awren
03-08-2005, 12:43 PM
I make no secret of my disdain for the city of Cincinnati or it's hometown maffia-the CPD. Their latest toy to kill blacks is the taser. Tasers have taken the place of both conversation and common sense in Cincinnati. Instead of trying to talk to someone or using appropriate methods, the CPD hits citizens with 50,000 voltz of electricity. The safety of tasers is questionable-but CPD is using them everyday against black folks.
Read on
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Coroner: Taser use did not cause death of mentally ill woman
By Jane Prendergast
Enquirer staff writer
MOUNT AIRY - A woman who lived in a group home for mentally ill people died in jail a week after she was arrested.
Shirley Andrews, 38, died Thursday of a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in her lung, Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens said Monday. Embolisms usually are brought on by other medical conditions, he said.
He said the death had nothing to do with Andrews' violent arrest Feb. 24, or officers' use of a Taser to subdue her.
"The Taser is not connected," Owens said.
Andrews was arrested at a home in the 5500 block of Colerain Avenue operated by Catholic Residential Services, a division of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The caseworker who dialed 911 told the dispatcher Andrews was diagnosed as schizophrenic.
When officers arrived, , they saw Andrews destroying things in the house, according to a police report. Officer Anthony Hill ordered her several times to calm down. Instead, the report stated, she threw a plastic case at Hill, who then Tased her. She threw another case at him, after which he Tased her again, the report stated.
Officers fired three Taser rounds, hitting her in the abdomen and right thigh. But none took effect, the report said. Among possible contributing factors listed on the police report for the Tasers' lack of effect: Andrews' "morbid obesity" and mental illness. Her weight was not given.
Andrews took three of the Taser barbs out herself, the report stated, and a University physician took out three more.
Police arrested Andrews at the home after she hit her caseworker on the arm and bit another woman, according to court records. They charged her with assault and felonious assault.
The misdemeanor assault charge was pending Monday, court records said, but the more serious felony was ignored by a grand jury the day after Andrews died.
Her attorney, Michael Strong, did not represent her long enough to have much contact with her. He had not been notified Monday that she was dead.
Employees and residents at the Catholic services home were "understandably very upset at this tragic death," said archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco.
The use-of-force report filed by police Sgt. Calvin Johnson said mental illness was a contributing factor to the incident and that Andrews was admitted to University Hospital. It was unclear how long she stayed there before being transferred to the jail.
Steve Barnett, spokesman for Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, said Monday the sheriff did not want to comment on Andrews' death until he got Owens' official autopsy report.
Did they really need to tase a mentally retarded person for not being compliant? Or is this another case of bad policing with a tragic outcome. This is the second time CPD has killed someone black and bought up obesity as a reason for their actions. Is it against the law to be fat in Cincinnati or just a reason for the police to kill black people?
Read on
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Coroner: Taser use did not cause death of mentally ill woman
By Jane Prendergast
Enquirer staff writer
MOUNT AIRY - A woman who lived in a group home for mentally ill people died in jail a week after she was arrested.
Shirley Andrews, 38, died Thursday of a pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in her lung, Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens said Monday. Embolisms usually are brought on by other medical conditions, he said.
He said the death had nothing to do with Andrews' violent arrest Feb. 24, or officers' use of a Taser to subdue her.
"The Taser is not connected," Owens said.
Andrews was arrested at a home in the 5500 block of Colerain Avenue operated by Catholic Residential Services, a division of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The caseworker who dialed 911 told the dispatcher Andrews was diagnosed as schizophrenic.
When officers arrived, , they saw Andrews destroying things in the house, according to a police report. Officer Anthony Hill ordered her several times to calm down. Instead, the report stated, she threw a plastic case at Hill, who then Tased her. She threw another case at him, after which he Tased her again, the report stated.
Officers fired three Taser rounds, hitting her in the abdomen and right thigh. But none took effect, the report said. Among possible contributing factors listed on the police report for the Tasers' lack of effect: Andrews' "morbid obesity" and mental illness. Her weight was not given.
Andrews took three of the Taser barbs out herself, the report stated, and a University physician took out three more.
Police arrested Andrews at the home after she hit her caseworker on the arm and bit another woman, according to court records. They charged her with assault and felonious assault.
The misdemeanor assault charge was pending Monday, court records said, but the more serious felony was ignored by a grand jury the day after Andrews died.
Her attorney, Michael Strong, did not represent her long enough to have much contact with her. He had not been notified Monday that she was dead.
Employees and residents at the Catholic services home were "understandably very upset at this tragic death," said archdiocese spokesman Dan Andriacco.
The use-of-force report filed by police Sgt. Calvin Johnson said mental illness was a contributing factor to the incident and that Andrews was admitted to University Hospital. It was unclear how long she stayed there before being transferred to the jail.
Steve Barnett, spokesman for Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis, said Monday the sheriff did not want to comment on Andrews' death until he got Owens' official autopsy report.
Did they really need to tase a mentally retarded person for not being compliant? Or is this another case of bad policing with a tragic outcome. This is the second time CPD has killed someone black and bought up obesity as a reason for their actions. Is it against the law to be fat in Cincinnati or just a reason for the police to kill black people?