I have no qualifications to armchair this; however, it seems to me that all of this is taking place awfully close to traffic. From what I understand, stopping motorists by the road is a pretty risky business for LEOs. It seems that when the officer is cuffing the guy and taking the wires out of him, either of them could have been hit.
Again, without taking sides on this, the driver sure seems to be going out of his way to be uncooperative. I don't know what it's like in Utah, but around here, tickets are beaten in court.
Actually, I'd suggest that the traffic is an argument in favor of the Taser over going to some hands-on tactic. With the Taser, you drop, pretty much right there. That's much preferable to some sort of human tug-o'-war on the side of the highway. It also is less likely to cause serious injury.
In this particular situation, one has to examine the actions of the suspect:
1. In refusing to sign the ticket, he could have raised the alertness level of the suspect. Most people do not refuse to sign a citation when asked to do so by a law enforcement officer. This is unusual behavior. Second, he is disobeying a lawful order of a police officer by not signing it. In my state (California) this is a misdemeanor which would subject a person to arrest under Vehicle Code Section 40302(b):
40302. Whenever any person is arrested for any violation of this
code, not declared to be a felony, the arrested person shall be taken
without unnecessary delay before a magistrate within the county in
which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed and who
has jurisdiction of the offense and is nearest or most accessible
with reference to the place where the arrest is made in any of the
following cases:
(b) When the person arrested refuses to give his written promise
to appear in court.
This is a shall be taken, not a could be taken, though I dont know the verbage used in this officers particular state.
Secondly, is it reasonable, while looking at the video, that it could be seen that the suspect was walking past the officer, behind his back in order to assault him or flee. Not was it likely, but, based on the officers level of training and experience, could his actions be reasonably percieved as such.
Consider then, that based on this officers perceptions, that when he orders the subject to turn around and place his hands on his hands, the suspect does not comply. The officer orders him to turn around for a second and third time, all with non-compliance of the suspect.
As the suspect is walking away, you can clearly see that it appears that he reaching into his pocket with his right hand. Is it then reasonable, based on the suspects previous non-compliant behavior, that he could be reaching for a weapon of some type?
Now, from that perspective, could one see it as reasonable and justifiable for the officer to have tasered the suspect?
Now, could his tactics have been a little cleaner. Absolutely.
1. When I first tell a suspect to sign a ticket, I advise him that it is not an admission of guilt, but only a promise to appear on or before the listed court date. If he refuses to sign, I will then tell him that he will be subject to arrest. If he still refuses to sign then I tell him to get out.
2. After I order a suspect out of a car, I would never turn my back to him. This means that he never would have been able to get behind me. I would have ordered him to walk in front of me, and go to a specific location. That way, if the suspect did not do exactly as I said, I would be further justified in any subsequent use-of-force.
Maybe I am being a bit technical, but being a police use-of-force expert, this is the way I would explain it in court.
Great breakdown, and I agree. Once I get you out of your car, you don't go back until I'm ready. Personally, I'd have advised him that if he continued to refuse to sign, I'd have to arrest him. I
might give him one last chance after I get him out of the car; sometimes, you have to remember the audience, and give them a chance to back down without being seen as weak. But you lose any options when you turn your back on me. It's a harbinger of more resistance to come; it's called conspicous ignoring. Think about it; this guy was presented with a uniformed officer, giving him orders with a Taser out. It would have been cleaner had he said "Fine; you won't sign, you're under arrest", but the show of authority is sufficient. How many people aren't going to get the idea real quick that they need to do what the cop says? Instead, this guy turned his back, and proceeded back towards the car, reaching into a pocket. What's he going to do? Why is he so comfortable going away in this situation?
Its a damn fool thing to make a law that someone HAS to sign a ticket (traffic violation). If that were NOT the case, none of this would have happened. It only leads to trouble!
Nope; it depends on what the ticket means. In Virginia, the summons is issued in lieu of a custodial arrest and taking the accused before the magistrate to ensure their appearance at court. They're simply being permitted to do what the magistrate is likely to do anyway, and allowing you to sign your name, indicating that you'll come to court. They further may receive the option to enter their appearance in writing and plead guilty, prepaying the standard fine.
What would have prevented this is, first and foremost, the driver NOT SPEEDING. If he'd obeyed the speed limits, he'd never have been stopped. Even then, he had the opportunity to avoid further problems; he didn't have to start arguing about the ticket on the side of the road, demanding to see the speed limit signs. Even after that, he had a further opportunity; all he had to do was sign the ticket, and he'd have been on his way. But, he still had the opportunity avoid the Taser; he just had to comply with the officer's directions to put his hand behind his back, and there'd have been no use of the Taser. And, you know, he still had at least one more chance to avoid the Taser. Had he simply stopped, and not kept moving toward his car... Guess what probably wouldn't have happened?
That makes something like 5 or 6 choices that the driver made that led to him getting to "ride the lightning." Instead, each choice he made moved him further along the path to being Tased.
I keep saying it. If you think the cops are wrong, there's a time and place for the battle. Go with the program, whether it's being told to quiet a party, being given a ticket, or being arrested; fight the charges at court. File a complaint on the officer afterwards. Don't put him and you in a position neither of you is going to enjoy.
