Elderly woman slammed hard by police at Walmart

What was the officer's name?

Im sure if she was gonna hurt someone she would have, there was two women and a child who walked very close to her, they did not seem to be scared. The police officer should have been able to remove the knife from her hand without body slamming her, especially when she was not being a threat (at least from what we can see).

Hmm. I don't know about all of this. That elderly woman didn't appear to be posing much of a threat. In fact, she seemed to be quite out of it. I totally agree that she had to be subdued because of the knife she was wielding. I do, however, think the cop could have just twisted the woman's arm around her back; eliminating the probability of her falling and busting her wig open.
Sigh.

Wow!
I totally agree that the lady had to be subdued (because of the knife) but, and PLease correct me if I'm wrong, there are other ways of doing just that. If I'm not mistaken, there are arm twists that would have sufficed in that very instance that would not have ended in the elderly woman bleeding from the skull. for those of you that would say the woman was waving the knife around, threatening people and ignoring the police, I don't know anything about threats and knife-waving. From what I saw in this video, that woman looked like she was pretty out of it; she seemed to be ignoring everybody. Again, I think there were less violent options available.

just another case of police brutality..

There should be a brigade of ACLU and liberals that is assigned to handle people like this.

Let them have a taste of what it feels to confornt loonies and criminals out in the street. Make a reality show out of it

Hey, Nettle, yeah there is some audio, but it's not great. The audio DreSandoval submitted plays over it though, so make sure you listen to it on the first page of commentary. Thanks :)

WOW this was too painfull to watch

I think she must have had Alzheimer's. I remember when my great-grandmother would chuck vases at the nurses and punch her kids. It's surprising just how much strength these wiry old woman can muster when they're angry and confused.

Also, I'm very impressed that there hasn't been any discussion of racism, even though it's been tagged.

And I fervently wish there was audio with the vid. I want to see what those women were saying to the officers and how the cops responded.

Why do police even have a gun? If the woman has a knife, don't you pull out your gun or taser, threatening her to put the knife down to avoid either weapon having to be used?
The old woman, though, must have been out of her mind, trying to stand up to the police officer.
I think both parties acted "stupidly"

Get all the facts before impugning the officers.

"WHITEHALL, Ohio—An elderly woman with a weapon was taken to the ground by a Whitehall officer, and witnesses questioned the force used.

NBC 4’s Mike Bowersock got right to the point with a balanced report.

Virginia Dotson was wandering the Walmart parking lot at 3657 E. Main St. Saturday evening with a steak knife. She was telling strangers she would cut them and already had cut herself."

So now that I have the context, I can understand what happened. You have a wacked out elderly lady with a knife who has already cut herself and is threatening others.

An officer shows up and asks her to put down the knife.

The woman refuses and tries to walk away.

The officer uses her training to disarm the woman.

Let's see other ways it could have gone:
1) the officer tries to politely reach for the knife and is stabbed or cut.
2) the officer waits until another black officer arrives so no one accuses her of being a racist, but the woman hurts herself or someone else meanwhile
3) the police officer tases the nutter and is accused of being a racist and of using excessive force
4) the woman gets shot.

Now, check out the witness:
witness Tomya Beatty reports white cop's actions:
'"“She didn’t even ask her to drop the knife. The woman told her when the cop came charging at her. She said, ‘I’m not going to cut you. I’m not going to cut you. She was just calling her daughter’s name out,’ ” witness Tomya Beatty said."
Was Tomya black? Did that change her perspective on events?

SO the camera video shows somtehing else:
The video told a different story, though: “Ma’am: Can you put the knife down? Put the knife down for me,” Scott said.

She didn't do it and started walking away.

It's not a "black" thing, people. If you have a weapon in your hands and an officer of ANY color tells you to put it down, PUT THE FRICKING KNIFE DOWN ASSHOLE.

Otherwise, you might get hurt

God I fucking hate cops. What a horrible horrible thing to do. I don't care if your a cop and have to follow this and that protocol and procedure. Have some fucking common sense not to slam an elderly woman to the ground. Some cops are such self important imbeciles who get off on having some sort of authority or power. Most officers aren't even intelligent enough to have this kind of authority.

Police can go fuck themselves.

Police brutality all over the world is increasing. This is another example of how police have increasing powers without the neccessary control training. To me this is a vulnerable person who should have been treated as such.

Police officer suspended after death at G20 summit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/15/metropolitan-police-tomlinson-assault-g...

Shopping at Wal-Mart usually results in tragic events like this one. I never want to set foot in Wal-Mart or even on the pavements of its parking lots. The police obvious has no interests in the public's safety but rather was keen on protecting Wal-Mart's interests. They responded so quickly to the call in this case, but would have been much more sluggish if you and I call for help from our homes.

Having a knife or not, this elderly woman should not have been treated so brutally by the policewoman.

They also sent more than 5 units to deal with an 87-year-old woman with a crane, lying on the ground bleeding. Police are mostly incompetent, lazy, and egotistical. Prove me wrong!

Tell me that cop lost her badge. I can't believe this kind of crap.

