Tasered at Best Buy!

[Aardvark154]

I don't imagine anyone in their right mind would walk into a retail outlet looking to defuse anything. I'm speculating that the lady was already agitated due to other stuff that happened before she entered the store. . . When the store clerk failed to authorize her credit card purchase, she probably just decided not to deal with the aggravation and just leave without the purchase and move on. She must have been really ticked off when the cop attempted to prevent her from leaving when she had apparently done nothing wrong or suspicious.

I'm going by what ig-88 posted at the begining of the thread that

Cashier thinks the credit card is phony. Woman abruptly goes to leave the store, without the merchandise and the credit card.

In those circumstances the Police Officer had every right to detain her. The question is really was the Police Officer justified in Tasering her. I don't know enough from the tape to have an opinion on that question, however, I do think that the Shopper would have been better served to have "chilled out" and asked to speak to a manager rather than to have acted the way she did.

I suspect that the prosicutor's office will reduce or drop the charges, it remains to be seen what will be said about the justification for the tasering. The shopper otherwise appears to have no grounds (or likelyhood of success) for a suit against either the store or the Police Department.

 

[red]

I wouldn;t cry too much for her.She couldn't be reached for comment because her lawyer probably told her to keep her mouth shut as they prepared a HUGE F%cking lawsuit against Best Buy and the police force involved.she'll get some cash out of this screw up for sure.

yes but she should.

 

[fuji]

In those circumstances the Police Officer had every right to detain her.

Absolutely.

The question is really was the Police Officer justified in Tasering her.

Bingo. She did not look like she was a threat to anyone, so, in my books, the answer to this question is "no". The officer should have attempted to restrain her by other means. Tasers should only be considered an alternative to shooting someone, and therefore used only in circumstances where a gun would be used if the taser wasn't available.

No-one would think it was acceptable for the cop to have shot her with a gun in this case, ergo, it is not acceptable to have tasered her either.

I realize the rules of engagement used by this police department are likely different than my analysis above, and that the officer very likely was following the rules in that jurisdiction: Their rules are wrong, and need to be corrected. It is up to citizens to demand that politicians change the rules.

 

[Aardvark154]

The officer should have attempted to restrain her by other means. Tasers should only be considered an alternative to shooting someone, and therefore used only in circumstances where a gun would be used if the taser wasn't available.

What if the Police Officer had pepper-sprayed her? Is the objection to Tasers a higher rate of accidental death than other supposedly "non-lethal force" devices, or is it rather an objection to the police doing anything other than having to dance around with the suspect?

 

[blackdog]

It is obvious that too many cops are finding that using a taser is the easy and fast way out of a situation. This is both the result of police training and Police culture. I work with police from several north american and european cities. The Canadians are not so bad but the US cops are unbelievable in their attitude and their distain for normal people. As a result they think nothing of using the taser as an easy solution to any disagreement. Western european police work in a much more formal structure and have constant training to avoid burnout and corruption. Having said that Ive seen some french cops pull some nasty shit. Don't ever cross an eastern european cop, especially the drunk ones.

 

[Aardvark154]

Having said that Ive seen some french cops pull some nasty shit. Don't ever cross an eastern european cop, especially the drunk ones.

There is a huge difference across North America (less so in Canada, but only slightly so) between rural and urban police agencies. What is normal in a major city is totally unacceptable in a small town, likewise take a suburban police officer and put them into the worst intercity precinct and it would be but months (perhaps weeks) before they would either resign or be in a shooting.