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
I recall when Tasers were first introduced that they were billed as an alternative to lethal force. Their use was supposedly for situations where lethal force might otherwise be required. We really need to go back to that standard. Tasers should only be used where the alternative is to escalate to the use of lethal force. If the officer wouldn’t shoot the guy in the back with a firearm, then she shouldn’t shoot him in the back with a Taser.
Authoritarian regimes are big on asserting that authority. The United States is becoming (if it isn’t already) an authoritarian regime.
A couple of stray comments. I bet if you were a neighbor of the taser lady you would notice a high volume of dog crap in her yard from the neighborhood pack. If the local newspaper gets thrown in her yard daily I bet it gets snatched often. The protocal for stopping the dog walker when she ordered him to stop or freeze would have been to walk after him. Rather than shoot him in the back with a Taser she could have shot a real pistol in the air to get his attention. But she suffers from attention deficit disorder and shoots him in the back with the Taser. If the neighborhood kids dont like her they can pull the poop in the bag and light it on fire on the doorstep and ring the bell trick. When she stomps on the bag the poop goes all over her legs and door foyer.
As for the lap dogs who were running wild in the wilds of the National Park without a lease or a leash: Dont ya wish you were a bear that day? A domestic animal gets no wildlife rights and gets treated like a dog–rules, curfews, limited diet, all that : sit!, Stay!, roll over or I will Tase you! All that crap.
Sure you were, Eric. Sure you were.
Great clip Gene. That was one big gun that OJ used!
Blouise,
That ranger is just drunk on power.
In 2009, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set a judicial standard for the use of a stun gun by police, which would include park rangers as they have the role of a law officer on park property.
In that 3-0 ruling, Judge Kim Wardlaw said, “the objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public.”
Wardlaw went on to say that a stun gun must be used when substantial force is required and other options have been exhausted.
Gene,
Ou are absolutely correct that to compare combat with police work is absurd and an insult to those who served in combat.
Sorry, Eric, but I’ve told cops no on several occasions and I’ve not been arrested for it. But then again, I do know my rights better than any cop.
Eric,
“Wartime, in some ways, is much less stressfull. Police have to constantly distinguish between friendlies and non friendlies. This is why wars such as vietnam and iraq/afganistan produce much more psychological trauma.”
Do you realize how that is not only contradictory, but bullshit as well? Policing is a stressful job, however, it is not the equivalent of the stress warfare or even close by comparison.
“I did start the process for the Riverside Sheriffs department. I realized what the job really entailed and decided I couldn’t hack it. I admit it.”
That certainly explains a lot about your issues with authority.
“My point, if you even bothering to read with an open mind, is that every confrontation is a unique situation, and training can help, but not be the silver bullet to prevent things from going sideways. ”
Actually that wasn’t your initial point. It’s the one you moved to when your initial point that people should automatically capitulate to authority got roundly and rightly laughed at for being an authoritarian drivel. No one ever said training was a silver bullet. You tried to argue that extreme on a tangent once it was shown that if you have proper training, you clearly don’t know how or won’t use it. The point made by me was only that you can’t minimize violence as effectively without training as you can with training. Then again, minimizing violence apparently isn’t one of your prerogatives when someone’s authority is being challenged, merely forcing compliance.
Who is Eric? Gary H. Oh wait *you’re* the one who got tased. Good deal.this explains everything. And speaking of moving goal posts, you are doing a fine job. Yes training helps minimize violence. Compare/contrast is one way to discuss an issue. I was talking about the training a soldier receives vs.actual combat. I was comparing *that* to the training a police officer receives vs the actual stress of a confrontation. And then, I was comparing *that* to the training people receive, and the reality. Then I was stating, just because a person receives training, doesn’t mean they won’t make a mistake. Or that things will go wrong. Or you finall encounter that one guy who is really good at pushing peoples buttons. No gary, I am sorry. You push buttons bait those in authority. If you came in my clinic and started yelling at my coworkers, I won’t tase you, but I will be more than happy to dial 911 and let the cops do it.
“and then had a polite but firm discussion with the officer.”
Bruce,
She didn’t want your backtalk and sass. She certainly didn’t want your firmness. She should have tased you for disobeying/disrespecting her authority.
Nice job, Eric! When pinned, you move to goal post to an absolutist position that nobody but you made in the first place. In order to effectively deploy the tactic of reductio ad absurdum, you must first understand it.
The point of training isn’t to eliminate violence, but to minimize it.
Something you can’t do when you’re so busy defending excessive force as a method to handle disrespect of your authority.
What a maroon.
“If indeed you have a pacemaker, then its in your best interest to listen to a LEO when they tell you to stop walking away from them.”
Bruce,
He was walking a dog without a leash. Should he have been arrested? according to you the citizen is required to obey any LEO’s orders. Now in a common sense way that is true since the LEO has the weapons. However, having a badge and a gun does not a genius nor a sane person make and too often LEO’s have let their power prerogatives go to their heads just because they can get away with it. If you consider yourself “trained” and couldn’t exert your authority in this situation without the use of force, then you should be fired. Any LEO with good policing skills would have handled this without a problem. Unfortunately, too many LEO’s get carried away with the high that authority gives them and in this respect are little different that “junkies”, except their drug is power.
