In California’s Rancho Corral de Tierra (part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area), a National Park Service Ranger reportedly shot Gary Hesterberg in the back with a taser after he walked away during a confrontation over walking his two lapdogs off leash. He was then arrested on suspicion of failing to obey a lawful order, having dogs off-leash and knowingly providing false information. The park service spokesperson reportedly said it is all part of teaching citizens about the new leash law in the area . . . or teaching Hesterberg to heel.
Witnesses objected that the force was excessive and said that the ranger refused to respond when confronted over the necessity or reason for the arrest.
The ranger says that Hesterberg gave a false name and then began to walk away from the ranger. Howard Levitt, a spokesman for the park service, added that he did not have identification on him. Levitt explained that the ranger “pursued him a little bit and she did deploy her [electric-shock weapon] . . . That did stop him.”
It is common for people to walk their dogs off leash in the area, but when the area was made part of the national park system in December, a new leash rule was imposed.
The article below says that Levitt explained that “the ranger was trying to educate residents of the rule.” Wow, if true, that is quite a lesson plan. Stop, explain, tase, and repeat.
The account of these witnesses not only raises serious questions of excessive force but also excessive charges that followed the alleged abuse. We have seen other cases of alleged abuse where citizens have been hit with an array of charges. This creates significant pressure for the accused to plead or remain silent. I do not see why a taser would be needed on such a minor offense.
Source: SF Gate
“Well my goodness. Where were you on 911?”
Actually, in a Day room filled with Clients Trying to Comprehend What Just Happened, 1st Day on the Floor at a New “Institute of Mental Disease”/Psychiatric Lock Up Rehab… Was a Great Way to Start there.
Got Them thru it, took bout a Year to Really sink into Me.
& Had Family in the Following, I’ve Done My Service to Country, Viet era, Have You?
Classic Troll though, but a lil thick.
Keep practicing, but Best to really have something to Contributed, than Thumpin yer Chest Behind a puter in your bedroom.
b.
guilty of contempt of cop. he’s lucky she didn’t shoot his dogs
It sounds like Mr. Hesterberg wasn’t the innocent angel he was made out to be:
“The incident occurred around 4:45 p.m. when the man was walking two dogs near the southern edge of McNee Ranch State Park. A ranger working for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area stopped the man for having one of his dogs off-leash, which is restricted in certain areas of the Rancho Corral property.
An escalating argument ensued, according to John Barlett, a nearby resident who was walking in the area. The dog-walker was “defiant,” Barlett said, daring the ranger as he began walking away, “Are you going to arrest me?”
That’s when the ranger pulled out her Taser, according to Barlett.”
http://goo.gl/6bg7E
Right, and everyone conviently ignores this. This is politics folks. The locals had something done to them, and they are pissed. I have been there myself. My father had 20 acres in the country. No one walked their dogs on aleash. It would be absurd to do so. We had a city boy move in, and started feuding with his neighbors. So I had an animal control officer (who are badged and often armed nowadays) take my dog off my property to a kennel. That’s when I found out that in the entire county of Riverside (second largest county in USA. Its huge!) Leash laws apply everywhere. Its a big county folks, lots of open space. I was majorly pissed. But what I did do was pay the fee to bail my dog out, and then had a polite but firm discussion with the officer. What I did not do is tell her she was an idiot, etc etc etc.
So local politics. I get it. So just be aware, many of the witnesses are going to alter their story, hoping to get her fired. Then maybe the park will recind their leash rule. Its a power play folks, pure and simple. Like I said, being in security has taught me many things. One is to recognize a power play when I see one.
