In Ozark, Missouri, a family is wondering why their 16-year-old son Mace Hutchinson was hit by tasers up to 19 times after he fell (or jumped) from an overpass and broke his back.
Witnesses said that the boy did not seen out of control. Doug Messersmith said that “He looked a little agitated but, other than that, he didn’t look to be falling down drunk or anything like that.”
He was lying on the shoulder when the police arrived. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system and the family believes that he fell from the overpass.
The extensive use of the tasers forced doctors to delay the operation on the teenager for two days.
Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset says that they hit him with the tasers up to 19 times “to keep him from getting hurt” by running into traffic. He added that “He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he’s also making statements such as, ‘Shoot cops, kill cops,’ things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers.”
We still have a boy who just fell from an overpass with a broken back and no apparent weapon.
For the full story, click here.
If we can have volunteer fire departments & paramedics/EMTs, we can have a volunteer police force too. (at least in certain cases). Now more than ever, there is an urgent need for a special C.D.F. “Citizenry Defense Force”, to protect ourselves not from criminals, but from criminals in uniform. We have a human right to defend & protect ourselves from the corrupt, rouge & criminal police departments that seem to be multiplying at exponential rates. We need mandatory civilian oversight committees, with the power to hire, fire & even arrest/convict corrupt police (+ judges & prosecutors). We need to abolish blanket immunity in our justice system. Put forward a motions & have a vote in each city/town. Any DA, Judge, Police refuses to comply, people should refuse to recognize the authority of those rogue organizations.
“Toronto-Canada’s federal police will no longer use stun guns against suspects who are merely resisiting arrest or refusing to cooperate. Commissioner William Elliot of the RCMP told members of Parliament’s public safety committee yesterday that the guns can cause death”
(from Toledo Blade on Feb. 13, 09)
Well, most likely this was a suicidal patient but unknown to police this patient may have been a pshyc patient. Not only that most likey if he was not following police action…it was most likely because HE FELL OFF A DAMN OVERPASS AND HAS A BROKEN BACK and most likely went into shock due to major trauma. So not only did police taser him for unneeded reasons…they as well put his life into danger by making his trauma surgery delayed for 2 days. Police need to be trained on using tasers and also have to know they are not big and bad and just cant taze any person they want. As a EMS provider…I think the police should be sued and termenated from the force.
Ozark police cleared in Taser use incident
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | 1:10 p.m. CDT
BY The Associated Press
OZARK – Several Ozark police officers have been cleared in the July 18 use of a Taser on a teenager after he allegedly jumped from a highway overpass.
A report released Tuesday said witnesses told state Highway Patrol investigators that Mace Hutchinson had been at a party where alcohol and drugs were being consumed prior to the incident.
A friend of Hutchinson’s told troopers that Hutchinson had consumed LSD, a hallucinogen. The report said that Hutchinson suffered a bad reaction to the drug and jumped from a moving vehicle near the overpass at U.S. 65 in Christian County.
He fled but later returned and jumped from the overpass onto the highway.
The report says two Ozark officers used a Taser on Hutchinson nine times each after the youth failed to heed their order to stay down and place his hands behind his back.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhl2TRJxWKc
in regards to this incident
i so happen to know mace hutchinson he is very funny outgoing kid and there would be know way he would be they type to say kill cops there is corruption in all those small towns if any one would like to see the corruption down there here is a site for you to look at where police get on and chat its http://www.topix.com/rockawaybeachmo if anyone would like to contact me my email address is bennyhanna4202003@yahoo.com
I mean, is a little lecturing?
Ok. Sure. Its a little lecturing.
Is it a little condscending?
Perhaps. Not any more than any of the condscending comments made to me at various times but ok, it could come off that way.
Is it profane? Nope. No profanity.
Name calling? Nope, no name calling.
Threatening? Nope, no threats.
😐
So I’m having a hard time understanding why someone merely expressing a fairly accurate statement, is so terrible.
