Funny Video (site NSFW, video is)

[Blackadar]

The site isn't safe for work, but the video is. Use your best judgment.

Woman gets tazed during a traffic stop (fairly long).

hxxp://www.big-boys.com/articles/policetazer.html

[Raiders Army]

Okay, I can't believe nobody has responded to this. This is freakin hilarious. Definitely not for work safe, but funny as Hell. I guess there haven't been too many responses due to the nature of the site?

[JeeberD]

I would hate to be a cop...

[Ksyrup]

Hilarious? Man, on another board, this turned into a multi-page argument about how cops are out of control and that could have been you and blah blah blah...

Apparently, the back story to this is that she claims her family has been harrassed by cops or something like that, and of course it's racism, etc., and that she was calling her brother to be a witness. It also turns out that she was doing 52 in a 35 when they pulled her over, had a broken tail light, and....oh yeah, was driving on a suspended license. So once they learned the latter, she was going to be arrested. Instead of complying with the officer's request to exit the vehicle, she kept smoking her cigarette and talking on the phone. So, they tazed her ass.



Here's a story explaining it:

Stopped speeder shocked twice

She berated officers and refused to exit vehicle

By Dani Davies

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, May 29, 2005

BOYNTON BEACH — Victoria Goodwin's spirits were high as she sped through Boynton Beach in her SUV that Friday morning.

She had just dropped her daughter off at day care and was heading to her mother's house to get her hair and nails done. On Monday, she would fly to Jamaica to be a contestant in a modeling competition.

In a 35-mph zone, she breezed past a yellow Mustang. Officer Rich McNevin, in the Mustang, clocked her at 52 mph.

He pulled her over.

Five minutes later, the young mother was squirming on the ground, her body electrified twice by 50,000 volts from McNevin's Taser.

Though Goodwin, 22, wants to sue the department, police officials say the officer's choice to use the stun gun was a good one that had a good outcome: No one got seriously hurt.

The incident was recorded by a camera mounted on the Mustang's dashboard.

It shows, at 7:50 a.m. on Aug. 6, Goodwin's silver Isuzu Rodeo pass by, McNevin following and eventually pulling her over.

As McNevin approaches the Rodeo, Goodwin opens her door and launches into a stream of criticism and questions. She tells him he pulled her over for no reason, says Boynton Beach officers are "the worst" and, according to the officer's report, calls him racist. He tells her that in addition to speeding, she has a broken windshield, a broken tail light and isn't wearing a seat belt.

At 7:54 a.m., a dispatcher adds one more offense to the list: Goodwin's license is suspended. McNevin tells Goodwin she is under arrest. He directs her to put out her cigarette, get off her cellphone and step out of the car. She says, "No, I'm calling somebody." He repeats his order and tries to grab her wrist, but she pulls away and says, "Stop. Don't touch me."

McNevin draws his Taser and points it into the car. A second officer opens Goodwin's passenger door and tries to grab her cellphone.

It's impossible to see on the video what is happening inside the car. In his report, McNevin wrote that "it appeared that Goodwin attempted to slap Officer Reynolds." She says she never did that.

At 7:55 a.m., McNevin, who has never shot his Taser before, fires the two probes from his stun gun into Goodwin's left arm.

She shrieks in pain and slides out of the car. Her body vibrates violently on the ground as she continues to wail.

McNevin shouts at her to turn over on her stomach and put her hands behind her back. Do it now, he says repeatedly. Do it now, or you're going to get Tased again, he yells.

The video doesn't show Goodwin on the ground. She cries out, "I can't."

Then, less than a minute after the first shock, another pop is audible, followed by the clicking sound of the Taser cycling another 50,000 volts into her body for five seconds. She screams anew and yanks one probe from her arm.

She sobs for several minutes, quietly, repeatedly whimpering, "Oh, my God."

The two officers put her in handcuffs, remove the remaining probe and walk her to a patrol car.

"It's over and done with," McNevin says. "We've been Tased before. We know it's not that bad."

Goodwin responds: "I don't care what you say. I've never been Tased before."

Sgt. Sedrick Aiken, a department trainer who watched the video, said McNevin's actions were appropriate, even ideal.

