Pete84 Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Heard it on the radio, looked it up and it certianly is interesting. Not sure why the guy was so combative with the officer, rather interesting to see the dash video too. Video Articles http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7531125?source=rss http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695229983,00.html http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/244686/ Just watching the video it doesn't make a whole lot of sense how the officer jumped to his taser. I know we have a few LEO's here, anyone care to expound? The Utah HP's policy for taser use was described as: * When a person is a threat to themselves, an officer or another person. * In cases where the physical use of force would endanger the person or someone else. * When other means of lesser or equal force by the officer has been ineffective and a threat still exists. The guy was walking back to his car, so it appeared, and that probably set off ALOT of alarms in the UHP's mind, but sequentially it seemed quite quick as to the drawing of the taser. The officer told him to get out of the vehicle, they walked back, the guy is talking, and then 'put your hands behind your back . . .', and the motorist freaked. Thoughts? I post this as it made the news and is creating a bit of a stir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruez Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 It did look like it was a bit premature... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I am all for cops having latitude in doing there job, but I do think that was a over reaction by the officer. The guy in the chevy was saying he was doing 68 but that was before the sign you see in the cop car early. If that is the frist sign at 40 why would he not slow down espically being behind a marked cop car, come on get real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naviathan Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I think it was a bit over zealous as well. I'm all for power and protection, but the kid is a just a head strong young prick, not a criminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Thanks for posting the link. I was wanting to see it. But I hard to see how long this thread will stay open. That cop was awfully quick to pull the trigger. But that guys sure was a whinny bitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Both parties were in the wrong. The cop is supposed to give a verbal "taser warning" before tasing anyone. Notice he lies about that later to the second cop. He also could have avoided the entire situation by saying "if you don't sign the ticket, I have to place you under arrest" instead of getting his rocks off by manhandling someone who was doing the heinous crime of going 68 on a highway. Seems like a lot of people go into law enforcement in order to keep bullying people the way they did in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Kid is Immature, but the cop is a d_ck, period. When ever I get pulled over it is yes sir, no sir, sorry sir, whatever you want to hear sir for that very reason. Then I go to court Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I wouldn't say he "lies" when telling the other officer. Under that kind of stress, it's pretty easy to forget "his lines". He did instruct the kid to put his hands behind his back several times before using the taser and the kid clearly disobeyed. However, the officer will most likely receive some kind of administrative disciplinary action and be forced to re-train with his taser. He'll probably end up as a beat officer for the rest of his career as a result of the disciplinary action. The kid was also in the wrong for trying to argue with the officer. Be polite, take notes, take photos of the road, it's conditions any signs and as any good lawyer will recommend, if possible, record/video tape everything. In this case, the cop did all the video taping for him! It seems likely someone in the department also felt this was unreasonable force since the in-car footage isn't generally released to the public and posted on YT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskubitz Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 The situation could have been handled better. The cop didn't need to arrest the motorist for doing 68, nor for refusing to sign the ticket. And he certainly didn't need to taser the guy. He had the guy on video admitting to violating the speed limit. All he had to do was to write "refused to sign" on the ticket, handed it to the motorist and said "see you in court". But instead, the cop took the "respect my authority" approach, and blew something way out of proportion. Tasers can kill, and they can only be removed by medical personnel. The cop decided to arrest the guy, and at that point, he had the authority to use force if the motorist did not comply. Unfortunately, that will probably keep the cop from getting into trouble. However, there needs to be a screening process to keep bullies from carrying lethal and non-lethal weapons so that they don't use them indiscrimately on citizens. It just didn't need to go down like that, and I hope his captain is pissed and getting pressure from the public to remove this guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperKid Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 The police officer did the right thing. There's no way of knowing what the motorist was going to do. As I always say, better safe than sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 With all these cases of taser's killing this is pretty scary. you guys pretty much summed it up for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 The cop had ZERO patience. He could have been WAY more lenient and simply didn't care. By the letter of the law, sure the kid was wrong, but the cop should have handled it completely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dskubitz Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 The police officer did the right thing. There's no way of knowing what the motorist was going to do. As I always say, better safe than sorry. by that logic, cops should just taser everyone. Better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, tasers are not completely safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperKid Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 by that logic, cops should just taser everyone. Better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, tasers are not completely safe. No, that's completely different from what I said. The guy had his hand in his pocket and was heading towards his vehicle. There's no telling what the motorist could have done, he could've taken off and then the police officer would have had to engage in a pursuit which would've endangered the motorist, the occupant(s) of the vehicle, other motorists, the police officer as well as other police officers who would've joined in the chase. The police officer was completely right for what he did. If the police officer is suspended or punished in some other way, it would be a travesty to not only the officer in question, but police officers everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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