RT News The superintendent of the Chicago Police Department says that the reason one of his officers used a Taser stun gun on a woman days away from giving birth because “you can’t always tell whether somebody is pregnant.”
At eight-months pregnant, Tiffany Rent says she would think officers would have been aware of her condition before they assaulted and arrested her on Wednesday morning outside a South Side drug store.
“I was standing at the squad car close enough for him to see that I was pregnant,” Rent tells the Chicago Tribune.
The department says nothing was wrong with the ways officers acted, though. According to the police report, Rent“attempted to take off” after being ticketed for parking her car in a space reserved for handicap persons outside of a Chicago Walgreens when she was subjected to an electric pulse from a Taser gun. The maximum fine for using a handicap parking space without authorization in Chicago is $350.
Moments earlier, Rent tore up the citation and said, “I ain’t giving you (expletive),” according to the official report. That, apparently, was enough for cops to use force.
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy says he believes that it isn’t always possible to determine if a suspect is or isn’t pregnant so in the end it’s matter of upholding the law.
“Well, first of all, you can’t always tell whether somebody is pregnant. So, you want to use it where you are overcoming assault or preventing escape. That’s what it boils down to,” Supt. McCarthy tells the Tribune.
To do as much, Rent was shocked by the Taser, then dragged out of her car, forced to the ground and handcuffed — in front of two of her young children and her boyfriend. Joseph Hobbs, the father of the child, suffered a dislocated elbow and was also arrested by police for trying to intervene. Sharita Rent, Tiffany’s sister, tells the Tribune that some officers on the scene reportedly made “nasty, cruel comments” and suggested to the expectant parents that they “call Jesse Jackson.”
“How could you be that cruel to a human being? A pregnant human being?” asks the sister.
Later Wednesday, a nursing supervisor at the Roseland Community Hospital ran tests on Rent and said her unborn child appeared to be in good health, but the expectant mother still has concerns — she has lost two children during pregnancy before.
“That policy has been in effect for quite some time,” McCarthy adds. “Whether or not the policy has been adhered to is going to be examined separately from the investigation into the use of force. So we’ll keep you posted on that, and we’ll see how it plays out.”
The latest incident follows an episode earlier this year in Dekalb County, Georgia where Officer Jerad Wheeler was accused of kicking a woman nine months pregnant, prompting her to receive emergency surgery.
“We are the nation of laws, not of men”. However small is violation of the law, even when not a single human being was hurt, the law must be served to the fullest possible extent, overcoming any resistance and any obstacles. If in order to serve the law it becomes necessary to beat someone up, we shall not hesitate. To maim, no problem. To kill, same thing. Nothing, not a single human life should stand in the way of serving the law. Does not matter whether there was any real damage to anyone. The law is absolute.
If the woman is not cooperative enough to receive parking ticket, sure thing, apply increasing amounts of force, up to killing her and her baby, if nothing else works. Why not – she did violate the law, didn’t she? Does not matter whether she is pregnant, or sick, or old – human considerations have zero weight against the one and the only priority, the law. Letting her go is not an option. The law, however petty, must be served at any cost, and no price is too big.
Right?
VAD,
WRONG!
But you are an asshole of extraordinary proportions (I will give you that!).
The only time I would say cops should humilate, beat, or kill in the name of “upholding” the law,.. is when it is you or your family.
ALL other Americans are off-limits to such criminal brutality.
Clearly your a Physc-ops shill.
Go back to your boss at the CIA, FBI, NSA or whatever treasonous gov’t agency you are working for, and let them know you have been made.
This is just another perfect example that it is time to refresh the tree of liberty.
Time to abolish the treasonous Fed Gov’t and ALL it criminal agencies.
Time to abolish all police dept’s and state gov’ts.
Time to reinstitute the US Constitution as our form of gov’t, as written, and slowly, carefully, rebuild the few gov’t agencies really needed,… which is very few in deed!
JD – US Marines – Hoping VAD gets to “experience” such law enforcement extremes firsthand.
Thanks for your kind comments. I suggest you get familiar with this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
and then maybe you will reconsider exactly who was the asshole.
I got your sarcasm pretty quick, because I thought nobody could be that big of an asshole, except for maybe a cop. but I think Joe took ya seriously. He’s a good guy and I’m sure you are,too. An honest mistake.
@Joe Q. Public
I could be wrong, but I believe that Vad was being completely sarcastic in his comment. His intentions, I believe, were to show how dangerously wrong it is to apply the full force of the law as if it is the only thing that matters.
If you re-read his comment with this thought in mind, I think you’ll see what I mean.
That was my take also.
Oh baby, you are SO sarcasm impaired. Vad’s sarcasm was screamingly apparent by the end of the first sentence.
Get a grip.
This is absolutely disgusting! When is this country going to wake up and put a stop to these gestapos?!?
Why does it even matter if she was pregnant? Is it okay to taser someone for exercising their right to free speech if they’re not pregnant?