An officer facing a noncompliant person in a car has to consider several potential problems. If he physically forced Goodwin out of the vehicle and onto the ground, he might have injured her. She might have had a weapon hidden in the car. If he used pepper spray, her eyes could have been affected for an hour, or he might have sprayed his partner.

"We don't get paid to have conflict with people," Aiken said.

Goodwin was charged with driving on a suspended license and resisting arrest without violence. She was treated at Bethesda Memorial Hospital after complaining that her arm was numb, according to the report, and then transferred to jail.

Ten months after the incident, she has two small marks on her arms from the probes. She says she placed in the top 100 of 8,000 contestants in Jamaica.

Goodwin said the department has treated her family unfairly ever since a relative filed a lawsuit against the city in the early '90s. She had been calling her brother to come to the scene because, she told officers, "I don't trust y'all."

[HomerJSimpson]

I'm torn. I agree the woman was a belligerent jerk, and that she should have followed the instruction of the officer instead of arguing with him at every turn. On the flip side, didn't he shoot that tazer a little early in the incident? Couldn't he have forced her out of the car with little-to-no threat to himself or his fellow officer? I mean they are two big men and she was an unarmed female. Where exactly was the threat? I would expect, especially after a number of deaths have come from the use of tazers, that officers would use them only in cases where they couldn't handle the sitiuation by their own force, but use of the gun would be too much. It, or any force, should never be used as a "punishment" for not being obedent to the officer fast enough.


That said, if they passed a law saying police could tazer any woman driving a SUV while talking on the cell phone, I'd be for it.

[John Galt]

I think tazers have grown to be a too-easy-to-use weapon for cops. While deaths from tazers are rare, they do happen. And cops should learn not to use them because it is easier to do so. If there is no threat of violence (or even just a minor threat), tazing seems excessive to me. To put it this way, how did "good" cops deal with situations like this in the time before tazers?

Edit: I see HomerJ largely beat me to it.

[Ksyrup]

I think there's something to be said for not putting a cop in a situation where he's forced to reach into a car to pull someone out. What could happen? Well, she could reach for his weapon, she could have one of her own, she'd be close enough to claw the guy's eyes, spray something in his face, etc. Not to mention, if he had continued to attempt to pull her out, and she resisted and ended up with, say, a dislocated shoulder, don't tell me that wouldn't have been all over the news, too. Looks like a no-win situation for the cops based ENTIRELY on this woman's behavior.

I agree that this particular lady was not very likely to be a threat, but I don't really think we should force cops to gamble like that, either. We're looking at this in hindsight - if 10% of the time, a similar situation might have escalated, is that a potential harm we should force cops to put up with? When she resisted arrest, she became fair game for whatever safe method they had at their disposal to gain control over her. I don't think we can allow citizens to simply ignore law enforcement commands, simply because there's no preceived threat of violence. What's next - not getting out of the car until your favorite song has ended? You can't get away with that kind of behavior as a 10 year old, what makes her think that's appropriate as an adult dealing with the police? If there's an abuse situation, you bring it to someone's attention after the fact. You do what you're told first.

[Blackadar]

John, Homer:

I loved it. I think she got exactly what she deserved.

She was a pure, unadulterated bitch to the officer. He was pretty cool about it, but then she kept pouring it on. So he comes back with a list of violations - which was funny as hell. Then a suspended license, which means she shouldn't have been driving at all. Then she refused to get out of the car. That's the short version...of the situation. At this point, the officer has a few choices:

1. Let her finish her call. Bad idea...she could call in reinforcements and escalate the indcident. In addition, she's uncooperative with the request and resisting arrest by failing to comply. The officers are under no obligation to let her continue to resist arrest. Nor should they be.
2. Physically yank her from the car. I think she runs a pretty high risk of getting hurt, the officer could get hurt, someone could get slammed on the pavement. You don't want to put your hands on someone if you can avoid it. Woman or not, close combat is dangerous - she could have had a hidden weapon, be trained in martial arts, gotten lucky when tyring to claw his eyes out, etc. You just can't select this option if there are others available. If she was going willingly, she would have complied with the officer's orders earlier. She wasn't going to go easy at this point...or at least it's very reasonable to assume this.
3. Pepper spray her. He could have done this, but with an officer on each side, one would have had to move away first. It would have been a decent option, but pepper spray in close quarters can backfire.
4. Taser her. And that's what they did. Minimum of fuss, no damage to the officers and likely the least amount of potential physical damage to the bitch.

