We have another taser incident at a sporting event. It is unclear why the man was approached. Some reports suggest that he was in the wrong seat and was not obeying the commands of the officers.
There is again a question of the need for the taser, which creates a scene that is made all the more chaotic with the intervention of a shouting individual and then a fly ball.
One alleged witness left the following account:
I was sitting about 5 rows in front of him and he was actually a Texas fan and he kept yelling obnoxiously. The usher who had been very nice went over and made a joke. And dude flipped out screaming and swearing saying get outta my fing face and calling him the n word. They called security and he was still screaming and swearing. So the police came and while they were trying to put handcuffs on him he kept trying to swing at them. So they tasered him and he fell and hit his head.
While the man is clearly uncooperative and perhaps belligerent, it is unclear why a shot of 50,000 volts was needed.
We previously saw the use of a taser on a woman accused of sitting in the wrong seat at a football game, here.
At last night’s A’s game against Texas, a belligerent fan gets zapped by Oakland police officers (1:05), another fan gets pushed down the stairs (1:25), a woman makes things worse by screaming, and then a foul ball lands (1:42).
I watched that video a couple of times. At NO point did I see him take a swing at a cop….I saw him try to avoid having his hands taken. If you’ve been a fan of the opposite team and been at an Oakland game, you would understand needing to be on the defense (I’ve been there) Oakland fans had probably been giving him a hard time the entire time so he probably got mouthy. When A’s fans didn’t approve they probably when and told on him. Figures! Those “cops” (I use the word loosely) should NOT have tasered him at any point. With as many empty seats as they had, they should have welcomed ANYONE willing to be there…maybe he would have bought more alcohol since that’s where the sales are. That place is crap and I can’t STAND Oakland….I’ll stick with my San Francisco teams!
I agree that we should obey the police. If it is okay to tase the fan, then it is okay to tase the harvard professor.
The thing that bothers me most is the double standard. The poor slub does not have a chance in court or against the system. Dont Pay your taxes and see what happens unless you are Geithner. Verbally abuse the police and see what happens unless you are Prof. Gates. Lie to congress goe to jail unless you are Clinton. Watch the government takeover of health care. If you have money no problem, the poor or old will just wither and die.
Maybe tasers are not the right way to handle someone. But the dual application of the law is cleaarly the most anti american policy we face today.
I have had a lot of run ins with the police and have spent a lot of time in jail. I have always done what the police have ordered me to do. When they told me it was time to leave, I have left. When they told me to turn around and put my hands behind my back, I did. When they told me I was under arrest, I cooperated. When they said give me your hands, I gave them my hands. Bottom line is I have never been harmed by any police officer. Even the A-Hole cops. I have never been punched, kicked, pepper sprayed, hit with a billy clud, tased, or even shot. I did like I was told and never had a problem other than getting talked to like I was a piece of garbage from a young cop. To all of you that think the police did something wrong, I hope you need to call 9-1-1 in the near future because someone did something wrong to you.
Be respectful and you’ll be ok. That is how it works. Respectful to others and especially people who are there to keep Order. Disrespect is disorder. But the “security” looked way out of shape for the job!
girley:
“I agree with mespo727272.”
***********
The foregoing is a mantra for the ages–now if only my wife would go along.
Seriously, I have no doubt those in attendance have something useful to contribute to this story, and if your co-worker is an upstanding kind of guy, I would put great weight in what he observed and concluded. After all, and as we credit trial court judges and petit juries to do, he was in the position to judge the character and demeanor of the accused.
Okay, you clowns, it’s obvious the ignorance about the Taser, what it does, what it’s for, and when it’s justified is right up at near mental midget levels…….do the key words “They called security and he was still screaming and swearing. So the police came and while they were trying to put handcuffs on him he kept trying to SWING at them.” He was trying to ASSAULT the officers involved. Now I know you tools haven’t ever had to do anything like try to subdue a man who’s ACTIVELY trying to assault you in your lives, and your knowledge of police work comes from ‘Law and Order:SUV’……but COME THE HELL ON!
