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 ...
I merely stated that it is encouraging to see the kids becoming critical of baseless authority. It has to start somewhere. Government schools have been extremely destructive, so perhaps this will help dissolve them too.
The thing about this video, though, is that we know the context. The driver was from the beginning resisting proper authority, and his wife was contributing to the stress.
I emphatically support this cop.
lol
Don’t hold back, now.
I don’t know what kids you’ve seen for the past 30 or so years, but that’s what kids do. They think they know more than anyone else, and now we have basically erased the line between adults and kids. If you think that’s a good thing,I respectfully submit that you should get a job working with kids for awhile.
susie
I believe you are SO wrong, but we will see what a court decides because the guy is going to sue the police department, according to other news reports.
I hope the cop loses his job and I hope the police dept pays big time. This cop gives good cops a bad image. The guy was no threat. You don’t taser someone in the road. He could have gotten run over. Presently, the cop is still working.
That "mouthy little punk" was an American citizen with exactly the same rights and worth as you. He was not disrespectful, he only questioned the reason for the stop and asked what he was being charged with. If you think that every American that asks questions is a "punk" you need sedation/a different line of work that doesn't involve working with people.
"It's the responsibility of every driver to be aware of and obey all road signage and to be aware of changing road conditions. This is not a third world country. We live in a rule based society here in the USA."
No, we don't live in a rule-based society - we supposedly live in a democracy, a shining light for others to follow. The Nazis had a rule-based society and look where it got them and the world.
I really enjoyed your story about your local bust of some small-timers and how much fun it was for all of you to sic a dog on them. Enforcing the law is meant to be work, even heroic work but it shouldn't include sadistic pleasure when your "perp" gets badly bitten or "rides the Taser". Enjoying that stuff moves back to the column marked "Third Reich".
Now for one of my fun stories; I was in L.A. right after I got back from Vietnam, just returned from almost a year recovering from gunshot wounds. I'm in my '65 Mustang, on Highway 5 southbound near Burbank when an LAPD Highway Cruiser exits the freeway just behind me. I don't pay attention because I'm listening to the radio and he doesn't have his light on (that, and I knew that I hadn't done any bad driving and wasn't speeding). As I move on to the city street, he races past me and runs me off the road, up on to the curb. He jumps out, aims his shotgun at me and tells me to get out of the car and lay down on the road. I comply, but I'm slow because I have a full-length leg brace and it's hard to get out of the seat. He's yelling and that 12 gauge is pointing straight at my face. I'm scared so bad I'm shaking and I'm asking "why?". When I'm on the ground he tells me that I failed to pull over when he signaled me to pull over. I answer I didn't know - and he says he had his red light on. We both look at his car and his light is still on his hood in the stowed position and not on. He finally settled down and let me go but he didn't apologize and I got a moving violation for an "unsafe lane change" and I shook like a damn leaf all the way home.
Our police have a duty - a sacred duty - to respect all citizens and to protect them. When they are sworn to that office, it is not a license to kill or to enjoy sadistic torture. It's more than a catchy uniform and a badge , it's a high office of trust and if the law enforcement officers can't live with that, they need to get as far away from that profession of arms as they can.
In your average fascist dictatorship, you're absolutely right - subject closed, you're on your way to the Gulag.
In a democracy, you'd think that citizens should be treated better. Had this particular cop spoken to that young man (which is what he is, not a "punk" - you must have issues with younger men..) and calmly and professionally explained that he would be subject to arrest if he didn't sign - and even better, included the basis for the charges as the young guy asked, he wouldn't have had to Tase anybody.
But I suspect that cop was itching to try that thing out anyway. He should be ashamed of himself and so should the state of Utah.
If all you can see is a country loaded with punks that must read signs or else, you really don't enjoy life much, do you?
What video did YOU watch? The officer NEVER asked the young woman for permission to search. He simply walked to the driver's side while saying "Okay...I have to take a look in the front of this real quick." Then he opens the driver's side door and asks her "There's nothing in here that I need to know about, is there?"
The people on this thread who are blindly supporting this officer are not being honest about what the officer said and did.
That mouthy little punk became a 'perp' when the trooper placed him under arrest. It's nuance......you might not get it.
Answer the question that tioga refuses to answer: What do you think the trooper should have done when the perp turned his back on him, after the trooper told him that he was under arrest, ignored his command to halt, and began walking back to his car?
