Woman Sues Taser-Happy Traffic Cops – It’s About Time! (VIDEO)

A woman has filed suit against the sheriff’s department after she was pulled over for speeding and tasered by the traffic cop in front of her 3 kids.

In January 2009, 38 year old Audra Harmon and her three children were stopped by a traffic cop on a New York roadway for allegedly exceeding the posted speed limit in the area. Harmon was somewhat uncooperative, but not violent or threatening in any way.

The deputy on the scene, Sean Andrews, asked her to exit her vehicle and when she didn’t comply immediately, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of her vehicle. He then hit her twice with his taser to bring her down, all in front of her kids who were in the car with her.

Here’s the dash-cam footage of Harmon being tasered

Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and exceeding the speed limit, but after prosecutors saw the deputy’s dash cam footage of the incident, the charges were dropped.

Harmon has now filed notice with courts that she intends to sue the sheriff’s department because she believes the deputy was not properly trained on when and how to use a taser. Her argument is that a taser is supposed to be used in lieu of lethal force, not as a cattle prod to make people comply to demands.

Since all charges surrounding the incident were dropped based on actual video footage of the incident, Harmon may have a good chance of winning the suit. Prosecutors have already determined that there was not even enough evidence to warrant a disorderly conduct charge, so there was obviously no reason for the officer to use his taser.

So what the hell is next – will cops be tasering workers at their local coffee shop for not giving them the right kind of donuts?

This taser-as-a-cattle-prod mentality the police have has gone on far too long. The police departments or whoever oversees the use of weapons of any kind should be treating the use of tasers the same as the use of lethal weapons. Having to answer to someone for their actions would soon take a bite out of their happy-go-lucky tasering sprees.

Express yourself in the comments below. Have your say. Based on the video above, was the deputy justified in tasering the woman – in front of her own children?