Here is a solution. When approached by uniformed officers of the law do what they ask immediately and be respectful. That way you won’t get hazed or tazed. Works for me but then I’m not usually a drunken idiot… or a racest professor with a chip on my sholder.
Well that dude looked heavy. Why did he tazehim, thats more dead weight. Heres the problem those guys were to out of shape to deal with that guy. They were probly fired as cops for sleeping or general laziness. You see there are alot of “former police and military” in security. Most are not physically adapt to do it. Anyone else see that?
This is the first story that I’ve read on here where I actually agree with the use of the tazer. This drunk redneck idiot apparently asked for it, and he got it. All he had to do was obey the usher or the police; the police appear to be very patient and respectful to the man until he starts getting beligerent. Kudos to the officers.
“If the Public has an issue with the Taser, I would gladly hand them my badge and duty belt and sit back and watch them deal with these situations on their own. Police Officers can not do anything right in the Public’s eye. Thanks to the media, we live under a magnifying glass.”
Chris,
You might have noticed that I said it was highly possible that the taser was appropriately used here. However, this site has shown literally dozens of incidents where the police probably used them inappropriately. More interesting to me is that by your statement I would assume you are a police officer. You basically say that if critics of certain police actions protest them, let them see if they could do better.
Chris, first of all nobody made you become a police officer. I would assume you made it as a career choice of a profession you respected and wanted to be a part of, therefore having chosen this profession voluntarily and with it being a public servant, then you really shouldn’t have a complaint, criticism goes with the territory of any job anyone holds.
The next part of your statement makes police officers out to somehow be victims and I know that is a widespread feeling among police around the country. However, I don’t think that this feeling of victimization felt by police is real. Half or more of the dramas on TV are police shows, very favorably portraying police officers. There is a whole network that show reality police shows, like “Cops” that also portrays police in a very positive light. Almost all politicians on the right and the left make statements praising police. In general police get extremely favorable publicity in this country and yet many of you feel like your victims. I have a theory about this that I’ll get to, but first I need to make one more point.
You are absolutely correct that when police screw up there is negative publicity. Don’t you think though that given that we the people are supposed to be the ultimate “bosses” of government, that we have the right to know when a part of our government screws up. wouldn’t you want to know that about a politician, or some bureaucrat taking a bribe? I assume that you are a good officer, who believes in the law and in the good you’re doing in your job. Wouldn’t you want those officers, who are not like you, to be exposed and punished when they do their job badly?
I was a civil servant for 32 years. I worked for years with police and prosecutors in child abuse cases and I was as hardass as they were about prosecuting those guilty of abusing kids. In later years my job involved rooting out internal corruption and dealing with civil servants who broke the rules and/or the law. I found in my experience that about 10% of the civil servants I dealt with, were not doing their jobs properly and from what I know from friends in other lines of work that is about average. Drawing from that 90% of the police are good officers, protecting the public and working to help find the criminals to be punished by our justice system. My bet thopugh is that like everywhere else there is that pesky 10% who don’t really “get” what they’re job is about. Wouldn’t you want them removed, because if someday you need them you will not be able to count on them?
Finally, let me give you my take on why so many police officers feel victimized and my answer is because you are.
Possibly you are surprised by that but here’s my thinking.
1. Local politicians always run for office praising the police
but once in office do little to support them by raising salaries, providing proper equipment, the best cars, decent office space, hours that you can maintain family life with and ongoing respect.
2. Time and leave rules for police generally stink and don’t fully take into account the stresses of the job.
3. Too many police departments are run by internal politics and friendships, that frustrate the really good officers
trying to get ahead.
4. Police are not dumb and they soon get the message that the most important factor in their jobs is to control the minority communities and give good service to the wealthier parts of town. That can make a man or a woman officer very cynical.
