Teen mom jolted twice by Vancouver police Taser while holding her baby

Sounds like a really tough call. I think they did the right things though, you cant just stand back while a baby is smothered to death.

Ouch I feel for all in this case. Sounds like the cops earned their pay on this one. Can't fault them for doing it, in the end a childs life must come first. Glad to hear mom is getting some help also.

That or the child could have fallen to the floor with the mother, and injured it's skull. She's a 16 year old mom, I think tasering her with the baby in her hand is too much. The guy who they killed in New York yesterday was naked, on a small ledge, there were like 5 of them, they tasered him, he fell, cause you know it's a taser, and he hit his head and died.

It's excessive force.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26885773/

Here is a link to the story I was refering to.

The mother is not excessive force, the guy in NY is. The mother was tasered to save the infants life. You could not talk her down, could not pepper spray her, couldnt wrestle the child from her and you could not shoot her. Incidents like this is why they have a taser, now the infant and mother are getting care.

The police were being illogical. "McGuinness said the mother was holding the baby but, at times, police worried she might smother him"

She didn't want to give up her baby to armed officers, understandable, she was scared, they did not taser her to save the babies life, they tasered her because they ran out of patience and used excessive force. Let's not justify this.

The baby need care I understand that, but I think an armed standoff with a 16 year old new mother with armed officers is not the way to go. Had she smoothered the baby in the one month she had the baby, no. Yet in three hours of not knowing the mother it was now determined that this was her intent?

She went to visit her boyfriends grandmother, she didn't want to give her baby to social workers.

I agree with the baby getting care if it's sick, I do not agree with tasering a 16 year old mom or any mom holding a baby. She had no knife and I don't for a minute believe that they had any real reason to think she would hurt the baby, it's justification for something that was not well done.

Also now that she is arrested under their mental health act, for not wanting to give over her baby, there are some jobs that might be a problem for her in the future, or voluenteer oppertunities.

I don't want a society where people taser mothers with babies. Unless she has a gun, knife, or is clearly deranged there was no reason to do it. I am not convinced at all.

Also remember the guy in the story above was only jolted once, before he fell to his death and she was jolted twice while holding a baby.

Immediate Mortal Threat


Attempts were made before the incident to get medical attention for the baby, they were ignored.


This is why the police had to act, the baby was not getting proper care. What do you think would have happened if the baby died under the mothers care? People would be screaming because the police did nothing to save the baby from....


... an insane and unreasonable woman.



The police did all they could to save the child, repeated called for her to bring the child in they had to get the baby so it would not die from lack of care. They went to the home and were confronted; they saw a crazy woman who was not looking out for the welfare of her child. They say an immediate risk to the baby and had to act. Their actions did have risk, but it was needed to save a life. Now both mother and child are safe and the mother is getting the mental care she needs.
The police were armed but they did not draw their weapons on her, and only shocked her so they could save the baby.

They were worried she might smother the baby? Again I am not seeing where they had any proof of this. She is a young mother who did not want to give up her small baby to armed officers. I do not agree that she was an immediate mortal threat.




I am not arguing about the baby getting help. I am agrguing against tasering the woman who is holding the baby you are trying to help, because had she dropped the baby, which could have happened, the headlines would have indeed been different. They were lucky that she did not drop the baby. The guy from last year, did drop to the ground after one taser shot, and begun to convulse.








I don't think the baby would have died then and there. According to the article they became concerned when she did not return to the group home where she lives with the baby, from a weekend of visiting the boyfriends grandmother. They went to the home to get the baby she refused, and then they decided to call the police. After three hours, they decided it was not going anywhere, used the excuse that they felt she would smother the baby and tasered her. I am glad they were trying to get the baby help, it was a time consuming stand off, I am sure the officers in the situation did have a difficult time, and I am sure it could not have been a fun situation to assess, but I think their actions put the child they were trying to help in equal or greater jepordy.




No they arrested her under that act, because she was not carrying a weapon, and I am guessing did not attack the officers. I think calling her insane and is a really wrong and harsh assesment. Calling her unreasonable sounds about right, but I don't know what was going on in the head of this 16 year old mother. I know the article says that she has never been away from the child, and she was obviously worried about handing the child over to these people.



She can not say this with any certainty. There have been too many cases, where people die or are seriously injured, drop to the ground, and or start convulsing, any of which could have caused her to drop, throw, fall with the baby. I am in no way convinced by this reassurance, as many cases have shown us otherwise, including the guy who fell to his death after one taser shot.




It needed medical attention. Was it going to die there and then, don't know, doubt it. I don't think they saw a very crazy woman, I think they arrested her under the act because she was resisting. I am sure I would like to see a qualified assessment before going an calling some 16 year old gir crazy for not wanting to give up her baby to stranger, armed stranger. There are a lot of emotional factors she could have been dealing with after having a baby. Nothing in this article has convinced me that she was deranged, or crazy. Stubborn and unruly yes.


The only immediate danger the child was in, was almost being tasered, what if she had turned, do we know if when you are being tasered if the taser shock can shock someone in your arms, like a baby? I don't know the answer to this, but I am wondering if it could have?

The child is getting the care for some unknown ailment, sickness, etc. I would like to know more details on this as well, so I could gain what kind of sickness the child had and what real danger there was, for them to have been a bit more patient with her. She will get an assessment, cause they arrested her under the act, which is what they could arrest her under.

