Originally posted by Thrawn
I wonder if I get moded if I cut n' paste my own text. 
"Use of force to physically control someone, well that's what "arrest" is. Use of or threat of pain to control someone when no one is in danger, I think that is immoral.
He wasn't threatening anyone he was just disobeying. He didn't have to stand up, they could have picked him up. Yes it would be a pain in the ass, but there you have itI think tasers have just made cops lazier. If not that, than physically incapable people are becoming cops because they can rely on the taser...maybe both. And with the reliance on the weapon to force people to comply comes a problem of dehumanization...
"The officers used the "drive stun" setting in the Taser"
...right, just like a cattle prod."
- Thrawn...Jenius.
Actually I think this is an example of a fantasy being imposed into the thread. Particularly the part about
"He wasn't threatening anyone he was just disobeying. He didn't have to stand up, they could have picked him up." The bit about "no danger" is bovine excrement as arrests are made all the time for situations that did not involve physical danger. In fact physical danger is not required to affect an arrest except in those cases where that was a part of the offense in question like robbery assault etc. and that is only because that is a part of the law that was broken to define the ofense.
The information in the thread about the situation that led up to the tazing is this from the original post.
"The story behind it so far is it was after 11PM and the kid refused to show his ID card in the library when asked. The librarian called the campus cops, the kid refused to cooperate and leave and got tased."Now there has been no other information to indicate there was anything other than the above situation, other than mere speculation by others who were not there. If anyone has an outside source. ie a news story with witness quotes or information from the library staff I'd really like to see it instead of speculation.
Given the information in the first post which has not been shown to be in error to date, it will take the Campus Police more than a couple minutes to respond to a call from the library. The student had ample time to leave upon direction of library staff who are completely within their authority to tell a person to leave the facility. The individual in question did not leave by the time the Police arrived. After being told to leave again by the Police the student refused. He is already now and has been since the first order to leave, tresspassing. That authorizes the Plolice to take enforcement action. That action does not require not mandate they physically pick up an adult sized and functional (physically anyhow) individual and carry them out the door. The individual on the other hand is required to comply with the request and later order to leave the premisis. Failure to do so means the Officers are authorized to take that action which is necessary to remove the indivdual and start the force continuum. Obviously verbal instruction was not successful. It would seem that simply trying to guide the student out of the facility was also unsuccessful given the very loud yelling by the student "don't touch me, don't touch me".
In the clip linked at the start of the thread the student is clearly being loud, disruptive and disobedient to orders. If you listen to the tape in the first 15 seconds you can hear instructions to get up. If the individual was in the process of leaving it's hard to imagine he would be doing so by not being on his feet. There is a bit more "discussion" before the individual is tased at about the 30 second mark. That discussion was at least 2 statements by the Officer that if he (the student) didn't get up he would be tased. The individual says that he was going to leave yet there are repeated orders to get up before the obvious tazer hit.
Prior to that point there is more than sufficient justification to affect an arrest. It would almost certainly have been a citation for disorderly conduct, or disturbing an educational institution or tresspassing.
As to the bit about the badge number. Yep they could have handled that in a slightly different manner such as saying you can have it once the prisoner is secured and outside. It is neither appropriate nor smart to stop what you are doing to comply with a request frm multiple individuals while dealing with the individual the action was all about. Continuing to interfere with the Officers during their actions could also constitute an infraction by those other students.
This is a no win situation for the Officers. If they do not rermove the individual they are not performing their duties. If they have to touch or move the individual by physical means they risk injury to themselves and to the individual assuming of course the individual is not going to go peacefully. Even if he is only pasively resisting, ie. going limp, he is still subject to injury if the Officers do not have sufficient room and manpower to move the "body" in a manner that would safeguard the person being removed and arrested. Doing so with the use of any force is what this person wanted to begin with. He wanted a scene and he got it in a college library.
In short when told to leave he should have left, prior to the Police being called. Once the Police arrived he most defintely should have left. Once being told he would be tased if he didn't get up he should have gotten up and left. He did none of those things. He got tased and arrested. All of his histrionics were obviously an attempt to sway the situation to his control and he lost. He was in the wrong and paid for it.
