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 ...
He most certainly did. Trooper told him to sign the ticket twice and when he refused that's when he was told to step out of the car.
We have the liberal democratic/mommy view
You're previous posts indicate that this is your view because you think this trooper should have cuddled the driver, used 'people skills' and basically 'mommy' the driver. Hell, you probably think that he should have just let him go.
Since you seem to be a happy with the current state and contemptuous of people who question the need for so many laws/signs/fines, what are you doing on this site?
How did my statement 'we live in a rule based society' turn into the above? Me thinks you extrapolate to suit thine own self and could care less about the facts. And that includes the video.
I would have recommended yelling "Freeze - do not move or I will shoot!" in a loud, clear voice.
You mean saying "Turn around and put your hands behind your back" 5 times was not a clear message? You're full of excrement.
Have just found out that they had two little children in that car. This cop was even more irresponsible than I first thought.
How about the father of the kids? I thought you were a big shot conservative? Are you saying that the trooper is responsible for the drivers actions and that the driver is a 'victim'? (What the hell are YOU doing on this site!)
The driver should have shown more maturity, responsibility and role model skills himself.
Last but not least, cowboys aren't my heroes. Cowboys are the heroes of little boys watching Gene Autry movies.
Cute.
And from what the video shows us, that ugly cop was possessed by an evil demon (as oppossed to just a run of the mill mean spirited demon). Watch at approximate 7:06 (aka 6:66) seconds into the video. The cop murmurs a bit. It's plainly evident that prior to the stop, his dark master, no doubt informed him via some kind of paranormal radio waves that the driver was a good and pure family man with a pregnant wife and children in the vehicle and that it would be easy to lure the driver into his wicked plan.
Now you're just being downright silly. There is a marked difference between how one wears his hair (which isn't covered by any law) and refusing to sign a bond(which is most definitely covered by law). Talk about a strawman argument. The driver refused to submit when he was under arrest. He proceeded to walk back toward his vehicle where he could have had a weapon. Your choice to call the fact that the officer used a Taser as "Gestapo" tactics merely shows your ignorance and your blind mistrust of those who risk their lives on a daily basis. All the dumbass had to do was sign the damn ticket and be on his way. If you support this bonehead decision, then you are an even bigger dumbass, and very likely to find yourself in a similar situation next time you are pulled over for speeding, as we all are sooner or later.
More Utah Law:
In the event that a motorist refuses to sign a trooper has two options, Roden said. One is to write “refuses to sign” on the citation, which is then given to the driver. The second is to arrest the driver
http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_7523456
You are LYING! He never asked her to exit the vehicle so he could search it. He went from a discussion with the wife about the merits of his use of the taser directly to the words “Okay...I have to look in the front of this” as he was walking to the driver’s side of the vehicle. When he reached the driver’s side, he opened the door and began searching, then asked the wife “There’s nothing in here I should know about, is there?”
Prove me wrong. Show us all, oh great genius, when the officer asked the wife if he could search the vehicle.
It’s that nimrod thing again. It’s always a problem for you, ins’t it?
What I say I’ll do and what I’ll actually do when confronted by a weapon when I cannot understand for the life of me why a law enforcement officer would be pointing a weapon at me are two different things. I’d like to think I would stop in my tracks and comply with whatever he says, but I’ve never been in that situation. It’s possible I’d say “What the hell is wrong with you” and try to shield myself by turning my back, then try to lessen any potential impact by walking away. I have no idea what I’d do until I’m in that situation, which hopefully I never will be.
The point of the whole thing is that the cop escalated a situation beyond all reasonable limits when he had every opportunity to keep things under control. As my brother suggested, this cop should have engaged in a little “verbal judo” to get this man to comply, rather than just resorting to a “ride on the taser”.
You have chosen to blindly support the officer, and have been exposed as a support-the-cop-at-all-costs liar who can’t get an answer to his “super-question” which was based on false premises, so now you’ve changed the question to one that you think makes a better case for you and your UHP buddies.
That’s pathetic. Really, it is.
Recount the number of times he says that - it's twice, not 5 times.
"You're full of excrement"
Are we still in grade school or something?
Whatever chemicals you're using at the moment, recommend backing off the dosage just a bit...
And then the driver had 4 more chances to comply with a tazer pointed at him and the trooper saying in a clear and loud voice to "turn around and put your hands behind your back" and the retard still decided to turn and walk away. It's called resisting arrest and most cops take it seriously. Shows several signs of stupidity on the part of the driver.
I would have tazed him, too. Who knows, maybe it shocked some sense into him.
How was the officer justified in pulling out the taser in the first place?
Just full of assumptions aren’t you? Why couldn’t this “squeaky clean young Mormon” act like one by setting a good example for his family by simply signing a stupid piece of paper saying that he would appear in court? The time to debate a ticket isn’t on a dangerous highway with your family in the car, it’s in the courtroom in front of a judge. How idiotic of this guy to act so arrogantly in front of his family. What kind of an example is that showing a lack of respect to authorities in the presence of his children? How would you have suggested this man act with his family in the car watching him?
This was not a unilateral situation. The trooper didn't walk up to the car, call the kid a punk, yank him out of the car and taze him. That kid is just as much at fault, nae, more at fault, for escalating the situation as the trooper.
You have chosen to blindly support the officer, and have been exposed as a support-the-cop-at-all-costs liar who can’t get an answer to his “super-question” which was based on false premises, so now you’ve changed the question to one that you think makes a better case for you and your UHP buddies.
And you've been exposed as a cop-hater and we're-all-victims liberal that won't answer my simple question even after I revised it to be absolutely accurate with the video. (BTW, even the original question wasn't a false premise. My words weren't accurate but they had the same meaning and the actions of the kid predicated his tazing.)
Of course, being a liberal, you probably would have just pleaded with the guy to please turn around and let's talk about it over a double latte.
Actually, I never said that the officer’s behavior was appropriate for the situation. I asked some valid questions to USMCVet. Since you jumped into this conversation why don’t you address my questions and tell me how this “squeaky clean young Mormon” should have behaved in this situation?
I did. Replayed that part of the video and he told him 5 times over a period of 9.2 seconds.
Like the trooper said, he didn't want to follow instructions.
Are we still in grade school or something?
Nah. Just using a little Rush lingo.
How should the driver have behaved? The driver should have signed the ticket and moved on.
The fact that he chose to argue the ticket instead does not justify the officer pulling a taser out and pointing it at him.
And what would have Gene Autry have had to say? Probably would have asked you to leave his fan club, buckaroo..
I find the last few seconds of the video VERY telling... The officer tells the second officer, “I told him... turnaround, or I will taze you”.
This guys already KNEW what he SHOULD have done... but, that’s NOT what he did... he just fired.
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.