Jackbooted thugs

 

Woman in Florida gets tasered, bro, for arguing with a cop. I think the cops are out of control.

1. "According to an American Civil Liberties Union representative in Orlando, yelling at a police officer and even cussing one out is constitutionally protected speech. And both the ACLU and Amnesty International USA say this incident likely could have been handled differently, adding that Taser use has become too casual and too common among police officers.”

   This part is true, however; once a command by an announced and recognized officer of the law is given, such as “You are under arrest for disturbing the peace” you have the right to put your hands behind your back and fight it in court.

   If the officer told her to pipe down or she would be going to jail, and she didn’t.... well if she was trying to arrest her at the time, she would be justified if she resisted.

   I do think the police are getting a little stun gun happy across the country but remember 150 years ago they would have shot the woman. no questions asked.

   A “mostly non lethal” weapon is better than a “VERY LETHAL” one IMO.

   What was the cop supposed to do? listen to the abuse? stand there and say thanks? I mean at some point the command had to be given and the threat of jail had to be issued. if it wasn’t then the cop is at fault.

   Posted by Bushwack       12/21/2007  at  08:18 PM  



2. Yep we should go back to breaking arms and legs with Billy Clubs.. and if that doesn’t work then time to pull out the pistols.. I’d rather take my chances against a Taser if I was in the situation(which I don’t expect to be anytime soon)

   Posted by Infinity       12/21/2007  at  09:07 PM  



3. But Daytona Beach’s police chief said the verbal lashing his officer got and the way her commands were ignored gave his officer every right to use her weapon.

   If I knew exactly what was said in this little altercation I’d be in a position to make an argument for or against the officer.  It might be another negative about having female police officers, they’re more likely to feel overwhelmed by a verbal berating and feel threatened by it.  A male officer might have been less likely to use force to stop a woman that was yelling him.

   Then again, if the woman was getting threatening with the officer, I’d support this use of force entirely.  People these days need to learn how to show some fucking respect.  To everyone I mean, not just police officers.

   Posted by Elliott       12/22/2007  at  12:22 AM  



4. The article shows the management of the store asked the officer to determine if the credit card being used by the ‘yoga instructor’ (who doesn’t seem all that mellow) was stolen.  When the officer attempted to question the woman, she yelled an obscenity and proceeded to be more verbally abusive and resist the officer’s legal authority.

   “According to an American Civil Liberties Union representative...” Right.  This is the same pack of anti-Americans who want to destroy all vestiges of Christianity and deny the Second Amendment.  The fact is, the First Amendment does not guarantee the right to conduct oneself like an asshole and screw up everyone else’s day.  “Freedom of Speech” was and is about ideas, not vulgarity and being a twit.

   Law enforcement officers have no duty to retreat from the conduct of their duty.  Once an officer finds reason to begin an inquiry, the officer has the right to do their job and conduct the inquiry.  If not, we might as well disband all law enforcement agencies.

   Okay, maybe some should be disbanded.  Do you feel like going it completely on your own?

   Posted by Archie       12/22/2007  at  12:35 AM  



5. Drew I have mixed feelings on this. I agree that there are a lot of police officers that are obsessed with power. On the other hand it is a very difficult job and generally a taser is non lethal. Having had to deal with some very aggressive West Africans in my job (without access to any weapons) I would have been quite happy to give them a few kilovolts! Hopefully if the Police Officer has a track record for zapping people at every opportunity this will be identified and she will be run out of Dodge! I agree with Peiper (as I usually do!) organizations like Ass hat International and the ACLU do not generally serve the people only the traitors. Still it is Christmas and we can still celebrate that in England for now, so I wish you all seasons greetings and a prosperous New Year!

   Posted by LyndonB       12/22/2007  at  08:10 AM  



6. Hmm, I got be wondering about this one.
   Hard to tell from the cheap seats here in the bleachers.
   I find it hard to believe that the female police officer (who appears to be quite burly
   and black) needs a Taser to restrain/subdue a skinny white chick who is a
   yoga instructor for cripes sake. Now the American Commie Lawyers Union is getting into the act?, Holy Jeez.

      

   Posted by memoryleak       12/22/2007  at  06:42 PM  



7. I would say she had a very good case.  The officer approached her in a threatening manner, constantly making her retreat and her gestures were in frustration rather than threatening.  She neither tried to flee nor attack the officer.

   Posted by Orion       12/23/2007  at  04:40 AM  



8. The cop should be reprimanded and retrained. It looked like the lady was retreating. Her avenue of retreat -back up the main aisle- was blocked as she was being herded away from the confrontation. Good police strategy at this point. IMO the womans mistake was trying to get the last word in before she exited the building. Clearly a mistake on her behalf but not rising to the level of a direct threat to either the officer or other people. That said, police officers are trained, or should be, to exercise restraint in emotional situations. The officer was never in a situation where she was at risk of being harmed nor was any one else. It appeared that the cop lost her cool in the face of verbal onslaught. She responded with excessive force. Being “tazed” may not cause physical harm, but falling to the ground in an uncontrolled manner can.

   Posted by yatalli       12/23/2007  at  01:26 PM  



9. she was trying to flee… notice her backing towards the door.. Thats not attempting to Flee??????
   and no videos have any sound..  all she had to do when she was told she was under arrest is comply, and then they could check the credit card and see that it was hers and not CC fraud was being attempted, charges dismissed end of story.. but no… she had to try and flee..and be the andrew meyer of the week…

   Posted by Infinity       12/23/2007  at  02:47 PM  



10. I agree with Infinity:  It appears that the yoga-chick had a questionable credit card, and was trying to flee the vicinity.  Many criminals try to use intimidation to make a quick escape when caught.  Seems to me that she tried, but got her arse zapped.

    The ACLU’s just trying to let another felon back onto the street.

    Posted by DaGeneral       12/23/2007  at  07:28 PM  



11. "Ir appears the yoga-chick had a questionable credit card”

    All the news reports say it was a valid card in her name and she simply left it behind by mistake.  I know it’s tempting to applaud tasering “yoga-chicks” just on principle, but the cop clearly handled the situation inappropriately from the beginning.

    Posted by Orion       12/25/2007  at  12:51 AM  



12. I wasn’t there and I’m pretty sure none of the other commenters were there, so I can’t really make any judgement 1 way or the other especially without sound......like it or not though the tape does possibly show resisting arrest…

    Posted by Infinity       12/25/2007  at  11:32 PM  

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