72-Year-Old Great Grandmother Tased by Police

When I read that a police officer tased a 72-year-old woman, the first emotion I felt was surprise (of course), and the second was curiosity. What the heck happened? Why would anyone ever tase an old woman?

After watching the video on MSNBC, I realized that the fault, perhaps, didn't lie with an overzealous and taser-trigger-happy officer.

Apparently Kathryn Winkfein was stopped for speeding - she'd been driving 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. So she wasn't exactly a speed demon, but getting pulled over at that speed is understandable.

The video showed (with cuts that make it seem as though much less time had passed than actually had) the officer speaking to the woman through the window, then her getting out of the truck and being extremely argumentative. Curse words and a confrontational tone were clearly recorded, and she was certainly not the docile great-grandmother type that I had supposed she was, judging by the headline. She initially refused to sign the ticket, then said things like "take me to jail. Go ahead and take me to jail," and "go ahead. Tase me." At one point she even took a fighting stance against him!

The police officer tried to grab her and she jerked her wrist away. After a little longer, when he threatened to tase her, she called his bluff. Down she went, squealing.

Was tasing her a necessity? No, I don't think so. I find it hard to believe that this officer who easily had at least 50 pounds on her couldn't have put handcuffs on her if she fought him. Making electricity course through her body wasn't all that necessary in my opinion.

However, she was calling his bluff! She was daring him to do it, literally. If anyone else (as in a younger than bingo-aged person) would have done that in the way that she did, none of us would have blinked an eye upon hearing that a taser was used.

I'm thinking that her age and diminutive size, compared to his, were her tools to use in order to act the way she did - who expects to be tased when they're 72 years old, and a woman to boot? Exactly.

What I find most interesting here is that the actual event happened a month ago (May 11), and that the reason it is on the news now is that Winkfein contacted her local station and claimed that she had been abused. She also denied any bad conduct on her part, but didn't she know that people would watch the video? Perhaps not, perhaps she didn't realize that nearly every police car nowadays has a camera in it. Either way, if I were either of them I'd be embarrassed enough to watch my conduct when I get pulled over or give speeding tickets to grandmothers from now on...