I think it's high time tasering be reviewed.

[JGood]

I've heard of that, but I was not convinced by watching the video that he showed intentions of doing so. Putting his hands on his pocket was just the first 'mistake' he made. I will admit, I've never been in such a situation, but to me it seems clearly abusive for only one suspiscious action.

That changes things significantly, now doesnt it? But honestly, would it have changed otherwise? Just the fact that he did put his hands there, for whatever (seemingly to me unconcious) reason, now the cop can taser the guy? Come on.... there's ways to reason this before resorting to tasers as a "precaution". Like I said, I had not seen any signs of aggressive behavior from him.

Agree and disagree. The cop showed no reasoning at any point in the whole conversation. Granted, I'll admit I ask no questions during a traffic stop, sign my dues and take it to court, but to me, that whole drama started as the cop refused to answer the guy's questions (and simple questions really).

I understand that, but the cop did not mention that to him once. Maybe all of that could have been avoided otherwise.

Agreed, but I still think the cop's behavior was beyond irrational. I've questioned a cop who had pulled me over, and he provided me with nothing but the traditional "you were wrong" answers. But at least he had the decency to answer my questions and not tazering me.

- Erick

I think the cop went off when he said put your hands behind your back and the guy walked back to his vehicle, as if to say, "Fuck this, I'm outta here". At that point the cop had a choice to let him continue walking, maybe get in his vehicle, and maybe drive off. At what point should he draw the line and physically explain to this guy that he's not leaving? If the guy gets back in the vehicle he has a huge advantage on the cop...

Yes, the cop could have been nicer. The issue was, the officer asked for license and registration - the guy wouldn't give it to him. He started spouting off questions. You get your shit, then ask questions.

I think my opinion is in the fact that just because a cop won't answer questions right away and is a "dick", doesn't give you the right to not sign a ticket (not guilty) and refuse arrest. I see no way this is reasonable.

I've had cops snap on me - one walked up to my window and the first thing he said is "what the fuck is wrong with you?". Did I argue back? No. I didn't get a ticket, didn't get tazed, and didn't get arrested. You listen to him, sign your ticket if you get one, and go home. Not a difficult concept.

[BDSax]

reminds me of my brother. just 2 nights ago he gets a flat in the pooring rain at around 10:30. pulls over to a turn lane, turns on the hazzards and calls AAA. the tow truck is on the way and a cop pulls up. asked whats going on, my brother explains and he says ok go wait in the car. meanwhile another cop pulled up, and knocked on the window and asked my brother to drive the truck 1/2 mile on a flat tire to a parking lot down the road. my brothers phone rang, tow truck driver will be there in 15 mins. 1st cop that said it was ok to sit in the truck and wait gets out and arrests my brother. didnt read his rights, give any warning, or any cause of why he is being locked up.

meanwhile his 7 month pregnant wife needs to go to ATMs, walmart and cvs to get cash back to get his 750 bail. she brings all $20 bills so has 760. they wont give her change so she needs to go back out at 4 in the morning to get change holding a bunch of cash.

i do understand that cops serve a perpose but sometimes they just go to far. hell of a weekend for my brother

[mtechnik]

...cop pulls up. asked whats going on, my brother explains and he says ok go wait in the car. ..

.. 1st cop that said it was ok to sit in the truck and wait gets out and arrests my brother. didnt read his rights, give any warning, or any cause of why he is being locked up.

meanwhile his 7 month pregnant wife needs to go to ATMs, walmart and cvs to get cash back to get his 750 bail. she brings all $20 bills so has 760. they wont give her change so she needs to go back out at 4 in the morning to get change holding a bunch of cash.

Say what BDSax... !? whao

[BDSax]

yeah, my family is pretty fucking pissed.

it was the county sheriff. he also in an engineer for the same county so he doesnt want to make it a huge deal but he wants his money back for this huge mess.

[Erick]

I've had cops snap on me - one walked up to my window and the first thing he said is "what the fuck is wrong with you?". Did I argue back? No. I didn't get a ticket, didn't get tazed, and didn't get arrested. You listen to him, sign your ticket if you get one, and go home. Not a difficult concept.

