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 ...
yep and what if one is from out of state? Gonna drive 3-6-15-30-45 hours to defend your rights in court for a speed trap?
You folks are funny. But then again many here defend anything and everything the government and government workers on MY payroll do. I guess if you are in high school or unemployed you can’t consider the LEO as your employee or if you are on the goverment teat either. Duly noted.
You post is spot on.
I frankly don’t like armed militarization of our police force with potentially another Clinton in office.
And yeah, the Columbine incident is a great analogy.
Question authority and get tazed. Beautiful. China? Some people just don’t like living in a free country I guess.
But currently, he's still on active highway patrol.
"He's not on paid administrative leave," Nigbur said. "He still does work the roads out there."
I think I'll avoid Utah for a little while.
You and I must have watched different videos:
1. He didn't jump out of the car - he was told to "hop out of the car" by the officer
2. He walked to the rear of the car with the officer and then the officer yelled at him to "turn around".
3. The officer said "turn around and put your hands behind you" then immediately shot him with the taser.
4. He NEVER told that young man that he was under arrest.
Liberals may talk about rights but conservatives are supposed to live and breathe rights and freedom. What kind of conservative are you?
???????????
If I had tased, clubbed, or maced every mouthy violator I pulled over during thirty years as a cop I would have spent a considerable amount of my time booking traffic violators, and writing reports explaining my use of force.
This trooper used virtually no people skills,(never mind his total lack of tactical skills) failed to explain what was happening, and what was going to happen if his requests were not complied with. Perhaps, had the trooper simply been polite and professional and used a little “verbal judo”, he could have gained compliance without physical force. Perhaps not. We will never know, because the trooper skipped a number of critical steps in the process. I dealt with many people just like this traffic violator. He was a blowhard, fool. It isn’t too hard to be smarter than a blowhard fool. If it is, then the trooper is in the wrong profession. He needs to get a different job.
"Going back to the video, the officer had no way of knowing if the guy had a weapon in his vehicle. He actions, in my opinion, looked as if he were on something. When an officer stops a vehicle, he has no idea what he is about to be confronted by. Last year, a number of California Highway Patrol officers were killed when the officer made a traffic stop. The people that responded to my posts, except rogue yam, need to think about doing a ride along with an officer. It will really open your eyes. It’s easy to set up for a ride along, unless you have a criminal past."
Post #584 should be #588......
No, that trooper isn’t a cowboy.
“He began to walk away from the cop (who couldn’t see one of his hands for a period of time). Combined with the guy’s irrational behavior, the officer had justification to use force to apprehend him.”
That is where you are wrong.
If you watch the video and especially the aftermath discussion, what was bothering the cop was the the motorist was “in charge”. It was the motorist telling the cop “you’re a little excited and need to calm down and such”
While the motorist should have not moved around, the cop was the irrational one, the motorist was verbally explaining things to the cop, not the other way around. This is the likely underlying cause of the tasing.
Before I started occasionally riding with a cop friend of mine, I might have been of the other opinion. But having seen how quickly things go from 0 to 60 it became quite apparent that cops have to make a snap judgment based on experience and training and situation at hand and take appropriate action.
How are cops trained to respond to a subject that refuses to follow instructions and turns their back and walks away?
The point is, it should not have gotten to that. The trooper used piss poor people skills, judgement, non existent tactical skills and didn’t handle the violator correctly. He painted himself into a corner which resulted in him having to let the guy walk away to do who knows what, or tasing the guy right on the fog line.
The trooper screwed the pooch on this one.
“What kind of conservative are you?”
One who believes in taking responsibility for my actions and not making excuses for them. Like I said, if he simply signed the ticket we wouldn’t be discussing this today. Some people like to make life more complicated than it needs to be.
Thank you for posting that link - I missed that interview on TV
OR if the officer had clearly stated that refusing to sign the ticket MAY allow him to be arrested. By Utah law the officer can write refused to sign and let him go or arrest him. The officer did niether. He did not write refused to sign and let the driver go and he did not tell him he was going to be arrested.
The officer will either lose his job or get a serious reprimand with time off unpaid. Excessive force number one and number two not following procedure or acting like an adult in the civil situation.
Works fairly well in China, Myanmar, Iran.....lots of countries.
So you're a "Chinese conservative" then?
That's what I get for repeating what my wife said she heard..
You should do likewise. ;)
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