Utah trooper zaps driver with TASER over speeding ticket

SALT LAKE CITY - Authorities are speeding up their investigation of a state trooper who zapped a motorist with a Taser now that video of the traffic stop has been posted on YouTube, the Utah Highway Patrol said Wednesday.

The video, taken from Trooper John Gardner's patrol car, shows him drawing his Taser after Jared Massey refused to sign a speeding ticket Sept. 14 and walked away from the officer on U.S. 40 in eastern Utah.

A surprised Massey asks, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Gardner fires, and Massey shrieks and falls.

"Face down! Face down! Put your hands behind your back!" Gardner orders.

A woman screaming hysterically emerges from the passenger side of the sport-utility vehicle Massey was driving, and the trooper tells her to get back inside "or you're going to jail, too."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_re_us/taser_motorist

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fae_1195587967&p=1

We the People are SCREWED!!!

why do you say that?

My dad has been a cop for many, many years, and he doesn't taser people for traffic violations. Personally, he hates the things and calls them AND I QUOTE "a shitty police officer's best friend."

His take? If you can't get someone to communicate, respond and comply, a taser ain't gonna help. Not a bit. It's cops who don't want to actually work that resort to such bullshit, IMHO.

on edit: First person

when the video makes it to You Tube. It was the same with the poor guy in the Vancouver airport.

That was so damn stupid of what the officer did. Just because the motorist didn't want to sign and walk away, what did he think would happen besides drive off or just sit in his car upset. He did not have to taser him because he got pissed off.

Who knows what he may or may not have had in his truck. Proper training does not encourage letting a person return to a vehicle like the driver did.

If the cop really thought that there was a crime being committed, then the cop could just as easily have placed him under arrest, INSTEAD of tasering the guy.

If he's unable to comprehend the absolute basic minimum principles, he has no business being issued a badge in the first place.

By your reasoning, anyone can be tasered at any time, simply because you just don't know how dangerous they could be, or what they could be carrying.

:eyes:

It used to be rare to hear such idiotic theories of law enforcement as yours, but it is becoming a whole lot more popular lately. In the same way, torture is a whole lot more popular now than it used to be. I guess as long as they taser the "right people" it's all good, just like when they torture the "right people."

:puke:

stopped a vehicle on a stretch of highway, alone and without back up, after seeing video after video of seemingly regular people commit all sorts of acts of violence, then get back to me.

As I stated down below, have you ever seen the video clip of the man, who while on a traffic stop, went back to his truck, pulled out a rifle and killed a cop? I can tell you that there are many, many, many videos of things like this happening every day.

Or how about the video clip of the man who viciously beat a woman cop right in front of his own daughter while she was screaming?

Cops do all sorts of things that the general public does not understand for a variety of reasons.

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Watch the video again - what do you think he was being told to turn around and put his hands behind his back for? For a dance?

And it has nothing to do with imagining what dangerous crime he was committing. Letting him get back to his vehicle would be an officer safety violation.

When the officer tased the speeder, the passenger ran screaming out of the vehicle towards the officer. Had that passenger been armed, the officer never would have seen the light of day again. In this case, tasing didn't reduce the risk to the officer involved -- it demonstrably increased that risk.

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you'd last out on the street thinking like a "sheep" when surrounded by all the "wolves".

I suggest for you to be objective, go to some website that has plenty of videos of officers being assaulted and killed by motorists for not thinking tactically. There are tons of these videos around the internet and on youtube.

But I guess for people like you, a video of a police officer being savagely beaten by a man while in front of his daughter or of a cops being murdered is the kind of behavior you are all for.

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I don't give people reasons or the opportunity to assault me; have you?

My point was, too many police have been killed by allowing people to return to their vehicles or homes like the man in this video was doing before he was tased.

Secondly, it is not cherry picking mentioning the other videos. I can spend about thirty seconds on the internet and locate many, many videos depicting such assaults and murders. But I guess you never have seen the video of the two white supremacists who open fire on a cop on traffic stop. Or how about the Texas constable wrestled to the ground and murdered.

There is a plethora of video compilations on CourtTV, SpikeTV and other channels that depict these assaults all the time. Heck, even watch COPS.

I've said it before: every citizen/police interaction from start to finish should be caught on video -- no exceptions.

exonerate actions of police. (It was one done by the national chief's of police organization).

in 96 times out of 100 when video is available, people making allegations of cops and their behavior are either mistaken or lying.