5. Too many times your work performance and career advancement is judged by the amount of tickets you write, or the amount of arrests you make, rather than the overall quality of your work.
6. Police being intelligent, understand how many of the people who control their work lives through politics make money on the side through what amounts to bribery and that makes them cynical too.
7. Most police training teaches you to view the public with distrust and see every incident as possibly life threatening.
8. Your saddled with enforcing drug laws that are set up to convict the “little guy” and/or addict and leave the people making the big bucks alone and that adds to your cynicism.
Chris I could go on with this but I think you get the drift. I
can really understand why police feel victimized, but I would suggest to you that it’s not about the public, which basically trusts and believes in you, or about the media reporting when police screw up. Its’ about your supposed “political friends,” who use you to get votes and forget about you once elected.
This is not an easy taser case from a policy standpoint. I don’t know whether the guy was inebriated, but in my experience overindulgence is the prime cause of incidents at sporting events. In a crowded setting, I can understand how a police officer might determine that using a taser could substantially reduce the risk of injury to the surrounding patrons if a fan is actively resisting arrest. Therefore, I am hesitant to condemn the actions of the officers in this instance, even if there were three of them. It’s difficult enough trying to navigate the steps of a stadium without having to simultaneously subdue someone who’s clearly out of control. I believe that the reason there are so many differing views on this is that we have seen way too many situations in which police have resorted to tasers simply because it’s quicker and easier.
I agree with mesmo727272. You put in eloquent dialogue what I so completely believe. Sporting events are just a big excuse for rude, beligerant people to masquerade as sports fans and get drunk and offensive. Sporting events used to be a place where fans gathered together to show their support for some of the finest examples of athletic sportsmenship and outstanding citizenship. Now I would consider it dangerous to take your family to a ballgame. Tazzering a brut like that whose intent was to be offensive and get away with it was a ssmall punishment in my opinion. Shame on him for trying to press the policeresponsible for hurting him. He brought it on himself and this is a good example of how we don’t like to take responsibility for our actions. I work with a man that was there when that happened and the dude deserved it.
I do have to say this is a perfectly understandable and appropriate use of a stun gun, especially after Wonderboy started swinging. His being from Texas is irrelevant other than it should merit him getting an extra zap for “good measure”/”Bush tax”/”Anti-swagger Insurance”/”Insert Your Anti-Texan Motive Here”.
solve this one the way any mother would: either everyone gets a taser or no one gets a taser.
btw, my squeeze once refused to take me to a Giants game until I changed clothes. I was wearing my Dodger T-shirt, from the 1977 world series. Since the Giants where playing the Dodgers that afternoon I thought that it was an appropriate choice. He didn’t want to have to fight someone over my choice of team clothing, so he refused to leave the house until I changed. if we’d had a taser I could have worn my Dodger T-shirt and everyone would have been happy.
Enough already!!! The fan/guy was and is a total jerk. Even being from Texas does not give one a free jerk pass. If you don’t think the guy was a jerk then you too may be a closet jerk. You just don’t know it yet.
Why was 50,00 volts necessary? Maybe because the guy was being an ignorant jerk. Why do we always feel bad for these a-holes? The guy absolutely deserved what he got. I am a big fan of the taser…..but then again, I never act like this guy.
Correct use of Tazer…to turn a BIG DICK into a limp one!!!
Dan- most cops have been tasered to see what its like, as well as OC’d, should we shoot them too?
I guess they could have slammed him on the ground pinned his head to the concrete and then cuffed him, that’s much more humane. The bottom line is obey the law, and you won’t be tased. That is half of the problem today too many people worry about the person breaking the law not the officer upholding the law. I am not an officer and never have been but I have the upmost respect for them. Diffuse the situation without any innocent bystander being injured, works for me. Some of you people need to realize this man is an adult and made his own decision. Actions without consequences will lead to worse actions.
If we tasered more often maybe we would have less problems.
I bet no one who witnessed the scene caused trouble after that.