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Police taser a blind woman with cancer

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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Family members are angry and speaking out after Dayton police used a stun gun on a woman who is blind and suffering from cancer. Police said they were looking for a suspect when they knocked on Denise Harris's door Thursday morning. But according to both police and witnesses, things quickly got out of hand and Harris was tased.

"She was able to force herself down on to the floor and not be cooperative, grabbing on to the detective. A taser was dry stunned onto her arm to control her hand movement, then she was cuffed," said Sgt. Charles Anderson.

Her family said she was yelling at officers because she was scared.

"She was terrified. She was extremely terrified," said Harris's niece, Dionna. "She was scared because the person identified themselves as a police officer. But she's been robbed before by someone using the same technique."

They said police used unnecessary force when officers came to the Fernwood Avenue apartment looking for Harris's son, who is wanted. Officers said Harris attacked a detective.

"She's blind and they pulled her off her Futon, handcuffed her and tased her because he said she swung at him. She can't see," said Harris's sister Elvita Harris. "I'm very frustrated and upset. Dayton police need to implement a sensitivity program."

Neighbors said they told officers she was blind and sick.

"It was heartbreaking," Brenda Miles said. "I was almost in tears because I know the lady and I look out for her because she's blind."

Harris was taken to Good Samaritan for treatment.

The officers actions will be investigated, but Sgt. Anderson said Harris should have told them she was scared.

"She does not have to open her door. It was a voluntary thing for her to open her door," he said.

Harris is now facing charges for assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.
Octoguy

64 responses // Police taser a blind woman with cancer

  • how could they still charge her more like they owe an apology
    nata0204
  • "She does not have to open her door. It was ... voluntary ..."

    who is he kidding? try not opening the door for the cops. just try it. when they come in anyway, you're getting an ass whipping and you're going to jail.

    what a crock. typical police brutality.
    edbr
  • ohio . go figure .
    malathion
  • http://current.com/items/88927414_tased_and_confused
    Some additional perspective.
    Mulcahey
  • they need to implement sensitivity training? really? that is going to solve porblems like this?
    SilenceNoMore
  • Oh my god what the hell is wrong with this cop? First off how can inept can you be? If you can’t arrest a blind woman with cancer without having to use your taser than you can’t be a beat cop anymore. Better yet you can’t be a beat cop ever. No amount of training or steroids will ever convince me you’re prepared to defend anything.

    Secondly if I was a cop and I tasered a blind woman with cancer I would arrest myself. Then I could commit police brutality on myself.
    Ricky84
  • What is wrong with these cops??? This is plain abuse of power. She deserves an apology at the least.

    This reminds me of the infamous New Orleans story when 6 policeman were beating up an old man for no reason.
    aditijjoshi
  • i hate to generalize, but, it seems that a number of police officers abuse their assumed position of power the minute they are issued a badge and weapon. taser happy cops should not merely be 'investigated' but made to suffer the consequences of behaving so impulsively.
    orangeseverywhere
  • I resent that remark!
    IAMROBOT
  • thats some sick shit
    linebacker51
  • The only reason people think it's bad is because she was blind and had cancer. My grandparents are both blind and i can understand things getting out of hand because she was scared. Maybe tasing her went to far but we weren't there.
    bgeiger34
  • whatever happened to trying assess a situation? and talking to people ?( yes, I know there are scary and violent people out there) And I think many cops are on edge ..And being on the defense is the best recourse at times.
    .But hard how hard is to figure someone is blind and scared? I used to work at a drop in center and it didn't take long to figure out who was really a threat or not..and most of the cops that came in there looking for someone or whatever were usually polite and calm..and still on guard w/out scaring people.
    inapickle
    1 response to this
  • watch this comment being used here, here, here, here, here and here
    This is just awful. Tasers have become a compliance tool rather than a first line defense tool.
    Perhaps Dayton police need some violence visited upon them so they can see what it feels like to be a victim.
    Paratus
  • they should be fired plane and simple they obviously can't handel the power they were givin
    BRYANOHIO
  • This is what happens when you give people guns who can hardly spell their names.
    clayjj05
    1 response to this
  • This is ridiculous. It doesn't matter she is blind and it doesn't matter she has cancer. Police are using their tasers much too liberally. It's like a soldier going to war and wanting to kill anyone they can, the cops pull the taser in any situation at any time they can. I had a friend wrongfully tased in Pullman, Washington, last fall and the officer was found to be in the wrong after investigation. It's great if they are being attacked and it is used instead of lethal force but they should not be allowed to use it to aid in arrest. Even on the T.V. show cops I will see people tased in a situation where I could even handle the arrest as a civilian with no training. All they do is throw out a warning then they just go for it and they all seem itching to do it.
    TopScruffy
  • she shouldn't have HAD to tell them she was scared, for chirssakes.