And if you think its not accurate, I make the same invitation to you that I made to him.
Then come back, and tell me how inaccurate it is.
😀
I’ll be waiting.
Alright, lets see whats so appalling in this notorious “5:04 Comment.
Lets take a look.
—–
BARTLEBEE
1, July 28, 2008 at 5:04 am
Keep on not believing it.
Keep on erring to the side of the police, and not to the side of your friends, your family, or your community.
And when it happens to you or one of yours, maybe then you’ll be able to see with your eyes, and not need statistics to convince you what you could learn by simply staring wrong at a cop the next time you see one.
Just doing what the police say anymore is not enough. Nowadays, if they even think you’re defiant in any way, you will go down.
Don’t think so? Don’t tell me.
Try it.
Then tell me.
—-
😐
Gee….I’m having a hard time seeing the horrible language, or overwhelming condescension.
Perhaps while you’re condescending to me LarrE, you could show me what it is you find so appallingly outrageous in this comment.
I don’t want to get in the middle of this, but I will say that with regard to the question of if this is a new attitude among police, I recall writing in a personal journal over 40 years ago about police having an “us v. them” mindset and how those attracted to police work tended to be those with strong leanings toward order, dominance, and control.
As for whether there’s been an actual increase in police brutality since 9/11 (as opposed to being more visible by being directed more against targets who had less experience of it previously), I note that the same article which Bartlebee quotes also has this:
“University of Toledo law professor David Harris, who analyzes police conduct issues, says it will take time to determine whether the cases represent a sustained period of more aggressive prosecutions or the beginnings of a surge in misconduct.”
Finally, I have to say to Bartlebee that whatever the truth about how much brutality has increased over the past nearly seven years and despite not having been the target, I would have used considerably less polite language than “condescending” to describe your 5:04am comment.
LJM
1, July 28, 2008 at 1:03 pm
And while I see that you’re right that cases of brutality are up since 2001, I wonder how many cases were even pursued 40 years ago?
Well, I can start pulling stats there too if you want. In fact, if you like, I can post a similar finding done in 1995, where police abuse cases were up dramatically from the previous decade.
Its been steadily increasing as the norm for police forces, and the trend has been away from individual officers committing these acts, to large groups of them, indicating a widespread issue with police attitudes towards the general population.
As for my posts being condescending, sorry if they seem that way but I’m not trying to be. I tend to drive points home sometimes, but I meant no disrespect. I sometimes use irony to make a point and some people take it wrong. I’m just trying to make a point, and that point is this is not something you need statistics to understand. Its not something you need a report to understand. If you live or work in a major metropolitian area especially, like DC, or New York.
“Zero Tolerance” is the new policy across the board. They told us this post 911, but then they stopped talking about it. They just started employing it, and thats what we’re seeing now.
My point was we shouldn’t always need statistics or “links” to convince us of crimes “hiding in plain sight”.
Geez, Batlebee, all I asked for was some evidence (thanks for providing some, btw), which is what a thinking person should do in the face of any claim, right?
And while I see that you’re right that cases of brutality are up since 2001, I wonder how many cases were even pursued 40 years ago? If I had to be, I’d much rather be a victim of police abuse now, as at least now there are venues for seeking justice that didn’t exist back then (not to mention many more cameras).
Your post at 5:04 was really condescending. I don’t think I’ve given the impression that I believe that police brutality isn’t a huge problem, it certainly is, and it deserves as much attention, I believe, as terrorism does. I only said that, historically, I don’t think it’s worse than it’s ever been.
And rafflaw, sorry, didn’t forget you.
In your post you spell out a lot of great ideals, but absolutely no way to bring these high ideals for improving our “way of thinking” and enacting these high ideals.
Legislation is how we make changes on the level you are talking about. Good legislation, that puts some power back in the hands of the people to protect themselves when the courts fail them.
Which according to the Dept of Justice, is 96 percent of the time.