This is just more dishonesty about what is actually on the tape. The officer NEVER informed the driver that he was under arrest prior to using the taser on him. That little bit of information might have been helpful in controlling the situation. Also, the officer never used the words "Halt" or "Stop" or "Stand still" or even a simple warning like "If you move I'm going to taser you." So, this question that you keep asking as if it is such an intelligent question that the answer to it will solve this entire debate is predicated on a FALSE PREMISE. If you'd be honest about what the tape actually shows instead of sticking your head in the sand, you'd see that the officer went over the line.
2 questions for you: First - in what direction was the driver facing the first time the officer told him to turn around? Second - in what direction was the driver facing when the officer used the taser on him?
I'll go ahead and answer them for you, so you don't have to bother checking the video, but feel free to check it if you'd like to verify this. When the officer told the driver to turn around, the driver was facing the squad car (facing the direction they had just come from). Almost immediately, the driver TURNED AROUND, and at the point that he was tased, he was facing in the opposite direction from where he was when first told to turn around. Should the driver have stopped in his tracks? Yes, but he was also confused and couldn't understand why the cop was pulling a weapon on him (as I've showed in earlier posts, the driver had NO IDEA he was being arrested - he was never told he was under arrest or that he would be arrested if he refused to sign). Should the officer have TOLD HIM to stop? Most definitely, and there is no excuse for this officer's behavior in this case.
HELLO? Anyone there?
How about the officer lost control long before that due to his lack of people skills. HE invited the guy out of his vehicle......BEFORE he did that he should have told the guy that he was under arrest and what would happen IF he didn’t comply exactly with his direction. INSTEAD he staged a scene that we got to view. Then the cop lies to his fellow officer concerning what happened.
And to answer your “question” IF the cop had done as I suggested there would have been no need to taze the guy. GET IT?
I viewed the video yesterday. I don’t recall seeing the cop explaining to the man that he was making an arrest. I recall the cop telling him to put his hands behind his back. The cop appeared quite unreasonable. He did not want to show the guy where he broke the law. He did not warn the guy that if he did not sign then he would be taken into custody / arrested. I think the cop botched it pretty bad. But I am sure the judge will side with the cop since they always seem to no matter the circumstances. With a good enough attorney, I think the guy probably can sue the city / county / jurisdiction, and use the tape to sway the jury.
Hey Rogue Yam, you’re an IDIOT.
Which means you were really unsuited for the discipline proper police work requires. Makes me really glad that you aren't a cop anymore....
I differ strongly with your tagline - people need to question cops and all other people in authority within a democracy. Otherwise, it's the Third Reich all over again.
If you have a condition like this and you are being told by a police officer who is pointing his Taser at you to put your hands behind your back, and then you don't, then it is you who have chosen to be subdued with a Taser. If you subsequently die, then it is your fault.
This guy could have signed the ticket, which serves as a bond to release him on the promise that he will appear in court to answer the charge. Once he refused to sign the bond, he was refusing to appear in court. Absent a bond, the police officer had no recourse but to arrest him. When he chose to act erratic and refused to obey the commands of the officer who was arresting him, then he chose to be Tasered. This was entirely the fault of the driver.
Brown shirt and jack boots...that’s pretty funny.
It wasn't over a speeding ticket. It was over being unwilling to simply sign the ticket and then being unwilling to accept the consequences of that bonehead decision. The driver was totally responsible for being Tasered. He left the officer no choice. People have been known to shoot police officers over a traffic stop. He was acting erratic, refusing to submit, and walking back toward his vehicle where it was possible he had a gun. Should the officer have waited for him to go to his vehicle and find out if he had a gun and then Tasered him?
Police officers risk their lives on a daily basis and then have to put up with this kind of cheap criticism from people who have never had to do their job. The officer was in the right. The idiot who refused to sign his ticket was completely at fault.
what do think...does Utah have a quota for cops as far as the number of speeding tickets they can write?
You need to reread your Constitution. The United States is not, never has been, and never was intended to be a democracy. We are a Consitutional or democratic republic....i.e. a nation of laws. Once the driver refused to sign the ticket, he no longer had a bond for his release to appear in court. Without a bond, you go to jail.
Thank you for your service to this nation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.