Cops Using Tasers - This Time It's A Woman...

[rcecale]

WARNING! Although the video doesn't show a lot of detail, the audio more than makes up for it.

Click here.

Sgt. Sedrick Aiken, a training officer in the Boynton Police Department narrates the traffic stop, including the moment Officer Rich McNevin (in video) spots Victoria Goodwin's speeding Isuzu rodea and when he twice hits her with 50,000 volts with a Taser. Post reporter Dani Davies interviewed Aiken.
According to Aiken, McNevin correctly used the stun gun to subdue the driver instead of:
* using his baton
* Physically forcing driver out of SUV
* using pepper spray
* getting in SUV to handcuff driver

How do you feel about the use of tasers by members of law enforcement?

Personally, I think a taser is like any other "tool" used by law enforcement agents. If used with the proper discretion, they are totally acceptable. I would rather be hit by a taser than a baton or a bullet.

Randy

[Oh Haha]

I could not be a police officer today!!!
What do people want, using deadly force? Cmon, people bit@## about getting shot while resisting, now they try non-lethal and they bit@## about that!!!
Oh wait, I have an idea...........DO WHAT THE POLICE OFFICER TELLS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ok, my rant is over.
thank you

[Jeff964]

I think the US gov't should stop complaining about other countries' human rights issues and re-examine their own conducts.

[Z-man]

Oh Haha - agreed!

I don't know that much about tasers, but once shot burst is over, isn't the pain over too? If that's the case, then that woman -- what a drama queen! Cop says at one point, "It's over and done with. We've been tased before. We know it's not that bad." That's after quite a few minutes of this woman crying.

Love the comment, "I'm suing the s*** out of ya'll." She was driving with a suspended license, she failed to comply to the officers requests to get out of the car, and to put down her phone, and even after she was tased the first time, she still resisted. Not to mention the profanity she used.... Yeah, suing will work for her!

-Z-man.

[dporsche74]

GOD I HATE COPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but on the other hand it seems like a scam from the women to get a nice settlement with the lawyer on the cell

[rcecale]

Jeff964,

Before I go flying off the handle, are you implying by your remarks that the human rights of the woman in this video were somehow violated?

If so, please explain.

Randy

[Moses]

What crap. He should have taken the cellphone from her and lifted her out of the car. If she physically resists, Taze away. To use a Tazer on a small woman as a means to avoid physical contact seems thoroughly silly. I showed this video to my dad who was a 30 year Oakland cop and he felt the same way. Silly and unnecessary.

[RallyJon]

IMO, a tazer is an appropriate tool for subduing a completely out of control psycho from a safe distance. When they start using it on ordinary citizens (no matter how agitated) because it's more convenient than getting their hands dirty--that I have a problem with.

Most Police that I've had the privilege of interacting with understand the difference between a bad guy and a good citizen who perhaps has done something wrong. I've always assumed that good cops quickly became expert at "sizing people up" and using their experience and judgement. If the tazer allows them to avoid making that judgement, stand at a safe distance and zap anyone they like, it sounds like a tool that's ripe for abuse by lazy cops.

[legion]

Originally posted by RallyJon
[I]t sounds like a tool that's ripe for abuse by lazy cops.

You mean...like radar/laser guns?

It's easier to sit in your car and look at a discreet number than to actually search for reckless drivers...

[rcecale]

Originally posted by Moses
What crap. He should have taken the cellphone from her and lifted her out of the car. If she physically resists, Taze away.

Moses, watch the first part of the video again. That is exactly what happened. He instructed her to put the cigarette out and to step out of the car. She refused. He opened the door and instructed her to put the cell phone down and step out of the car. Again, she refused. He reached in to get her or the cell phone, and she resisted. She told him, "Don't touch me!"

Then he pulled the taser gun out and asked her a few more times to step out of the car, and again, she repeatedly refused. she continued talking on the phone, disregarding what the cop was instructing her to do.

Randy

[turbo6bar]

She can sue for battery after she submits to public caning for driving with a suspended license. I bet if this woman rear-ended one of our Porsches and then drove off, we'd all be whining,"Why are people like this still on the road."

[Jeff Higgins]

Randy, I'm sure you realize by now that any use of force is totally unnacceptable to some folks. The hand-wringing ninnies out there simply do not understand there is a time to shut up and listen to some one in authority, and to do EVERYTHING they tell you to do. With respect and without hesitation. This woman was probably raised by parents who subscibed to all the modern theories on child raising. She has never had to submit to authority (it would stifle her creativity, after all) and has never been told "no" (it would de-value her self-worth, after all). We are surrounded by folks like her today, and they will all chime in, with feet stamping in their whiney voices "he can't do that!!". They will be the next ones he has to taser. Too bad tasers don't sterilize people...

[rcecale]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Too bad tasers don't sterilize people...

Hot coffee is not a pleasant thing to pass through your nose...ask me how I know!

LMAO!!!

Randy

[gaijindabe]

As was said in the original post "with proper discretion". It is a big country out there, with lots of interaction between police and civilians. Thankfully these incidents are so rare, they are newsworthy..

And there are a lot of folks out there who dont interact very well, whose primary understanding of the rules of society is Jerry Springer and the rest of the crap on TV.

That being said, I see most of these non-violent incidents as the failure of police. Too many do not have the force of personality to prevent these situations. If a civilian does not follow the instructions of a police officer, but is not harming themselves or others, that is not the time to reach for the taser..

[RallyJon]

Jeff, is your whole world in black and white? If so, I hope you're not a cop, because beeing able to see shades of gray is a job requirement.

[skipdup]

My knee jerk was that he shouldn't have used the taser. After reviewing some of the other video's, I've changed my mind. She was resisting their efforts to remove her from her car, ignored all his commands, ignored his ample and clear warnings and even struck at the other officer. I say tase away...

- Skip

[notfarnow]

Yeah she was mouthy and resistant from the get-go. Jeff was right when he said "...there is a time to shut up and listen to some one in authority, and to do EVERYTHING they tell you to do. With respect and without hesitation... "

I also believe that cops need to proceed as though each and every situation puts them at risk. If they have to be heavy-handed then so be it. She was specifically warned *several times* that she would be tazed. How effen stupid can you be?

Having said all that, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with teh second "hit". Could it be that she was in so much pain that she couldn't put her hands behind her back? That second hit doesn't seem right. Then again, it's pretty damn easy to say that, sitting at my desk in my house.

[911S Targa]

The tazer was justified.

[Hetmann]

That woman needed a good tasing. Bet she listens to the cop next time.

[island911]

So what if the woman was on the phone with her attorney? ... does the cop have the right to "interupt" that conversation with a taze?

From what I've seen, cops have the luxury of time on their side. (sitting by the road-side, just waiting, and waiting for something . ..)

Cops that are quick to feel dis'd are not the ones who should be on the job. I mean really, the woman wasn't exactly going anywhere, or threatening anyone.

But I suppose that doesn't matter; the guy armed with a tasser was mift, and he has a badge. Not to mention; he likely had lot of other looming "appointments" scheduled for the day.

Tazers are nasty. Tazer use is SUPPOSED to be for public safety. .. .NOT a cop-tool of "shut up and listen to MY authority, do EVERYTHING I tell you to do. . . .With respect and without hesitation. " -- again, where was she going?