There is a growing controversy in Arizona over the arrest of Arizona State University Professor Ersula Ore who refused to show her identification to a police officer and ended up being thrown to the ground and arrested — a scene captured on the videotape below.
It remains unclear why the ASU police officer demands to see the identification of Ore. Libertarians have long opposed these laws required citizens to show their identification to police without any reasonable suspicion of a crime. In this case, Ore had allegedly jaywalked to avoid construction and then objected to what she considered a disrespectful tone of the officer. The officer, identified as Steward Ferrin, says “Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID.” After he states that he has legal authority for the demand, Ore says that she has “no problem abiding by the law . . . But all I’m asking, do you have to speak to me in such a disrespectful manner?” Ore then resists efforts to handcuff her and eventually hits an officer in the leg.
As we have seen in other controversial arrests, the prosecutors and police piled on charges. She has been charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare. The kick was so slight, it is hard to see the purpose of the assault charge beyond the desire to increase the possible sentence and force a plea. Likewise, obstructing a highway seems a bit over the top. It is the second charge is easy to establish, albeit controversial with many libertarians. There is no question that she was resisting the officer who did try to get her to yield with verbal commands. However, the proliferation of charges continue to concern many of us in these cases as a way of forcing citizens to enter pleas even when they would prefer to contest the original charge.
Ore is claiming self-defense and says that the officer was reaching toward her anatomy when she kicked him.
Ore is a professor of cultural studies in the English department and lists her interests as “Contemproary Rhetorical Theory, Race Critical Theory, Rhetorics of Race & Culture, Composition, Visual and Material Culture Studies.”
The university issued the following statement.
Arizona State University authorities have reviewed the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the arrest of assistant professor Ersula Ore and have found that the officer involved did not violate protocol and no evidence was found of racial motivation by the ASU Police Department officers involved.
However, the ASU Police Department is enlisting an outside law-enforcement agency to conduct an independent review on whether excessive force was used and if there was any racial motivation by the officers involved. In addition, although no university police protocols were violated, university police are conducting a review of whether the officer involved could have avoided the confrontation that ensued.
According to the police report, ASU Police initially spoke to Ore because officers patrolling the area nearly hit her with their police vehicle as they turned the vehicle onto College Avenue to investigate a disabled vehicle. Officer Stewart Ferrin had no intention of citing or arresting Ore, but for her safety told her to walk on the sidewalk. When Ore refused to comply and refused to provide identification after she was asked for it multiple times, she was subsequently arrested.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has independently reviewed all available evidence, including the police report, witness statements, and audio and video recordings of the incident, and decided to press criminal charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, refusing to provide identification when requested to do so by an officer, and obstructing a highway or public thoroughfare. The charge of assaulting an officer is based on the fact that Ore kicked the officer as is shown on the video and as she admitted in her recorded statements to the police.
Sharon Keeler, sharon.keeler@asu.edu
(480) 965-4012
Media Relations
The academic status of Professor Ore could be raised if she is convicted or pleads guilty to some of these charges, particularly given the involvement of ASU police. Not only are criminal convictions generally grounds for such review but a crime technically against or involving the university can present a very serious issue for removal.
This should cause a stir in the halls of the ASU law school, my alma mater!
I watched the video. It was audio only for about the first half.
This professor kept maintaining that the entire problems is that the officer spoke to her in a disrespectful manner. He apparently told her it was a street, not a sidewalk, and to walk on the sidewalk. She took exception to that tone. So she argued and argued and argued with him. She refused to comply with anything he said, because of that initial “disrespectful” statement. And then when he tried to arrest her, she pleaded with onlookers to “not let this happen.” Was she hoping civilians would fight with a police officer to get her out of this? What did she want them to do? And then she seemed to imply that the officer was sexually assaulting her, saying he was “straddling her”, and objecting to the placement of his leg.