Recently a Maryland court case refreshed the memory of man who was tasered for a second time while lying unconscious on the cold ground. The wack job that killed this poor soul should never have been given a badge. Most people have never seen the dying process. It is not pleasant especially when it is deliberate. Tasers allow the officers to be the judge and the executioner, there is no jury. I respectfully disagree with your perspective. Emergency rooms are full of victims from egregious actions on their person, we don’t need our law enforcement officers to add to the problems. Mark Davis, MD author of Demons of Democracy
I’m not being silly in the slightest. Then again, I took practical martial arts where sparring and tournaments were encouraged instead of the martial arts equivalent of aerobics. Being silly is conflating wartime combat and civilian conflict in the name of rationalizing overreactions when someone’s authority is questioned.
Lol. Thanks for the belly laugh. Yes we sparred and had “tournaments”. Tell me, at any of your “sparring” rounds did you follow rules? If someone got hurt, did the match stop? At your tournaments, were there lethal weapons present (not training blades)? Please. My great grandmaster is from China. His training was very different than what is taught in america. Please stop. You are only showing your ignorance. But wait, then I wouldn’t have anything to chuckle over. Training can help someone prepare, but it is not the thing itself. That’s why they call it “training”. The more realistic and repetive training will help prepare, but it cannot assure success. If you want proof, go take your “training”, find the scariest place you know, find a big badass, and tell him off. When he and his three buddies come after you, let me know how it went. Rememember: real life=no rules.
http://www.hmbreview.com/news/witnesses-dog-walker-tased-by-park-ranger-in-montara/article_02b264dc-4b86-11e1-b619-0019bb2963f4.html
Posted: Monday, January 30, 2012
By Mark Noack
Excerpt:
San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies and paramedics were called out to the scene, and the man was ultimately delivered to jail on unspecified charges.
GGNRA officials said they could not immediately answer questions about the incident on Monday morning. Officials with the parks service said they are still confirming details of what happened.
Within a matter of hours, the Taser incident generated cries of foul play among the close-knit dog-walking community in Montara. GGNRA took control of the Rancho Corral property in December, and some dog advocates have accused the agency of trying to limit where they can take their canines off-leash.
“There is total outrage about this. Everyone thinks this is a total excessive use of force,” said Bill Bechtell, who runs the Montara Dog Blog and email group. “I hope this guy hires an attorney because I think he’s got a strong case.”
“Wearing a badge does not excuse you from having your authority questioned.” (Gene)
Simple truth.
It’s time to formally challenge this officer’s authority in court. Unfortunately for her, there are witnesses
Waiting on base . . . for 10 minutes . . . WTF, you say . . . Probably waiting on a Wants and Warrants report . . . didn’t yo know these Park Rangers are an integral cog in this Country’s Homeland Security infrastructure . . . those could have been anchor Beagles . . . we know Beagles can fly airplanes, at least Sopwiths . . . they speak French and like little red hair girls, too. . . .
Montara Local,
Thanks for the additional detail.
I smell lawsuit even stronger now.
Via an attorney friend. EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT – this little incident is going to cost us TAX PAYERS to pay for this lady’s out of control actions.
Yesterday my husband and I walked our two border collies on the cement trail of Ranch Corral de Tierra. On our way home a woman walking her dog told us to leash our dogs because a park ranger was handing our citations. So we leashed our dogs and we encountered a man in his late forties with his two little dogs (no bigger than the size of a beagle) being cited by a park ranger for not having them on a leash. Since we had never seen a park ranger during our 7 years of walking our dogs there, we asked her why she was patrolling the area. She quickly responded that the area was now under GGNRA control. The man she was citing had already leashed his dogs and provided her all his personal information. He asked her if he could go home and she said No. He than asked her to provide him a ticket or tell him why he couldn’t leave. The park ranger was very rude and told him he could not leave unti l she heard by from her base but didn’t tell him what she needed to hear from them or why he was being detained. After ten minutes the man asked her again to let him know why he could not leave or just cite him but she gave him no answer. My husband even asked her why she was not letting the man go on his way and she told him to stay out of it. Eventually, the man just started walking in our direction so he could go home. This really upset the park ranger and she told him to stop and that he could not leave. Once again the man asked why and just told her to give him a ticket or let him know if he was being arrested. Note that he had already leashed his two small dogs and was puzzled at the fact that he could not leave. Since she did not respond as to why he was being detained nor tell him the type of jurisdiction she had over him, he started to walk away and she told him that she would tase him if he walked another step. The man replied that he had a heart condition and to not taser him as it could be life threatening. He gave her his back to look at me and my husband in disbelief to what was going on and the park ranger fired her taser at him. The poor man fell to floor and you could see that he was in a lot a pain. An elderly man was walking right by the man when he got tasered and luckily the passerby was not hurt. It was completely incredulous to see what was going on over two small dogs that were not leashed. About ten minutes later the sheriff came and hand cuffed the man. He asked us to take his dogs home and tell his wife what just happened. We heard ambulances on their way and believe that instead of going to jail (for doing nothing) was taken to a local hospital.
