Problem is .. there was no fight and and it was the police officer who told the guy to get out of the car .. the guy didn't jump out of his car and attempt to go after the cop.
All the guy was doing was questioning the police officer and pointing to a sign up the road ... he showed no threat and backed away when the tazer was aimed at him
If a gun was pointed at me .. I'd probably do the same .. it's a normal reaction
I don't have a problem with police officers having tazers or using them when needed .. but in this case the officer jumped the gun and used excessive force and it gives other officers a bad rep
Agreed. I sent my brother an email asking for his opinion. He is a 15 year veteran LEO. Here’s his response:
It was hard to understand what was being said in the SUV during the stop that may have led up to the tasing, but the officer should learn how to communicate better definitely. Good verbal judo can greatly lessen the need to use force and I did not hear any of that from the officer. I am assuming that the stop was in a state where not signing a citation is an arrestable offense (as it is in Fla.), but the officer never bothered to tell the driver that. He should have said, “Sir, you are more than welcome to go back and look at the speed limit sign, but right now I need you to sign this citation”. Then if the guy continues to give him grief, “Sir, I want you to understand that it is an arrestable offense in this state to refuse to sign a citation and if you do not sign it I am going to have to place you under arrest”. Not that an officer has to explain the law to every offender before they arrest them, but when you are elevating from a traffic citation to an arrest, and you’re on video (duh), you want to clearly look like you are completely justified before you have to use any force. He just ordered the guy out of the car and told him to put his hands behind his back and then tased him when he did not get immediate compliance. Again, “Sir, you are under arrest, if you don’t put your hands behind your back, I’m going to have to tase you”, would have worked a lot better. I wouldn’t want to be watching myself on video performing the way he did when I’m sitting at the defendant table after this guy sues me.
For the record, Asheville PD lost one of the best when my brother moved back down here to Florida a couple of years ago. He’s no longer in law enforcement, but he was a great cop.