Exactly! You can refuse to sign. Usually this is taken into consideration when you do arrive to court. Clearly abuse of power in my opinion. The man had his back turned. I believe this officer needs to be pulled from the streets. The new update is he is still working his beat on the same highway.

Hell, I didn't go to court for it. I paid the fine (around $70 as I recall) and that was the end of it.

The guy should have yelled 'Don't tase me man'!!

And policemen wonder why the public call them pigs and have no trust in them.
I wouldn't piss on that guy if he was on fire.
"Tasers are not compliance devices" damn right, shame most policemen I've seen in these cases seem completely unaware of this fact. They are an alternative to lethal force - had that cop not had a tazer, would he have drawn his gun and shot the guy dead? You bet your arse he wouldn't have. Shooting a guy over a speeding ticket? No way. So how is tazering someone in the same situation any different? What if the guy had a pacemaker? Oh sorry judge the suspect refused to sign this bit of paper for speeding because I didn't explain the proceedure like I'm supposed to.
It's not the worst case I've seen by far, but that doesn't excuse it.

On more than one occasion I have been confronted by zealous policemen who clearly over steped the boundry of what is reasonable; in the UK you get what's called a 'producer' to attend a police station of your choice with the appropriate vehicle registration documents, insurance etc. I never carry these on the principal that they are too valuble to be left in a car or carried about in my back pocket. Yet because I have long hair and get stoped in the early hours of the morning I was considered guilty "look, I know you don't have insurance, so why not come clean now, it'll make it easier on you in the long run' - this from 2 cops whilst I am locked in the back of a squad car for half an hour whilst they tried to verbally trick me into 'fessing up'. They wern't very pleasant about it either. But what can you do?
That wouldn't happen these days with the vehicle check database :yep: we all know how infallible computers are... "but I have insurance and a license officer..." " Computer says nooo..." zzzztt! aargh!


As a child I was always brought up to respect the police, but these days I wouldn't trust any of them as far as I could spit. I learned, when I was old enough to understand such things, that 'respect' was something that had to be earned. Police these days seem to do very little to earn the respect of the public and they are supprised when they receive such open hostility from ordinary folk and criminals alike. It sure says a lot about the way things are these days. Sure they have a difficult, thankless job, but that's no reason to treat everybody like a criminal and assume guilt based on them being a copper and you being some poor mug joe public who has to cow-tow to them 'or else'.

At least the fellow getting the ticket wasn't this guy:


http://news.google.co.uk/news?q=poli...num=4&ct=title

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPCgwCS3viQ

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/276565

Wow, captain Sparky was clearly very very hyped up on something, maybe he should go easier on the coffee:huh:

Oddest bit is that at the end he explains the situation to the other cop on camera...weird

This sort of thing makes me glad I don't live in the US, cops are way less paranoid here with traffic violations because they know everyone they pull over WON'T be armed and dangerous.

what's with getting people out of their car for a speeding offence anyway? why even bother, just fine the guy, follow him for a couple of miles and move on. Is it something woth state law versus federal law or some such?

Nevertheless, this cop was out of line, I'm sure the lawyers are circling already...

Tomorrows police are now today. :nope:

In sweden you just don't become a cop like that, apart from school, you have to meet a psychologist and if she/he see that you have to much "Rambo" inside, you can forget all about being a cop.

Markus

They do the same in the states. I went to University of Maryland and received my degree in Criminal Justice.(really just 4 years of heavy drinking and parties:p ) I applied to the Montgomery County Police Department. I had to take a lie detector test, oral exam, written exam and psychological exam. When I hit the physical eye exam, I got nixed. The rule is 20/70 vision if my glasses are off. I did not make that grade and was summarily dismissed. Just as well, watching a few episodes of COPS made me glad I did not pass the eye exam. Even so, clever Rambos can get by and some that are not Rambos become Rambos later on when they are behind the badge.

In all reality, the cop in this instance lost control of the traffic stop. It seemed to me he became agitated with the driver and in turn acted out the agitation. He should have stayed calm and explained in calming voice why the driver was stopped. He took the other route and took on the challenge knowing full well he held the all cards. He decided to call his hand and used undo force. The is nothing in that video that would indicate the officer was in control of the traffic stop and what was learned before hitting the streets to enforce the law was not adhered to. He can hear the officer telling the second officer that the driver thought he was in control of the traffic stop. Your first contact with the driver is the time to set the tone of the traffic stop. In LESS than a minute, the officer lost control of the stop which escalated into what we have witnessed.

