man tazed for not signing ticket

[Buliwyf]

http://www.wjfk.com/Man-Tazed-For-Not-Signing-Ticket--VIDEO/1250047

[Chacal]

Scary. I wonder what's next?

[Jungle_Fowl]

uhm...wow...talk about gun-ho police.

Personlly I don't see anything within reason why the cop did that. If the cop was more tolerant, they probably could have settled that without an incident.

If you look at the video the guy gets out and is about to try and explain something, then the cop pulls out the tazer and starts acting like a tard.

It's just sad, and I hope there was a displinary action, but I won't hold my breath.

[Destructor]

I agree the cop used excesive force but the man wasn't too bright himself. The time to argue a ticket is not on the side of the road, but in court. On the side of the road it's speak when spoken to and stfu or stupid shit like getting tazered happens.

[Porsche_997]

They are just trying justify their frustration whenever they get sideswiped by passing motorists.

I mean, they have to fight back somehow.

[[ecgn] btt]

Since when do you have to sign a ticket on the side of the road. I never had to do that with one of my seven speeding tickets in five states.

[gowhitesox99]

btt]Since when do you have to sign a ticket on the side of the road. I never had to do that with one of my seven speeding tickets in five states.

haha yeah but still so fine dont sign it, do not get out of the car stupid ass, and if you do get out listen to the officer or pay the price. I back the officer 100%.

[Ryan]

Maybe if he wasn't digging around in his pockets, turning his back to the trooper and walking back to his car, he wouldn't have gotten tased.

The guy was an idiot. Plain and simple. Digging around in your pockets would make any trooper, deputy or officer nervous. A traffic stop is one of the most dangerous things a law enforcement officer can do. He or she never knows what they're getting into. Mix pocket digging with disobeying orders and walking back to his car, and you've got yourself a very uneasy situation that usually doesn't end well.

A citation is a bit more than just a "bill," so to speak. It's a promise to appear in court. When you break the law (and are subsequently caught), there are two possible outcomes, both of which end at the same place.

1) You're arrested, and brought before a judge, usually one or two days later.
2) You're cited, allowed to be free, and then brought before a judge on your court date.

When you don't sign a citation, in most cases (of course, laws vary by state), you're arrested, since you're failing to promise to appear. So, in this case, the officer ordered the man out of the car, likely to arrest him, when he got shady. The end result was a tasing.

Follow-up (Foxnews.com)

There are many cases where officers abuse their tasers. This is not one of them.

[cavalierlwt]

I used to be a big fan of the tazer video, and it seemed like I backed the cops all the time, but I have had to change my mind over these last couple of years. They are misusing it entirely.

The taser is simply supposed to be used in place of force, for when a person initiates violence. It's not a tool to make people follow your orders quickly, to avoid a cop having to argue with someone. Yes, people are idiots and cop's job can be a pain in the ass, but it is what is.

We might as well replace tazers with cattle prods, and at least their true purpose will be more clear.

[PraiseA||ah]

I have been against every single shown use of the taser on this board. Every single one has been an excessive and unnecessary use. The taser was originally, and I believe still is, promoted as an option to LETHAL force. It was not and is not supposed to be to used to force someone through torture to comply with an officer's commands. Because used as such, it IS torture. If there is a case where a person is either going to be SHOT or tasered due to the violent nature of the crime, then tasers should be an option and I completely agree with that.

This guy did nothing wrong. Refusing to sign a ticket is your right. It will not change the fact that you have to appear in court. The officer's signature is enough. The speeder was not making any kind of dangerous motions. He turned his back and had a defensive posture because the cop was pointing a taser at him. He did not have an aggressive posture. The cop was the aggressor and out of line. He was pushing that confrontation as a lot of these videos show officers doing.

Abuse of the taser is rampant. How many more deaths (such as the most recent headline grabbing ones in Canada) are going to have to occur and how many more such abuses of authority and power are going to have to happen before their use is restricted? Perhaps when a rich young beautiful female caucasian college student dies and becomes the poster child of death by tasering, people will finally make that change, like they did here in Boston with the use of pepperspray paintball guns. Call me cynical but that's the way America and the media works.

[Chacal]

Some people think cops have to be obeyed no matter what they say. Cops have been using tasers to imprint that belief in the public's mind.

Oh and damn you PA: I was coming up with the "cattle prod" line myself.

[Ryan]

The taser was originally, and I believe still is, promoted as an option to LETHAL force.

What?? Source?

According to the Use of Force Continium, it has never been promoted an alternative to lethal force. I'm very, very interested to see your source on this one.

