Whitehall Officers Subdue Elderly Woman With Knife
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Police Subdue Elderly Woman With Knife
An elderly woman with a weapon is taken to the ground by a Whitehall officer.
NBC 4
Officers subdue an elderly woman who is threatening people with a knife in a Walmart parking lot. Did police use too much force? An expert weighs in.
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.
Whitehall officers were called to the scene, but some witnesses said officers used too much force in subduing the woman.
Dotson’s daughter said Dotson found a steak knife in the vehicle, cut herself out of her seat belt and took the knife with her while searching for her daughter.
“There was some kids out there talking to this old lady, and they said something about the old lady hitting them or something,” Stan Brown said.
Brown shot the incident on his cell phone.
Another witness called 911.
Whitehall officer Tammy Scott was the first out of the cruiser.
“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.
The video told a different story, though: “Ma’am: Can you put the knife down? Put the knife down for me,” Scott said.
A crowd started to gather, and the two officers called for backup.
“There was about to be a riot in front of Walmart yesterday,” Beatty said.
“I believe it could have been taken care of a lot easier than that. I kind of think that was too much force with her being that old,“ Brown said.
“It’s not pretty, but when we’re looking at what could ultimately happen in that situation, the age can’t really be a big factor. It’s a public relations nightmare in some ways, but the officer did what she had to do,” Dr. Richard Weinblatt said.
Weinblatt is the director of the Institute for Public Safety at the Central Ohio Technical College in Licking County and often is quoted on police-force affairs.
He said with what the officers knew at that second, they had to do something.
Dotson, who is believed to be 84 years old, was treated and released from Mount Carmel Medical Center for the head injuries she received when she was taken to the ground.
Dotson’s daughter said her mother needed stitches to close the wounds and her hand may have been broken.
Dotson’s daughter said she left her mother in the vehicle while she ran into Walmart for a purchase necessary in the move she was making with her mother. She said she was not concerned because she wouldn’t be gone long and her mother doesn’t know how to open seat belts.
Dotson has not been charged with any crime.
Click here to watch Brown’s video on YouTube. It does contain profanity.
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Reader Reactions
okay white people, when are we allowed to say its racist. What would be acceptable in your eyes, sure not being hosed, or beat with a batton or anything that used to be legal. whomever wants to leave me their email, i’ll send u numerous videos of white folk being talked down from much more dangerous situations than this one. But that will never happen in your eyes its always justified. 3 fifths of a human being right. Thats what the founding father put in the constitution. You’ll want to hear the truth even if it right in your face. But we’ll continue to fight the fight until u change your evil ways. And thats not for all of u, but the majority. I fight for this countries ignorance and they will hear my voice as well as others. UNTIL WE LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
Any Marine could have disarmed her non-violently and without harm to themself or her. She walked with a cane. I would have talked her into giving me the knife and made sure she was safe. The cop was totally out of line as this woman was no threat to anyone. If I saw anyone treat an old lady like this I would be outraged.
Any Marine would have been able to disarm her and keep her upright without throwing the lady to the ground and without hurting her. This is totally uncalled for. She had a cane. One would just have to outwalk her to avoid a threatening situation. And all this race stuff is ignorant and uncalled for. If I saw someone treat my mother like that I would go ballistic, I’m white and if I was in that parking lot and saw anyone, mugger or cop treat any old woman that way I would have a huge problem with it. I thank the person who took the video.
I hope she thinks every night about how she tackled an 80 year old sickly woman…..nightmares.
I watched the full video.
I noticed that the elder continued to be combative AFTER she was taken down and resisted having the knife taken from her.
Once the police had removed the knife from her immediate access, they appeared to be supportive.
If, I say
=>IF<=
, she has vascular dementia, she could decide to do anything at anytime, especially if she does not recognize her environment or the people immediately around her.
If, I say
=>IF<=
, she has vascular dementia, she may choose to refrain from following conversation requiring her to put the knife down.
She held onto the knife even after down, and the video shows it took a while to remove the knife from her hand.
Were I a trained police officer on the scene, my first thought might be,
“I had the opportunity to take this day off. D@#n, wish I had!“
My second thought would be,
“How can I QUICKLY & SAFELY bring this situation to a safe one with minimal collateral discomfort?“
Under the TOTALITY OF CIRCUMSTANCES, to me it appears the officer took the most attractive of several UNattractive options.
JWAdvocate 10 August 2009 Mon 07:44
The suspect, an 80+ woman did have a knife, and wouldn’t put the knife down when asked. However, based on that tape, can anyone plausibly say she was endangering anyone? Was she attacking anyone?
* * * *
Watch the full video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xW_-bSxTyI to see ....
Officers should use enough force to secure the safety and well-being of those surrounding the suspect, and to the degree able, the suspect him or herself.
The suspect, an 80+ woman did have a knife, and wouldn’t put the knife down when asked. However, based on that tape, can anyone plausibly say she was endangering anyone? Was she attacking anyone? And does it seem like the officer made anything more than a lame, cursory attempt to tell the lady to put the knife down? Sometimes the best option for a situation like this, where its clear there’s no one in the area put in danger (by an 80+ year old woman moving at a snail’s pace, no less) is to use words, and talk into putting the knife down. From what I saw, it seemed very possible that this old lady could have been talked down more efficiently than using judo moves.
Watch the full video here @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xW_-bSxTyI to see the actual take-down. The takedown happens at 43 seconds into the video.
I’m racist, I LOVE NASCAR! Oh, wait tat’s a race fan. Oh well, yu bleeding heart liberals can feel free to feel sorry for granny. She’s lucky she’s still alive IMHO. I’m dne trying to post on here and express my opinion while there are so many on here who are stuck back in Mayberry waiting for Obama to send his next round of Stimulus Packages. All I know is, pull a knife of me. I’ll show you why you dn’y bring one to a gunfight. No mater what color you are. Except if you’re Lime Green. I hate that color.
First of people get off the “racist” kick….seriouly? Secondly I know the officer who handled this situation and weather she is white, black, woman or man. This is one officer I would not want to have a run in with. Officer Scott is an awesome officer and a good person. She handled the situation accordingly. What I find intresting is, a cop does their job and its “oh this could have been handled differently or that cop is a racist”. Yet where are the comments stating “wow that officer did a great job in saving a life or child or man or woman?“. Don’t hear those positive comments all to much do you?
If any event was handled incorrectly from the start this has to be it. This whole thing could have been avoided with common sense. This dear senior should have never have been left in any car alone for any reason. How thoughtless! And from the video the police officer did not do much better either. What a tragedy. The real issue here is how should the police be trained if they have to enter the world of a mentally impared 80 year old man or woman, black or white or any race. Who gave this woman a knife in the first place. Now, I am sure it is another racial issue instead of a care of the elderly issue which is what it started out to be. Extreme lack of good judgement before the car ever left the home driveway.
a knife is a knife is a knife…..officer had no other option but to secure the knife quickly the officer’s duty was to keep everyone safe. If safety was not the issue then 911 would not have been called and no officer would have been there.
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