[kellyhound]

Athens Police Department held a brief news conference to release more information about a man who died days after being tased and restrained by police.

Police Chief Floyd Johnson released body camera footage and gave a brief statement. He said the video had been edited to protect the identity of witnesses and the dignity of the patient, Randy Nelson.

Johnson held a briefing on February 15 to discuss the matter. He said the initial incident happened the morning of Feb. 3 when Athens Police received a call "to assist the medical staff with a patient who was becoming out of control at the emergency room." The officers who responded were told by Athens Limestone Hospital staff that Nelson was physically struggling with them during their attempts to conduct a mental health evaluation.

"The medical staff and patient's mother left the room, and officers talked to the patient from the doorway. The patient remained very agitated and threw his hospital gown and glass vials at officers," Johnson said.

After officers were unable to calm Nelson, Johnson said they told the patient's mother and staff that it would be necessary to use a Taser on him to stop further attempts to harm himself and others.

"There's no other way of doing this," comments one police officer in the video.

"Ok," replies a voice believed to be the patient's mother.

After one officer used the Taser on Nelson and another restrained and handcuffed him, "It later became apparent the patient was having trouble breathing, and the staff moved the patient to a trauma room," Johnson said.

Nelson was transported to Huntsville Hospital, where he died on Feb. 8, Johnson said.

Johnson said he waited to release video from the officer's body camera until after the Nelson's family viewed it. He said has asked the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to review the case to ensure transparency.

A preliminary autopsy report is still pending, so there is no official cause of death for Nelson.

Johnson said the video was edited to protect witnesses and also the dignity of the patient, Nelson.

In the video released, you hear officers telling Nelson, "Stop, stop!" and later saying, "We're trying to help you, ok? We're just trying to help you, buddy, we aren't trying to hurt you." Nelson can be seen throwing his gown and other objects police previously told media were glass vials. Later, the Taser is deployed and police and medical professionals are seen rushing to Nelson's side.

According to the Athens Police Department's Use of Force Policy, any use of force will be subject to a legal and/or administrative review.

It details that unjustified uses of force are unreasonable amounts of force, or force used in a cruel manner.

It adds that any use of force needs probable cause and depends on the subject's level of resistance.

[spudigitti]

He wont suffer anymore the poor man....

[Mufasa7]

This is how the Spartans dealt with these guys too

[Desensitisation]

Looks like a sad end to a sad situation, don't see how the cops did anything out of order here. The only thing that doesn't really work is expecting a mentally distressed person to follow any sort of command, especially not after being tazed. Should have just tazed and kept the current running just long enough to get restraints on him instead of repeated jolts with commands in between.

Don't think it would have made any difference though to the outcome.

[Susan]

Do cops have to have any training on how to deal with mentally ill people, does anyone know? Just makes me wonder if there could have been something else done to control him, other than a taser.

[FunkPumpkin]

Originally Posted by slyksleevemuckyey ↗

Do cops have to have any training on how to deal with mentally ill people, does anyone know? Just makes me wonder if there could have been something else done to control him, other than a taser.

The majority of the city police officers I dispatch for are Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers. Missouri isn't mentioned in that linked article, but we have CIT guys in most other jurisdictions that I'm familiar with.

So yes, some cops are specially trained to deal with mentally ill subjects. But not all of them.

[Susan]

Originally Posted by FunkPumpkin ↗

The majority of the city police officers I dispatch for are Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers. Missouri isn't mentioned in that linked article, but we have CIT guys in most other jurisdictions that I'm familiar with.

So yes, some cops are specially trained to deal with mentally ill subjects. But not all of them.

Cheers.

[Oswald2001]

His family should have committed him decades ago.

The cops did fine.

Cops cannot be expected to deal with absolutely everything.

Soon, police will be expected to perform brain surgery and fabricate false teeth on demand.

The cops were absolutely fine.

Psych boy had an insane dysfunctional irresponsible family and he had underlying health issues.

[whiteboye37]

Originally Posted by Oswald2001 ↗

His family should have committed him decades ago.

The cops did fine.

Cops cannot be expected to deal with absolutely everything.

Soon, police will be expected to perform brain surgery and fabricate false teeth on demand.

The cops were absolutely fine.

Psych boy had an insane dysfunctional irresponsible family and he had underlying health issues.

Did the guy have his own problems that were outsite the police concerns? Yes. Should the police have at least an ounce of mental health problem RECOGNITION before applying brute force? Yes. I mean its not a matter of being on a cops dick and thinking they need to preform brain surgery but its a matter of knowing when to apply the right amount of force and when to call for proper backup. Most cop get this crazy power trip and go gung hoe and love killing young black kids, (not the case here of course) but to defend them the way you did makes you appear ignorant of the larger status quo... all most good none cop lovers think is that cops should treat their civilians (targets) as if they were their family, if they were family would they shoot first ask questions later? would they be as brutal as they are otherwise?

the police has become so militarized (not the individuals fault but rather the systems) that they do not care about the safety of the people unless a cops life is at stake, otherwise its BS paperwork leading no where, OR its BS charges infriging on peoples rights thats barely passes for legal (or illegal but they target those who dont know better or cant afford those that know better)... its a sad fucked up system and if you deny any of this you aren't ignorant but instead just deny the facts of what the american justice system has become.

so again, did the cops do what they thought was right HERE, yes, but is that an excuse for all situations, NO!!!! i just need to flash a banner here to say that cops ARE NOT THE HEROS THEY USED TO BE!!!. Can they be sure, but more often than not they are tearing apart families rather than helping build the community so they can (for the most part) fuck off. thats my personal experience anyway, tell me my personal experience is wrong and you can go fuck yourself

[chewbacca]

Obviously since a black man died while being tased by a police officer, well, that is automatically racism. Athens will have to settle for millions to Jessie Jackson and his team of hucksters, as Im sure they are on the way!