Update: 8:37am...reader Andrew K. writes in:
I have been a long-time fan of your blog and am presently a freshman at UCLA. Clearly, the recent use of a Tazer by UCPD officers to subdue a student refusing to leave the library has caused quite a stir, and I thought I might provide you with a bit more information on the incident, as well as the zeitgeist of the campus.
First and foremost, I wish to clarify that, regardless of what some might attempt to claim, it is absurd to believe that Mr. Tabatabainejad was targeted based on his race or ethnicity. Random ID card checks are standard procedure in Powell Library after 11 PM, to ensure the safety of students. Furthermore, these checks were performed by Community Service Officers (CSOs), not UCPD officers. CSOs are UCLA students hired by UCPD to aide in security and service activities, and to support UCPD. Thus, Mr. Tabatabainejad was the subject of a very ordinary, very standard ID card check by his own, fellow students. He failed to produce an ID, so the CSOs requested he leave (as they would of anyone without an ID). Of course, the situation deteriorated from there and the chain of events from there is detailed (albeit in a rather biased manner) by the Daily Bruin.
It appear to me that the facts of this case speak for themselves in justifying the UCPD’s actions. In any case, I simply wished to stress that it is wholly fallacious to claim the Mr. Tabatabainejad was the target of racism or some kind of profiling. Regrettably, we have a decided liberal bent here at UCLA, as most colleges nowadays do. This accompanies popular and common anti-authority beliefs which, in some of the more extreme cases, manifests as a bizarre anti-police attitude. Thankfully, these more extremist beliefs are not as commonly held as one might think, and there has not been a violently anti-authority reaction to the incident on campus. Nonetheless, a large portion of students (likely a majority) believes that the officers acted with "unreasonable or disproportionate force," and I have already seen posters and ads for civil rights protests and other associated anti-police nonsense (I'm frankly unsure which civil rights they plan to protest in support of. The right to resist arrest, perhaps?).
I saw the video on youtube, it's a farce. The useable video the amature videographer managed to get clarly showed some manner of active resistance by the suspect. This guy was kicking and thrashing about while officers were holding on to him and trying to get him to stand up.
I would have used a more hands on approach to the guy myself. Joint locks, especially a wrist lock can do wonders to encourage compliance. It all depends on what their department policy allowed them to do.
Part of the problem with the situation goes all the way back to Rodney King. The King situation caused law enforcement to look for ways to minimize officer/offender physical conflict. Hence the Tazer has seen it's useage rise rapidly as the technology of the weapon improved. So here, the officers chose to engage a suspect with a Tazer. Since I've seen and heard nothing that would change my mind...I still defer to their judgement on what they did...they were there, I wasn't.