You are missing the point. You are requred to obey a lawful order. This is where you start researching what that is. Next, after you have been cited, falsely arrested, you can file a complaint and retain a lawyer. She did not release him. That is a form of arrest. I as a security officer cannot arrest anyone. This means I cannot detain anyone. I cannot tell someone to wait here until I get back. Both actions would constitute a false arrest. What he should have done is obeyed her orders, and AFTER the rude cop is done with him, contact his lawyer. That is when you argue back, not when you are being detained. You argue with cop, and then walk away, you get handcuffed. If Officer warns you are about to get tased, STOP! For god’s sake, put your hands up. And don’t move! After. This is key. Afterwards call your lawyer.
Cindy,
Hard work doesn’t involve taz’n! Hard work is using your brains and social skill to do a simple job! She’s not protecting your rights, she’s letting you know you don’t have any!
I think “Cindy”, has Her Tongue So Firmly into her Cheek she May Choke if she’s not Careful…
But lil EriC…
Remember, bout 30% of the Population…
See How Easy?
Read lil EriC, R.E.A.D.
then think bout it awhile, no absolutes.
b.
I am looking at the postings at the present and am able to determine that this is not a secure site. The properties show an unusual interference access by authorized or unauthorized individuals with some level of trust on the part of the party administrator.
“I am looking at the postings at the present and am able to determine that this is not a secure site. The properties show an unusual interference access by authorized or unauthorized individuals with some level of trust on the part of the party administrator.”
Mebbe some leetle “friends” of mine through the tubes of the interweb…
Hey! Contractors have ta Do Sumptin, to Justify their Well Paid on Our dime Buttz! Picked up a parasite or two through the good graces on FB couple years back…
b.
=8^P
No. We’re at the “you’re simply ridiculous” phase. That phase started when you tried to equate wartime combat with civilian conflict, Eric. Ridiculous statements by ridiculous people get . . . ridicule. Shocking my lack of respect for your alleged authority, but since you don’t have any, I suggest you learn to deal with it.
I was referring to your repeated personal attacks.
Wartime, in some ways, is much less stressfull. Police have to constantly distinguish between friendlies and non friendlies. This is why wars such as vietnam and iraq/afganistan produce much more psychological trauma. And why cops usually burn out after about five years. I did start the process for the Riverside Sheriffs department. I realized what the job really entailed and decided I couldn’t hack it. I admit it. But I understand my job so much better now. My point, if you even bothering to read with an open mind, is that every confrontation is a unique situation, and training can help, but not be the silver bullet to prevent things from going sideways. Training needs to be realistic, and its hard to fake certain situations. I learned this during a CERT exercise where actors playes victims. Then the fire captain threw in “wildcards”. Yea. People were on the verge of panic. How would they respond to the real thing? Something to think about.
See What Happens when You Feed the Trolls….
More come in Outta tha Woodwork!
I Apologize for My Contribution to the Fun.
=8^ D
sometimes it’s jus’ too tempting to resist.
b.
Thank you to the ranger!!!! We appreciate your hard work and for protects our rights and our safety. This dog owner is just like the rest. I have been verbally abused and physically threatened by many dog owners like him. I didn’t think anyone would act like that to a ranger but apparently that is the case. Good for the ranger for protecting the rest of us: law abiding citizens. I hope this means I won’t be threatened as much anymore by dog owners who break the law day in day out.
I am indeed showing ignorance.
It’s just not mine that I’m showing, Cartman.
Cartman “respect my authoritay”! How droll! So we at the what you say bounces off me and sticks to you stage?
This govt. and govt. around the world are messaging their citizens. As disgusting as this action was, it is by no means isolated. “Law” enforcement is uparmored to the teeth. They are going to teach us all a lesson–do not resist, do not ask questions, obey unjust authority or you will pay. This isn’t just happening in the US although the US is helping other repressive regimes around the world. Here is one newly exposed connection between weapons used on our citizens and weapons supplied by the US govt. to keep down the people in Bahrain. It is all interconnected.
“As the Arab Spring unfolded last year, protesters in the streets saw something startling about the tools of repression being used on them. The
Humvees, tanks, helicopters were from the US government; the canisters of chemical agents used to attack them said, “Made in the USA.”
The Obama Administration wants to sell 44 of these M1152A1B2 Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and other weapons to the dictators of Bahrain. Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet and close ally of Saudi Arabia, brutally suppressed the uprising among their citizens. More than 40 pro-democracy protesters were killed and thousands more were arrested and tortured. While speaking out loudly on Libya’s brutality, the Obama administration remained largely silent on Bahrain.
Last fall the Obama administration announced plans to sell Bahrain $53 million worth of military weapons including bunker buster missiles, armored vehicles and wire-guided missiles. The Pentagon said at the time the sale “will improve Bahrain’s capability to meet current and future armored threats. Bahrain will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”
Congressional opposition to the sale forced Obama to delay the weapons transfer. Now, sources have leaked, the Obama administration is quietly moving forward with the arms sales to the Bahraini monarchy – despite their on-going human rights abuses…” Warisacrime.org
In Total agreement here, being Conditioned.
again, Classic.
b.