What I also see is the officer getting extremely frustrated. I think officers need to be trained in techniques for dealing with frustration, non-compliance, and unreasonable people (which she was.) And I would hope that he could get a non-cooperative woman handcuffed without throwing her to the ground. What about control moves? She was completely and entirely in the wrong for failure to comply, and seemed to want to make it a racial social injustice or sexual assault. African American people are not allowed to break the law, or get out of stupid revenue-generating tickets, because they are African-American. She made a lot of trouble for herself, including possibly jeopardizing her job, all because of a minor snippy comment. And she deliberately implied that the officer’s attempts to arrest her were sexual. What was her complaint going to be to his superiors? That he sarcastically explained that she was walking on a street and not a sidewalk?
I also think that they piled on extra charges to get a plea deal. She did resist arrest but the assaulting a police officer charge is lame.
And now her employers and students at the university got to see her behavior on video.
Saucy – you’re right. The best advice is to meekly comply with any police officer. Arguing at the scene never gets anyone anywhere. If necessary, you can always take it up with Internal Affairs at a later time.
She was jaywalking, which means she was likely going to get a ticket. It doesn’t matter what his tone was – she would have to take that up later with his watch commander or IA. She has to show her ID even if the ticket she’s getting is stupid.
It does sound like they piled on charges to make her plead out, because the only reasonable charge is jaywalking and refusing to show ID. They really need to stop doing that. And they need better training on how to defuse tense situations.
Just like it doesn’t matter what the officer’s tone was, she still had to show ID, it shouldn’t matter what her tone was. The officer needs to remain calm and unmoved. He should be able to handle her without throwing her to the ground.
Nick – so true that municipalities are hungry for ticketing revenue.
The park where my nephew plays soccer has no parking. Literally no parking lot. So people park all along the street when there are sports at the park. Hidden by a tree is a single no parking sign. You cannot see it for most of the stretch of the street, due to a curve in the road. So if you’ve passed that sign before you look for parking, you’ll have no idea. About 50 cars get tickets every Saturday. It’s obviously a revenue generator.
as I understand it,when lawfully stopped by a police officer,one is required to give their name-even here in red ass ky,you only need to show id when there is probable cause to place a subject under arrest-this is still the united states of America,you don’t need to produce papers in order to cross the street.watch the video,the young man makes this incident about his authority-he conflates his directions WITH THE LAW,WHEN IN FACT THEY ARE MADE UNDER COLOR OF LAW-very different-this young man’s anger management issues make him problematic for a position dealing with the general public,let alone one as a police officer-the latter are trained in how to deal with folks who can’t comply with commands immediately because of impairment,disability,language barrier,intoxication,even dissociative disorder,they are also trained in how to prioritize-how much of this guy’s day is devoted to this sort of drama? compare to how cops in the south or the Caribbean handle rowdy,kicking screaming college kids-I once heard one of this cops mutter -“some days it takes all kinds,some kinds take all day.”
I once was stopped by a state trooper for speeding, really speeding. This was in California, but I was a resident of another state on vacation. I was young and stupid. The trooper asked me to step outside the car. He was really angry and probably filled with adrenaline from the chase. It was obvious even to this young-un that he was looking for an excuse to arrest me. I immediately reverted to “Yes, sir” mode, being obsequious. You could almost see the air being released from his body. After he berated me, he gave me a nasty ticket, which I deserved, and allowed me to go on my way. I paid the ticket by mail as soon as it arrived.
If I had displayed an attitude of any kind, I would have landed in jail. That’s what this case is all about. Perhaps she had experienced racism in the past, but she cannot assume, like all liberals, that she has the right to carry a chip on her shoulder for the rest of her life. Everyone needs to understand that police officers never know if the person they are stopping is Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, or Charles Schulz, and they are often ready for battle. Lose the attitude with police officers.
Issac,
Yeah, she was smug, pompous, combative, and antagonistic. Looking for a fight.
Others I see causing problems are bicyclists running red lights. 2 wheels against a 4000 Lb SUV.
In NYC, watch a mother with a baby stroller jaywalk. What’s the first thing that mother does? Push the baby stroller into oncoming traffic.
Tom,
It is actually a huge pain in the ass. I almost hit a guy yesterday walking right in the middle of the street. Ended up yelling at ME when I gave the WTF shrug that the light was red anyway… as if that has any bearing on needing to slam on the breaks to react to a light that is over half a block away. Wouldn’t of lost sleep if I accidentally hit him.