But I have to ask, why is it that people like you always seem to take the words of others and completely twist them all around into meaning something they don't?

I can speak from fact that in our department we have had numerous people make claims that were recorded and then shown to be lying. Heck, three of these cases the citizens went to the media and our city council and stated these lies, received a voluminous amount of media coverage and then the videos showed each case to be based on lies.

And that a lot of people would probably be surprised at what is caught on these tapes and how it wouldn't be what the anti-police crowd automatically think of.

Now, I'm not saying acts of abuse would not be caught (and they should be) but many times allegations made are by people who have been drinking or are under the influence of other drugs or just lying.

The numbers you offer don't "vindicate" the police in any way, shape, or form.

Let's see...what do you mean? Out of 100 allegations against police that are caught on camera, 96 of them are proven to be false or lies. What is it that you don't get about that?

But stating that when it is shown 96 percent of taped incidents exonerate police in allegations doesn't mean anything only seems to show some sort of bias on your part.

See, here's another factor - even with the knowledge that there are cameras, officer's quickly forget they are even there and still this extremely high rate exists.

to ensure the absolute and total safety of our brave police officers who put their lives on the line for us everyday by cruising around looking for people to taser.

Never asked permission, no warrant.

He'll enjoy his long career as a mall rent-a-cop. He's toast.

I think once he's under arrest, the cop can search the vehicle. Also, I didn't hear what the wife said, when he asked something like "is there anything I need to see?" That is, I didn't hear her say "No."

I'm not taking the cop's side here. I hope he's in trouble, but I think he'll get away with it. It's brutality, but may be within procedure in Utah.:scared: I'm wondering if refusing to sign the ticket is grounds for arrest. It seems pretty stupid to me. The guy would still have to answer the ticket.

--IMM

The logic is by refusing to sign, you're refusing to appear, which is not acceptable. It's better to just sign the damn thing and get the cop out of your face.

I got several tickets in Illinois and Wisconsin and the cop handed them to me and left. I was then at my disposition to sign and pay the ticket, to sign and contest the ticket, or to ignore the ticket and open myself to a misdemenor.

that they can arrest you, even if you do sign. Here's what Ted Rall wrote about it:

"The question is whether the Fourth Amendment forbids a warrantless arrest for a minor criminal offense, such as a misdemeanor seat-belt violation punishable only by a fine," formerly liberal Justice David Souter wrote for the majority. "We hold that it does not." The dissent noted that the decision "has potentially serious consequences for the everyday lives of Americans." Well, duh. The constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure is now dead. The police can arrest and jail an American citizen for any crime whatsoever -- even a minor traffic offense. "The practical effect of the ruling is that police officers can exercise 'extremely poor judgment' and harass citizens for pointless reasons -- and those citizens are without legal redress," said Timothy Lynch, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute.
Ted Rall

It's a sad day when I gotta agree with the Cato Institute and disagree with Souter.

That said, I still think the tazing might be considered excessive force.

Thanks for the info.

--IMM

no warrant or consent needed = lawful search incident to an arrest.

Police can search the vehicle due to the arrest. Police can also search the vehicle without a warrant or consent under other circumstances as well.

anything within arms reach of the place he occupied is fair game dude. For the most part

You're right. I think searching the vehicle was illegal.

Sounded to me like the cop was a little high on testosterone.

Search incident to arrest...once your arrested, your vehicle is fair game, no exceptions.

one of those really cool giant crosses on the side of the road where he zapped the guy. WWJT?

Has anyone out there seen the video of a similar traffic stop where a man walked back to his truck and pulled out a rifle and shot the cop? Does anyone even care?

I wish everyone in the public could see the things we see, then maybe they might make a more informed judgment, rather than jumping to all sorts of conclusions. There are reasons why cops are trained the way they are and reasons why they act the way they do.

The man tased was walking back to his truck and ignoring the commands of the officer. Who knows what that man had in the vehicle?

an unprofessional ass and his ego must have been hurt. Listen to the entire stop, the driver was being polite in his conversation with the officer while the officer was being a dick for no reason. The guy said he thought the taser was a gun so he may have been a little scared at that point because of how ignorant the officer was acting towards him. I feel for officers that die in the line of duty but it doesn't make me ignore the excessive amounts of police brutality that goes on. Abuse of power like that is extremely dangerous, its like if the government were to just tear up the constitution and do whatever they wanted...oh wait they are already doing that so I guess what officers like this are doing is just following the systems lead.