I'd vote for #4.

[Raiders Army]

This was an excellent example of what cops have to deal with every day. They didn't use profanity like in the movies "Get your fucking ass out of the car, bitch!". They appeared to be extremely professional in the face of someone who is clearly quite belligerent. I'd say they did their job quite well.

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

John, Homer:

I loved it. I think she got exactly what she deserved.

You see, that is the thinking that worries me. If a policeman tazers someone, beats up someone, takes someone out into the woods and shoots them in the back of the head, then as long as they "deserved" it, why should we complain?

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

This was an excellent example of what cops have to deal with every day. They didn't use profanity like in the movies "Get your fucking ass out of the car, bitch!". They appeared to be extremely professional in the face of someone who is clearly quite belligerent. I'd say they did their job quite well.

And if she died at the end of that tazer?

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

And if she died at the end of that tazer?

Shit happens. If the cops used a tazer on her and she died, their intent was not to kill her. She should've cooperated, that's the point.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

And if she died at the end of that tazer?

Then she was solely responsible for putting into motion the events that ended her life. They used a method that is considered safe, and the consequences were unintended.

[HomerJSimpson]

And let me add this (just to be clearer), I'm not saying the officer here did wrong, because this was how he was trained. I'm questioning the training and doctrine of use of tazers. He did handle himself well, and did the right thing in bringing someone else in when it was apparent this woman was non-cooperative. But should a tazer or any "non-lethal" (a true misnomer) device be used in a situation like this? Was it really neccesary?

[HomerJSimpson]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Shit happens. If the cops used a tazer on her and she died, their intent was not to kill her. She should've cooperated, that's the point.

I guess I just value human life more than that. Even the life of idiots.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

You see, that is the thinking that worries me. If a policeman tazers someone, beats up someone, takes someone out into the woods and shoots them in the back of the head, then as long as they "deserved" it, why should we complain?

The woman was extremely rude, refused to comply and resisted arrest. The officers responded with reasonable force in order to get her to comply. That in no way is comperable with your above "execution" scenario.

It's an absurd, illogical and faulty comparison. Try again.

[rafini]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

And if she died at the end of that tazer?

And if they let her sit in the truck long enough to pull out a gun hidden between the seats and shoot one of the cops?

[Raiders Army]

The greater good of tazers far outweighs the bad. What is the percentage of people dying? Contrast that with the safety of law enforcement officials and I think they're much greater good than bad. While some might argue that even one death is too much, I put more emphasis on the safety of police officers than someone who won't cooperate.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

And let me add this (just to be clearer), I'm not saying the officer here did wrong, because this was how he was trained. I'm questioning the training and doctrine of use of tazers. He did handle himself well, and did the right thing in bringing someone else in when it was apparent this woman was non-cooperative. But should a tazer or any "non-lethal" (a true misnomer) device be used in a situation like this? Was it really neccesary?

Ok, then what should he have done? Remember that a physical altercation could injure or kill the woman AND the officer, whereas the taser is a much safer method of controlling an unruly suspect.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

And if she died at the end of that tazer?

It would have made for a better video?

[WSUCougar]

Hindsight is 20/20. It's easy to be an advocate for deferring to the lowest level of force necessary when you know how it ends.

[BrianD]

I don't get how this is funny. A woman gets belligerent with a cop and resists arrest. He has to use a taser on her to subdue her and then hauls her away. If it is funny because she gets hit by a taser, I'd be seriously disturbed.

On a side note, do police really deserve the image they seem to have in certain neighborhoods? This woman had so much fear and distrust of the cops that she felt she needed to make a phone call to protect herself. Was she just being an idiot, or do the cops deserve that much mistrust? Whatever the reason, people really need to learn to follow police orders. They are usually pretty serious and they are going to win in the end. If you are going to end up in the back of a police car anyway, you might as well avoid the taser shot.