I've had a very similar experience which has been posted here in the past and I walked away with no ticket as well.

The problem is that this should not be the way it is handled.

[JGood]

reminds me of my brother. just 2 nights ago he gets a flat in the pooring rain at around 10:30. pulls over to a turn lane, turns on the hazzards and calls AAA. the tow truck is on the way and a cop pulls up. asked whats going on, my brother explains and he says ok go wait in the car. meanwhile another cop pulled up, and knocked on the window and asked my brother to drive the truck 1/2 mile on a flat tire to a parking lot down the road. my brothers phone rang, tow truck driver will be there in 15 mins. 1st cop that said it was ok to sit in the truck and wait gets out and arrests my brother. didnt read his rights, give any warning, or any cause of why he is being locked up.

meanwhile his 7 month pregnant wife needs to go to ATMs, walmart and cvs to get cash back to get his 750 bail. she brings all $20 bills so has 760. they wont give her change so she needs to go back out at 4 in the morning to get change holding a bunch of cash.

i do understand that cops serve a perpose but sometimes they just go to far. hell of a weekend for my brother

If that's true, your brother can get a lawyer and obviously get out of everything, and most likely have the cops actions investigated. Somehow the details dissapear from your story right around the time he's being arrested. But hey, cops are people, and some are wrong and belong in jail themselves - so if that shit happened as you say, good luck removing them from the system!

[BDSax]

If that's true, your brother can get a lawyer and obviously get out of everything, and most likely have the cops actions investigated. Somehow the details dissapear from your story right around the time he's being arrested. But hey, cops are people, and some are wrong and belong in jail themselves - so if that shit happened as you say, good luck removing them from the system!

yup, he leaved the sargent a message says to not delete the 2 in car videos and that he is contacting a lawyer. he was suppost to call back last night but i havent talked to him today.

[Sean]

Leaved? You mean left? lol ;-)


I didn't read this all, but watching this video...a couple things. The fact that the guy started arguing there - yea not the best thing to do. However, when he said he wasn't going to sign the ticket, the officer didn't explain anything to him. He didn't say, "If you don't sign this, I take you to jail." Never once did the officer say you're under arrest for disobeying a direct order.

He said, get out of the car. Then when the guy came over to the police car, he pointed at the sign, thinking the cop would let him explain that the sign was right there. He told the guy to turn around and put his hands behind his back...and he was confused by that as anyone would be. Without another word, he cop pulls out his taser! If a cop did that to me I'd just stop moving and ask WHY THE FUCK THE HAD TO PULL THAT ON ME. Because, frankly, the guy did nothing to deserve getting tased.

Had the officer EXPLAINED the situation to this guy in full detail, and TELL HIM he's being arrested and why - the guy seemed to be the kind of person that would be understanding of that. But, no, the officer didn't do that. He got all happy with his taser.

Obviously this officer didn't like being without absolute complete control. First the guy pointed out why he wrongly gave him a ticket. At the beginning of the video you see the 40 mph sign. Legally, you have 100 ft to slow down after a sign - and the cop pulled out right before that sign to pull him over. Did anyone catch how fast he said he was going? Was it's 48 or 68? So, that pissed the cop off, and when the guy said he wasn't signing, the cop saw his opportunity to be a dick back and arrest him.

Most cops would explain that signing the ticket does not mean you assume guilt, but it just means that you accept possesion of the ticket and that you will do what's neccesary either pay it or fight it.

That officer didn't seem like a complete asshole, but I do think he overreacted - the guy told him to calm down, and frankly...and think he did have to calm down. He was treating these people like they were doing something horribly wrong.


But, what it comes down to is...if the guy would have just put his hands behind his back and obeyed, and wouldn't have been tased. I would be furious though, because the officer never read him his rights AND he told him he was being arrested for disobeying - but yet he never explained why he was being arrested to begin with.


Overall, this cop is far from a complete asshole. But, the use of the taser in this situation was COMPLETELY uncalled for!

