UCLA student picks a fight and gets Tased. Hilarity does not ensue.
University police officers used a Taser on a student repeatedly during an altercation at the UCLA library at 11:30 pm November 15. There was a video made by a student witness, who captured only the end of the altercation with the student shouting profanities at the police and then screaming in pain when he was tasered.…
Article comments
126 - Anonymous
A policeman writing at Slashdot disagrees strongly with those of you who say the police actions were appropriate and justified.
127 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Zing,
"i got it, ruvy... although you can tell nancy isn't all that serious about bombing d.c... just venting a little. you, on the other hand, really may mean what you say, and you say some pretty violent things."
You're right. I don't generally vent all that much. I mean what I say. I'm not mad, as Les seems to think - I'm cold-blooded and I think like the terrorists I want to see exterminated.
But as a uniformed police volunteer, I'm damned restrained in dealing with a whole nation of arguing and provocative shits like that kid at the library who got tasered. Defiance of cops is standard here, which is one of the reasons the salaried boys are so vicious.
128 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Stan,
It's interesting how many of the things you say I agree with. The American cops have too damned many toys. One good shot (with a fist!) in the mouth would done more than adequately in controlling the er "young man."
That and an arrest, an accusation of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer - and if the charges were dropped, revoking his library privileges permanently at the school...
More than adequate..
129 - MT
I think it’s fairly obvious that the student in this case broke the law by refusing to leave when asked. IIRC this is a belligerent trespass.
It is possible (though I don’t know enough about the details of the law) that he could also be charged with resisting arrest despite the resistance being passive.
I think it’s also fairly obvious that the police officers over-reacted (believe it or not authorities are humans too) and in doing so probably broke the law themselves.
Tasers are ‘less than lethal’ weapons, but they can kill. It seems to me that someone passively not cooperating who is already in handcuffs is far from being enough of a threat to warrant tasering.
Obviously the student brought a lot of this on himself. But the police also clearly over-reacted and made things far worse in the process. The fact is that if he had actively struck them I would be a proponent of the taser treatment. But once a subject is in handcuffs and not actively attacking different methods are called for. Aside from longer term injury how is this different from them beating him in the head with a club while in handcuffs and not attacking them? Both inflict pain, both could kill. As someone who has dealt with it passive resistance is a PITA to deal with. But this is not the way a civil society deals with it.
The kid should be charged for his violation of the law. And the officers should be charged for theirs.
130 - MT
pleasexcusetheinterruption
Your post on the kid diserving it but that not being an excuse for the police is dead on. Well put.
131 - Anonymous Hero
The kid didn't deserve it... sure.
His parents should have gotten it instead.
132 - RJ Elliott
It is possible (though I don't know enough about the details of the law) that he could also be charged with resisting arrest despite the resistance being passive.
Yup. "Resisting arrest w/o violence" is what it's called...
133 - Arch Conservative
I'm all for police brutality when it comes to arrogant, ignorant, far left dumbasses thinking they're smarter than everyone else and above the law. Fuck this kid and every other dirty fucking hippy who ever got roughed up by the police for acting like a jackass in public. I hope he doesn't get a fucking dime and the police offers who lit his ass up get a promotion.
134 - RedTard
"I'm all for police brutality when it comes to arrogant, ignorant, far left dumbasses"
Why? I certainly understand your frustration and hate the leftist ideology as much as anyone, but brutality towards there members only helps further their agenda.
135 - zingzing
"I'm all for police brutality when it comes to arrogant, ignorant, far left dumbasses..."
and there you go. that's archie all over. you are a leftie posing as a right-wing dumbass, aren't you?
if not, you need to stop posting such stupid shit.
136 - Clavos
I'm all for police brutality when it comes to arrogant, ignorant, far left dumbasses
As Red says, that just serves their agenda...
PLUS, once the cops are allowed to brutalize "arrogant, ignorant, far left dumbasses," they won't stop there; their next targets will be "arrogant, ignorant, far right dumbasses."
And then, some of your friends might get hurt, Arch...
137 - Arch Conservative
Well Clavos I have no problem with cops beating the shit out of arrogant, ignorant, know it all RIGHT WING jackasses either.
Me? I don't feel the need to yell and scream at police officers and then show flagrant disregard for their reasonable requests that I calm down so I will probably never get brutalized by a cop.
But these leftist "idiots" with a cause think they can do whatever they want wherever they want and to whomever they want. Sort of like those idiot protestors at Columbia University last month. After seeing just how smug and disrespectful they were in their little interviews following the protest I would gladly smile at the thought of them being roughed up by the fuzz or by the minutemen.
138 - Clavos
You missed my point, Arch.
If we let the cops beat the shit out of anybody, it won't be long before they're beating the shit out of everybody.
139 - pleasexcusetheinterruption
It's not the cops job to punish people for behaving badly. That's why we have prisons and courts and execution chairs.
