Cop abusing taser...can you say power trip?

[bcbikernurse]

I agree that we need to be polite especially when we've broken the law but....

I was pulled over in the middle of winter just after leaving work for a routine stop. My window was frozen so I opened the door. The cop jumped back and grabbed at his pistol. I told him him to settle down my window was frozen and if he wanted to talk to me I had to open the door. He asked me several times if I had been drinking and what the score was of the superbowl. I tried several times over to explain to him I just finished work and I can't stand football. He was very rude to me and I feel I had the right to be just as rude (but I wasn't)because he obviously was not listening to a word I was saying. I kept my composure and at some point I noticed another cop cleaning off their vehicle. I looked at him and instantly recognized him. Thankfully he was there and told the other cop to back off or I'm not sure how that situation would have ended. The whole time the first cop was berrating me with his questions his hand was on his gun!! Had it of been a Taser I'm sure he would have shot it as soon as I opened my door. Cops really do need to settle down and if they're too ansy(sp) out there in the field then they really need to think twice about what they're doing. I don't want a trigger happy cop protecting me or my family. I can do that on my own. I want someone that is level headed and thinks situations through clearly and calmly!!! Those are the cops I respect!

 

[steveindenmark]

I was a police officer in England for 8 years. We didn`t have pepper spray or tasers then. We had a small wooden stick which I never used to hit anyone and only once took out of my pocket because I was in fear of my safety.

I arrested rapists, 2 murderers, arsonists, drunks, druggies, the whole spectrum of criminals and the think that kept me safe was my mouth and the ability to talk to people.

The taser and the pepper spray in my opinion are the scourge of policing. There is need for them but in "Extreme" cases. Non of the above were extreme in fact they were mild every day policing scenarios that a rookie could handle very easily.

The powers that be in these police forces should take a firm stand and sack officers involved in situations like this.

Steve

 

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

My window was frozen so I opened the door. The cop jumped back and grabbed at his pistol.

You need to put your mind in that of a police officer... he sees the door open and the first thing that he thinks is... im gonna get shot. not "oh his window must be frozen."
The key is to make the officers as comfortable as possible... when i get pulled over, i put all my windows down... raining or not... turn on my interior lights, night time or not and NEVER reach for anything. when the time comes, if you need to get the registration out of the glove compartment, tell him what you plan on doing, then do it. Dont just start reaching. Its all common sense. A traffic stop is the most dangerous interaction with the public, why make it tense buy opening yoru door when it is approaching you... anyway, back on topic...

 

[Boneman]

I'm sure if our lives were being constantly video taped and put up on YouTube for everyone to 'comment' and scrutinize, there would probably be a few things on there that we would do differently if we had the opportunity to go back and do them again. It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Police don't often have the luxury of waiting to "find out what happens" or being able to just assume things. If they do, it can mean their lives. Remember, the #1 "killer" of cops are from "routine" traffic stops.

Policing is a tough job, some can handle it better than others.

I'm not saying what some of the officers did in these videos is right or wrong as we don't know the full story or extent of each situation; only the ending result.

Just put yourself in the shoes of a police officer for 2 minutes and think about all the retarded stuff they have to deal with EVERYDAY.

I can't find it right now, but there was a great vid of a guy caught speeding who just goes ballistic yelling and screaming and ripping up the ticket and the cop stays unbelievably calm throughout the whole thing and makes they guy pick up all the ticket pieces then wishes him a nice day.

 

[Motogiro]

I was a police officer in England for 8 years. We didn`t have pepper spray or tasers then. We had a small wooden stick which I never used to hit anyone and only once took out of my pocket because I was in fear of my safety.

I arrested rapists, 2 murderers, arsonists, drunks, druggies, the whole spectrum of criminals and the think that kept me safe was my mouth and the ability to talk to people.

The taser and the pepper spray in my opinion are the scourge of policing. There is need for them but in "Extreme" cases. Non of the above were extreme in fact they were mild every day policing scenarios that a rookie could handle very easily.

The powers that be in these police forces should take a firm stand and sack officers involved in situations like this.

Steve

Thank you Steve,

I absolutely don't condone violence on the part of the police officer but you have to understand that we have a culture here that seems to be bent on violence and when you do try to speak in a human fashion some folks only hear, "Blah Blah Blah Blah". I am speaking from experience. You can be an officer on your first day here or ready to retire with 20 yrs. under your belt, be extremely intelligent, compassionate, and diplomatic. It can all be over in a few seconds. I wouldn't want to suffer a bite from some of these characters whether they're 72 or 17.
I also believe it's the personality type that's allowed on the force. There's no doubt there could be a better screening process and training. I think there should be expanded psychological and other training for officers.

I think there is a cultural difference. Give us Yanks some pepper spray a taser and it's on just for the fun of it! LOL! :rockon: Add some beer and forget about it!:iconbeer::iconbeer:

Cliff

 

[Boneman]

Yeah thanks steveindenmark!