Second side note: The woman kept complaining that the office wasn't allowed to check her speed from a moving vehicle. Is this true? I thought they had equipment that could judge speed from a stop or from motion. Anybody know anything about this?

[Raiders Army]

From a TASER FAQ:

Does the Taser affect the heart or a cardiac pacemaker?

The AIR TASER’s output is well below the level established as "safe" by the federal government in approving such devices as the electrified cattle fence. In a medical study of the Model XR 5000Ô electronic stun gun, Dr. Robert Stratbucker of the University of Nebraska Medical Center confirmed that the T-Wave does not interrupt the heartbeat or damage a pacemaker. Any modern pacemaker is designed to withstand electrical defibrillator pulses that are hundreds of times stronger than the AIR TASER’s output. The AIR TASER current of 0.3 joules is well below the 10-50 joule threshold above which cardiac ventricular fibrillation can occur.

Isn't high voltage lethal?

High voltage, in itself, is not dangerous. One can receive a 25,000-volt shock of static electricity from a doorknob on a dry day without harm. The physiological effect of electrical shock is determined by: the current, its duration, and the power source that produces the shock. The typical household current of 110 volts is dangerous because it can pump many amperes of current throughout the body indefinitely. By contrast, the AIR TASER power supply consists of an alkaline 9-Volt battery that is capable of supplying less than three watts of electrical power for a few minutes.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I don't get how this is funny. A woman gets belligerent with a cop and resists arrest. He has to use a taser on her to subdue her and then hauls her away. If it is funny because she gets hit by a taser, I'd be seriously disturbed.

On a side note, do police really deserve the image they seem to have in certain neighborhoods? This woman had so much fear and distrust of the cops that she felt she needed to make a phone call to protect herself. Was she just being an idiot, or do the cops deserve that much mistrust? Whatever the reason, people really need to learn to follow police orders. They are usually pretty serious and they are going to win in the end. If you are going to end up in the back of a police car anyway, you might as well avoid the taser shot.

Second side note: The woman kept complaining that the office wasn't allowed to check her speed from a moving vehicle. Is this true? I thought they had equipment that could judge speed from a stop or from motion. Anybody know anything about this?

Sorry, I think it's funny because the woman is being such a bitch that she just pushed the situation. If she had acted like a normal human being, she probably would have gotten off with just a speeding ticket. And her reaction to getting hit is priceless.

As for fear, if you're truly afraid of someone, you shut the hell up. You don't assume the role of Queen Bitch, mouth off and generally act like an asshat. Shit, she's mouthing off before he can even get out of the car. So I don't buy the fear angle. There's little doubt in my mind that this situation was created and continually escalated by the bitch.

As for the radar, I don't know the law there (wherever it is). I do love the cop's reaction - "thank you for telling me my job." I sincerely doubt that he'd pull her over in violation of deparment policies/law and admit it on camera, so I have to believe that this is allowed. I know it's possible and most traffic enforcement cop cars carry such devices.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I don't get how this is funny. A woman gets belligerent with a cop and resists arrest. He has to use a taser on her to subdue her and then hauls her away. If it is funny because she gets hit by a taser, I'd be seriously disturbed.

Consider me seriously disturbed. It's freakin hilarious because she got what she deserved. Don't tell me that you watch a movie like Rudy and don't think that at the end of the movie it's great because he got what he deserved.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Consider me seriously disturbed. It's freakin hilarious because she got what she deserved. Don't tell me that you watch a movie like Rudy and don't think that at the end of the movie it's great because he got what he deserved.

It is hilarious because she got what she deserved? I don't think that fits together. If somebody does some really good work and get an award for it...that's funny?

I'll agree that she handled the situation badly and got what she deserved, but that still doesn't make it anything other than sad.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Sorry, I think it's funny because the woman is being such a bitch that she just pushed the situation. If she had acted like a normal human being, she probably would have gotten off with just a speeding ticket. And her reaction to getting hit is priceless.

Wailing in pain (either real or exaggerated) is priceless? Yikes.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by BrianD

It is hilarious because she got what she deserved? I don't think that fits together. If somebody does some really good work and get an award for it...that's funny?

I'll agree that she handled the situation badly and got what she deserved, but that still doesn't make it anything other than sad.

