The Wall Street journal had a great article about the Warrior Cop. I agree with that assessment. Along with the LEO mentality of us vs them. Btst.

I repeat my question:

A "beanbag," or flexible baton, contains 1.4 oz of #9 lead shot and is fired at around 300 feet per second, according to wiki.  This is an energy of about 122 foot-pounds if my arithmetic is correct.

I submit that a direct hit in the torso at "room distances" on a 95 year old man with that load is "less than lethal" only in the most optimistic frame of mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean_bag_round#Dangers

And tasered on top of that?

With the presently-available data, I call it excessive force, and I don't think anyone can change my mind about that unless mitigating data emerges.

Terry

I'm with u on the excessive force

I looked up a little more info.

Note: I'm assuming Mr. Wrana had dementia based on his actions and age. 

First issue, the company that owns the facility is more interested in real estate development than caring for people.  Generally speaking, this sets a tone for lower quality because the mission of the company is not about taking care of people but developing real estate. 

Second problem, the facility (Victory Centre in Park Forest  http://www.pathwaysl.com/community/victory-centre-park-forest ) looks to be an assisted living facility without a dedicated dementia care facility.  General Assisted Living facilities are not the best place for people with dementia when the person becomes more confused.  They don't have as many staff and the staff won't have the training or experience in dealing with dementia...especially when things get difficult.  But, to fill beds and keep the census strong some of these places will admit people that would be better served in a specialized dementia care facility (see first issue above).

I'm not sure if this is all true...but I found this on the net:

John Wrana was at Victory nursing centre where he had been living for some time. The staff was attempting to forcefully give John medication which he refused. When the staff at the nursing home was unable to give John the medication they had “little” other options other than to call the police to detain Mr Wrana. When the police arrived John Wrana was reported to have a butcher knife, however this has been disputed by his attorney who states John didn’t have a knife at all, all he had was a wooden cane to fend off the medical staff. Apparently the staff had lied to police in order for them to respond to the call quicker.

Third issue:  You don't forcefully do anything.  Poor training, poor oversight, just freaking stupid.  You don't call the police because someone won't take their meds.  You back off and try again later.  If it's a life or death situation, maybe their blood pressure is off the charts and they won't take their BP med then call the doctor and get an order to send them to the ER.  You don't call police if someone is combative.  That's not a police issue it's a healthcare issue.  If someone is out of control then there are other options like Behavioral Health Units. 

This whole story is raising my BP and makes me sad.  It's all wrong.  If the gentleman was placed in a place that knew what they were doing then this would have never happened.

Mr. Wrana and his generation saved the world, built our economy and gave us everything we enjoy today. (I hope we don't screw it up.)  They deserve good care and the best quality of life possible for their last days on the earth.   Going out with a Taser and bean bag...damn.  Well, he's in a better place now.   

Maybe his death is giving us a final heads up

If this old man did not have a knife in hand, the police 100% overreacted to this.

The butcher knife story doesn't make sense.  A 95 year old guy is not going to be shopping, or cooking.  That's why he's in assisted living...they cook all the meals. 

I doubt he snuck into the kitchen and removed a knife.  The kitchens are usually out of the way.

This guy was clearly confused, maybe having some delusions, maybe thought the staff were trying to hurt him, feeding off their stress and body language.  Normal people don't refuse their medications and become agitated without good reason. 

The staff didn't know how to work with him and over reacted by calling the police.  I have a real issue with that.  That was totally uncalled for and the trial lawyer is going to rip them apart.   

^  Excellent comments and insights on geriatric care, Super Dave.  Thanks.

Its a tragedy no doubt, but if he indeed have a knife in his hands, then there is no saying what he could and couldn't have done.

I used to work in a home for adults with intellectual disabilities.  I was one of only two men working there, and 95% of the staff were women, mostly older Filipino women. It was standard protocol that any time a client became aggressive and a threat to others, we were first supposed to try to chemically restrain them (give medication), next would be verbal commands (the Filipino women would use their "mom" voice) and if that didn't work we were actually forbidden by the company to physically restrain them.  Often times we broke this rule if I was around, because the company policy was to call the police, which we wanted to avoid doing at all costs.  Mostly because the police receive little to no training on handling those sort of situations, but the company did not want to take and liability if the staff were to physically handle the client.

So I can understand why the staff may have called the police.  What happened after the police got there is just a lot of speculation, and us using our imaginations.  We don't how things went down, and the attorney on either side are going to paint two very different pictures.  Was he being a danger to the staff?  Other residents?  The police?  Himself?