The next time I read news about police getting shot at, I would not feel bad then.

she is holding a knife. the police woman asks her repeatedly to drop the knife. the thing is when does age come into something like this (I AM NOT DEFENDING THE ACTIONS OF THIS OFFICER) but what are the rules really? if you are armed and the police warn you you need to surrender. what if there was a child behind one of the nearby cars and the woman struck out with that knife? i'm just presenting one option. the other thing is that if someone is mentally ill (as i assume this woman is) then the police need to deal accordingly as well. this is really sad for all involved.

Police are trained to be a machine without feeling or conscience. This policewoman is an example. She must be disciplined and removed from the force because she's brought a PR nightmare to the already tainted police image around the nation.

Today, good folks don't join the police any more. Only those with serious ego problem and self-esteem deficiency, like the guy who arrested Professor Gate of Harvard U.

Police actions like this one only add fuel to the potential massive riots or civil unrest.

This goes to show police cannot be trusted and is not serving in the public's best interests. Therefore we no longer need police!

Appropriate response to the situation, although the age and physical strength of the woman should have been taken into account.
You can't hold law-enforcement officials in this country to the same standards you hold them in others. This is one of the only countries in the world where it is legally and widely-socially acceptable to own a gun.
Think about working in law enforcement and having to worry about every second crazy person you come along pulling a gun out. Considering the social environment that "you" have all generated here over hundreds of years, I'd say a lot of everyday cops do their best to hold it all together.
If something like this happened in a European or Asian country, everyone would be up in arms, but really people here should get used to this kind of thing every now and then.
Honestly as crazy as it sounds, "adopting the position" the second a cop comes up to you, is one of the best things you could do to avoid what you have come to call police brutality.
If you want to avoid this kind of thing in the future, especially in your own lives, take into account the social atmosphere you and your ancestors have created, or have allowed to come about, and act in accordance with that knowledge.
Otherwise a lot of these comments of yours are nothing but empty, meaningless rants.
This all coming from an anti-gun, anti-brutality, anti-war, pro-captialism kinda guy. So not some crazy hippie or anything like that, heck I'm as materialistic as they get.
Really though Americans, you expect to live with these complete paradoxes, you want to have a gun-filled society, but at the same time, you don't want crazy people going around shooting people up, you want to defend yourselves, but you don't want anyone to get paranoid about the fact that there are tools for killing people available for the price of a branded pair of jeans.
Bleh. I love this country XD

She did have a knife, she also seemed confused, but even so this was way too much force for the situation.

"if it comes down to me getting cut or her hitting the ground then she's going down"

Would you really have been so fearful of getting cut by an 84-year-old woman with a little steak knife that you would justify throwing her down on the ground, so hard that she starts bleeding? Her age can't be ignored. If it was a 24-year-old male the situation would be completely different. Even if she had a gun it would be justified--but it was a steak knife, and more than likely she doesn't have the strength to deliver anything more than a shallow cut. Man up.

Thats just sad. She had a knife she wouldn't put down, but still. Couldn't the officer just back out of range and keep the other folks away?

this is disgusting

"The harsh action may have taken the chance from the lady to harm herself."

*Pan to the blood on the pavement*. The cop did a damn good job of that. Instead of cutting herself, she has blood pouring out of her head.

wow thats is disgusting i wish they had jumped that stupid pig. the old lady probably had dimentia.

attention wal mart shoppers.once you leave these doors the disney ride is over and you are back in the good ol usof $$.have a nice day.

wtf. REALLY!? every day i find another reason to leave this country.

Hmm, it does look like the woman could have been possibly holding a knife...she's also probably around 80. I'm pretty sure the damage she might have done with the knife can't override the fact that you could break her arm in one move. Whatever "danger" she might have posed can't justify the force used to subdue her. The cop could have tripped her and she would have been down.

I am usually not one to defend police but what is the lady holding in her hand? Watch the video right around the 1:00 to 1:08 mark. If that is a knife then I would have to side with the police on this one. It is hard to make any real Judgment without the whole story.

Edit: I would add that if that is a knife I do not think the cop was acting in self defense... The harsh action may have taken the chance from the lady to harm herself. Just a thought.

If a cop even approaches you it would probably be best to lay face down in the dirt in advance of any questioning. "Assume the position."

The police cannot arrest anyone who is standing up. The suspect must first be humiliated. The suspect can do this by laying face down in the dirt. Otherwise the police will assist the suspect to lay face down in the dirt. You have the right to remain silent. You have no other rights however. Presumed innocent is no excuse - all suspects will first be humiliated before being arrested.

what, no tazer? oh i forgot a concussion is better than dead

This is disgusting, I couldn't even watch the whole thing.

Sure the assault of a CLEARLY elderly woman and the blood on the pavement is enough.

But the fact that police think that the badge on their chest justifies this is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous that this behavior is vindicated by our so-called justice system. And the racial overtones of this clip just scream out...

I'm sure that lady cop got a nice hard-on when she slammed that harmless old woman. Pigs...

obviosly she was packing a gun and tryin to swallow drug paraphenilia.

ha ha what is this world comming to