Blacky described it better than I did above.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Wailing in pain (either real or exaggerated) is priceless? Yikes.

Come'on. Don't play coy and innocent.

This is funny in the same way that watching a skatepunk nutting himself on America's Home Videos is funny. Or watching a guy talk about fire safety and accidentially catching his hair on fire. Or Kelen Winslow Jr. popping a wheelie on his bike and running it into the sidewalk. It's irony...which can be a bitch, but can also be funny as hell.

[rkmsuf]

She was very cooperative after. He could have told her to do handstands.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

I guess I just value human life more than that. Even the life of idiots.

Her life was never in jeopardy. By all accounts, tazers are safe. I bet being tazed twice is probably safer than being beat with a billy club for 30 seconds. It's one thing if he decided to shoot her in the leg to get her to comply, but that's not what happened, so enough with the over-dramatization.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by HomerJSimpson

I guess I just value human life more than that. Even the life of idiots.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Come'on. Don't play coy and innocent.

This is funny in the same way that watching a skatepunk nutting himself on America's Home Videos is funny. Or watching a guy talk about fire safety and accidentially catching his hair on fire. Or Kelen Winslow Jr. popping a wheelie on his bike and running it into the sidewalk. It's irony...which can be a bitch, but can also be funny as hell.

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. Seeing a skatepunk trying to be cool and nutting himself would be funny. Seeing a woman unhappy at being stopped by a cop and arguing until she gets herself tasered...not so much.

If she had actually come out of the car swinging and gotten beat down with clubs, would that have still been funny, or is it just the spasms caused by the taser that is funny?

[John Galt]

I think the security of the situation was pretty much in hand given the cop had already let her wander around outside of her vehicle. That is very unusual as far as I've seen. People are threats when you can't see where they are and what they are doing. This cop, before tasering her, didn't seem very concerned about any threat she made. And post hoc rationalizations that this was about a hidden gun seem crazy to me. She was surrounded by two cops and she was clearly in fear. Give her a moment and explain things to her rather than continuing to escalate the situation by pointing a weapon at her.

There are instances where using a tazer are appropriate, but to me this is definitely not one of them. Back-talk and even rudeness are not grounds for using a painful weapon that may kill someone. Cops should be better than that.

And I really find it an ugly incident and in no way funny. I'm kind of surprised anyone could find it funny. I actually left the room while it was playing because I found her crying during the second tazing too much to listen to. But I guess some of you find that humorous. Oh well, to each their own.

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Her life was never in jeopardy. By all accounts, tazers are safe. I bet being tazed twice is probably safer than being beat with a billy club for 30 seconds. It's one thing if he decided to shoot her in the leg to get her to comply, but that's not what happened, so enough with the over-dramatization.

I think it is a false choice between being beaten and being tazed. There were many other ways to handle the situation. And look at the numbers - deaths due to tazing are not an insignificant number. In no way should a traffic stop like that one result in someone dying.

[Raiders Army]

Hopefully this will show up.


78 deaths from 2000-2004.

Trying to dig up info on how much they are actually used.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by John Galt

I think it is a false choice between being beaten and being tazed. There were many other ways to handle the situation. And look at the numbers - deaths due to tazing are not an insignificant number. In no way should a traffic stop like that one result in someone dying.

Suggest one. I have yet to hear you say what the cops should have done differently beyond "give her a moment". I'd say they gave her 3 or 4 minutes! How long should they continue to let her not comply before acting?

Again, we don't see what happened inside the car, but the officer instantly tased her and said she took a swing at the other officer. My guess is that the other officer tried to get the phone and she slapped at him. ZAP!

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Hopefully this will show up.


78 deaths from 2000-2004.

Trying to dig up info on how much they are actually used.

I wasn't able to find reliable "use" statistics when I looked, but I wish you luck. I'd be interested to see them as well. Given the population size, I would especially be curious to see "use" numbers for Florida given the high number of deaths in that state. It seems, upon first blush, like they may have a particular problem.

[Raiders Army]

Just to put this into perspective, in 2003 there were 17,013 fatalities due to drunk driving in the United States alone. Link .