I live around the corner from this place I am sure he DID walk to this park. It is surrounded by neighborhood back yards and has been used as a dog walking area for 30 YEARS that I am aware of… perhaps even more. GGNRA “took over” this land last month (which had been used by residences for decades) and changed the rules. Needless to say, those that had been using the area resposibly are PISSED. I for one have worked many clean up days, and removed invasive plants from this area long before asshole rangers like this lady moved in. All of you do not live in this area, and know the back story. The guy was walking his dogs, just like every one else has been doing there forever.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time in our National Parks, and seen what LEO Rangers have to put up with. They are not “rent-a-cops”, but sadly many of them have to be full-on cops most of the time. Much of California’s craziness shows up in Yosemite valley, Joshua Tree and other parks. They have to deal with illegal firearms, drugs, and all the normal types of crime: fights, rape, theft, etc. I’m from Chicago, where most police patrol in pairs, so once I realized what rangers were dealing with in many cases, I was pretty stunned to notice that they almost always were out solo. Putting rangers in that kind of position of weakness probably contributes to this kind of (probable) over-reaction.
I’m not saying that these factors justified that ranger’s actions, but it’s worth understanding they don’t just deal with littering picnickers, and they they are typically alone.
(I assume I’m not the only one here who chuckled at the irony of Bruce pointing out that *other* people were projecting their issues onto *him*…)
In the aftermath of these incidents, I typically ask “or what?” If this jerk had walked away with his unleashed dogs, what would have happened? The ranger’s “authoritaaaaayyyy” would not have been respected, and that’s not a trivial issue. But it’s not like he’s in the middle of beating his wife, and if the ranger didn’t stop him, he would have continued the assault.
Oro Lee,
Many thanks for that… 😉
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/150368/you-will-respect-my-authoritah
“Getting trainin in martial arts does not neccessarily equipe one for a confrontation.”
Then you didn’t learn the lessons properly because you clearly don’t understand how to apply them. Skills you cannot apply you might as well not have.
The rest of what you say is simply rationalization for your authoritarianism and defense of excessive force.
You’ve shown your mindset and you haven’t won any converts to your genuflecting to authority.
Oh please, now you are being silly. I haven’t touched anyone in my whole life. I have been in one fight, and I was challenged to that one. I hate fighting. I hate confrontation. What makes working security so difficult for me is I am quite liberatarian and would rather live and let live.
That’s a blantatly ignorant response. Ask any combat soldier if there is a difference between simulated violence and actual bullets whizzing past you. There is a thing called “the fog of war”. Think about that. Watch the opening sequence to Saving Private Ryan. Then watch again and again. Do you think any sort of training prepares one to seeing your fellow soldier subjected to that kind of ferocity and carnage. Please. What you are defending is a fantasy of the worst sort. It allows you and your ilk to feel superior. Well my goodness. Where were you on 911? Maybe you could have diffused the terrorists of their murderous intentions. Oy!
