Martial Law w/ Control Freaks

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11/30/98 -- 7:27 PM
Officer Fired For Blasting 77-year-old Woman With Pepper Spray

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - A police officer was fired Monday for using pepper spray in a confrontation with a 77-year-old woman who had stopped her car on the wrong side of the road to get her mail.

Russell L. Metcalf, an eight-year veteran of the police force, had been suspended with pay during an investigation.

Goldie Akers drove down her driveway Nov. 8 to get her mail and her car was facing the wrong way on the road when Metcalf stopped and asked if there was a problem.

Sgt. Allen Camden said Ms. Akers drove away from Metcalf and back up her driveway. Metcalf followed and asked to see her license and registration, Camden said. Ms. Akers refused to talk, and Metcalf warned her he would arrest her unless she showed him the documents. When she cracked open her window, Metcalf sprayed pepper spray into the car and arrested her on reckless driving and obstructing justice charges. Ms. Akers has pleaded innocent, and her trial is scheduled for Jan. 21.

Ms. Akers said she drove to the mailbox because it is difficult for her to walk up and down the driveway.

Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

OK, so a 77-yr-old frail lady is in her own car in her own driveway, too weak to walk, probably hard of hearing too, and this cop assualts her right thru her own car window! She probably couldn't see too well either! *And* she's going to have to stand trial, probably had to go thru the expense & hassle of hiring lawyers. Boy, seems she could sue for a gazillion ...

I'm terrified of the gangs + mobs rogueing around shooting, looting, arsoning, raping, beating, & torturing innocent ppl after Y2K (perhaps) plunges us into chaos.

On the other hand, if in good times a police officer finds it necessary to abuse power on a frail old lady in her car in her driveway, what will it be like being ruled by under-staffed, scared, trigger-happy, no-holds-barred tough martial-law thugs?

Personally, I would prefer to die than live in Infomagic's coming world. I don't have a driving determination to survive while having all dignity and security shattered. I'd much rather quietly, peacefully starve to death in my little apartment with my beloved husband dying with me at my side. We don't want to go roaming after 3 months of hibernation, to be attacked by who knows what.

Death by starvation is not all that bad. As hospice caregivers, we know the process well. Of course our self-preservation and survival instincts are strong enough to make us get ready ahead of time! But we're not wealthy enough to store more than 3 month's worth, or to buy a house and move. I'm starting to feel that having a gun or two would be sensible, but I abhore them and would rather die than become violent.

Is there anyone else who feels this way? Our spiritual experiences give us fervent faith in a much better afterlife. We don't have children or cohesive families; those ties bind ppl more strongly to this earth. Compared to most of you industrious survivalists, we're wimps, but we've made all our choices consciously and probably would do it over the same way. At least we'll go with loads of super-great karma! One consolation for the upcoming trauma.

Ashton & L

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), November 30, 1998

Answers

Leska,..this is atrocious...but we don't need Y2K for this to happen...it happens every day...cowbody cops emboldened by the state and federal laws do it EVERY day...go to a mjor city and see what they are pulling people over for.

the US has not been free for decades. But the fear-filled keep calling for more and more laws..more and more police....THIS is the result.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), November 30, 1998.


AMEN, Donna!

-- Alive in 2001 (sarmstro@seidatqa.com), November 30, 1998.

Leska,

It's not over until it's over, here or beyond the other side. Hint: It's all eternal. What you think you see, or what other's see, may be their illusion. There are numerous/infinite simultaneous realities. Conscinousness is the key. Raise it. Then your experience of the "Y2K events" will not be what you fear.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 30, 1998.


If the police officer was fired for using excessive force, we can be assured that it was more than likely unnecessary - HOWEVER. Please keep in mind that there are no gaurantees that little old women aren't carrying weapons. Remember, she was found facing the wrong direction on a highway. The officer asked her for her license and registration (to help her, no doubt) but the lady did not co-operate. When someone doesn't co-operate with the police, they tend to get a little nervous...and rightly so in the neighborhood I live in.

They're not all bad guys.

-- Patrol Pal (nodefense@thistime.com), November 30, 1998.


Leska, I believe in eternal life too. This is the "Earth School of Compressed Learning"!

In that spirit, don't abhor guns. They have something to teach, and can be interesting if you learn how to handle them properly. Give it a try, it is never too late to learn something new. It will give you historical insight into all kinds of human activity of the last 400 years. Handling guns properly can teach concentration, awareness (both administrative and tactical), even a kind of military courtesy, and many other related skills that many gun-abhoring people (yourselves excepted I'm sure) completely lack.

-RC

-- Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), December 01, 1998.



Hey Patrol Pal

Didjah ever get your scrauny ass gassed by a cop 1/4 your age? Izzit somethin yer lookin ford to when ya in yer late 70's? "Lesseehere, get the mail, dis the 'man' on the way back cause I can't seeum real well, pepper spray inna face for lunch".

You sound like a young pup, check back with us when you get some sense and experience.

"You there, come at me with that banana"

But you'll shoot me.

"I promise not to shoot you"

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), December 01, 1998.


Not all policemen go around spraying old ladies with pepper spray. Uncle DeeDah, I'm in my fifties and no young pup. My son is a policeman. He has been on domestic calls where an arrest has to be made for wife beating, drugs, child abuse,...on and on. Several times---the mothers and grandmothers have tried to prevent the arrests of their son's and go as far as to strike and hit the police officers (including my son, and he has never struck back). Honoring our parents and respecting the elderly should be practiced by all, but not all the elderly are your sweet little old ladies and harmless to no one. Where do we assume that old people are above the law? Without law, chaos will errupt.(At least in the large cities) I agree that the elderly lady who was sprayed was probably no risk to the officer and he abused his authority (deserving to be fired), but for the sake of the good cops, consider the fact that there are rotten people in our cities that include all age groups.