Some other info:

The "80 deaths" are greatly exaggerated. In the original Arizona Republic news story cited by USA Today, Tasers were a contributing cause of death three times, and were not ruled out three times.

In the rest of the 70-something deaths, Tasers were used, but the causes of death were something else: drug overdoses, medical conditions, injuries from violence during the arrest or before police arrived, etc.

Only six possible Taser fatalities is not as sensational or misleading as "80 deaths," but from what I can tell, a lot of reporters are not doing their homework. A quick look on Google shows dozens of news stories that parrot the "80 deaths" claim, while quoting outraged left-wing groups such as Amnesty International and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to back it up.

Tasers are used about 100,000 times a year by 6,000 police departments. That's five "possible" deaths in about a half-million Taser uses.

And in Cincinnati and other cities, injuries to cops and suspects drop sharply when cops are equipped with Tasers. According to Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., more than 4,000 lives have been saved by Tasers since 1999, including cops, potential suicides, suspects who resist arrest and mental patients who could harm themselves or kill someone else.

Source: hxxp://www.michigantaser.com/Cincinnati%20Article,%20Tasers.pdf

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Suggest one. I have yet to hear you say what the cops should have done differently beyond "give her a moment". I'd say they gave her 3 or 4 minutes! How long should they continue to let her not comply before acting?

Again, we don't see what happened inside the car, but the officer instantly tased her and said she took a swing at the other officer. My guess is that the other officer tried to get the phone and she slapped at him. ZAP!

I can't watch the video again now that I'm at work. But I remember many times along the way where the cop seemed to be using inconsistent control. For example, he should never have allowed to her to walk around freely. That is almost rule number 1 in traffic stops. Also, playing games about his "unit number" seemed to be just designed to piss her off. And then to be on the radio talking about her so she could hear really freaked her out. All of that created a very tense environment.

And then, once he pulled the tazer, he continued to shout her down. She was not given 3 or 4 minutes there. She was given a few seconds and like her, I would have been totally freaking out. With someone pointing a gun at me (which I don't know if she realized it was a tazer) and shouting over me, I'd need a couple seconds to calm and leave the car. The cop, to me, showed almost no interest in rationally discussing the situation or de-escalating it.

If, after trying everything else and given a chance to relax, she still wasn't complying, a normal takedown or arm bar procedure would have made more sense. Yes, it could injure her (although if you read enough of these cases, you know that cops can do this without injury pretty well), but it sure as hell isn't going to kill her.

And the second tazing seemed totally gratutious as she was clearly not a threat and given her muscle contractions, I wouldn't be suprised if she couldn't easily comply.

Again, though, this is just from memory, and I would know more if I watched it again.

[John Galt]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Just to put this into perspective, in 2003 there were 17,013 fatalities due to drunk driving in the United States alone. Link .

Some other info:



Source: hxxp://www.michigantaser.com/Cincinnati%20Article,%20Tasers.pdf

I don't know how drunk driving deaths provide ANY perspective. Millions get cancer too!!!

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by John Galt

I think it is a false choice between being beaten and being tazed. There were many other ways to handle the situation. And look at the numbers - deaths due to tazing are not an insignificant number. In no way should a traffic stop like that one result in someone dying.

I don't see any other way to have resolved the situation that wouldn't have put the cops in an increased risk of harm, or that wouldn't have potentially resulted in an increased risk of harm to her. What should they have done? Yanked her out? Pepper sprayed her? What physical act should they have done? And I don't want to hear any solution that would have allowed her to do what SHE wanted or somehow allowed her to dictate the terms of her arrest, because that's completely unacceptable.

And if, God forbid, anyone dies under these circumstances - they were responsible for their own death, IMO. A traffic stop shouldn't result in a death, but it also shouldn't result in resisting arrest and failing to comply with an officer's orders. I have no compassion for someone in that circumstance. People die as a result of stupid choices every day, and this lady made the choice to increase her own risk of death. Maybe she'll learn something from it.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by John Galt

I don't know how drunk driving deaths provide ANY perspective. Millions get cancer too!!!

Well, my thoughts are any outrage directed at Policemen who use tasers should probably directed to your friends, neighbors, or anyone else you see at a party that drinks and drives.