Police officers may not be able to look at the video and see reality because they probably haven't been on the opposite end, hell how many police officers get speeding tickets when pulled over off duty? I got pulled over for speeding driving a car with FOP tags and the first thing the officer says to me very politely..." oh you a police officer?" I respond no my girlfriends father is and he then cuts me off and says with an attitude "OH! WELL YOU WERE 38 MPH OVER, I WILL BE RIGHT BACK". The best part was that after that he still came back to the car and said heres a warning slow down. I couldn't believe it, I was let off of a big ticket because my gfs father was an officer. I have been treated pretty well because of my job also, we take care of the officers and they never pay for anything from us and some of them do security for our business. It really pays to be in that loop, you can break the law and get away with it, its great.

There have been multiple situations where the law wasn't enforced because they knew who I was or where I worked and I guess the $30 per hour they get payed for off duty security is enough to buy your way out of some things. What a country!

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I was attacked by Utah a cop just for resembling someone else.

They are trained to be like pit bulls - chomp on innocent people whenever they feel ornery.... except with tasers.

you are the type of person who believes a cop should always wait to be shot at first, struck first or other wise assaulted first before taking action.

on them...untill the person does something to you, nothing can be done short of a restraining order?

If I recall correctly..that is what we are told by the authorities is it not...what is good for us gooses should also be good for them ganders....no? IMO...

about the person who threatened to kill you unless they actually try to kill you."

But a cop can taser somebody for acting in a suspicious manner.

That's what they signed up for. There is no pre-emptive violence allowed by police officers. If the poor cop was frightened by the polite motorist, he should've waited till he pulled a weapon, or at least made a threat.

We live in a police state right now. It is just a very, very small degree before people like you start justifying cops making people "disappear", as like in Central America in the 1970-80's. No, I am totally serious.

We can not buy into this propaganda espoused by the criminal in chief that we can do anything we want to because we are afraid. We can commit mass murder and war because we are afraid. We can tear up the constitution because we are afraid. And this trickles down to the individual level where individual law enforcement people start using pre-emptive violence on its citizenry simply because they are afraid.

We are AMERICANS. We are better than this. Our forefathers fought the revolution and WWII and THEY weren't afraid.

Fear is not a justification for violence. It is simply an excuse.

Police officers are not hired to be assaulted. I know I did not sign up to be beaten or otherwise assaulted. Yes, it comes with the job, but it is not a requirement to be assaulted first before taking action.

As I have stated countless times - once the motorist is out of the vehicle, you don't allow him back in involuntary. We have seen too many police officers murdered by a motorist who reaches beneath the car seat to pull out a firearm.

And your "disappear" comment is offensive and immature.

People like you evidently think all citizens out there want to hold hands and sing happy songs and toss kisses to each other. But let me tell you something, when you can tell me you have lost a co-worker and superb human being and father through MURDER because of a job, then I'll take your idiotic "disappear" comment seriously.

We are not hired to be killed, maimed or assaulted. And like the saying goes, "better be judged by twelve, than carried by six."

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The man refused to sign the ticket. The officer should have arrested him. Instead he became an animal. He shouldn't have a badge.

tased for not obeying the officer's commands and WALKING away from the officer and back to his truck.

Letting the man get back to his truck would have been a terrible officer safety violation. It's that simple.

Now, could the officer have been more patient, possibly so, but taking the man back to where he violated the speed law is for court. It is not the job of the police. The dispute of the ticket is for court.

I guess by your interpretation of the law, once the guy is instructed to walk away from his car, and he obeys, then he can be arrested.

How is the guy ever supposed to get back to his car?

I think you don't understand the law.

Yes, he was going to be arrested for not obeying the officer's commands, but he was tased because he was returning to his vehicle and not obeying the officers commands to place his hands behind his back to be arrested.

What is that you don't understand about the law?

But now you're starting to become a little condescending.

Most citizens don't know all points of law. (I can be condescending here and say, "Surely you know that!")

Anyway, maybe the officer could (at the very least) explain things. If you were to travel to another state, I doubt you'd know all the traffic laws in that community, so I wouldn't get too cocky here. Many people speed inadvertently, and will get stopped. What if you couldn't understand the cop's regional accent and he just thought you weren't "OBEYING" him. Are you fair game for a taser? Is your distraught friend or family member in the passenger seat next in line for freaking out at seeing you tasered?

I think fair warning is in order. Maybe he could have said, "Stop, and go back to the car, or I'll have to taser you...that's the law..." That's at least fair warning.

