Posted on 12/28/2009 9:24:51 PM PST by SmithL
Police need reasons to believe a suspect is dangerous before firing a Taser and can't use their stun gun simply because the person is disobeying orders or acting erratically, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Monday.
The decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sets judicial standards for police and for people who claim they were victims of excessive force after police hit them with a Taser dart.
"The objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public," Judge Kim Wardlaw said in the 3-0 ruling.
Though stun guns may offer a valuable, nonlethal alternative to deadly force in defusing dangerous situations, Wardlaw said, they inflict a "painful and frightening blow" and must be used only when substantial force is necessary and other options are unavailable.
"It's a significant use of force, not like cuffing someone or using pain compliance or pepper spray," said Eugene Iredale, a lawyer for a San Diego-area man who was Tasered by a police officer who had stopped him for not wearing a seat belt. "It's not to be used promiscuously or lightly."
The ruling allows Iredale's client Carl Bryan to go to trial in his damage suit against Brian McPherson, a policeman in Bryan's hometown of Coronado. McPherson's lawyers were unavailable for comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Any problem with OC and taking them down, hard? Don’t these guys learn leverage and locks such as those used in Hapkido or some Steven Segal moves?
I learned them in college when I wanted to become an officer and while I chose not to pursue that career those same skills have come in handy and saved my ass.
Good for the judge.
Cops don’t need cattle prods.
Real life isn't the movies. Hapkido and Aikido look good on film, but seldom work in real life.
Going hands on with someone is always dangerous, both for the officer and the suspect. People who watch too much Television might not recognize that, but it is reality.
A taser is not a “cattle prod.”
Try it on someone who is high on Meth
It ain't now.
Oh I have and drunk guys too.
There isn’t a perfect solution to everything but the Taser is being viewed by LEO as such. It needs to have a standard of escalation applied much like deadly force.
Pepper spray and batons kill and cripple more than Tasers ever dreamed of. Asthma attack after OC... accidental head strikes in Baton fights. Or successful knee or elbow strike with a baton, drunk offender easily crippled there for life.
No drunk in their right mind would want that, taser is the way.
Suggesting police all become junior Aikido experts is silly. Not a serious alternative.
Under the correct circumstances a Taser is a great tool....but it can lead to a lack of willingness to lay hands on people when controlling their movements is imperitive.
And Tasers don’t always make a good connection when deployed or winter clothing defeats they darts...etc.
They a wonderfull on crazy though.
It will tire crazy out faster that you can get tired out which is important.
But in the end, it’s just a tool like a baton or handcuffs or OC spray, or your hands or your firearm.
Hmmmm.... you have some valid points. though I am still bothered by the videos of people being tasered for no real or seriously real reason. “Don’t tase me bro” or the guy on the side of a highway in Utah or the one in an airport or even some fat 14 year old girl.
Screwing with the electrical system of a human being is going to some shocking outcomes.
Just when did cops become God and have the right to tase, gas, or beat down those who don't follow instructions. Not all instructions are lawful orders.
Move.
Of course cops are supposed to tackle people. lol...
What do you think cops do? Cops roll in the mud with drunks, crazy people and bad guys. Everyday...lol.
That what happens when ya got politically correct cities and counties hiring 5'7" 150 pound females... What would you expect?
I recall a time when there were strict height and weight standards for males...Of course that was way too much common sense.
The more this country turns toward collectivism the more these cops become the tip of the tyrant’s spear.
By default it will change from “To Serve and Protect” to “To Serve the State and Protect Our Power Grid”. It’s about revenue and keeping the citizenry subdued as life gets increasingly difficult—not necessarily in that order.
You can see the transition already as cops more and more look upon the average Joe as just another annoying citizen pawn threatening his/her authority. They’d sooner fry you with 50,000 volts than listen to you protest their blatant intimidation and oppression.
Long gone are the days when the local cop was everybody’s friend. Everybody fears the cop and his/her citizen torture devices.
The more citizens fear them the more they will act against them, from small ways to outright killing them. And the cycle continues, and the situation escalates until it gets medieval.
I wouldn’t want to be just entering this “profession” as the job description is now fluid and heading in a, shall we say, distasteful direction.
Pretty sad, today's cops need to electrocute unarmed people to take them into custody...In the days past, the cops were not 5'7" 25 year old females....Simple common sense tells ya that they don't stand a freaking chance on the street unless they electrocute, shoot the suspect, or call for backup to save themselves.
Sh*t happened...Like too many people...
Cops now see every non-cop as a suspect and a danger...Sad, but that's the way it is. Throw in 25 year old 150 pound female cops, and they have to shoot or electrocute the unarmed non-cooperating suspect, just to take him into custody, because the suspect will kick their ass and take take their GD weapon otherwise.
This is what PC affirmative action did.
Agreed, but if you intend to take someone downtown because they won’t follow instructions your options are either tase them or tackle them to take them into custody.
Tackling them is more likely to cause them permanent bodily harm than tasing them.
I would rather be tased than beat down.
I agree, the police force has become too pc.
That being said, you either get tased or beat down, which would you like?
I am fortunate to not live in a gun free zone, so why would I move?
You follow their instructions then you sue them later.
Unless you want to go to war with the cops, don’t go there.
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