Although this is apples and oranges, both kinds of death are preventable. Also, if there is a case where a person did not warrant a reason to get tazed, please cite it. I'm getting hungry because it's lunchtime so I'm thinking normally, but I guess what I'm saying is that the people who got zapped got zapped for a reason.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't see any other way to have resolved the situation that wouldn't have put the cops in an increased risk of harm, or that wouldn't have potentially resulted in an increased risk of harm to her. What should they have done? Yanked her out? Pepper sprayed her? What physical act should they have done? And I don't want to hear any solution that would have allowed her to do what SHE wanted or somehow allowed her to dictate the terms of her arrest, because that's completely unacceptable.

Ding! We have a winner!

[Yossarian]

Interesting way this has degenerated.

I didn't find it funny - I love dumb home vidoes when folk get hurt by falling of bikes or whatnot but this kinda seemed a bit too real.

That said, she's a dumbass who brought it on herself. I don't think it was *necessary* to use the tazer but um.. .he gave her like a hundred warnings "I am going to Taze you" and at that point you stop fucking around on the phone and you do what the hell you're told imo.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

People die as a result of stupid choices every day, and this lady made the choice to increase her own risk of death. Maybe she'll learn something from it.

Just like drunk driving.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by John Galt

I can't watch the video again now that I'm at work. But I remember many times along the way where the cop seemed to be using inconsistent control. For example, he should never have allowed to her to walk around freely. That is almost rule number 1 in traffic stops. Also, playing games about his "unit number" seemed to be just designed to piss her off. And then to be on the radio talking about her so she could hear really freaked her out. All of that created a very tense environment.

And then, once he pulled the tazer, he continued to shout her down. She was not given 3 or 4 minutes there. She was given a few seconds and like her, I would have been totally freaking out. With someone pointing a gun at me (which I don't know if she realized it was a tazer) and shouting over me, I'd need a couple seconds to calm and leave the car. The cop, to me, showed almost no interest in rationally discussing the situation or de-escalating it.

If, after trying everything else and given a chance to relax, she still wasn't complying, a normal takedown or arm bar procedure would have made more sense. Yes, it could injure her (although if you read enough of these cases, you know that cops can do this without injury pretty well), but it sure as hell isn't going to kill her.

And the second tazing seemed totally gratutious as she was clearly not a threat and given her muscle contractions, I wouldn't be suprised if she couldn't easily comply.

Again, though, this is just from memory, and I would know more if I watched it again.

John, quit making excuses for her behavior. Of course he was trying to freak her out by talking about her, etc. Usually, a normal person gets freaked out when they are pulled over and then told they are being arrested. Apparently, that wasn't enough of a "freak out" for this lady to follow orders. So he racheted it up, to try to get her attention (in a non-violent way, I might add) and make her understand how serious this was. That didn't work.

At some point, people have to be made to respect authoritah, and if they aren't going to do it through the use of normal, non-violent means, I have no problem with the use of violence. People have to know that when a cop tells you to do something, you are not free to disregard those orders. Allowing this woman to set the agenda creates a hazardous situation for every traffic stop or other cop intervention that comes after it.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Yossarian

Interesting way this has degenerated.

I didn't find it funny - I love dumb home vidoes when folk get hurt by falling of bikes or whatnot but this kinda seemed a bit too real.

That said, she's a dumbass who brought it on herself. I don't think it was *necessary* to use the tazer but um.. .he gave her like a hundred warnings "I am going to Taze you" and at that point you stop fucking around on the phone and you do what the hell you're told imo.

It's denegerated pretty predictably. Anyone who wears a uniform (police, army, postman) in Galt's World is automatically evil and wrong.

Also, remember that the officer said that she took a swing at his partner when he tried to take the cellphone away. THAT was the final straw and reason she was Tazed.

[Blackadar]

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Also, remember that the officer said that she took a swing at his partner when he tried to take the cellphone away. THAT was the final straw and reason she was Tazed.

But but but...she said she didn't swing at him, and the video's inconclusive, and you can't take a bastard cop's word for it! Those guys are out to beat, maim, and kill any innocent people they can! This was like a cop's wet dream!

BTW, was I the first person to interject a Cartman reference in this thread? 45 posts in? You people are losing it!