Phew...ok that's my $ .80 ;-)

[1991 318is]

I may be wrong but the Miranda warnings apply to being questioned - not to being arrested. All that is required is that the officer inform you that you are under arrest.
The officer was a jerk but so was the guy that got stopped. Don't they tell you this stuff in driver education any more.
Not signing a ticket is not grounds for arrest. It is grounds to be taken immediately before a magistrate. That's all well and good but the police take you to jail anyway and tell you no magistrate is available or that's not the way we do it here. Common sense should tell you to sign the ticket, take defensive driving and get a discount for it on your insurance.

[BMW_TUNER]

I can tell you from real world experience that the cop would get a reprimand after the video was viewed but only for failing to communicate clearly. The cop was totaly justified in Tasing the driver. Keep in mind that Failure to Obey a Lawful command of a Peace Officer is a crime in most states and that is how the contact started with the Driver. The Trooper asked for the Drivers Id and Proof of INS. which by law the Driver must produce. The Driver then states no and that he wants to know why he is being stopped. At that exact moment the Driver has commited a crime. If requested you must provide identification to a Peace Officer, this was just recently upheld by the Supreme Court. Everything else goes to shit from that point on in the mind of the Trooper.

P.S. The X-26 Taser in the video hurts like shit but for 5 seconds and it appears that the Trooper turned the taser off early because you can only hear the tapping for 3 seconds or so.

[JasonC]

I never been yelled at by a cop but have been talked stern too. Most of the time i was pulled over is because i was doing something wrong. Most of the time it was in my Firebird and a few of them even complemented me on how the car ran or looked. I even had one that was riding beside me one day and he wouldn't go away, so i pointed to the side of the road and he took it as something different. He put his hand up and counted down from 3 and them floored it. I was like wtf and hahahaha. But it was a different story in my other e30. I'd say 98% of the time i was pulled over in it i didn't do anything wrong. But it was lower had 5% tint on the windows and was usally clean. They'ed walk up to the window and lean down to look in and have a odd look on their face with dead silance for a good 15-30 sec. Then they would make something up like i was going 15mph over the speed limit. And i knew i wasn't. I'm not going to come out and say it, but i knew what they was thinking when they first pulled me over.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

because the officer never read him his rights

They are only required to read the Miranda warning before interrogation or questioning, as that is what they are about. The Miranda warning doesn't really have anything to do with being arrested. I think its funny when people bitch that that haven't been read their rights, and they are not even being questioned.

[JGood]

They are only required to read the Miranda warning before interrogation or questioning, as that is what they are about. The Miranda warning doesn't really have anything to do with being arrested. I think its funny when people bitch that that haven't been read their rights, and they are not even being questioned.

Wow. I just read the wiki article on that, good info to know. Thanks.

[ncgneto]

I know that cop in the video..... He's an @$$hole. All the time. He thinks he's god. There are some cool cops in Utah but this guy does not fall in that small percentage

[Ryan Stewart]

Even as an affluent, white male I think we need to start coming down harder on these cops. Much harder. The idea that they would be removing dash cams to protect themselves from lawsuits is just fucking scary. Hopefully after it costs them cases or the lives of officers they will reconsider and put them back in. Nothing is worse than a person in power who has no accountability.

The problem is they are the ones in the position of power and they often abuse that power. There are countless more stories just like the one of the kid with the dash cam. Hell, once leaving a movie theater at 1:30am (late night show) we were all stopped by a big group of cops and held for over an hour. They were lecturing us and attempting to find violations on our vehicles or other reasons to hold us. Thankfully my neighbour was high ranking and on duty so I could call him to let these fuckers know that we all had rich parents with good lawyers (not to mention the area is crime free and they dont like people fucking with their kids).

There is also a big problem with the view of less than lethal force. They have been wrestling with the definition since those means can easily be lethal for people suffering from conditions that arent apparent.

People on here conjecturing about how the guy "might have had a gun" are totally full of shit. That could be justification for shooting the guy if you extend that shitty logic out enough. That is like the moron logic that only 134 people saw a passenger plane flying at the pentagon so it must have been a missile. Unless the guy presents a weapon the cop should use conventional means to restrain him. The guy was walking away, not reaching for the pigs sidearm.