Posted on 11/22/2007 7:37:13 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
Was a Utah Highway Patrol trooper acting within policy when he used a Taser on a driver who refused to sign a traffic ticket?
That is the question UHP internal investigators hope to answer after Trooper John Gardner - a 14-year UHP veteran - zapped Vernal resident Jared Massey with the device for refusing to sign a speeding ticket or submit to being arrested during a traffic stop about 10 a.m. on Sept. 14.
The incident placed UHP on the defensive when the officer's dashboard video of the emotional confrontation found its way onto Internet site YouTube.
"We are doing an internal investigation to see if the trooper's actions were warranted," said Trooper Cameron Roden, a UHP spokesman. That investigation is expected to be completed this week or sometime next week.
The 10-minute video begins as the officer passes a sign clearly showing a speed limit of 40 mph on U.S. 40 in Uintah County.
Gardner - who remained on active duty as of Wednesday - then proceeds to pull over Massey's Dodge SUV.
The trooper approaches the driver's side window and twice asks for Massey's driver's license and registration. The second time, the trooper is audibly frustrated, saying, "Driver's license and registration, like now."
"How fast did you think you were going?" the officer asks.
"I was going 68," Massey could be heard saying.
"OK, there's a sign right there that says 40 miles per hour," the officer says, shortly before returning to his squad car.
When Gardner returns to the SUV with the traffic ticket, Massey refuses to sign the citation, insisting that Gardner show him the 40 mph sign.
"Well, you are going to sign this first," Gardner said.
After refusing, Gardner asks Massey to exit the SUV, which at 2:23 minutes into the video, he does.
The pair walk to the front of the officer's car, where Gardner points his Taser at Massey, ordering him to place his hands behind his back.
''What the hell's wrong with you?'' Massey asks, while turning and beginning to walk back to the SUV. Gardner tells the driver to turn around, but he refuses and continues walking away.
The officer aims the Taser, and at 2:37 minutes into the video, fires it into Massey, who falls backward onto the pavement and can be heard screaming. Massey's wife then comes out of the SUV screaming and is ordered back inside the vehicle by Gardner.
''Ma'am, do exactly as I say or you're going to jail, too,'' the officer says.
After the incident, off camera Massey can be heard repeatedly asking to be read his Miranda rights, but it remains unclear from the video, which cuts in and out, whether the officer complied with that demand.
Roden said he was unaware whether the man was given his Miranda rights, but noted Massey could have been read them when booked into the Uintah County jail.
In the video, Gardner repeatedly states he tasered Massey because the man failed to comply with his instructions and demands.
A short time later, an unidentified officer strolls up on scene and Gardner tells him that Massey "took a ride with the Taser."
Gardner then states that Massey was "jumping around, making me nervous as hell. I was like, nah, we ain't playing this game."
"Good. Good for you," the unidentified officer says.
Massey, who was not available for comment on Wednesday, is scheduled to stand trial for the speeding ticket Jan. 14 in Uintah County Justice Court.
When drivers sign traffic tickets, they are not necessarily admitting guilt but merely acknowledging they will show up at court or to pay the ticket, Roden said.
In the event that a motorist refuses to sign, a trooper can simply write "refuses to sign" on the citation, which is then given to the driver, or they can chose to arrest the motorist, Roden said.
"I can't speculate to this incident what was going through officer's mind," Roden said. "The officer has to weigh a lot of different things."
Troopers that carry Tasers must take a four-hour certification course outlining how and when to use the devices, according to UHP's nine-page policy. They are taught to use them in three circumstances:
* When a person is a threat to themselves, an officer or another person.
* In cases where the physical use of force would endanger the person or someone else.
* When other means of lesser or equal force by the officer has been ineffective and a threat still exists.
"There's a lot that goes into it," Roden said.
UHP requires an officer file a report any time a Taser is used, noting, among other things, how many warnings the subject was given and where the electric probes hit on a person's body.
Officials are then required to get the person arrested checked by medics. Massey was later taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt, Roden said.
ngonzalez@sltrib.com
“He set the tone of resisting and disrespect from the beginning. “
Seems every post of yours centers on lack of respect. THAT is the problem. Cops are not our betters and deserve no additional respect than anyone else does. They are public servants doing a job. Sounds like you are a cop as well. Good thing we aren’t in person or you would shoot me for my lack of respect.
I find it interesting that an UN-EDITED version of the video is nowhere to be found on the internet. Hmmm, I wonder why that would be? I read on a local newspaper online that Massey is the one who uploaded the vid, so I wonder where he got it?
Good question. Too bad the cop didn't ask the driver that, instead of tasering him. A rudimentary attempt at communication might have avoided turning a routine stop into a fiasco.