The reality is this guy pushed her buttons and she responded. Honestly, one could say two assholes got into an argument at the park and one had a taser. This happened in my own small town of Temecula, except the cop was off duty. But he had a gun. So he was acting like an asshole, and this other asshole decided to get his buddy and bushwack him. They snuck up behind him and whacked him with a chair. Cop went down, drew his gun and killed his attacker, and wounded the buddy. Wait by god you are right. The cop’s training *did* prepare him. So there. Two assholes tangled, and one died. The one who brought a chair to a gunfight. Dumb asshole.
By the way, most people who work in psych are assholes. There. I did it. Guilt by association, ad hominen attacks, etc.
By the way, all this shows is the internet is great in speeding up all the howling monkeys do when they’re pissed off.
That Ranger is a real heel.
Sometimes things don’t change if you go back and review a bit.
“I don’t have a fake badge. Its very real. Badges are shields,meant to symbolize protection”
Hmmm, I Worked in SoCal, “Kaiser”&”Fontana”, all I needed to know.
You are a lawsuit-in-waiting, if That’s the attitude you work with.
Just hope it does not Hurt Anybody Else’s ability to Enjoy&Live Their Life.
People, “Crazy” or Not, are Not Mad Dogs. Most “Consumers”, far better people than…
Your Life, Live it Well.
Just Follow the Nurses Cue’s, & at Least, Learn Your Vocation.
You’ll be MUCH Safer. So Will Others.
Been so GOOD Pointers given You here by Others, “I”, just Grew Up with people like You, little Tolerance for it, especially when it involves My Clients.
b.
Bruce,
Have you had any CPI training?
Not CPI per say. The training mandated by Kaiser by their contract with Securitas (Interconn was replaced in 2009) specified MOAB training. This is the training all Kaiser employees receive. I think most of the bashers posting are missing my point, but its their perogative.
I was making a point that “training” doesn’t automatically prevent injuries or confer the ability to diffuse all situations. If one believes that the training they are provided will be usefull for *all* situations are being set up for a fall and a fail. I understand human biology is difficult to train out, or modify. We would like to believe we could diffuse every situation, or arrest someone with no injuries, but I don’t think that’s possible. Despite much training, one’s first contact with a high stress situation will involve an adreline dump. If one has never experienced this, then there is no way to relay this in words. Public agencies tell everyone that this training is wonderful and will prevent all violence, but this simply not true.
“What I like about the “issue him a citation” response is the lack of thought of how she was supposed to accomplish this. So he gives a false name, refuses to cooperate, and walks off. A citation needs to have the violaters name, id/dl numbern home adress, etc. ”
He didn’t get to the park by walking there. You figure out the rest of the equation.
Also, you’re not a cop by your own admission. If you took the job as a rent a cop without the appropriate martial skills? That’s your failing as an employee as well as a failure on the part of your employer. “Unfortunately in real life one does not always think clearly in a confrontation.” Really. That shows your unfitness for the job in the first place. Coincidentally enough, thinking clearly in a confrontation is exactly what the training teaches you to do: think clearly and act with rational thought in a violent situation. The first thing they teach you in MA training is to remain calm no matter how angry your opponent is. The second thing they teach you is how to control the situation with the minimal amount of force: disarm/disable and dissuade. Sometimes you can get to the dissuade stage without any force at all. The apex of strategy is to defeat your opponent without using any force at all. If faced with an intractable violent opponent, then and only then use damaging or lethal force. If you haven’t received this minimum amount of training, you should not be in law enforcement public or private because you are inherently a danger to yourself and to others; little more than a thug with a uniform.
Also, judging by your response to a dog? You really demonstrate the mindset of those who cling to their “authority”. Unless the dog is clearly on the attack (you should be able to tell the difference), you should be able to outsmart it. It’s a dog.
Yeah, there’s somebody here with authority issues, Bruce, but it isn’t the people upset over this Park Ranger’s overreaction.
You’re an authoritarian, Bruce.
Maybe you should question that.
