I'm gonna start by saying that I'm not necessarily a big fan of a lot of the stuff that LEOs do.
However, in this case, I don't really understand what the big deal is.

I also don't understand how people can assume as much as they have about this situation. You have a woman in a crowded area with a knife and she refuses to drop it.
Maybe she's on drugs (yes, cute old ladies do drugs).... maybe she's completely psychotic and homicidal.
There are a couple of ways that the LEOs could have handled it. Could they have used less force? Maybe. Did they need to eliminate the threat? Absolutely.

Just because it's "grandma", doesn't mean that she's not a significant threat. She's strolling through a wal-mart parking lot with a ****ing knife, people! How would you feel if your kid walks by grandma and gets stabbed in the head? What then?
I don't care how crazy she is. In fact, the crazier she seems, the more important I think it was to stop the ordeal asap.

The officer didn't do anything wrong, imo.
If you are advancing another person (LEO or not) while carrying a deadly weapon... you get dealt with accordingly. If that means a bump on the head... then so be it.

And house, wtf are you talking about jurys for? LOL..
Your faith in the justice system astounds me!

 

All law enforcement agencies have rules of engagement. What the specifics are for that local police department are unknown. But a person armed with a weapon, any weapon, only has to pose a potential threat for the officer to use up to deadly force.

The cop didn't beat on the old lady. She took her down when she'd been just as justified in shooting her. I'm done here too

Addition

To give a little contrast here's an example of excessive force:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ted;photovideo

All three suspects were cleared of all charges

 

It's not faith. It's reality. It's the jury who gets to decide what the right thing to do was in these circumstances. They make the rules on a case by case basis. The cop's boss isn't going to decide if the city loses a civil lawsuit or if the cop gets convicted of criminal battery or criminal negligence. Police policy is only something the jury will consider.

And what you might not realize is that at the civil and criminal trials there will be law enforcement witnesses saying Ms. Officer Lady violated the standard and others saying she didn't, regardless of what the standard is, because of the wiggle room in general rules. Then the jury decides. It's not an engineering problem, with an answer determined by a formula.

We are all sitting around here acting like we all know how this will turn out, and we know what the rules are, and as if we get to decide the right and wrong of it. That just ain't how it works.

See, I think the old lady with the knife was on her break from a job on the sidewalk just out of sight where she was cutting candy for samples for the kids. The knife became dull and she was looking for her supervise to show him and get a replacement. And the officer, well she had been taking a lot of heat lately in the locker room about being soft on crime and not tough enough to be a real cop. Of course, that whole topic only came up because she had a black stepmother who was mean to her and beat her all the time, so she was a little timid but ready to blow. I also think I may have heard the cop say, I hate that candy you old hag, bring that knife over here so I can stick it up your nose. And if you let go of it, that's just what I'll do. And the granny says, please let me pass, I see my supervisor right over there.....

I'm just saying....

 

????? You don't have much legal experience do you?

Dept will investigate, determine that no excessive force was used (GUARANTEED) and return the officer to active duty. It is guaranteed because no matter what you think and no matter what story you can imagine, the officer did not break the Rules of Engagement. That chart you said that doesn't exist.

Fact: subject had a weapon (knife)
Fact: subject refused to relinquish the weapon when requested

It will never reach a jury, not even in a civil suit. Remember its the defense's choice whether to choose a jury trial. And because the chance of some obfuscating bleeding heart landing on the jury, it'd be suicide.

 

I would guess that there would be an internal investigation by the Police, at which the officer will be represented by a member of the PBA. The determination by this hearing will have influence on whether the matter goes to criminal court.
HOWEVER This is not to say that there could not be a civil case brought by the relatives of the elderly woman, or in fact by any interested person.
Let's remember the OJ case, not guilty of murder (for whatever reason) but found culpable of wrongful death in the civil action to the tune of, what $12 million ? (which he will never pay)

So much depends on seeing the WHOLE story (as much as is possible) - remember Rodney King ?

Oh and Kurosio, JHouse puts forward a compelling argument, whether you believe it or not. I've seen crazier stories get people off (not in my Court)
and also HE'S AN ATTORNEY

(and I do have a bit of legal background)

And I'm out of here too

 

Maybe the law in PA is different, but in every state I do know about either side can request a jury, and the plaintiff in a civil suit always requests one. The departmental determination does not prevent either a criminal or civil suit. Either one or both can go happily along on their merry way. As a matter of fact, such external findings are often excluded from evidence as irrelevant to the jury's consideration of the actual factual issues to be determined in the trial. For example, in a car wreck, you typically don't even get to mention that the other driver got a ticket. How is that for frustrating? Oh, and nothing is a FACT until the subsequent civil and/or criminal jury decide it is (as that's their exclusive province in the legal system) and oddly, they can come to apparently inconsistent findings (because the questions asked are slightly different).

 

well maybe she will drop the knife the next time an officer asks her to.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what the Officer did in that situation. Everyone here seems to be stuck on the fact that it was an old lady. What would everyone be saying had that Officer missed grabbing her arm and the lady stabbed her? Ill tell you right now that the fact that it was an old lady probably saved her life. Had it been a young guy, maybe 6' 200 lbs, I guarantee all of you that Officer would have at least tazed the person or probably even shot them. you have to realize that Officer has no idea who that woman is, or what is going on with her at that time that she is standing in the middle of a crowded parking lot waving a knife.

I think this Officer did a good job disarming a woman with a knife using a simple take down procedure. what would you guys liked to have seen, her grab the woman's arm and just dance around with her holding the knife waiting for someone else to help her? If the woman managed to stab the Officer, im sure a lot of you would have been calling the Officer an idiot for approaching an armed person like that. the worst thing that came from that situation was she received a cut on her head, no big deal, believe me it could have been handled much differently with a worse outcome.

 

well maybe next time she will do what she is told. like drop the knife maam !!!

 

I dont buy into any of this, plain and simple....do what the officer is telling you to do.