140 - Arch Conservative
"You missed my point, Arch.
If we let the cops beat the shit out of anybody, it won't be long before they're beating the shit out of everybody."
Yes I got that point Clavos but I think you missed mine.
Some people just deserve to have the shit beat out of them whether it's by the cops or fellow civilians.
141 - pleasexcusetheinterruption
It doesnt matter if the kid deserved it. It's not the polices job. You sound like a raving lunatic Arch. Do you go out and beat up college kids for fun or do you just come in here and try and act like a big man to compensate for your small stature?
142 - RJ Elliott
"Some people just deserve to have the shit beat out of them"
That's pretty much a truism...but in general, it most definitely should NOT be the police who do it...if the cops in this case had beat this kid to a bloody pulp, I would not have defended them at all...
143 - STM
"If we let the cops beat the shit out of anybody, it won't be long before they're beating the shit out of everybody."
Aren't they already doing that? And if not, why not?
Harden up America. You're getting soft.
144 - Anon
I'm amused ad how many people I've heard respond to this story by saying the police could have dragged the man out...
If the man were to have been forcebly moved, there is a huge potential for loss of circulation, bumping, bruising, scratches/scrapes, damage to property (personal and college), dislocated limbs, on top of whatever willful damage the fellow might inflict upon the police.
Electricity, in the doses used, causes no lasting damage and is a great reminder that the other guy has the upper hand.
Tasers are great as a minimal escalation of force.
145 - RJ Elliott
Yeah, the next step after tasering in the escalation of police use of force would likely be hog-tying him and dragging his ass out of the building. Plenty of bruising, screaming, potential property damage, etc. involved in that...
146 - pleasexcusetheinterruption
Anon #144..ok but that still doesnt explain using it 4 times after he had already ceased any kind of physical resistance.
147 - Maureen
Interesting that the cop who was using the taser on the student also shot a homeless man in a campus study hall three years ago, was recommended for dismissal following an alleged assault on fraternity row, and has been involved in several controversial incidents on campus according to an ABC news report. The guy sounds like a loose cannon that should be relieved of his duties.
148 - Maureen
John Bambenek -
I find it interesting that you've posted here comments saying you were wrong and that you're not taking your comments seriously, etc. So what IS your current position on this? You wrote the initial blurb - be responsible here instead of just treating this like a joke.
149 - Maureen
<<#144 " November 24, 2006 @ 09:32AM " Anon
I'm amused ad how many people I've heard respond to this story by saying the police could have dragged the man out...
If the man were to have been forcebly moved, there is a huge potential for loss of circulation, bumping, bruising, scratches/scrapes, damage to property (personal and college), dislocated limbs, on top of whatever willful damage the fellow might inflict upon the police.
Electricity, in the doses used, causes no lasting damage and is a great reminder that the other guy has the upper hand.>>
Anon, stop being ridiculous and do your homework. Dragging a person out of a location has never killed anyone. Tasers have. Comparing the two and then finding tasers the more benign method just shows your ignorance about tasers.
150 - STM
Like I say, what's wrong with a good smack in the mouth?
Tasers. Phffft. Anyone who has to use a taser because he can't calm a person down or then place them under arrest the normal way shouldn't be a cop. He had a duty of care to the young guy, no matter how pissed off he was getting.
I believe this police officer is SOFT and should be drummed out of law enforcement.
Tasers kill, BTW. A cut on the lip doesn't.
151 - Freedom Lover
It doesn't take a "leftist" (I'm not one by any means) to object to brutal, fascist cops. While I'm certainly no proponent of Moslems and their terroristic allies coming to the U.S., it is also troubling to observe the authoritarianism which is a daily part of American life. What "crime" did the victim perpetrate to warrant his torture by the police at UCLA?
I'm all for using maximum force against terrorists and fighting wars to win, but egregious brutality by the police within the United States is outrageous and must be opposed by force. If Americans continue to allow their Constitutional freedoms (e.g., First and Fourth Amendment rights violated by the goons in the instant case) to be eroded, we'll approach the sort of authoritarianism we (rightfully) decry in such hellholes as North Korea and Saudi Arabia. The terror attacks of Sept. 11 2001 are no reason to quash the liberty of Americans. As we can see, the government is a lot better at roughing up college kids than finding and killing Bin Laden.
152 - Rosie O
Fuck the taser. Fuck all liberals. The police made the mistake of not using a Glock on the shit-head. End of story piss-heads.
153 - lollercakes
they should tase and arrest all kids with no ID and a backpack. LOL
police officers are only allowed to tase when there is a threat. not saying that the popo's were not threatened, but there should be a better justification to tase. A person can feel threatened without any external stimuli, therefore, a police officer can use his stun gun whenever he feels like it. thats precisely where the problem is.
Furthermore, there have been instances where people died after being tased.