-- M.Doe (M.Doe@usa.net), December 01, 1998.

"Not all policemen go around spraying old ladies with pepper spray. Uncle DeeDah"

Of course not. But when one does, can his ass pronto. Put YOUR Mom's face on that poor old woman, then shoot her with the spray.

Unless you don't like your mommy.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), December 01, 1998.


Patrol Pal, How do you think the police community will behave if Billy Willie declares martial law? Will you, without question, break down doors to seize unauthorized firearms, food supplies, etc.? If the feds request that you round up "trouble makers" and move them to detention camps, will you do it? I think that prospects of such actions are what is disturbing to many people in this forum. Thanks for any reply!

-- Ken D. (bozogozo@hotmail.com), December 01, 1998.

This 77-year old woman shouldn't be driving. If she can't see, hear, or walk, & isn't willing or able to co-operate with a police officer, the she simply has NO business driving a car. Why are Americans so impractical about these things?

"I'm starting to feel that having a gun or two would be sensible, but I abhore them and would rather die than become violent."

Unfortunately, there are sometimes other people involved. I bought guns in part to protect the 8-year-old girl next door, & the adorable 3-year old across the street. Anyone who messes with them deserves a bullet or two, even if I'm not gutsy enough to pull the trigger myself.

-- Ben Dair (not@aol.com), December 01, 1998.



First, let me clarify. I don't think that the cop who sprayed the old lady was correct in doing so (hense, the "nodefense@thistime). However, the person who posted above was correct when he/she stated that not elderly women are your sweet little old lady type. Criminals come in all shapes and sizes.

As to martial law. My spouse is a police officer in a large city. He/she will not support the chicken willie renegade and martial law. It is against everything that comprises this person. Morals, values, integrity...believe it or not some cops still posess these traits. (Though, apparently I can't spell today).

The point of the previous post was to merely point out that not all cops are bad. This incident does not mean that martial law is already here. Nor does it imply that if chicken willie's renegade and martial law should pop-up, that all cops will be on the bandwagon.

Again, there are still some moral decent people out there, and some of them are cops!

-- Patrol Pal (nodefense@thistime.com), December 01, 1998.


Agree

Sadly, the pepper sprayer tarnishes the breed.

That is one of the reasons I want heads to roll, when the bad ones show their colors.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), December 01, 1998.


As an ex policeman looking at the event posted, the guy was probably out of line spraying her. In my experience, the ONLY reason to use force is when someone is resisting arrest or he/she becomes a threat to the officer's or a bystander's safety.

I have been in situations where even when I had a gun pointed at me there was NO good reason to use a weapon to resolve the situation.

You need to remember that just as there are good cops there are also bad ones and you don't want to identify the whole class of policemen as bad just because of several bad cops.

We all as individuals stand or fall by our convictions. Even in Infomagic's world there is no reason to just curl up and die. It may turn out that Y2k becomes the single greatest adventure of our lifetime. Have you tried setting up a y2k group where you live? A group of like-minded individuals will succeed where a single person or a couple may fail.

-- Yin (excop@police.com), December 02, 1998.


Wow, a visit to the distant Forum past resolved up on the News today:

[ For Educational Purposes Only ]

Woman Pepper-Sprayed by Cops Let Go

SALEM, Va. (AP) -- A judge dismissed charges Wednesday against a 77-year-old woman who was hit with pepper spray and dragged from her car by a police officer after parking on the wrong side of the road.

After a hearing, Judge George Harris dismissed reckless driving and obstruction charges against Goldie Akers without explanation.

Ms. Akers was arrested Nov. 8 after driving across the road from her home to pick up her mail from her mailbox. She said she did that routinely because it was difficult for her to walk down her driveway.

Roanoke County Officer R.L. Metcalf stopped Akers when he saw her car facing the wrong way, and sprayed her through her cracked window after she pulled her car back into the driveway and refused to speak to him.

He dragged her off to jail in handcuffs.

Metcalf said he feared Ms. Akers would use the car as a weapon.

The officer was fired over the incident, and last week county officials agreed to pay Ms. Akers $45,000 for a shoulder injury.

Ms. Akers now rents a post office box.
------------------------------------------------------------------ xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), May 05, 1999.


We need a lot more judges and a lot less cops like this. . .

-- Hardliner (searcher@internet.com), May 05, 1999.


Six years ago I would be on the side of the elderly woman. BUT. There is a 79-year old widow living next door to me who is a NASTY piece of work! Strong as an ox, too--she still whacks large renegade branches into submission with a few thumps of her axe, mixes and lays cement where needed, and takes care of a large, landscaped corner lot by herself. No help in the house, either, and it's spotless. When she wants something, she plays poor li'l ol' southern widder woman to the hilt! If Mrs. Akers is anything like THIS one, then the police officer could well have been justified.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 05, 1999.

Old Git,

Your point is well taken--I plan on being a nasty piece of work when I'm 79 too!

In Mrs. A's case however, it seems that she was feeble enough to drive across the street and afraid enough to only crack her auto window. . .

Sounds like "Contempt of Cop" to me and I think this cop was bent and got what he deserved.

-- Hardliner (searcher@internet.com), May 05, 1999.


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