UCLA Officers Use Taser on ID-less Student
 

Source

YouTube Video of incident

Infuriating.

First off, the guy seems to be having mental issues. He's not well. Second, they tased him for using a civil disobedience tactic. Carry the guy off, something, but tase him to make him stand? Tasers make you fall down. Thirdly, if these guys can't handle one student then they haven't been trained well. They need to be let go. Yes, the guy didn't have his ID. But tasing someone because they don't have an ID? And to add to the mess, word is is that the guy's Iranian.

Abuse of power. Period.

I read the story this morning, but haven't watched the video yet so I don't have a real opinion on the specific story. But I've been concerned in general that law enforcement is getting a bit overeager in their taser usage. It seems like there's a perception that it's "non-lethal", so it's okay to use whenever. I know they have a tough job, but I thought tasers were supposed to be instead of shooting people and would be used in crisis situations where shooting the suspect would have been reasonable - not just to make people easier to subdue. Maybe I misunderstood.

It isn't the job of campus security to administer punishment. That is for the courts. And yet, the actions that the guards took smells more like punishment to me.

I see no reason why this situation couldn't have been efficiently handled without a need to taser this person, not only once, but twice. Why were 3 guards not able to handcuff this person and remove him from the building? If he had been punching and kicking them, perhaps I could see the necessity but it was an act of peaceful resistance and shouldn't have been met with this type of force. Had they not had a taser, would they have shot him?

I think he was wrong to resist and should have had his ID card, but this just goes too far, IMO.

I was listening to KNX this morning and not to put a spin on it, since it "sounded" like the guy just didn't comply with what they wanted. Maybe that's so, maybe not - I don' thave all the facts. But the thing that got me this morning was that a rep from one of the Ismalmic/ American Councels was on the radio calling for a full investigation and when the DJ's asked why they were getting involved was because the guy had an "Arab sounding name." Then they asked if the "Councel" had talked to the authorities or the Student himself. They apparently didn't. I couldn't belive I was hearing this on the radio?

http://www.knx1070.com/pages/126418.php?contentType=4&contentId=242403

Ah, interesting. So it seems like this wasn't "he didn't have identification," but rather, "I refuse to show you my identification!" The plot thickens.

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10325914/detail.html

NBC's take on it.

It sure looks like a sure case of two wrongs not making a right.

The student was being an arrogant pig-headed moron for not just following the rules and either showing his ID or leaving, while the campus cops were also bloody morons for letting a situation like that go on for that long.

As an officer you should only resort to the use of force to end a dangerous situation. I don't know that this situation called for the use of force, but you sure as hell don't taser, back off, taser, back off etc... If as an officer your choice is the use of force then you taser until he can't move cuff him and drag his ass out.

It happened at UCLA, 'nuff said...

Poor guy was probably just sick of people looking at his ID and butchering his last name.

Yeah,they might use the same picture from the DMV. :rolleyes:

This is REALLY disturbing to me...the police overacted way too much. My friends at UCLA are really disturbed by this, as well.

In the video, one of the students requesting an ID number is told that if he doesn't leave he would "get tased too"...

:eek:

How much physical evidence is left when someone gets "tased"? If officers use undue force by whacking someone with a nightstick repeatedly, there is presumeably bruising, bleeding, and related evidence. Is tasing seen as an action without repercussion, even if it was clearly unwarranted? In other words, is there no real penalty for poor judgment such that it's just as easy to tase first and ask questions later?

Yes, but it is illegal to interfere with a police officer and I think a good case can be made that's what the student questioning the officer (who was just a bystander) was doing.

If the police officer is standing around (which is what he was doing, keeping the crowd back), it is perfectly legal to demand his badge number and name. The student made no effort to interfere with his duty. The cop could have ignored him, but instead threatened to taser him.

I'd rather they "tase" than whack someone anyday. From what I heard on the radio today, tasing just stuns them for a short period and the pain is temporaty.

Plus listening to some of the reaction, I wonder if this guy was Irish or another nationality, would the reactions be the same?:snap:

Unless, of course, they have a pacemaker or dozens of other medical issues, in which case a Taser is lethal.

Did I mention that before they tased him, he screamed out he had a medical issue? Even if he was lying, tasing him after he stated that the Taser could be lethal to him is just the same as shooting him with a gun.

All I can say is thank god for YouTube. It's not made the L.A.P.D.'s month. Earlier this week, they were caught pepper-spraying a handcuffed suspect in the face because he was mouthing-off, but not aggressive in any way. Earlier in the month, they are shown punching a cuffed and prone suspect in the face multiple times. That one happened last summer, but the suspects attorney released it now because the D.A. is stonewalling on a deal.

I'm glad so many people have video capabilities on their cell-phones, which is how most of these things are captured ... and YouTube allows them to be on the internet and get world-wide attention.

It has come to this with police brutality -- we all need to keep video cameras on our persons at all times.