And yes, I do expect a little restraint on the officer's part. My uncle was a Philly cop for 30 years. Most traffic stops ARE routine -- even in Philly. The officers have to be careful, yes -- but not aggressive. Everyone knows the murder rate in Philly is very high, and there have been 3 officer shootings recently, with 1 ending in the death of the officer (Officer Cassidy).

Citizens are human, and it seems this taser stuff is getting a little crazy. A guy was tasered in his home while sleeping and then again when he awoke. A teenage girl (14) was tasered for cussing on Halloween. A non-English speaking man was tasered (and died) at the airport in Canada. Another guy was tasered for asking a provocative QUESTION at a Kerry speech.

It just seems no level of human emotion or frustration is allowed. And that is scary.

You may not have signed up to be assaulted (as you stated in an earlier post), and I agree with that -- but nor do citizens deserve to be tasered without explanation/reason -- or frankly, at all. It's sick and cruel.

The guy is under arrest at that point and he won't be getting back into his car. You do not understand the laws. Also I thought it was funny the guy wanted his rights read before he was arrested. How many people think that?

And I don't think the officer had a particularly bad attitude, either.

He starts with "How ya' doing? You were speeding kind of fast, I need to see your license and registration" in a very civil tone. Cars pass. You can't hear exactly what's being said, but the officer continues to talk in a very civil tone from what I can tell, as the man questions or argues.

Later, "Ok, I'll be right with you." Then the guy starts arguing over not signing the ticket. Starts to walks towards his vehicle, telling the officer "I don't know what's wrong with you." Twice, I believe, looking back angrily over his shoulder. H-e-l-l-o? A brain in there? At this point, the guy is clearly acting in a manner that might make an officer concerned for his own safety. He's tasered for walking away and not putting his hands behind his back, and afterwards, he continues to argue! Anyway, until the time of the taser, the officer was quite civil, although I believe his communication skills were poor. As the guy continues to argue and argue, the officer does get louder.

Later, he does show some concern for the woman's plight, and although he looks in the front of the van, I think he even says "Ok, there's nothing in here I need to know about." He doesn't come close to really searching the vehicle. (My guess is that he was looking for a weapon.)

My take: the officer should have spent some time explaining the situation to the arrested man. However, once it was clear the officer was arresting him for not signing the ticket (an offense for which one can be arrested in Utah according to a news source), and the man continued to walk towards the car, I can understand why the officer might have been concerned that the man was going to get a weapon. The arrested man was clearly acting unreasonably. How many people walk away from a cop telling you that you're arrested? geesh

I know, I used to be one.

you could hack it i suppose

up to the vehicle? You know, just to be on the safe side. After all, like you say, you never no what the guy might be hiding. Could be a rocket launcher, hidden in a pack of cigarettes. Better safe than sorry, right?

I'm a cop's daughter. Grew up wondering if Daddy was coming home. It's astounding to me we can see it so differently.

I'll watch the tape again, but seriously - tasering just plain needs to be curtailed. It's becoming more and more "acceptable", when the fact of the matter is it should be used EXTREMELY judiciously, much like firing your service weapon. There should be mandatory peer reviews or IA examinations when it's used, IMHO. I am dead serious. If you feel the need to restrain an individual, as a cop, you better be able to back it up with the "why."

I'll withhold judgment and stop being a smartass for the moment (at least for this thread), but watching the taser explosion these days has made me wonder what the hell law enforcement is even thinking.

I admitted to a nurse at the hospice my dad was in, that I did indeed vote for legalization. the person I talked to called the police. the police officer in Greeley, Colorado searched me in the hallway of the hospital. because I was "acting suspicious". later attempting leave town, I was pulled over and searched. ("failed to signal" was the excuse on a two lane highway.) cuffed and stuffed until the warrant arrived and they looked under the rugs of my car. officers found NOTHING as I had nothing.
:grr: I was searched for VOTING the wrong way!:grr:

When rethugs are in control the pigs get bolder. They are the reason GOOD cops get shot.
:grr:

To try to give you a 75 dollar ticket for possession of less than an ounce of cannabis?????

In Colorado???

I go to Colorado from Illinois so as to be able to smoke in peace in a decrim. state.

I took Weld county to the mat in the guardian/conservator hearing. for control of my dying fathers estate. I challenged the judge, district atty office and the social services dept. that, if they did not award me guardian/conservator as per his Will. then I would drag them all down to Colorado state court of appeals. as Wills in this state are concidard absolute documents. although I prevented them to run roughshod over his estate. they would not allow me to bring him home for hospice. as they ruled I would "facilitate his death."

