requires the use of the taser will come up, and then a moment of hesitation will cause several cop deaths.

They were responding to a freaking GUN call - turns out to be false, but you gotta be kidding me if you're going to make them think twice about their actions when their own lives are at stake and a gun could be in play. What the hell did you want the cops to do? Bring nothing to a gun fight?

Unfortunate, but you have to let the cops do their job. Mistakes happen, but in this case, noone was killed or hurt and that's the most important part. I'm sure the man will get his due compensation and it'll all be even in the end.

I'm still not sure what your agenda is with all your anti-cop postings - there's been at least 3 that I remember in the last month. Are you trying to change our society to one where the cops are powerless or something?

You do know what they say about assumptions don't you?

My agenda? Laugh!

I merely posted a news story and suddenly i'm anti cop.....

Get a life dude.

[the_hound]

Originally Posted by ken0042

How "obvious" was it when the police couldn't see his hands?

"I kept going to my ear yelling that I was scared. I can't hear! I can't hear!"


I think his hands were pointing at his ears.