Oh we should be greatful that they did not draw their guns, on an unarmed 16 year old with a baby? Yeah.

They only shocked her, they tasered her. That's not a small shock, this is a taser, that has killed others with just two shocks. It's not a small stun, it's a taser, that could have harmed her, or possibly the baby. Had she dropped the baby, then it would be a different story, but she didn't, so we can portray people who taser a 16 year old mother, with a baby as heroic. I can't join you on that ship.

I will however acknowledge that it's a stressful call, after 3 hours, I would be at the end of my patience as well, and if I saw an easy way to deal with the situation and bring it to a close, I might be tempted to do just that, but I am a common member of the public, and I expect those in authority to have that extra patience that I would not, because I am not trained to serve and protect the public.

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs ... /708150352



My case in point. That also was after one shot with the (stun) gun, this 16 year old girl got two shots with the (stun) gun. This is a former police officer and criminologist saying that it would be moronic to taser someone holding a baby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6vBVUusmP0

Gang, you are speaking from a position where you have no evidence to doubt that the officers acted properly in all circumstances. We can all find the use of a taser distasteful, but to go out and criticise them without bringing any evidence to the table is slanderous.

Gang, you are speaking from a position where you have no evidence to doubt that the officers acted properly in all circumstances. We can all find the use of a taser distasteful, but to go out and criticise them without bringing any evidence to the table is slanderous.

Well I have a former police officer and a criminologist quoted as saying, what kind of moron would taser a person holding a baby. It's an article and I do have proof that the baby was in danger of being held by a mother being tasered. My proof is in the article I just posted above, with a dad who dropped his baby after being tasered once.



That dad is like 6'2 or 6'4, he is like 240 pounds or more. This girl was 5.1 or 5'2 and 110 pounds, according to the yotube poster. (I can not confirm the weights or hights, these are assesments only.) As you can see however the guy in the video I just posted is pretty large, well built and he dropped the baby after just one taser shot. This girl had to be strong to not drop that baby after two taser shots.

And yes, I do feel, think, and am still not convinced that the baby was not in any danger. I however have also used additional source to back up my point of view, additional sources which show otherwise, including the guy who died yesterday after one taser shot, and the guy who started convulsing after one shot and died at the airport, after multiple shots.

You are forgetting it was a contact jolt, they did not fire the barbs, so we can assume that as soon as the unfit mother was jolted she lost control and the officer grabbed the endangered infant. There is no way they could have known the baby would not have died on scene because from their point of view she was smothering it. Talking obviously didnt work because along with the 3 hours of hostage negitiantion that when on at the scene, there were several days of calling this teenager. The woman was NOT acting in the best interests of the child and so the child HAD TO be taken from her.
I can see you have a hard hate on for tasers, the problem is we mostly hear about them when they dont work. So when ever some single minded individuals hear the word taser they think the police did something wrong. Before tasers it was either shoot the suspect or let the criminal go. I for one would not support a law enforcement agency who chooses to lets criminals go.

What do you think you would have done in their place stalker?

Take in to account that talking did not work. The baby is in danger because it was supposed to be in the hospital days ago. The mother is breaking the law by not taking the child to the hospital. Do they just say "Your breaking the law" then get in the car and drive off? Does your former police officer with a course on criminology give you any insight on what he would have done?

Actually I found another story on this, she says that they held her down, and they tasered her on the neck. She says it was on a bed, their version is that she was in a chair and they did it on her shoulders and arm.

The article says that the marks were on her neck. I have to go and find it again.

Either way this young mom has a mental illness rap that she didn't need.

Also I was reading some of the postings on this, and people were wondering, before tasers what would they really have done, would they really have had to pull out a gun and shoot her? Is it possible to believe that three officers, could physically restrain her long enough to get the child in another way that did not involve a taser, the other feedback was that if she was so mentally unfit, why did she have the child. (That poster also thought that they were just covering up after the fact.)

I will find the link to the article, but I am doing some other research at the moment, so it might have to be a bit later.

Actually I was trying to get a grasp on the time frame as well. There was already lot's of things happening behind the scenes with this case. The worst part is I bet this system will make sure she and her boyfriend lose the baby for coming forward. Not saying that they are or were steller parents, but it sounds like she really like her child. I had a picture of her with the baby, but I have to find it again as well.

Oh yeah and after watching some of the stuff on the tube about tasers, I am starting to not be a fan. When I first heard about them, I thought, oh that's better than killing people, but you should see the abuses, using them on kids, handcuffed people, it's in some cases almost as bad. There have been a lot of deaths from these as well.

I was reviewing the other article, I did take into consideration that it was a hand taser and not the firing kind, which seemed a lot better, and had it gone done the way they described, in my mind it would have been a bit better, but their version does not match hers.

They say she was in a chair and they tasered her arm and shoulder, bad, but it shows forethought on thier part.

However she says she was on the bed, they held her own, shocked her neck twice and then she let go of her baby. That is not a pretty picture. I am waiting to get more details, if we even hear more from her side.

Last I heard she was consulting with a lawyer to see if she should file charges, but I bet if she does they will make it almost impossible for her to get her child back and that's not cool. Anyways those are just my views from what I have been able to gather, but I would like more details on the story to make a proper assessment.