    it's pretty fucking obvious when someone behaves like that that they're TERRIFIED.
    feels
    1 response to this
  • You get what you pay for. Cops get paid little to make big decisions no wonder why things go sideways sometimes.
    Buie
    7 responses to this
  • I bet she never saw that one coming
    brad62
    1 response to this
  • power trip! fuck the police!
    Betico
  • I guess attacking a cop is a bad thing, with consequences, who would have thunk it. I dont feel bad for her at all, it sounds like she had a BS excuse anyways.
    StuArt_Gould
  • THEY NEED TO RAISE EDUCATION STANDARDS FOR POLICE... AND IMPLEMENT INTESE PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING. WE NEED A MORE INTELLIGENT POLICE FORCE...
    ciregg222
  • I hope that they throw the book at these cops.

    What the heck is wrong with out country?
    PatrickEdwardMurray
  • A sad day for our country indeed.

    And then they get away with it and charge her.
    Egnatius212
  • Yowza. That's some real bad press. It would help if they didn't do it in the first place.
    On a side note, they really should do more testing to determine the perfect voltage for these things. Something that's less lethal/torturous but still enough to hurt like hell and override your nerve impulses.
    Dmitri_Molotov
  • And again everyone sides with someone out of blind sympathy---pun intended.

    She was housing a bad person and instead of being smart about having such an idiot in her mist she decided to keep him around. First mistake.

    Second mistake was opening a door to people you don't know. Even five year olds know not to do that. And plus she has already been attacked by someone stating they were an officer prior to this so this makes her even stupider.

    I like the use of blind and cancer to make people feel sorry for someone. Blind people are mean. Cancer victims are stupid. Just because she is both doesn't mean she is innocent or smart or need of empathy.

    You know what some blind people do? They use their blindness to take advantage of people. So don't think they are without defenses or pure solely because they are blind.

    If you are going to attack someone be prepared to suffer the consequences and if you can't don't attack.

    Again they could have shot her or hit her with a stick or bruised her arms so bad or broke an arm because they were trying to handcuff her. Being blind and having cancer doesn't = weak and frail always.
    J_Jammer
    3 responses to this
  • I wonder why they went with the taser rather than mace, some batons or flashlights. Why didn't they pistol whip her? I guess the taser shows restraint. Yeah, that's it. Un-fucking-believable, and how pathetic. Old ladies are next, right?
    24French
  • Better to taser someone than to shoot them in the face.
    J_Jammer
    1 response to this
  • Fuck the police!
    amilli23
  • That's why I won't allow these articles or anyone else to taint any kind of respect I have for officers. I will not blindly (again pun intended) do as I am told without understanding what is going on, but I'm not going to be looking for trouble just because they are cops.

    Just like the billions of people in this world it's a small fraction that are actually bad that make things worse for everyone else. I'm not going to assume that all cops are bad just because one out of a hundred (made up number) are ego driven whores.
    J_Jammer
    1 response to this
  • What a messed up story. it saddens me to think that the people who are supposed to "protect and serve" are the ones who inflicted great pain to this defenseless, blind woman. There should be a law on tasing or shooting someone when they cant see you. or should i say a blind person.
    Azucena
  • We also need to teach everyone the the constitution. Police abused their authority by not telling the woman her right to ask for a warrant in Braille and that she did not have to cooperate since she was disabled, before allowing any police to search her place. I hope the ACLU hears about this.
    tomofnorthcal
  • Another story about police officers with no tact; not surprising.
    jacijacijaci
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87hllT_d4hQ
    I agree with Amilli23, NWA said it best.....
    jubal
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuTi9UZtPbw
    And Public Enemy

    Fight the Power.
    jubal
  • Another case of police brutality, these people abuse their power way too often.
    sweetnana
  • "I bet she never saw that one coming"...hahaha! thanks brad a good chuckle between all the politics and seriousness!
    Honestly though, you're telling me the police have no other training methods for this person? Someone wrote that it doesn't matter that she's blind or has cancer, but I think those aspects are important- I'm sure that someone with a terminal illness would be in more dangers of complications from electrical shock, and you probably mentally prepare a bit when you are able to see a weapon before it's used on you. PLUS a quote from the article said she's been robbed before by someone who identified themselves as a police officer- she had good reason to be wary. What a wild story, I see how it made it to the top!
    DeliaTheArtist
  • There is no laws to protect people with disabilities in america?

    I hope the remove this officer from the police.
    mundosanto
  • New Law:

    Whenever a Cop use the Taser gun on someone, without bases, without a reason, They should be Tased back and for the same amount of time.