Is this police brutality?

Question

My 50 year old husband was tazed yesterday. He came upon my daughter's car which he believed had broken down. He approached the police officer who was with the vehicle. They got into a discussion about the vehicle. The officer determined that he no longer wanted to continue the discussion. He told my husband to get back in his vehicle, my husband asked another question, he was told to get in his vehicle or he would be arrested, my husband responded "you have not heard the end of this" and crossed the street to enter his vehicle. As he reached for the door handle he was tazed in the back.
Do you feel this tazing was police brutality or was the officer somehow justified. If he was justified please explain how?
Also, in the state of NH or any other for that matter can a male officer lay hands on a female prisoner to do a pat down or whatever without a female officer present? If yes, does anyone else have to be present?

Answer 1

If the facts are as you have stated then it is not only brutality but also illegal, you have a strong case if you can prove what happened. If it is just word against word then the officer will prevail. Was your daughter present? Did your husband have marks on his back too prove he was not facing the officer? If he had marks were they documented with photos and witnesses? If you do not have strong proof then filing a complaint with the officers superiors is probably your only option. Pat down of a female, yes but no male officer would go further without another officer present, some jurisdictions forbid an officer to even pat down a female. They are required to place the person in custody, handcuffed, and confirm there is no weapon accessible with handcuffs on.

Answer 2

Without being present, it's hard to say. If your husband was verbally abusive, the officer may have felt justified, especially if he thought that your husband was going to get a weapon. The words "You have not heard the end of this" would raise warning flags to a lot of officers.

The fact that he was hit in the back might be an issue for your attorney to discuss if this goes to court, though. Tazers aren't generally used without good cause, and the officer is going to have to do some serious justifying before a judge for nailing a 50 year old man in the back.

And as for your second question, I imagine that differs from state to state, but most male officers want a female officer or jailer present for a search. Purely a case of CYA -- cover your (nether regions.)

Answer 3

The year is now 2006 and police officers come equipped with microphones and on board video recorders. You are making a serious allegation, and if founded the officer should be reprimanded for excessive force.......However, if an officer is on the side of the road conducting a traffic stop, he may never know what is coming to him, for that reason officers get really jumpy when someone walks onto their scene.....if the officer instructed your father to return to his vehicle several occasions, and your father did not comply, right then and there he could have been charged with INTERFERING WITH PUBLIC DUTY....but still, the officer could have been over-reacting, I suggest you open a formal complaint with your police chief and have the matter investigated, video never lies, and in the end you will see that there are truly two sides to a story, but most of all you will have peace of mind.

Answer 4

That my dear is termed cruel and unusual punishment in the act of applying excessive force.
Get you an attorney and sue for damages and anything else the attorney can come up with.

Police cruisers have video cameras pointing straight ahead for evidence when they are behind an auto they pulled over, but your husband was across the street, so they have no proof of anything unless there were witnesses.

Contary to what several answers are saying, you cannot use escessive force because your husband said something. Even if the officer thought your husband was going for a gun.... duh, an officer cannot tazer him because the officer thought he might do this or that, and if the officer thought he was going for a gun, the officer would have pulled his own piece. (Gun). The officer is clearly in the wrong, and when you are done, he will be working the night shift at McDonalds, sweeping floors.

Go get em!

Just make sure your husband is telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Darryl S.

Answer 5

about your husband, given the information you stated and how the discussion ended, it would be reasonable for the cop to do what he did. The reason for this is because it is evident that the discussion elevated into yelling at some point. When your husband said "you have not heard the end of this", if was a clear cut signal in the mind of the police officer that your husband was in an altered state of mind (angry) and could possibly do harm to either himself, the cop, or those around him. If in any way your husband unconciously made a movement or inference that he had some sort of weapon, the police officer would have to detain him as well. I know it sound trivial, but remember that cops have to expect the worse at all times not just part of the time. Now, as for your daughter, YES, a female officer does have to be present 90% of the time for a full search. However, anything on teh outside or fully visible on clothing can be handled by a male officer. When things go under the clothes or in deep pockets or hidden items then a female officer must do this. Normally, for female suspects, there has to be at least two officers. Usually a male and female or two females but at certian situations, two males can perform searches on females. These are rare situations though.

Answer 6

If a police officer is arresting a female he has to pat her down for his protection, If possible they will try to get a female officer to do it if possible but if none is present it is normal procedure to do it.

Next your husband should have left when the officer told him to leave ( first time) people always just disobey the police and then cry brutallity when something happens, what did he think was going to happen when he was refusing to obey and then threatened the officer.

If I had been the officer I would have seen an unrational man who was most likely not speaking in a calm tone ( bet he was yelling at the officer) When the officer ordered him to leave he would not then when he finally started back to his car he made a threat, My guess would be he was going to get a weapon of some kind in his auto. so yep, the officer needed to subdue him since he had shown a vocal threat to the officer.

Why people can not merley talk to an officer and do what they say, if hey did then the police would never have to use force.

I am sorry it happened, but during my time as a officer, since I did not carry a tazer, your husband would have turned around to see me pointing my gun at him and ordering him to the ground.

Answer 7

I think there is alot more to the story then your husband just coming upon your kids car. Where was your daughter when this took place? How far from the trailer park was this car? And how many times has your husband had run in with the police. I think these are all factors you perhaps have left out.

As for searching, at least in California, a male officer is permitted to check anyone for weapons (male or female). there doesnt have to be a witness but its nice to have one because sometimes people tell stories after the fact......kinda like someones husband who happened upon his kids car while it was beaing searched.

Answer 8

In your previous statements it says your husband might be suffering from mind altering illness? If the officer felt he was going back to his car for a weapon and ignoring the commands of the officer to stop then yeah he needed to be stopped.

You are only presenting the one side of the story where your husband was being perfectly rational and shot in the back with a taser. I find the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. He was angry, arguing with an officer who was already in the progress of investigating a crime. There is a good chance he was obstructing, being abusive, had some mental instability and making a threatening gesture and ignoring command.

Answer 9

Did you see this event take place? If you were not present when it happened, how can you be completely sure that what was described to you was what actually transpired?

If your husband was tazered in the back, there should be small burn marks. Take pictures of them and contact a lawyer.

I do not know about New Hampshire, but in Ohio most male police officers who want to search a female detainee will call a female officer to perform the search, whether it is required or not.

Answer 10

Does sound like police brutality. A small percentage of police think they are the Gestapo.
I thought it was federal law that a female officer is the only one that can pat down a female.

I suggest you retain an attorney that specializes in police brutality.