Refusing to sign a ticket is your right. It will not change the fact that you have to appear in court. The officer's signature is enough.

Incorrect. Please see my last post. Refusing to sign a citation is the same as refusing to show up in court. By signing, you're promising to show up.

In most states (not sure about Utah), if you don't sign, you're arrested on the spot.

Signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt, it's simply a promise to appear.

The speeder was not making any kind of dangerous motions. He turned his back and had a defensive posture because the cop was pointing a taser at him. He did not have an aggressive posture.

What may seem like awkward, innocent motions may seem like a very dangerous hazard to an officer.

Traffic Stops are one of the most dangerous things an officer can do. He or She never knows what they're getting into.

Abuse of the taser is rampant. How many more deaths (such as the most recent headline grabbing ones in Canada) are going to have to occur and how many more such abuses of authority and power are going to have to happen before their use is restricted? Perhaps when a rich young beautiful female caucasian college student dies and becomes the poster child of death by tasering, people will finally make that change, like they did here in Boston with the use of pepperspray paintball guns.

A taser has never killed anyone directly. There are always other health issues at hand that cause the fatality. This is why the taser isn't outlawed... because there's no reason to believe it directly causes death.

Also; try pepperballing someone on PCP. Doesn't work. There are also people who are almost "immune" to OC spray. It's completely ineffective then.

[Jungle_Fowl]

not sure about the tazer being the cause of death thing there. I could be mistaken, but weren't there a few incident's here in Canada that people died over because of a tazer?

I'd look for it but I don't have the time at the moment


And the article said

"Officials said Gardner could have issued the ticket without Massey's signature."

so the guy didn't have to sign the ticket, and all that was for nothing, and probably could have been avoided.

[cavalierlwt]

What?? Source?

According to the Use of Force Continium, it has never been promoted an alternative to lethal force. I'm very, very interested to see your source on this one.

You want a source? I'll be a source. I don't care what PDs official use of force continuum states today. Back when Tasers first started being debated or deployed, they repeatedly and publicy exclaimed how tasers could be used by officers in situation where force was needed, but less then lethal force was desired. An officer facing a violent person either had to fight him (dangerous) or draw his weapon--potentially deadly consequence in a situation where the suspect wasn't presenting a weapon or any other immediately deadly threat. They said the Taser will fill the void between violent, and deadly violent.

If they had said we developed this new device called a taser so cops have a way of shocking your ass when you piss them off, we would have never agreed to let them have them. Besides, if Tasers were there simply to make people obey, sign tickets, shut up, etc we would have just issued cops cattle prods--they're cheaper and they've been on the market for decades.

I fully admit, I was wrong about tasers when they first came out. People said they would be abused, and I didn't believe them. I guess I'll learn to be more cynical in the future.

[Siren]

Maybe if he wasn't digging around in his pockets, turning his back to the trooper and walking back to his car, he wouldn't have gotten tased.

The guy was an idiot. Plain and simple. Digging around in your pockets would make any trooper, deputy or officer nervous. A traffic stop is one of the most dangerous things a law enforcement officer can do. He or she never knows what they're getting into. Mix pocket digging with disobeying orders and walking back to his car, and you've got yourself a very uneasy situation that usually doesn't end well.

A citation is a bit more than just a "bill," so to speak. It's a promise to appear in court. When you break the law (and are subsequently caught), there are two possible outcomes, both of which end at the same place.

1) You're arrested, and brought before a judge, usually one or two days later.
2) You're cited, allowed to be free, and then brought before a judge on your court date.

When you don't sign a citation, in most cases (of course, laws vary by state), you're arrested, since you're failing to promise to appear. So, in this case, the officer ordered the man out of the car, likely to arrest him, when he got shady. The end result was a tasing.

Yep. I really dont understand how people bitch and cry about tazers like something horrible has happened. Criminals and deadbeats have way too many rights....much more than officers have, yet they bitch and cry because they get a little shock and want to throw lawsuits out like they're going out of style. Every tazer situation I've seen where people cry "misuse and abuse" are SIMPLE situations that some piece of trash is turning into a difficult and drawn out dramatic tantrum. I sure as hell wouldn't have all day to sit and wait for some deadbeat to allow me to do a simple part of my job. That cop doesn't look like he's on a power trip...he looks nervous as hell on the side of a road (him being closest to traffic) while some hissy little jerkoff throws a tantrum. I love how the guy's tone turns to "officer, I dont understand..." after he gets pwned. STFU, noob.

You got a ticket. If you dont agree with it, fight it in court. Its a fucking shock, suck it up.