Look, this driver had a crappy attitude and I wouldn't defend his acting that way. But you don't taser someone because you don't like his attitude. The cop has the power here after all, and his own crappy attitude made things much worse than they needed to be.
You need to be corrected. The driver did not jam his hands in his pockets at any time. In fact, all he had done was put the thumb of his right hand into his right pants pocket shortly after he got out of the car, and he kept it there when he started slowly moving away.
Probably as part of a discovery process for his prosecution or other legal proceeding.
I live in Cherry Hill. We have a fairly responsive and positive police department here. So there is at least one town in the nation where cops are not bad. I work in Philly, where, if I recall correctly, 5 police officers have been shot, 3 of the 5 were murdered, in the last few weeks. I have a tremendous amount of respect for these men and women in blue.
“Like most issues, there are extremes on either side. Just as there are bad cops and bootlickers, there are those out there that see cops as target practice.”
Yes there are evil people in society. The majority of people are decent enough. Cops seem to be trained that anyone of us could up and shoot them at any moment. And we are guilty until we prove our innocence.
Is it still true that the average LEO never pulls his gun in the line of duty? Many in this area only shoot their weapon during the annual quals and are horrible shots.
Many in this area only shoot their weapon during the annual quals and are horrible shots.
They are getting a workout here in Philly.
“They are getting a workout here in Philly.”
Thats sad. Is most of it drug related?
The video uploaded to YouTube was EDITED. Since the guy who uploaded it was the driver in this little debacle, there’s no way he would edit it in his favor, right?
Not necessarily drugs, but I imagine drugs fall into the mix at some point.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/22/national/main3534130.shtml
Actually the video may be a day or two old?
“The video uploaded to YouTube was EDITED. Since the guy who uploaded it was the driver in this little debacle, there’s no way he would edit it in his favor, right?”
Perhaps he did and perhaps he didn’t. The other link to an updated story indicates the video provided by the state had to be “unscrambled” so perhaps they edited it as well.
Doesn’t really matter does it? Assume the driver cut out portions of the video. The cop still handled the situation very poorly. He still gloated to his partner. He still put this guys life in jeopardy by tazing him on the side of a highway.
Read the comments on that story. Very similar to those here. Basically that the driver should be happy and satisfied that the cop didn’t kill him.
So now we have people who feel that killing someone over a speeding ticket is ok. Sounds like a police state to me.
Actually... someone posted earlier that they have seen the entire, un-edited version of the video.
Regardless... what we do see is enough. The guy was pointing to the speed limit sign when this cop pulled his tazer gun out and pointed it at him? I mean.. WTF mate? You think that is NORMAL behavior on the cop's part?
Maybe.. a court will side on the cop's behalf... but, if this gets to a jury.. ANYWHERE.... this cop's in trouble.
"We do have an open internal review, or investigation, of the case," Sgt. Jeff Nigbur, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety, told FOXNews.com. "We're trying to expedite that to get that done as quickly as possible. If the trooper acted inappropriately we will definitely, absolutely, take the appropriate measures to resolve that."
"There was some emotion and ego involved on both sides, not just the Highway Patrol side," Nigbur said. "Obviously, the best place to fight these types of things — and this is once again for both sides — is in court."
The Utah Highway Patrol has a nine-page policy on Taser use, including in instances where "a subject is threatening himself, an officer or another person with physical force, and when other means of controlling the subject are unreasonable or could cause injury to the officer, the subject or others," Nigbur said.
Medical teams are always dispatched to the scene after a Taser has been used, he said.
If Gardner's actions are found to be inappropriate, he could face verbal reprimand, days off with pay or without pay, or termination, Nigbur said.
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."
From your post -
“There was some emotion and ego involved on both sides, not just the Highway Patrol side,” Nigbur said. “Obviously, the best place to fight these types of things — and this is once again for both sides — is in court.”
That requires a lawyer. In effect you have no rights - unless you have money for a good lawyer.
Boy.. I could NOT disagree with you more about this. I think the cop in Vegas handled that situation 100% more professionally.
He asked the kid to take his hands out of his pockets.. He EXPLAINED WHY.. cause "you're making me nervous"... Then, he physically subdued the kid WITHOUT having to use a Taser. He even warned the kid that he was GOING To get tasered if he didn't comply. I have ZERO problem with what was done here.
Contrast that with the UHP bully.. who never even warned Massey that he could be arrested if he didn't sign.
BTW>>> Notice that the UHP spokesperson mentioned that officer's "have the option of just writing Refused to sign" on the ticket. NONE of this had to happen. Just a roque cop on a power trip.. not wishing to take ANY bull.... did the officer notice the 15 month old in the car? Just wondering.... Don't you think just the THREAT of being arrested would have been enough to end this?
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