The force was a tad excessive, but overall, id have to side with the cop.

-, the guy was a smart ass.

- you don't argue with the cops. They're already edgy from dealing with alot of scumbags. They give you an instruction, you do it promptly, and precisely unless it places you in iniment danger, you can argue about it later in court.


- The trooper told him FOUR TIMES to turn around and put his hands behind his back. FOUR, and he still continued to not comply. Probably in self arrogance that no matter what, he was right and the cop was wrong. The fact that the trooper held a taser AT him, should be warning enough, combine that with 4 verbal warnings.

- he put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the car. BIG NO NO. Cops have a hand fetish. They want to see what your hands are doing at all times. Hands are dangerous because they can hold things like guns and knives. cops have the same allergy to cold steel and hot lead that we do.

Here is where i have my disagreement. In retrospect, he should have just put him in an arm lock that disables you and forces you to the ground (they're trained to do that, and it hurts like hell, but its definatly no taser),

Only thing the cop didn't say, was how fast the guy was going. he did say why he pulled him over, but didnt say how much over the speed limit. He did tell him why he was arresting him. He was right in the arrest, but wrong in the method used.

Now all that said, this cop was strung out and needs to go on vacation. One thing ive learned during my stint in the service is, the badge and the uniform give him the authority, you have to respect that. But the man inside the uniform is another story. Some of them are strung out, some of them are not. Its not a case of, legality, its a case of judging human character. You can see it in the mans eyes, and that tells you what you can, or cannot do, or what he will, or will not tolerate. Thats a here and now judgement call, you can argue the rest in court later.

That is not an excuse to teaser some on or even escalate the situation to an unnecessary arrest.

Cops should know better they don't need to argue back. The drive stated he did not know the limit was 40 (The max limit in Utah is 75 one of the highest in the US) and was driving at 68. It seemed like a genuine case of knot knowing the speed limit dropped. At the start of the video you can clearly see a 40 mph construction sign. The office actually pulls over in front of it and quite possible obstructs the view. When driver exited the vehicle he wanted to see the sign and thought the officer was going to show it to him.

It appears he was in shock. First he tells him to put his hands behind his back before saying hes was arrested. In fact he never says he ins under arrest. When an officer pulls a gun on you when you have no weapons and are not physically being aggressive it throw you off guard. It appears he turns his body and walks away instinctively.

The officer had already pulled the teaser before his hands went into his pocket. and fires before hands hands leave has pocket.

The officer takes an aggressive attitude throughout the ordeal up until the other office arrives on scene. He then has the nerve to joke about teasering him.:nope:
After that he than performs an illegal search hoping to find drugs or a weapon to cover his ass.

It all started with the officer refusing to answer questions and trying to force the driver to sign. I don't know the law in Utah but in Florida the driver has the right to ask any questions before signing and officer must make sure the driver understands everything thing before allowing him to sign.

Know he may have done it after the video cut off but the at now time did he tell him what he was arrested for. He even asked to be mirandized and the officer refused that starts to fall under the lines of illegal detainment.

There is no excuse for the officers actions :down:.

If it was me i would have demanded an ambulance, his supervisor and a lawyer before letting the officer take me to jail. I hope the driver sues the officer and the department for every thing he can think of.

Now here's an officer who knows how to keep his cool. ;)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GHZMoPV1rog

"bye"

:rotfl:

:up::up::up:

There's a true role model. Really puts the guy in that first video to shame.

The bottom line in any altercation where force is used, is that the public is almost always sided against the cop. Its just a given. I have to wonder if Taser's are a bit overhyped in what level of force they are considered. Their basically a ranged stun gun. yeah i imagine it hurts like hell, but the real question to me is, how much acutal bodily harm does it do? Aparently not much, the guy was up and walking about a minute later.

Now i still say the cop was a dick long overdue for a vaction. But i also think that civy was an arrogant punk. If he had been less of a punk, he woudlnt have been jacked up.

I dont like how people are now starting to generalise all cops. In any public service profession you'll get *******s with playing cards in their hats and an itchy finger. However, the vast majority of cops do quite a good job, and you Americans should be proud of that. Look what we have here - a couple guys who'll slap your wrist for a murder and make you pick litter up for a few months.

Man for the three or more "*sshole" you can be assured you pay atleast 21€ more.

The Trooper is in control the entire time. He looked like a darn big dude who could bend you into a pretzel:o. I think I would have signed and moved on myself. He let the man vent for his 4 minutes and never took a defensive posture possible letting this escalate into an arrest.