Greeley small town repuke ville was looking for a reason to overturn the pre decided ruling. essentially if I were charged with a crime in that county then i could be relieved of guardianship and conservator ship duties. about quarter million dollar estate. they were sucsessful in relieving his estate of all if it. and leaving me with a bill for 150,000.

a bunch of assholes

aside from the insurance company cheating him out of 40 years of premiums, weld county trying to how take "best care for" him. i worked it out. if i were allowed to care for him in home hospice his estate would have had enough money left over to bury him. without leaving me in the hole, paying off his county forced debts. they were effective in transferring the debt they ran up in his name to me. as i told social services that debt dies with the person. that pissed them off something fierce.

The whole episode (2003-2006) put me solidly in the DEMOCRATIC Column. I used to be Independent.

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Here's a copy of the DU rules.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules_detailed.html

"Do not post personal attacks or engage in name-calling against other individual members of this discussion board. Even very mild personal attacks are forbidden."

Enjoy your stay here :hi:

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He said nothing that illustrated a desire by him to shoot anyone, much less a LEO.

Massey thought signing the ticket was admitting guilt??? It appears that he has Texas plates on his SUV. Perhaps he did not know that you need to sign a ticket in Utah. Had he really been up against dangerous people the girl would have got out, pulled out a gun and blasted the cop. So in other words the cop would have died had the situation really been dangerous, taser or not.

eom

It is a PRIVILEGE to legally carry weapons and serve the public. Some of you gungho cops need to lose your badges until you understand that.

The citizen walked behind the cop and the cop FREAKED. That is the only VERY WEAK defense I can give for the police officer.

Otherwise,

Sad. Pathetic. Wrong.

his badge may very well be gone but only due to not following department policy. Some departments have policies that would cover the actions taken by the officer. No it is not a privilege to legally carry weapons it is your right. Maybe to serve the public but not to carry weapons. Does anyone on here know what they are speaking of or do you just start flapping your gums?

Thanks for playing... :eyes:

If you have the stomach for it, watch this video clip and then dare try to deny police have the right to be cautious and use due care to prevent any assaults. And after watching it, try to imagine all of the videos we have seen that deal with these sort of acts and then imagine what training is about.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkhW90LcA4w

He raised the threat level, when there was none from the citizen.

If the cop needs psychological treatment for a prior condition (ie someone DID hurt him once when they got behind him) then he should get it and soon. Before he hurts another person, for no good reason.

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But I guess that's okay.

So long as it isn't a cop, right?

You do know that several people have been killed as a result of taser use, correct? There's already quite a movement to ban them as a potentially lethal device.

In my opinion, a taser is pretty much a pistol loaded with two bullets. One's a blank, one's the real thing, and you take a gamble on which you're shooting every time you fire it off.

Nobody has anything to say about the video. Why not? Is it because the citizen is black? The cop is a woman? What??? You guys only see what you want to.

The officer in this video was injured severely and after her very long (many many months) recovery never returned to the street.

The goal is to get home safe, in one piece each and everyday an officer goes on duty. People have lost respect for the authorities and feel they are going to tell the police how things are gonna go. Sorry thats not the way it works. Now I do admit there are officers out there now that abuse their badge each and everyday and should be fired and never allow to work as a peace officer again. But this is just like a plane crash. Everybody is afraid to fly because plane crashes are always big news. If you knew how many car accidents there were in the whole world you would never drive. Its perception and its quite skewed from the small number of plane crashes and bad cops.

The reason people have lost respect for officers should be obvious. Sad, but obvious. Too many officers have abused their authority over the years. Too many have mistreated citizens. Growing up, I was taught to respect police, but they were also kindly toward kids/neighbors back then, too.

My uncle was a cop for 30 years. I'm the first to defend the force. When he walked the beat as a young man, he would come home with arms full of holiday gifts. He knew the neighbors and they knew (and loved) him. MUTUTAL respect. MUTUAL.

That has all changed.

There may be a "small number" of bad cops out there, that's true. But the same is true for most traffic stops. In other words, it's also a "small number" of armed citizens ready to kill an officer. Do we all have to be tasered for just that "small number?"

Respect is earned -- and unfortunately, many try to earn it with a gun.

It's a fine line that police officers walk. There is just no way you can predict when somebody is going to go psycho. I just have one question.. what did we do before tasers?