But this has been 3 quick strikes for the L.A.P.D. (it was not campus security, but UCLA-assigned police who did the tasering) ... and even though there's been no guns involved in these incidents, it sure looks like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

That is precisely the attitude I was concerned about. There's this idea that tasing is essentially harmless so it just doesn't matter.

Well, I"m not saying everyone should go out and get one and start taizing everyone. If it's them or you and Law Inforcement is involved, I'd rather have someone knocked to ground than beaten to a pulp. In actuality I'd rather have the idiot who was smug enough to NOT show his ID or leave when he was asked to, to comply like everyone else is expected to. When will that end? You get pulled over and the cops ask for your Drivers Licences and you refuse? If I was the Cop or SEcurity Guard I'd rather have the guy dropped, then either someone killed, shot or if the person has other motives, myself blown up. So in a perfect world all would be well.

That said, I'm not excusing the % of the cops that do this for sport or unjustified. From what I read, I'd rather have the guy tazed, take outside, rather than anything the guy "Might" have been doing in a closed area. What if this had been an area of an airport? Or a library at the local Jr.High.

I"M not excusing the problem, just simply saying it's a bit broader than just some moron not "showing his ID." :rolleyes:

Not that it makes it ok in this incident, but someday I'd like to get tased just to know what it feels like.

Seriously.

AH, you live near UCLA? :cool:

Hey, I've seen news reporters getting tazed for a story. Maybe contact your local Police Academy and see if you can volunteer!!:p

Even IF he was a threat, why did they keep tasing him AFTER they handcuffed him and knocked him onto the floor. He was screaming in agony, pleading for them to stop, saying he would leave and comply with them. And they tasered him. Over. And over. And over.

They had no reason to do that. None at all.

Well, since neither of us are "Them" we can really say. We weren't there, that's what the investigation is all about. I haven't read a updated report in the last few hours and I haven't seen it mentioned that he was handcuffed and then zapped. Sure, if he's down and not struggling, yeah, that's 100% not cool. But, if he refused to move, or provide ID or/and tried to insight the rest of the people in the library to join him, then I'd say zap the guy. That's the story I've read.

A friend of a friend met up with a prostitute in a foriegn country and asked to try some thing different. At the moment of climax, she applied jumper cables attatched to a car battery, to our aquaintenses testicles. He chalked this up as easily one of the best sexual experiences he had ever had. Sorry, I felt I had to share.

Also known as "Great Balls of Fire" :D

The Cheeseburger 9000 is so pretty...

I'm redoing her insides with shades of blue

Goodness Gracious!



Damn, the next 10 days are out of control!

I don't think you need a full investigation to say that someone pleading for mercy while getting electrocuted numerous times by the police isn't right.

If you watch the video, you hear him say how this is an abuse of power. That's it. Since when does the government have the right to electrocute you for speaking out against it as you are being arrested?

Regardless of anything, they should not have tasered him when he said he had a medical condition. They should have either physically subdued him or, if he was life-threating, use lethal force.

I wonder if wearing PVC clothing subverts the effectiveness of taser shocks?

We'll have to get Carrie-Anne Moss and reshoot the opening of The Matrix to find out.

It used to, but apparently the new models can go through Level III body armor, so I'm guessing PVC clothes don't do much for protection.

How about latex body paint?

Well, had the bopped him on the head it might have given him a worse medical condition. Lack of life maybe? Then we'd have the whole National Geographic Baby Seal brain splatter in Non-Fiction.

And since when do governments have those right? Since forever. Millions have died for lesser things and alot worse than a shock to the body. Granted not a continues flow of electricity, but bring the guy down and get the job done.

The kid was dumb enough not to comply. He paid the price, maybe he'll bring his ID next time. IF the cops acting wrongly and it's founded. Shock them too. :evil:

Is this a hint for a Xmas present? The gift that keeps on giving. :D

And by "gift", I, of course, meant a car battery and jumper cables, not a hooker. Just thought I should clear that up. :)

Why can't several police officers remove a handcuffed guy because he won't stand up?

Haven't they watched COP's where they just hog tie the dude, pick him up and walk away.

And with all those people - what where they thinking?

That was just disturbing.

Actually, watch that one again. He was not handcuffed and was actually resisting pretty vigorously. Probably not enough to warrant the beating he was taking...but then again, with two officers on him and being punched in the face, he was STILL resisting, and considering that it's a 15 second video with zero context of what happened before (how much had he resisted BEFORE he was on the ground with two officers on tip of him, still resisting?), I don't consider that video to be particularly clear-cut abuse.

They shouldn't have had to "bop him on the head", either. If 3 cops can't pick up a scrawny college kid physically, I've lost faith in our police.

What would you be saying if this kid had a pacemaker and the taser killed him? A taser doesn't just shock you. The ones the cops use are highly lethal devices. Hundreds of people have died from them. They lock up your central nervous system and block the signals from getting to your muscles. If used incorrectly they can seriously screw you up.

If he had a bomb on him or some other weapon, a taser or baton would have done nothing to stop him.