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).
Paul, where in the video did he try to hit a cop?
Are police drafted? Or do they apply???
Don’t they get training in physically restraining other people, especially when they have them outnumbered? I once worked in a psychiatric facility and we were trained to take down ANYONE when there were 2 of us and only one of them (not to mention years of military, sports, and hand-to-hand training).
They are either cowards who don’t need to have that much authority, or they are arrogant jack booted thugs. If they think they shouldn’t risk injury to themselves, then let them get a real job like the rest of us. I’ve never heard of anyone being forced to be a policeman.
No threat? The witness statement said that as the officers were trying to handcuff the guy, he took a swing at him. So if the guy tries to hit another fan, that is a threat, but if he tries to hit a cop, it isn’t a threat? C’MON!
Mike S., you make an excellent point about the cult of obedience. Respect for authority and Pavlovian submission are not the same thing. The soldiers at Abu Ghraib, after all, were merely being deferential to the demands of their superiors.
hey henry !!! what would you want the cops to do– a rodney king instead? come on, this is a tool for law enforcement, it is better then knocking the hell out of the guy–(he may have had that coming too, but) if the cops had taken a night stick to em would that be more to your liking? There are some folks out there that they do not understand the word “no” so what to do? how about you take the test go threw the schooling and last awhile on the streets, lets see how you do it better bud! you all know the job better then the ones that do it. so how come your not in uniform or doing the job? looks like they gave the guy enough chances to leave, but noooooo! he wanted to make an incident, so he had it his way, good for him.
From several of the “educated” people on this blog, it is obvious you have never tried to “handle” a person who is unruly. Further, the man in question was quite large, why let the fight escalate to where someone might be harmed. The taser took the “fight” out of the man. Plus if someone does not want to be handcuffed, it is very hard to get cuffs on quickly and safely. If you dont believe me try to grab someones wrist and tell them to keep it away from being grabbed…..
While the abuse of the Taser is definitely a hot topic in law enforcement today I feel that this man sowed his own seeds. Whatever the reason being, security was called and he was asked to comply. These officers/security guards were very patient with him considering he was drawing attention away and being a nuisance for an entire section of fans I believe their actions were justified. They clearly tried several attempts to verbally ask him to leave and this had no effect. They progressed towards more physical means like escorting and attempting arrest, but this still was not working. So, they applied a taser. The fan was well aware that if he did not comply this would probably be the end outcome as evident by the cops displaying their tasers to him. While law enforcement might go on power trips as a citizen the best way to combat this is to show respect and do what is asked.
I do not know anything about the gentleman in this video, but officers/security guards tend to have to deal with individuals when they are at their highest escalation point. Whatever occurred prior to the officers/security guards showing up is what you would really want to look at. Questions like was this man provoked, was he made aware of his actions and their affect the fans around him. I don’t know, but I bet there was some back and fourth going on between this Texas fan and the Oakland fans and like most situations it escalated and the majority won over the minority and this fan was removed. Lets not point the fingers, because few situations are black and white.
The officer Tased the man in the back, the largest available area and muscle group, to achieve the desired effect. IF he shot from the front, he could have been hit in the face or throat. Good police tactics all around.
If you listen to the audio, the man repeatedly challenges the officers telling them to get away, get away. One officer tries to calm the situation by gentling placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning down to quietly tell him to get up, or the like. Nobody has the right to interfere or obstruct, or resist an order by the police. The thing to do is respectfully voice your issue, and comply. The issue can later be taken up through the proper channels.
Further, the taser, while 50k volts, ends its effects immediately upon ending its “cycle”. The reported deaths have all been linked to people with previous medical conditions, or drug related issues that are brought on through stress. The Taser has not, itself, caused any deaths.
In closing, if you cooperate with the police you arent getting hurt. How foolish can you be to decide to dig in your heels, when there are proper channels for conflict resolution.
Girley writes: 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
you mean like in 1965 when Johnny Roseboro got his brains bashed by Juan Marichal? or in 1979 when Rudy Tomjonovich got his face re-arranged by Kermit Washington?
you mean that kind of good sportsmanship?
Anyone notice that the guy was holding up his tickets the entire time to show the officers he was sitting in the correct seats. How did the officer respond to such a display?? He slaps them out of his hand. What a courageous officer to taze the guy from behind as the other officer was trying to cuff him.
“Boorish people need to learn the consequences of their actions . . . ”
I agree. let’s taser the teabaggers. Who’s with me on this?
