Philly tasered 17year old

I am sure somewhere in this great nation there would be some idiot who would argue that pink handcuffs caused his client extreme emotional stress and also offended him....and there would also just as likely be a court who would agree.

Real quick funny story along these lines.....

One evening myself and several other officers had to chase down a car thief after he wrecked his stolen car and fled on foot. We happen to have caught him right alongside a busy roadway and were seen by many passing cars. Well it was no big event as the suspect was caught (and yes tasered) without any injuries.

Now any good officer wears good gloves on duty and most of these gloves are basic black in color. There we all were arresting this guy with our black gloves on. Well some over sensitive idiot drives past and happens to notice us all with black gloves on. He later phoned our Chief and complained that we 'alarmed" him and looked like a bunch of storm troopers with our scary black gloves on.

Crazy part is they actually tried to get us to stop wearing gloves for a short time after this....WTF They were willing to sacrifice our safety just to please some over sensitive idiot. Well finally a few of the upper brass realized just how stupid this was and forgot the entire thing. We all almost showed up to work with those pink dish gloves on just to see if that would make the idiot happy now.

 

Robocop & Tigerfan, FTMFW!

I can speak my piece, but like most everybody whose opinions differ from mine, I'm just some civilian with no real experience with this stuff. The stories you tell and the experience you share is much appreciated.

 

^---this made me think of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FlmDdSako0


Tigerfan, as a civie, if i taze someone...would i be charged with assault? i'm wondering what the charge against a citizen is for using a tazer or pepper spray on someone?

 

sweet! anonymous negative rep!!! why don't you go key someone's car while they aren't around....pussy.

 

felony charge?

 

I wouldn't want to test the system by going around and tasing people for no reason.

I would imagine that the use of a taser in self defense would be viewed the same way as the use of a gun... only you're less likely to be facing a potential murder (or manslaughter) charge b/c the person likely won't die. Be able to justify (and support) the use as self defense, and you'll likely be OK. Fail to do so, and you're probably looking at assault charges.

I think I just 'got' your question... I wonder if it would be 'assault with a deadly weapon' charges. Maybe we need a new catagory... "Assault with a less-lethal weapon."

 

gotcha...i realize that it will vary according to sate code. didn't know if you might have heard of a a case setting a precedence?

yup. that's what i'm getting at. my reasoning is that if i attck with a club or bat or something, i'm looking at ass. w/deadly weapon for sure...but if i were using a tazer...clearly my intent would not be to kill, no? i have considered purchasing some "less than lethal" ammo to put in my home defense mag. which is currently filled with hydra-shocks to possibly cover my ass if i ever actually have to use it. know anywhere i can get some rocksalt rounds for my 870??

to all the LEOs...i don't view things as "us vs. you". i support law enforcement agencies wholeheartedly as a citizen...BUT, as a citizen, i need to know that you can be "checked" if you are operating "out of line". remember the old saying..."absolute power corrupts absolutely" and a cheesy one from Spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility". the latter directly pertains to our police and other LE agencies IMO.

 

Actually no, but I appreciate your concern. The statement was directed, and possibly with some frustration towards a specific post. After having read all the posts and the continued attempts to sway many from their points of view I reacted to the situation.
Sometimes saying things sweetly just doesn't work with men.
I'm just glad you were able to stay up late to catch up and respond to all the excitement.

 

err...yeah...let me rephrase...if i were to respond to an attack using a ballbat...

i understand your point about being able to do your duty. it just makes me very sad when i see an incident where officer has gone too far..we put our trust in police and sherrifs departments to protect us and it sometimes bites us on the ass. it just scares me a bit and i tend to think towards the worst...a future situation such as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZFH4wCLVXY

i don't like the idea of "goon squads" one bit. i saw a documentary about some stuff going down in Burma...bad deal the police were shooting journalists and civies under a nationwide media blackout no bueno.

it sucks that nowdays LEOs look upon the citizenery as potential threats at all times...not cool for you OR me. i guess we as a society put too much emphasis on punishing and reforming criminals, rather than raising good people who don't become criminals. but in the defense of the citizens....there are a sh*t-ton of laws we're trying to abide by with more being written all the time!

 

Actually, that is not quite right IMHO. We as a society put too much emphasis on "reforming" criminals. We don't punish anymore. Politicians are terrified to use the death penalty on those who truly deserve it. Hell, there's a few crimes that should warrant death, but don't. (Extremely violent rape, child abuse (and I'm talking beating the kid to near death and/or sexual abuse), driving like a complete asshole when I'm trying to get to work )... Anyway, most "punishments" do not in any way fit the crime. And even if the sentence handed out is.. 15 years for some felony, they walk in 2 or 3 on "good behavior".. only to go on to something even more violent. Whatever happened to chain gangs, bread and water, no TV, no books, no smokes, 23 hours in your cell, 1 hour out unless you're on work detail. And by work detail I mean back breaking, no chance in hell you'll be running away, work.

 

Negative reputation doesn't detract from reputation.

 

Don't have a beef with local LEOs, hell even federal LEOs aren't that bad. (Bit cocky? But that comes with all the toys they get to play with heh.)

I do have plenty of issues with federal and state legislatures who love passing more and more laws that limit what the law-abiding citizen can do, but for those who are already criminals, it does nothing to deter them. Hell, I seriously believe the more crimes you commit, the better your chances of getting less time in the long run is.,

 

I will side with RCBS here, I like his take on things. The Fifth element clip is exactly what I have been trying to get at. Im not saying our country will turn out like this but I am saying that if we dont watch out, it could very easily.

RCBS- I got an anonymous negative rep too. oh well, I guess people get butt-hurt and cant handle it when someone is expressing his 1st amendment rights and he decides to stand out of the crowd and give a different opinion on things.

This has been a fun debate! I want to appologise to those who took me as condisending in any way as I get worked up as any human does and tend to talk down to people, my bad I will admit it.

In the end, yes I am being very picky with this whole tasering issue. I just want people to think twice when they see things like this in the future. Really think about it and question it before you decide to jump on the bandwagon with everybody else. I want a safe, civil, free and prosperous nation like we all do. But the second we become lazy and do not question the ones in power and keep checks and balances, is the second they will run all over us. Remember: We The People

I trully wish you all the best!

-Bones