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Taser misuse or proper use?

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#41
dman_113 said:
After watching this video I feel both side could have handled the situation better.Just wondering does anyone know if its illegal to not sign a ticket? Seems to me that is the question we should be asking. If so the guy should have surrendered to the officer, if not the officer should have let him go. If he failed to obey a lawful command then yes the officer imo was in the right, if it were me, I wouldn't be wrestling with some dude on the side of the highway either. With that said I feel like the officer should have done a better job of explaining to the driver that his options were to A) Sign the ticket or B) Get arrested.
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Exactly. But the officer wasn't interested in being a decent human, or even following proper procedure. He was so deep in his power trip, he just fired on the guy, with no warning.

It's OK. He will pay for his incivility with his job.

People like him should not be in law enforcement anyway.

No big loss.
 
#42
bradjonesbass said:
It is illegal to not sign the ticket and you can be arrested for it. Lesson #1 - Don't reach into your pockets EVER, when confronted by an officer. He yells put your hands in the air, you put your hands in the air. He tells you to get on the ground, you eat pavement. Reaching into your pocket could get you killed. The cop doesn't know what you're reaching for at that point. You want to get your ID out, ask him if he would like to see it. If he says no, you leave your hands in plain view. If I was on that jury in a civil case, I would make the plaintiff pay the cop's defense costs on top of ruling in the officer's favor.
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Care to bet that's not how it plays out?

I suspect Barney Fife will soon be asking "Do you want fries with that?" for a living...

crackup.gif
 
#45
the guy had plenty of warning the taser was pulled and the request was made. Then he ran his mouth and started reaching for something in his pocket.

people have been KILLED by cops for reaching in their pockets.

sure the cop was being a dick before he tasered the guy but a guy that age should know better.
 
#48
as to the signing the ticket thing.

you are not required to sign a ticket

what you ARE required to do is sign an Ibond in the case that you dont' have your ID on you. If you don't you have to go in to the station to verify your identity.
 
#49
If you don't sign the ticket, it will be dismissed.

Signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt. The signature is merely an acknowledgement you received the ticket and a promise to appear in court.

Refusing to sign the ticket -- and there are drivers who think that if they don't sign, they can lie in court and say they weren't there -- will do nothing but agitate the officer and invite more scrutiny.

In some states, such as Texas, refusal to sign a ticket can mean a trip to jail. Houston attorney Robert Eutsler says that if you don't sign the ticket, the officer has the choice to either take you to jail or write on the ticket "refused to sign."

"It's a promise to appear in court on a certain day -- that's all it is,'' says Eutsler. "It's certainly a myth that if you don't sign it, it's going to get dismissed. You're more likely to get arrested, and the officer is going to get very upset."
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From MSN.COM 8 top traffic myths
 
#54
This is a clear abuse of power. The guy clearly wasn't running away or physically resisting arrest. The thing is that moments after the cop used his taser, it seems that he realized he used it inappropriately and tried to rationalize the use of the taser. That would explain why the cop was unable to tell the guy exactly what he was being arrested for and not reading him his rights when he demanded to hear them several times. Note that the cop said "not following my instructions" and later said "speeding" while not being able to explain why not following his instructions was worthy of arrest and not being able to cite a specific speed. Also, the officer did not give any warning that he was about to use his taser. This cop needs to be canned.
 
#55
I was always under the impression that signing the ticket was optional, ie: you're supposed to sign it but you can't be arrested if you refuse to. Nevertheless, you should generally follow the instructions of a cop, lest ye be tased (bro).
 
#56
My brother's a policeman with the Livermore PD. I'll ask his opinion and/or what he'd have done tomorrow at Thanksgiving.

As for misuse vs proper use, I have no real opinion other than that I enjoy seeing anyone that isn't me getting tasered.
 
#58
Basshole said:
...And so should an officer of the law.

Or, in this case, soon-to-be-former officer.
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doubtful.

the politically motivated media brainwashed lynchmob has little to say in this matter.

unless he broke a policy which was previously instated (which I doubt he did) the union will protect his job even if the media is putting pressure on his elected bosses.

He had cause to fire it as the man ignored his order to raise his hands and the guy was feeling in his pocket. I do know for a fact there there is no policy in place in Chicago (where I am and know several officers) requiring them to give any warning before firing a taser or any other weapon for that matter.
 
#60
HollowBassman said:
I've been trying to find anything online that backs that up and have not yet been successful. If you know of a site that states that "police officers must warn you before using a taser", please post it.
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They are not required to give any warning for anything they do. Officers do it as a preventive measure hoping to scare a person into giving into their command/request. This officer saw him look dirrectly at the taser so I think he was safe to say that the words "stop or I'll fire" would have any effect on him.

for example often times they will say something like "come out or we'll release the dog" to strike fear into the person who is hiding.
 
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