Well i already said that I think this is one case where the use of the taser might be appropriate. I also answered Chris, who seemed to insinuate that he was a police officer, but since he ignored me I guess that was just pretend. Let me state though what is the most disturbing about this thread.
I have never seen the word obey used more times by American citizens than in this exchange of posts. Obey has very heavy connotations. One obeys their rulers, their masters, their betters and their wives/husbands. It is a relinquishing of self for authority. Our founding fathers refused to obey King George and thus America was created. They wrote a constitution, with a bill of rights to clearly define who and how people were to be obeyed. Now though there are a group of posters who are ready to obey, just as dogs do. Roll over, play dead, don’t bark, sit. Some posters think that that is just fine. Police are public servants, yes the prudent person will listen to their directions, because you’d be stupid not to listen to an armed person.
However, that so many of you would be so quick to obey authority sounds to me more typical of a citizen of a totalitarian country than true Americans. The police are public servants, but many of you would have them as your masters and seem like the pet dog, more than willing to obey them.
What Buddha said.
Spectator sports and unruly spectators: that about sums up what is happening too often nowadays. While I believe that use of tasers definitely has its place in law enforcement situations, sometimes, however, its use is unnecessary and perhaps constitute excessive restraint. In this case, the idiot deserved it (especially being a Texas fan).
Boorish people need to learn the consequences of their actions even though they are paying spectators at such events.
Respect is earned, not due just because someone wear a uniform. I have a perfect example of when no respect was earned for an officer. And it was all his doing.
I just had recently had opportunity to interact with the local PD over an allegedly run red light. All was fine until toward the end of writing the ticket. I signed and told him I’d see him in court. Not hostile. Just informative discourse. This is of course where things go wrong.
Then Officer Jackboot took it upon himself to threaten me with extra charges because he didn’t like where I pulled over. I informed him I pulled over at the first safe available spot and he repeated the threat. I told him that whether or not I was exercising proper discretion in pulling over was a matter I’d be glad to discuss with a judge, but that if he was done writing the ticket and trying to intimidate me, me and my groceries were going home. He then started lecturing again so I started pulling away at which point he screamed at me, “I’m not done with you! I’m not done educating you.” I then informed him that education was not his job and that unless had had other official business, I was leaving. I never raised my voice or threatened him in any way other than say I would be at court. I complied with all his requests and was pleasant at all times, even once threatened.
Yet at the first sign I wasn’t just going to cough up the cash and “respect his auTHOR-it-tie”, the officer’s response was to threaten me with additional charges I knew he had zero chance of making. I’m probably not the best guy to try that on unless you want a desk job for the next year. Yeah, harassment like that merits respect. In bizarro world. Had he done more than scream and bluster, he’d be facing a disciplinary hearing. As it is, he was left sputtering mad on the side of the road because he didn’t get to prove to me how big his balls are and how I should be thankful to be threatened by an officer with bullshit charges after stating I intended to exercise my constitutional rights.
All of this because a citizen dared suggest they were going to challenge his ticket. Apparently he thinks it’s crime to challenge the police. Hmmmm. Not yet it’s not, despite fascist attempts to make things otherwise.
Respect? No. That’s a zero score for Officer Jackboot.
Yeah, there are a lot of good cops out there doing the job. I know a couple of detectives that are the very definition of honest and hard working – as good a men as I know in any line of work. There are also way too many goobers like that one carrying a badge too. That’s the problem.
You boys in blue want the public to respect you more?
Quit protecting your own when they do wrong would be a good place to start. And not tolerating abusive or threatening behavior of ANY sort from your fellow officers. That “blue brotherhood”? Yeah, well, ponder that and while pondering why people distrust the police in much the same way they would distrust any armed gang.
They distrust the police because it’s prudent.
The clowns and criminals in your ranks that you in law enforcement tolerate and often protect makes prudence not just so, but required to protect liberty like oxygen is required to breathe.
If you want to complain about lack of trust from the public, do a better job of earning it. That’s an everyday, 24/7 job. You in law enforcement are the only one’s who can do anything about it. It’s that simple.
I think they should have hit him again. whats another 50k of pure shock going through that drunk.
lets not forget that this is OAKLAND people. and people get shot here every day. a little tazer never hurts a drunk like that.
another pig using to much force!!!! The taser is supposed to be used instead of a gun. So he should have been shot is what your all saying? Is this america?
roger:
:i hope this man sues the hell out of the police department,and win in court.there was no reason for the police to do this to the man.”
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Is it ok that if the next time a big, obnoxious, overbearing fan bothers me and drives out most of the patrons in our section, I call upon you to handle this daintily and with the legal deftness of a Supreme Court justice?