Officers Must Have Reasonable Grounds To Use Taser

[PapaBear]

The latest from the 9th Circus Court Of Apples...................

A Coronado, Calif., police officer used excessive force when he shot a Taser dart at a young driver who was stopped for a seat belt violation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Carl Bryan, then 21, fell to the asphalt after being struck by the dart, breaking four teeth and suffering facial cuts. He later sued the Coronado Police Department and Officer Brian MacPherson.

Full Story
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,6106325.story

[SCHUMACHER]

Link is not working.

[Bradley]

Link is not working.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-court-tasers-20101201,0,6106325.story

Police must have reasonable grounds for using a Taser on a suspect, the appeals panel said, noting that Bryan was wearing only boxer shorts and tennis shoes and was clearly unarmed. Bryan was standing about 20 feet away with his back to MacPherson when he was hit.

Having reasonable grounds for using a Taser doesn't sound like an unreasonable expectation.

With that being said,

On the drive home from Camarillo to Coronado, Bryan had been cited for speeding and was agitated when he was stopped a second time by MacPherson, according to court records.

Not knowing what state of agitation he was in, makes it hard to judge the court's ruling.

[HonkingAntelope]

Not knowing what state of agitation he was in, makes it hard to judge the court's ruling.

That's why you say to yourself "Google is my friend!" and look up the original written decision instead of what the popular media usually gets wrong. :lol:

Take a look over here and see for youself.

http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-55622&s=CA&d=42343


IMO, as someone who's been in a similar situation myself, the officer was totally in the right to taser the guy...

[AyatollahGondola]

Well, there has been some deaths and serious injuries during the use of the taser, so it is understandable that a higher degree of standards is being applied in the aftermath.

[HonkingAntelope]

Well, there has been some deaths and serious injuries during the use of the taser, so it is understandable that a higher degree of standards is being applied in the aftermath.

Then again, there have been quite a few officer deaths and injuries when a seriously agitated subject suddenly jumped out of their vehicle and decided to act in a threatening or outright psychotic manner.

At the end of the day, it's better to be judged by twelve (if it ever gets that far) than be carried by six.

[AyatollahGondola]

Then again, there have been quite a few officer deaths and injuries when a seriously agitated subject suddenly jumped out of their vehicle and decided to act in a threatening or outright psychotic manner.

At the end of the day, it's better to be judged by twelve (if it ever gets that far) than be carried by six.

Well, that's the thing. When someone is acting psychotic, they are sick; and when you're in public safety, you also have some duty to protect the sick. Of course not at the expense of your own well being either. The taser looked pretty safe for use on most everyone at first, but after some years in practice it is showing some hazards too. Until something better comes along, the next best thing is to modify the terms of its' use

[G-Man]

Well, there has been some deaths and serious injuries during the use of the taser, so it is understandable that a higher degree of standards is being applied in the aftermath.

I don't believe any of the deaths were a result of the taser alone. Those that died were in excited delirium (or something to that effect) after using copious amounts of illicit substances.

A handful of deaths, all of which had other provoking factors, cannot be used as hard evidence against the use of the Taser (although, it probably was here). Having been tazed... (more than once:doh: ) I am not any worse for wear. Can it cause injury? It might, or it might not. But, a PR-24 strike WILL cause injury. Personally, I think the odds are better that you will not have a lasting injury if you are tased.

Does a taser hurt? sh*t yes it does, but I am willing to take bets it doesn't hurt as much as having your knee cap moved to the back of your leg.

[AyatollahGondola]

I don't believe any of the deaths were a result of the taser alone. Those that died were in excited delirium (or something to that effect) after using copious amounts of illicit substances.

A handful of deaths, all of which had other provoking factors, cannot be used as hard evidence against the use of the Taser (although, it probably was here). Having been tazed... (more than once:doh: ) I am not any worse for wear. Can it cause injury? It might, or it might not. But, a PR-24 strike WILL cause injury. Personally, I think the odds are better that you will not have a lasting injury if you are tased.

Does a taser hurt? sh*t yes it does, but I am willing to take bets it doesn't hurt as much as having your knee cap moved to the back of your leg.

I don't think it should be banned or that it should be stopped. Remember that choke hold that was used many years ago that was blamed for several deaths too? It's all relative I guess. Someday something better will surface

[23112]

I don't think it should be banned or that it should be stopped. Remember that choke hold that was used many years ago that was blamed for several deaths too? It's all relative I guess. Someday something better will surface

Yeah! Bring back the carotid choke!! :badgrin:

[HonkingAntelope]

Yeah! Bring back the carotid choke!! :badgrin:

and blackjacks! Those used to be standard issue too, as far as I know.