Should police officers be allowed to shock citizens with 50,000 volts of electricity using tasers?

Question

Police officers are tasing citizens for small reasons. Here is a video clip of a woman being tasered for nothing more than a traffic stop.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/video/taser_video3a.html

Answer 1

That cop was definitely a moron, he should have *asked* her to put the phone down. He deliberately escalated the situation by assuming he is important. The second tazing was definitely not needed, but the loser needed to feel important.

Cops aren't important, they're expendable and trainable and this one doesn't seem to realize it. I should be more fair though, since police departments rarely make efforts to recruit intelligent people. This often results in morons in need of self-validation abusing what they believe to be 'their' authority.

I don't dispute that the woman in this video is a moron, but the cop still deliberately escalated the situation and can't seem to understand that speeding is a minor civil infraction.

A lot of reports claim Tasers have reduced the number of police being assaulted, but that doesn't really change my personal view. It's highly preferable that a few police get killed here and there than citizens' rights be violated by poorly trained police with little understanding of the law.

Still, I haven't answered your question. The answer is 'yes', they should be allowed, but only in very few cases. Not when they merely -suspect- they -might- be in danger, because they do have the right defend themselves since they are citizens as well. The use of violence should be limited to only when needed to defend themselves or more importantly when defending regular citizens. Using physical violence on a non-violent, but uncooperative citizen is quite simply abusive and should result in a criminal case being filed against the officer.

Addendum: Why is this in 'Motorcycles' anyway?

Answer 2

OK. YOU are the law enforcement officer here. You order the woman OUT of the SUV. Why? She needs to be confronted without posing a threat to other drivers on the highway or YOU, the cop.

Only way to best do that is to order her OUT of the SUV, which she refuses. She explodes with anger: could be a sign she's high, drunk or mentally unstable--a clear threat to other drivers on the highway. And she might well have a hidden gun at the ready.

That's a pretty big SUV too....could be other dangerous people, ready to gun or knife you down fast. What do you do????

Open the door and pull her out? What a good liberal heart idea. Let's try that. Open the door and she or a hidden passenger pulls out a knife or gun....BLAM!! You take a .38 bullet in the head. You don't go home to your kids, you go dead to the morgue.

You can't (yet) use a gun, the trusty ol' nightstick is out of the question and you can't verbally reason with the outraged woman. What left is there to do?

Use the Tazer: it's non-lethal (so the liberals can sigh with relief), very effective and allows the officer to remove the subject without her being a danger to him. And if there are other criminal compadres hidden in the vehicle, the officer now can use his gun and better protect himself from their escalating threats as well.

Answer 3

considering that anybody, man or woman could have a weapon, non-compliance gives an officer every reason to use his taser, especially if the perpetrator is becoming belligerent. In this case you present, the officer was exonerated from any wrong doing and acted within his scope of power. Always be compliant and you won't be tased!

Answer 4

absolutely
I just watched the video and that woman deserved the taser zap
She was driving with no license and she must have known that she was going to be arrested.
I think cops should be required to taze at least 2 people per shift,per cop. Double tazing should not count as 2 tazings as that would not be fair to the cops that did 2 real tazings.
zap zap zap but don't taze me, oh that's right I don't mouth off to cops.

Answer 5

I didn't watch the clip, but I"m guessing the cop was feeling he was losing control of the situation.

I don't think tasers are the best option, as long as they go back to allowing billyclubs.

Answer 6

I'm not a big fan of cops, but when 2 guys with guns and badges tell you to get out of the car, saying I'm making a phone call is not a bright Idea. Then when a cop warns you 3 times he's going to "taze" you, there's a good chance he's going to do it. I bet she'll get out of the car next time.

Answer 7

Sure as long as we're allowed to do it to them if we don't like their attitude too.And we should also be allowed to have several of our friends come and kick and beat them with batons as well.Then we should be allowed to charge them in a court of law with assault + battery .Then we'll have the DA blackmail them into excepting a guilty plea even if they feel they don't deserve it.Having been the lucky recipient of this police method many times it makes wonder how they would like it.Maybe they should sleep with one open,payback is a ***** .They should all have to pass a psycho exam before being given the power they have.

Answer 8

Whatever happened to the days when the fuzz just called for backup? Now they're going around shocking people left and right. Too many doughnuts have left cops unable to handle altercations. Hope she gets a fat lawsuit settlement out of it.

Answer 9

Yes. People have got the idea that they can ignore the orders of an officer. This broad resisted arrest. They guy should have beat her with his flashlight , as well. People like her, AND YOU, are why our society becomes more and more lawless

Answer 10

That women deversed to be tased. She was biligerant and did not follow police orders. Thats what you get when you break the law.