According to the article, all she did was tear up a ticket and say “I ain’t giving you (expletive).” This is none of the cop’s business unless he also wants to write a littering ticket for the one she tore up, assuming she tossed it on the ground. He has his copy of the ticket to submit to his boss, and what she does with hers, and what she says about it is none of the cop’s business.
Obviously this isn’t about enforcing the law, but rather it’s an exercise in beating a population into submission by giving the cattle-prod to anyone who might not be completely submissive to authority. If this is the new ‘policy’ of the police, the people need a new policy for dealing with them.
I guess the only recourse for people yearning to breathe free is to shoot the cops before they shoot you, or electro-torture you to death.
http://newsone.com/2019316/chicago-police-stuns-pregnant-woman-tiffany-rent-over-parking-ticket/
paints somewhat different story.
“Rent was parked in a handicap space at a Walmart while her fiance, Joseph Hobbs, shopped inside. An officer approached Rent and wrote her a parking ticket. She reportedly tore up the ticket and threw it at the officer. The officer, in turn, wrote her a littering ticket and asked for ID, according to a police report.
“I ain’t giving you (expletive),” the report quoted Rent as saying.
Rent reportedly got back into her SUV and the officer warned her that he would use a stun gun if she attempted to drive off. Just as Rent placed her hand on the gear shifter in an alleged attempt to hightail it from the scene, the officer shocked her with his stun gun.”
Indeed, “I’m giving you ***” hardly makes sense as response to receiving the ticket, but does make it as response to the demand for the ID. I guess that’s why it’s all about the pregnancy and not a word about unlawful arrest.
Not a bad idea, Jolly Roger. Pretty much the key to survival these days, if ya get pulled over.
First what you have to do, is to make the psycho enforcer affraid of retribution! Then you can go after the order giveth!
This police officer should be terminated by his boss before he gets terminated on the street. Hotheaded morons should not be given weapons and a license to use them.
> “The department says nothing was wrong with the ways officers acted”
CORRECTION, there was nothing ILLEGAL about how they acted.
They obviously acted WRONGLY in the context of social conduct and respect.
>”According to the police report, Rent“attempted to take off” after being
> ticketed for parking her car in a space reserved for handicap persons”
They already KNEW the womans License Plate number. Why not MAIL a ticket?
“she was subjected to an electric pulse from a Taser gun. The maximum fine for using a handicap parking space without authorization in Chicago is $350.”"
PREGNANT WOMAN TASED, absolutely 100% IMMORAL… but not illegal. There is a big problem in America today, and it is coming from everyday people— like police officers.
Totally unnecessary violence against this woman. When a parking ticket is written and placed on a vehicle, the police officer has a copy, and the license plate number of the car is part of the record. Whether or not the woman tore up the ticket makes no difference. Many people take tickets off their windshield and toss them down on the street. In this case, the officer saw the action of the woman and heard her swearing. So what? She was still going to be tracked by the court, through the vehicle, for non-payment of the ticket. Tasing? Why? What law was broken by tearing up the ticket? None! What danger did the woman pose to the police officer? None! Who is lawless here? The Chicago Police Department.
I am really sad about that woman, because she is a pregnant mother. So I think it is better to give a chance to her.
Probably Right – Guess most of the ‘Law Enforcement Officers’ would hardly know what day of the week it was !
for all you youngens they were called PIGS in the 60es for a good reason. They just hired there kids now. You know like father like son..
Her real crime wasn’t the parking offense. It was that most heinous of crimes, contempt of cop.
In a way, she’s lucky. Considering the number of people who have been beaten, blinded by pepper spray, or just outright killed- they showed remarkable restraint in only tasering her.
It is well known in most civilized societies that a woman who is eight months pregnant is certifiably insane and cannot be held accountable for her actions.
These are our mothers and we love them, so we accommodate their actions while pregnant right up to dodging bullets and running away.
In short, there is no acceptable excuse for tasering a woman who is eight months pregnant.
I do agree that someone should get a ticket if they are not handicapped and choose to park in a handicap spot anyway. I also, think that the woman was disrespectful to an authority and a bad example for her kids. I also, believe two wrongs don’t make a right.
When we look at the taser incident logically, we realize that just because she tears up her copy of the ticket, the ticket is still valid. The ticket would have been completed with all information including her name, address, and driver’s license number before it was handed to this woman, for her to even be given the opportunity to rip it up to begin with. With this in mind, in my opinion the cop should have let it be and let her be stupid enough to not show up at court or pay for the ticket in which, would result in either having her license revoked or being arrested. In my opinion, this is a case of a cop that doesn’t know how to control their ego and so the cop acted out.
When we look at it like above, even if you cancel out the pregnancy thing in which does make it worse, the cop shouldn’t take the risk of someones life by using a taser gun when it can be avoided. How would this cop know if she has a heart problem that could cause her death or many other scenario that we can think of? Either way the most important fact in this, is that this woman would have still had a ticket on her record that would have to be addressed eventually whether she likes it or not. If the cop would have just let it be, then there would be no valid accusations that could have been thrown at the officer.