Justified taze?!? Link fixed

[jmoney]

I always felt that TASER's were supposed to be an alternative to deadly force not a means of bending the will of someone else to your own. If the person came out swinging or acting like it, then by all means fire away. I have seen many examples of officers using them when there could have been another way. However I have never walked in their shoes.

That's what I thought, now it appears to be the ultimate attitude correction device

[steve817]

TASERs are not an alternative to deadly force. They are an intermediate weapon.

That said, I can't pull up the vid but it sounds bad.

Maybe not, but that is how departments sold them to the public when they started acquiring them. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that some don't have it coming but this case and others I have seen, show that SOME officers are way to quick to use them.

[jmoney]

I keep watching this over and over again, and still come to the same conclusion, this officer is not in a good mood that day, and really did not want to deal with another one of these "i know the law better than you, how dare you interrupt my day, i have 0 respect for law enforcement" kind of peoples, which are very common down here in austin and san marcos tx. The point where the guy touches the police officer though still makes me feel that it was justified, however his attitude is not. It reminds me of that other video a bit of the police officer in cleveland who doesn't even give the driver a chance to produce his CHL and goes ballistic when he finds out he is carrying a gun.

[PostShooter]

I worked as a photojournalist for newspapers for about 30 years and made friends with a LOT of cops along the way. I had a lot of people tell me, "It must be great getting access to crime scenes and stuff." My reply was always, "The amount of access I got from police depended on the day the first cop I came across was having. If he had a fight with the wife that morning over all the OT he was putting in lately, I wasn't getting anywhere." And the same goes for just about any situation any citizen come in contact with them. The average cop has a thankless job with small compensation. But that doesn't warrant one teeing off on a person the way this one did. Trust me, I've been in situations like this before, through no fault of my own. I personally feel that the TASER is an alternative to deadly force, within reason. But it has become the cop's go-to tool for enforcing compliance and respect from those who have an attitude. I covered a story in FL where a small-town cop who had retired from NYPD TASERed a young lady because she was scared he wasn't really a cop (police impersonation being a problem in that area before). She called her boyfriend to tell him what was going on and where she was. The cop dragged her from the car kicking and screaming and TASERed her until the cows came home. Sorry situation. People obey the Police and be polite and respectful. Cops take it easy and be professional. That is all.

[speedsix]

I keep watching this over and over again, and still come to the same conclusion, this officer is not in a good mood that day, and really did not want to deal with another one of these "i know the law better than you, how dare you interrupt my day, i have 0 respect for law enforcement" kind of peoples, which are very common down here in austin and san marcos tx. The point where the guy touches the police officer though still makes me feel that it was justified, however his attitude is not. It reminds me of that other video a bit of the police officer in cleveland who doesn't even give the driver a chance to produce his CHL and goes ballistic when he finds out he is carrying a gun.

...I'm sure glad the PD didn't see it your way...they apologized to the customer and suspended the cop...as they should have...he went after the motorist like a cross between an ex-wife and a pirhana...wouldn't give him time to respond...he was 100% jerk...there's no magic about touching a police officer, I do it all the time...it's the WAY you touch him...if you take that kind of abuse without telling the officer to reboot you get what you deserve...I won't...there's no need to...with that video, I'm surprised and disappointed he didn't get fired...we give them a badge and a gun...and a whole lot of trust...he betrayed that trust that day...but he got to play with his taser...may he sit on it in the mens' room!!!