UCLA taser incident. Especially the one threatening bystander to taser too. Abuse of power???

Answer 1

Every UCLA alumnus should call the UCLA President's office (310-825-4321) and let Pres. Robert C. Dynes and Chancellor Norman Abrams know that you will withhold all contributions until the police officers are fired.

A university is usually far more tolerant and respectful of students' rights, and far more restrictive on police brutality, than outside the university gates. Having worked in universities for the past 20 years, I can safely say the behavior of the UCLA PD as exhibited in the 6-minute video (not 10 seconds) is inexcusable. They could have dragged the guy out, let him scream all he wants. If he resisted phsycially, they could have handcuffed him -- for 200 years our police did not need tasers or pepper spray to handcuff people. (Maybe he was already handcuffed when they Tasered him, which is even less excusable.)

There is a big difference between being tased once (often by a low-voltage) in a test situation and having it done to you multiple times in a row in a hostile situation. There have been 73 deaths associated with tasers between 1999 and 2004. Even police officers in five states have sued Taser International claiming they "suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes."
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Answer 2

There appears to be a few items of interest in this incident.

1) A non sworn entity (community service officer) requests identification of a student in a location that previously was public. In the united states a case called Terry V. Ohio (1968) sets the standards for sworn officers stopping any citizen. You must provide identification to police officers and can be searched for weapons at any time. Not telling a CSO or providing identification would appear to be a violation of policy of UCLA and not criminal.

2) The non sworn entities return with police officers while the student is walking towards the door (complying) the student is grabbed by the police and go's limp. This is passive disobedience and it appears that the officer for what ever reason decided to use the Taser. The Taser is often reported as non-lethal technology however it has been lethal and there are many rungs on the ladder of force between the choice of a Taser and dealing with a limp individual. Most police departments state in their policies on using force that there must be a direct danger to the officer or third parties before force is used.

3) The officer jolted the suspect several times while telling him to get up or be Tased again. (See the you tube video). In general a suspect is going to loose absolute or even partial control of most of their bodily functions after being Tased once. What you see is the Taser being used as a compliance device (punishment and motivation tool) to make the suspect move. This is of some concern to many entities around the world.

4) An officer responds to a person in the group of students that is asking for his badge number to shut up or he'll get Tased too. That is a gross violation of professionalism by the officer and a direct threat to the individual in the crowd. Any officer should expect the civilian authority (citizens) to question actions and the officer should respond in a courteous manner. The officers in a representative republic server the populace not the other way around. To concerns of those who sympathize with the officer the suspect was contained. The situation was not calm but the officers actions created fear and increased the threat level to himself and the public.

Some key points to understand abuse of power are was the force used reasonable and justified? Were there other tools that the officer could use that would be effective and what was the effect the officer was hoping to gain? The Taser is usually a less than lethal choice of force but it does have the ability to kill. As stated earlier many people have died because of the use of the Taser. The use of force (and hence power) should be determined by the risk to people in the environment. With no obvious danger to people in the environment ,and in fact a limp suspect laying on the floor, the use of a Taser would seem to be a gross abuse of power.

Answer 3

That's a difficult question to answer. It is standard police procedure to obtain the ID of all people that they speak regarding a police matter. The suspect apparently never identified himself as a student of the college and never gave his name. Technically most states allow an officer to detain a person until he can be indentified by name. The video doesn't show the entire incident so I can't really speak further without speculation. The police asked the individual to leave when didn't produce any ID. For a trespassing arrest one only needs one warning before they can be arrested for being in a location where they have no lawful right to be. The student didn't have a right to be there once the police, as representatives of the college, told him to leave the property, regardless of whether he was a student. By the use of force model in police training, if a person is actively resisting, it is appropriate to use force of the nature of pepper spray or a taser gun. From the video it looked like he was actively resisting. Again I wasn't actually there so I only can see what this video shows. Also the police are not going to stop arresting a person just because a few people around them disagree with the police. If they interfered they could have been charged with resisting arrest, even if they weren't the ones being arrested. The student being interviewed by the police obviously feels that the suspect did not need to be treated in that manner. The problem arises with the idea that just because the student is at a college he does not need to follow the law. College is too many times played like a magical fantasy where students believe the law doesn't apply to them while they are there. They feel to realize that most police on college campuses are full police officers and they have the rights of full police officers under their states laws. IF the student felt there was an abuse of power, the smartest action would have been NOT to confront the police while being detained. He should have waited till afterward and contacted the attorney generals office and started an investigation. Never try to confront an officer directly about an abuse of power, that will only make the current situation worse.

Answer 4

I personally dont believe he was being targeted because of his ethinicity, the police cant avoid all minorites because of the risks of looking like a racist. However ....I bet all the "thumbs down" are from the dumb police officers there. I understand that the use of tasers are sometimes necessary but the guy was not violent to any of the officers and he was ALREADY handcuffed what the fcuk? He was already restrained, and what they did was unnecessary. I could understand in a different situation say if the student threw some punches at the officers. And what the hell why did one of the officers threaten a student for asking for the name and badge number of one of the officers. Dumbasses I would love to be the judge in that case.