No love for belligerent cops or whiny liberal arts professors either so hope they both are equally shamed for poor behavior.
After watching the video for a third time it is obvious that the woman asked for it. She held herself above the law. You don’t tell a police officer how to do his job or how to respond to a situation, especially as benign a situation as being asked for ID. She has a chip on her shoulder and has now successfully made things worse all around. Unfortunately because she is black and a woman, the results, once they make the rounds will only make things worse. If she has any backbone at all she will publicly apologize to the officer and make a statement in support of the police.
Irrespective of all the examples of police abuse and there are limitless examples, some in which the officer should be at the very least dismissed and perhaps charged, this does not seem like an instance instigated by the officer.
The woman was jaywalking. The police car turned the corner and she was in the way. This much has been ascertained. The officer has the right to approach the individual to verify if the person is: drunk, disorientated, or otherwise more than simply jaywalking. When the officer asked for ID, and he seems to ask politely from the audio, the woman should have simply shown her ID and complied. She probably would have gotten off with a warning or have been reminded that it is not a good idea to jaywalk. This is not police brutality.
Everything that lead up to her being handcuffed and flipping out was instigated by her. She is an example of individuals refusing the authority of the police and sometimes even baiting the police. The knife cuts both ways. To represent this as police brutality only works against those innocent citizens who are indeed brutalized by the police.
There is need for respect for the police just as much as there is need for respect for citizens. From the video and early audio, the officer was polite and respectful. It was the woman who disrespected the officer.
He could have given her a verbal reprimand without asking to see her ID, however, it is within his right to ask for ID and after viewing the arrogance of the woman perhaps a necessity.
Mespo often models the axiom, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Neo, Bingo! People ridicule us libertarians for railing against a monster govt. eating it’s own citizens. They don’t seem to understand the macro level, but they see this and completely understand the micro level of an out of control government.
Power meets immaturity and the results are predictable.
Tom G
Jaywalking is such a deadly threat to society these days. Remember the statement “We had to destroy the village in order to save it”? Observe what is happening around us. These enforcers are not accomplishing anything by initiating contempt for the citizen. Respect is a two way street.
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I beg to differ Tom, the American people are being trained to become subservient to all government authority.
Seems once she was told she was obstructing the road, the officer was allowed to ask for ID. That is seen in the video. Allegedly she was told earlier and ignored the officer. I hate the not so fine line that assaulting an officer has become. As in the Florida case…staring was considered an assault.
I am inclined to take the position that the Arizona law requiring a person to identify themselves lacking grounds of probable cause or probable suspicion is unconstitutional and that argument should be perused.
Additionally, people are stupid for even talking to police as she in fact admitted that she did kick the police officer. Nothing like an admission of guilt for something.
All I got was the audio on the tape. Firstly, the insatiable appetite government has for money has caused them to take money from citizens by any means necessary. In just the past few years, some cities have become Gestapo about jaywalking, levying fines for any violation. San Diego, where I live in the winter, is one of those cities. They actually assign foot cops to pop people like we saw here. The exclusive nearby city of Coronado, has taken San Diego’s lead, and their fine is $400!!
Paul Schulte will be able to tell us if Tempe has the same “safety program.” That’s what cities call it. It’s all done for safety, don’t you know. So, I understand her being pissed. All that said, she did have “a ‘tude” and this could have been avoided. The cop is going to issue a ticket. NOTHING she said was going to change that. You battle it in court, not on the street.
Jaywalking is such a deadly threat to society these days. Remember the statement “We had to destroy the village in order to save it”? Observe what is happening around us. These enforcers are not accomplishing anything by initiating contempt for the citizen. Respect is a two way street.
One cannot just say no to the police these days, especially if black, brown, and/or female. My sympathy is with the victim. The police as always in our time overreact, over penalize, over everything until it becomes absolutely absurd. And no one possesses any common sense–or human empathy–in this matter judging by the comments and reactions of others in authority who should have then judged the action of the police to have been unnecessary. I suspect the woman simply thought no, not again, not any more. And the police, as always, were clueless.
Silly much ado about nothing.