I think police here in North America tend to relay on their "tools" more than their own personal skills of dealing with people and persuasion, whether verbally of physcially.

They are all too quick to now let the less leathal devices (tazer, CS spray, etc.) do the policing for them becasue it's 'easier'.

 

[Motogiro]

Another thing to consider as some have mentioned is we don't see videos of all the good stops there are where the officers are polite the citizen is polite and all the times officers give warnings. In other words: We have data on all the traffic accidents that occur for the day but how do you count all the successful jaunts of all the vehicles for the day? I guess we can become pretty focused on just one type of data because that's what gets posted or sells soap on TV and billboards. But not necessarily the truth.

Cliff

 

[bcbikernurse]

You need to put your mind in that of a police officer... he sees the door open and the first thing that he thinks is... im gonna get shot. not "oh his window must be frozen."
The key is to make the officers as comfortable as possible... when i get pulled over, i put all my windows down... raining or not... turn on my interior lights, night time or not and NEVER reach for anything. when the time comes, if you need to get the registration out of the glove compartment, tell him what you plan on doing, then do it. Dont just start reaching. Its all common sense. A traffic stop is the most dangerous interaction with the public, why make it tense buy opening yoru door when it is approaching you... anyway, back on topic...

I also have my window down and all paperwork in hand before the officer reaches the side of my vehicle. If my window is frozen then my door is opened and as soon as he can see that I have nothing in my hand to hurt him then he can at that point stop being a total prick to me and start treating me like a human being not a common thug! That would be common sense on his part and also goes back to proper training. There are a lot of cops out there that lack people skills and listening skills. :Flip:

 

[lonesoldier84]

I was a police officer in England for 8 years. We didn`t have pepper spray or tasers then. We had a small wooden stick which I never used to hit anyone and only once took out of my pocket because I was in fear of my safety.

I arrested rapists, 2 murderers, arsonists, drunks, druggies, the whole spectrum of criminals and the think that kept me safe was my mouth and the ability to talk to people.

The taser and the pepper spray in my opinion are the scourge of policing. There is need for them but in "Extreme" cases. Non of the above were extreme in fact they were mild every day policing scenarios that a rookie could handle very easily.

The powers that be in these police forces should take a firm stand and sack officers involved in situations like this.

Steve

Thank you. While nccoder is right that there is a difference in cultures (i.e. more nut-jobs in the USA than in all of Europe put together), the use of tasers is EXCESSIVE. I understand what you are trying to say nccoder, and if taser use was only mildly too aggressive I would be tempted to side with you. The senior brass in police departments have MINIMAL data with which they have used to set up their policies. Independent studies have argued against their policies for years. They continue to make policies based on the studies done by the companies that actually MAKE the tasers themselves. And those studies are very simplistic and not thorough. Independent studies that are still pretty small (but magically way bigger than anything done before) are ignored by police officials.

Tasers are used to such an INSANE extent for things which should be routine it is just wrong. If the police officer is overly worried about being bitten or scratched (in a world with HIV I can respect that) then call in backup and keep the suspect passive till then. If the person is not being passive then hit them with pepper spray and tackle them at the knees. Even pepper spray is better than getting hit by thousands of volts of electricity. Much less chance of death and much less violent. I am talking about changing policy here. Something only the senior brass can do.

TASERS ARE NOT SAFE!!! it has been proven time and time again. The devices cops use are not STANDARDIZED. They each fire different amounts of electricity and many do in fact fire MORE than the maximum they say they fire on the side of the gun. They are not the smooth, functional and clean devices many cops think they are.

But a bigger problem is also the tendancy to always defend a cop if you are a cop. The RCMP officers who killed the polish fellow in Vancouver airport fired their taser and hit him with a prolongued taser exposure of over 1 minute and 30 seconds overall. Independent studies show that even healthy individuals can be killed by over 15 seconds of exposure over a given amount of time. They hit him with 1 minute 30 seconds exposure over a period of 4 minutes or so.

What was the result? Cops back up cops. The cops involved never stopped getting paid and are back on duty. The policies were not rewritten or even changed.

If in a case as EXTREME as that one was, the cops backed up the cops....what hope is there for more minor discrepancies in taser usage among cops? There isnt. Until cops start to become critical of their fellow police officers and develop an attitude of "hey if a cop does bad he should be punished severely and every single time because he should be held to high standards". As it stands that is not the case. In the vast majority of cases where the public is clamoring for a brutalizing police officer to be punished nothing happens to them. The reason for that is because cops stick up for cops usually. Even when the guy is in the wrong I dont think they get more than a slap on the wrist behind closed doors.

Most cops are great cops. Many cops are not. The great cops need to treat the less than great cops with a much harsher attitude. Otherwise things like this happen more often than they should.

 

[Doorag]

'power trip' you crack me up. I can't believe no one commented on the pun! I hope you did it on purpose! Quality...

 

[lonesoldier84]

tee-hee