Answer 5

i don't comprehend for specific if legally the police did something unlawful? i think they might have dealt with it greater proper, right this is how: First, because of the fact a guy (in somebody else's opinion) asks asanine questions and acts like a jerk, does no longer recommend he does not deserve the possibility to ask. 2d. What if the police had only subsidized off while they might see that he had to end asking his question? i think of John Kerry would have replied it, probably the guy would have replied, Kerry talks some greater, and maximum possibly the guy sits down in his seat and that's the top of it. Wether or no longer it would have got here approximately that way, we will never comprehend because of the fact the police desperate that they call the photos and he did no longer prefer to take heed to. i think of the police would have saved this from escalating by utilising only letting him end. If he carried on appreciably after asking his questions, then the police would have mandatory to step in. In my judgement, they might desire to have only excercised slightly greater restraint. i think that the police are in charge for this starting to be this type of fiasco. If the law enforcement officials gave him of venture to end, and this guy persevered on some form of rant, i think of the police would have greater help from all human beings accessible staring at this video on the internet, and it in all threat does not be such a controversy, and probably no longer something undesirable would have got here approximately in any respect.

Answer 6

I have hesitated to answer this question as I am not familiar with the incident. However, given some of the answers that have already been submitted (especially the uprising comment) I feel compelled to say something. So, strictly speaking in a generic tone I will say that as a law enforcement officer who carries a taser I can't think of another instrument that we can use that limits injury to both the offender and officer. I have used impact weapons, chemical irritant (mace), and the taser and of all three I like the taser the most. I understand some of the concerns about the taser, the majority of which come either from the uneducated public and/or politicians who have an agenda. There have been no deaths attributed to the taser....NONE. Police officers have to have different weapons at their disposal to utilize in order to effect an arrest. Understand that the level of force utilized by an offender can be overcome by the officer by moving up one level if necessary. If you take away the tools an officer has then he/she will have limited ability to effect an arrest which limits the amount of protection he/she can provide you. I also understand that there are police officers who abuse their authority and agree that they should be disciplined both by their appointing authority and through the legal system. In closing I suggest you check out the death of a citizen who was threatening officers with a knife (New Orleans circa 2005). He was fataly wounded by gunshot and the majority of the media who reported the incident were curious as to whether or not the use of a taser would have been more appropriate a response. The chief of police said that he would not authorize his personnel to carry a taser as they kill people which to me was a ridiculous and not very well thought out response. Could the taser have saved that mans life....probably. Was the use of deadly force allowable in that instance, absolutely. And for those of you who think not, let someone come at you with a knife from 10 feet away and you tell me whether or not you feel as though your life is in danger. So don't degrade the use of a taser, after all, it is but another non-lethal instrument we can use to stop someone who is violating the law and keep him/her, the officer, and the innocent citizens safe. By the way, if a bystander is attempting to involve him or herself in a situation that is being handled by an officer then he or she needs to understand that the officer will be considering (within seconds) whether or not the secondary subject is another offender and will most likely threaten to use some type of force in order to keep them at bay. Sooooo, if you don't want to be threatened then don't stick your nose into it....better yet understand that there really are some bad people out there and we are trained to find them, utilize some type of enforcement action to apprehend them, and stop any and all threats of physical violence whether they are towards another citizen or ourselves! If you don't agree with that then call a plumber or you lawn maintenance person when you have an intruder coming into your home....more than likely the police will have to use some type of force to subdue that person. Good luck

Answer 7

we should not ban the Taser, thereby forcing the cops to use more lethal alternatives. If someone has to go down, better a little shock to the *** than a 45. slug to the chest! It may have its problems, but really think of the alternatives.

Answer 8

Unless you were there and you were an eye witness, not a single soul can draw any conclusions from what they read in the papers, read on the net, or watch on the news. You can read about the same incident from several different sources and come up with several conclusions as to what happened. Speaking from personal expierence, tazing a person for insiting a riot is minor to what may have occurred in the past. Tazers incompacitate you for five seconds with 50K volts. It is a non-lethal, less intrusive altertinative weapon and is now a popular weapon of choice for many police departartments. It brings compliance often with just one use, unlike other methods such as baton or pepper spray. It does not break bones, cause soft tissue damage or cause you to choke on your own mucas. Give the cops a break. You probably wouldn't be able to do a police officer's job anyway. And unless you put yourself in the officers shoes, you'll never know exactly how that officer felt at that specific time.

Answer 9

AMERICANS!!!!!

We are in danger of losing everything, everything, everything we love about this country. We must stand up and say enough of the police state.

I call my congressman and senators regularly. I write the newspapers and the white house. It's not enough, obviously.

What will it take for Americans to denounce the police state? Will they have to taser a blonde girl?

Answer 10

The student is a lame. He should have just showed his I.D. As far as the threat, it was unprofessional but he didn't actually stun the guy. The jerk had his I.D. on him and everything! As an alumnus, I have dealt with the UCPD on different occasions (Party at Soupy's!) and they have always been professional and polite. This kid as well as some people posting anti police messages obviously have a disdain for authority. And as far as tasers are concerned, they are half as lousy as pepper spray and batons.