Posted on 11/21/2007 11:58:07 AM PST by Sopater
An internal police investigation is under way after a formal complaint was filed against a Utah state trooper who was videotaped Tasering a man who refused to sign a speeding ticket.
The officer's conduct has been called into question after a videotape of the incident was posted on YouTube.
The video, taken from a Utah Highway Patrol dashboard camera, shows Trooper John Gardner using a Taser on Jared Massey during a traffic stop on State Road 40 in Uintah County on Sept. 14.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The cop did the right thing.
You have said something really stupid here.
I watched this video yesterday. Be sure to watch the large one, its like 15 minutes. This guy and his family have a definite case. I was afraid the cop would taser the wife when she came out of the car.
What the heck ever happened to the night stick??
The idiot that got tasered should have gotten the snot knocked outta him.
Depends which state you are in.
That cop was totally out of control. He tells the man to turn around and then tazes him in the back.
the cop should never have tasered the guy, All he had to do was tell him sign or go to jail and than arrest the kid, not taser hime!
How fast was the man traveling anyhow,the cop pulls over so the SUV can go by him and then pulls him over? How does that work?
An officer doesn’t have to list charges before he tries to cuff a suspect.
And the fact that the tazer was pointed at the doofus was warning enough. If doofus wants to try to walk away, he’s just asking for it.
Officer was right.
Doofus was wrong-o.
The officer should’ve (at least briefly) explained the consequences of not signing the ticket to the guy before ordering him out of the car and breaking out the taser.
Unarmed is unarmed. The fact the guy walks toward, or awayfrom, or into the path of a car means nothing. He's not in a car driving it.
You have to realize that if your hair-trigger standard were universal, and fully supported by the law, most Freepers would be out there at night hunting down cops to protect free people from tyranny.
I don’t know about NH, but that’s the defacto “bond” (promise to appear) in many/most states.
I once got a ticket where the cop took my license in bond.
I got it back in the mail when I coughed up the loot.
I hate to say it but refusing to sign a ticket can be grounds for arrest. The reason is that by signing you are being released into your own custody with the promise to appear in court later. Refusing to sign the ticket usually means you are to be brought in. The cop didn’t emplain such athing to the driver but the courts seem to think a person should know the law and cooperate. Of course, how is a person to understand when their rights are being violated and when a cop has the right to do what he is doing.
Leaving aside the specifics of this case, I think having a video camera in patrol cars that the officers can not turn off is a great idea, both for the protection of the officers themselves and for the protection of citizens who run into the thankfully small minority of police who like to abuse their authority.
And the doofus doesn’t realize how lucky he got.
A tazer is easily preferable to the club, mace or gun.
The cop never informed the guy he was under arrest. The cop never said to comply or be tazed. The cop lied to his buddy about it. This is a bad cop, and should be in jail.
“Don’t Taze Me Bro!” has now been replaced with “What’s Wrong With You?”
“Turn around and put your hands behind your back NOW,” repeated twice by a police officer holding a Taser shouldn’t be met with “What the heck is your problem?” and walking away, in my opinion.
As a former Cop I agree with you. Cop lied to the other cop video will cook him.
They’re not.
But the guy turned his back after ignoring orders to submit.
That’s reason enough for the cop to be suspicious.
Nothing says the cop has to give a guy every chance to kill him.
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