Omg this is too funny. Ok. What this is really is a Ink blot test. Actually I have martial training . So there! I study T’ai Chi Chuan. Look it up. All about not hurting anyone. Also look up what the requirements for being in security. Varies between states. Haha. A thug? Please, this is name calling. I deal with this all the time. Its called an ad hominem attack. My job is all about customer service. I sit at a desk and walk around every hour. Every now and then someone is going to the hospital, and I standby and make sure they are ok. I get them water, and show them where the restrooms are. My being problem is boredom. No, I am not a rent a cop (not a cop), or tin hat dictator in training. No really, the joke is on you guys for making assumptions. And it proves my point: people who hate cops and security officers have not dealt with their own inner thug. Taking this job has taught me a great deal about force and authority. I had to get go of a lot of ego. And yes if someone wants to push past I let me go. How does that make me a thug?
Getting trainin in martial arts does not neccessarily equipe one for a confrontation. Plenty of blackbelts have been beaten by street punks. The only thing that truly pepares someone for a confrontation is an actual confrontation. I use diplomacy all the time to diffuse situations.
The real issue here is our understanding of Force. Our culture has a real ambivalancetowards it, but yet we are enthusiatic supporters of deadly force when we feel threatened. 911 is a good example of this.
The reality is my OP was more about blowing off steam. But we can always second guess an LEO, or a soldier’s actions, without realizing that officer may have nnot been given clear guidelines. This happens all time. I have worked at seriously dysfunctional sites where the client wants rules enforced, but are not given any training, or clear guidelines to enforcing the rules. I am lucky that I have above average intelligence and can negotiate ambigious situations. But your average officer is not.
“He obviously didn’t walk to the park”. He could have ridden the bus, no? She follows him, and he walks around for hours. She wastes more time to write this citation.
Lol. Since I wasn’t there, I really don’t know all the details. And neither do any of you guys. Please, no more “rush to judgement”! Heck, he could have been an exboyfriend.
Concerning dogs, I have had companion dogs my whole life. Once again someone assumed much. I know perfectly well a dogs body language, better than most “pet” owners.
The question (which only one poster has brought up) is why was this guy being so argumentative in the first place. Why is he insisting on violating the ordinance? What makes him so special, hmmmm?
What I think is interesting is I haven’t resorted to name calling. I have remained calm. I have attempted to have reasoned discource. Have you done the same? I can hold up the mirror, but I can’t force you to look in it. That’s up to you.
Classic.
That’s All!=8^ D
b.
Civility evaporating,
Here’s an excerpt from the article that Professor Turley used as the source for his post:
Witnesses said the use of a stun gun and the arrest seemed excessive for someone walking two small dogs off leash.
“It was really scary,” said Michelle Babcock, who said she had seen the incident as she and her husband were walking their two border collies. “I just felt so bad for him.”
Babcock said Hesterberg had repeatedly asked the ranger why he was being detained. She didn’t answer him, Babcock said.
“He just tried to walk away. She never gave him a reason,” Babcock said.
The ranger shot Hesterberg in the back with her shock weapon as he walked off, Babcock said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/30/MN921N0LQT.DTL
This response assumes that the officer gave the warning and was attempting to issue a citation when the man walked off. What should have been her response?
In the criminal justice system no person has as much authority or discretion as the law enforcement officer on the scene. Often they’re much too quick to exercise the former and too slow to make use of the latter, maybe because of being told to “use your best judgment” instead of being provided clear rules of engagement.
She could have let the guy walk and report it to her superiors, especially if she has not been specifically authorized to use the taser where someone walks away from the issuance of a citation.
My suggestion if the leash regs are truly necessary and are being ignored by everyone — show up in force on a Saturday and in cooperation with local animal control round up the dogs not on a leash. If the owners use force against the officers, then tase away. Give the offender the opportunity to really ask for it by threatening the safety of a LEO.
Fact of the matter, just having the pound truck in the parking lot will do wonders for behavior modification.
I think bad supervision led to this incident.