"Don't taze me, bro!"

So I would like feedback on all that I have written. I am curious. Email me, message me, pm me just tell me what you think....

After of course you study up on all things I listed:)

Taking on a DU member's username "USRENAME", adding an insulting ending to make YOUR username "USRENAMEISARETARDDUH" out of theirs, and then going about making the first thirteen posts as obnoxious and insulting as possible, calling out the members of a forum with this... "You along with most everyone else on this forum are a bunch of misguided ******* ******." Don't tell me the asterisks stand for something kind. :puke:

I know you could do better than this if you were really a Dem... er.. interested. :thumbsdown:

Oh, by the way... you asked for feedback. Well there you have it!! :evilgrin:

We had one tombstoned yesterday, using a mockery of a longstanding member's name.
Probably the same idjit, or one of his buddies from some dank, dark little board.

Betcha we'll see a few more real soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=211124
Clear enough?

I'm regretful that I got to this thread too late and you've already been tombstoned. I hate to see a little authoritarian piece of shit go away before I have the chance to properly say hello. Maybe next time, inbreeder.

isn't going to encourage anyone to discuss/debate the subject at hand, except maybe someone else that wants to use that type of language.

He was tombstoned when I wrote it. Thanks for trying to play a parental role, but I'm not real receptive to the gesture.
Thanks.

Should they all be fainting at the sight of words like FUCK?

Hey ladies, FUCK FUCK FUCKEDY FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!

Swoon at your most opportune moment.

First he chose to argue his case with a state trooper. Did he really expect the trooper to change his mind? Has ANYONE EVER got a cop to say "Ya know what, you're right. I made a mistake." You argue your case in court, not on the side of the highway.

Second he continued to argue after he got out of the car. For better or worse, these guys are extremely paranoid. You don't walk up on a cop like that. He goes into survival mode at that point and immediately pulled his Taser.

Third when a cop draws his weapon and orders you to stop, you stop. You do what he says. You DON'T turn and walk away and put your hand in your pocket. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

I don't particularly like cops either but they have a job to do and they can and do get killed doing that job. When this guy continued arguing, turned around (thus hiding his left hand), started walking away and then put his right hand in his pocket he could have been pulling a weapon (in the cops mind). Should the cop have waited till he saw a weapon? That's all the hesitation a real killer needs to kill or injure the cop. This is how they are trained.

My dad taught me a valuable lesson many years ago. He emphasized to me that whenever you deal with a police officer, it's "Yes sir" "No Sir" and keep your hands where they can see them. Do what they say, no sudden moves and be polite. He said you never piss off a man with a gun and that most cops were just "Barney Fife's". That gun provided the manhood they lacked in real life and never give them the excuse to exert their manhood. This was back in the early 70s so don't tell me that things have changed much since then.

The guy should have just signed the damn ticket and challenged it in court. He'd been a lot better off.

If the police officer would not have had a Taser, as the cops in my area do not, he would of had to physically arrest the driver...would have looked worse than using the Taser. Sign the fucking ticket and go to court...damn.

I actually expected to get flamed and I think that the officer has some "authority" issues but there are things you do and don't do during a traffic stop. This guy violated all of them.

NEVER EVER walk behind a cop when the situation is tense - it will lead to bad things for you. The cop freaked, not acted like a trained professional IMO.

I won't arm chair what he should have done, it was just wrong on all sides and guess what folks - the law will ALWAYS side with the cop, right or wrong in a highway stop.

Wrong on both sides IMO.

That Fascist PIG needs to be fired.

:shrug:

but I can sympathize with the fear level the cops have when doing a traffic stop especially in areas where they have no backup.

IMHO I really think the state police agencies ought to do away with solo patrols and put 2 cops in a car. Cops riding solo where backup is not available are at higher risk and therefore are going to be more likely to go to the taser more quickly. Yeah it would cost more but at least in my state I think the lawmakers could do away with some of their perks to provide these officers with more safety.

In an area with more officers available you'll notice that in most cases the officer will remain in the car till backup arrives and only then will get out of the car.

Last year around this time of year a PA state trooper was killed on a midnight traffic stop with his own gun. He was in an urban area and should've been able to get backup from a local cop but the fools in this state have never put the state troopers on the same radio frequencies as the local cops. A local cop discovered him dead in the snow on a off-ramp while on routine patrol a few minutes after the crime.

And we citizens for our own self-defense need to learn self-control even when faced with a bad traffic stop. Fight it in court!