Man tasered in front of his kid at petrol station

Soldato
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What a shame that the boy has such a terrible father. But I'm sure twitter will be along to say "But you don't know he's terrible! He could be father of the year!" etc...
 
Soldato
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A Taser discharge is more than enough to ignite petrol vapours if they were present.

Realistically, the risk isn't that substantial as they don't create a spark unless they're in drive-stun mode. The guidance on use advises that there is increased risk if a person's clothing are soaked with petrol or other flammable substances.

While I have no problem with them detaining him by force in front of his child, the use of a taser is a little bit mental in that circumstance IMO. I would really like to think that the benchmark for using such a weapon would be higher.

It will have been a more-informed decision than it appears on video however. The male's behviour and demeanour, any threats he may have made, any warning markers on him or the car. There's no prescribed list of criteria that have to be met before Taser can be deployed and the fact that the officer already had it out before any filming started suggests he'd previously been warned several times and red-dotted without effect.
 
Soldato
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What difference does having a kid with them make? If they do something to warrant a tasering, they should get tasered. Having a kid doesn't make someone above the rules or immune to consequences.
 
Soldato
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I am curious whether there is a real threat of an explosion or fire when using a taser in a petrol station.

If there is enough vapour around to cause an explosion then something has already gone badly wrong. Under any ordinary circumstance there will not really be a problem unless somebody is actually filling up right next to it

I'd have shot him. Less risk of a petrol pump going up.

Have always been puzzled about "Officer involved shootings" 99.999% of cases. the people who have got shot have been shot because they are jerks.

If I was confronted by coppers pointing guns at me I would be "Yes Boss" and if I felt my civil rights had been violated, that's what civil rights lawyers are for!

Consider this case currently going the rounds

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...k-jogger-Ahmaud-Arbery-25-connection-him.html

Regardless of what led up to this, If I was out for a nice little jog and found myself confronted by two armed Men.

A) I would not try to just barge past them. However bad the situation might be, barging past them is going to make it worse.

B) I would not try to grab one of the mens Guns because it is a mathematical certainty that doing so will result in me getting killed in the ******* face!
 
Caporegime
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It's always some little weakling or a woman with the taser, we should just hire police who can make an arrest without needing it, the guy on the right looked like he can handle the physical demands of the job but he wasn't even given a chance to try and make a forceful arrest before the little guy tasered him.
 
Caporegime
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I’d be a bit worried about using a taser for compliance rather than self defence, don’t really want to go down the US route. Though this guy did start to get aggressive/physical with the officer and so meh... probably justified albeit a bit close to the line.

Yes he’s also a complete **** given the charges and people have some dubious priorities if they’re more concerned about the kid seeing that than the fact he was drink driving with his kid.
 
Caporegime
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Surely the taser should be there as a last resort rather than to make your job a bit quicker and easier? I think the reason why the kid was so traumatized by it is there didn't appear to be any serious attempt at an arrest prior to it so it was all rather sudden.
 
Associate
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Surely using a taser or any use of extreme force should only be used in extreme circumstances - ie a clear and present danger to either a third party, the police or even the perp (ie self harm). From what I can see in the video none of these were a factor in the decision making.
I think the covid link is fair to a degree but still don't believe that the desire to take him down from a distance wouldn't really cut it. Lets say he was known to have c19 and was spitting at them or something then it might be different but there is no evidence to suggest that.
Also those saying "yeah well he was a drink driver and the peeps condemning the coppers conveniently seem to forget this" really doesn't matter. The old adage applies here, two wrongs do not make a right. It shouldn't be a factor on deciding how to take him down. If they dont need to use extreme force then they shouldn't and there really isn't anything in the vid that convinces me otherwise.
 
Associate
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Surely the taser should be there as a last resort rather than to make your job a bit quicker and easier? I think the reason why the kid was so traumatized by it is there didn't appear to be any serious attempt at an arrest prior to it so it was all rather sudden.

You posted this as I was penning my much wordier and less eloquent post. Wot he said :o
 
Soldato
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To me it looked like just before he got tasered he tried to headbut one of the officers.

I have a friend that has had a few altercations with the police and it takes a good few of them and one hell of a commotion to get him to the floor. Without that taser it would have taken both of them to try to floor him and then that could have gone really bad especialy with a child involved.
 
Soldato
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Completely acceptable outcome, if you watch the original unedited video. Using the child as a shield, resisting arrest, failure to co-operate, on top of driving under the influence, speeding, no insurance and god knows what else. If anything the Police have possibly saved that child from following in the same foot steps as his father.
 
Soldato
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Surely using a taser or any use of extreme force should only be used in extreme circumstances - ie a clear and present danger to either a third party, the police or even the perp (ie self harm). From what I can see in the video none of these were a factor in the decision making.
I think the covid link is fair to a degree but still don't believe that the desire to take him down from a distance wouldn't really cut it. Lets say he was known to have c19 and was spitting at them or something then it might be different but there is no evidence to suggest that.
Also those saying "yeah well he was a drink driver and the peeps condemning the coppers conveniently seem to forget this" really doesn't matter. The old adage applies here, two wrongs do not make a right. It shouldn't be a factor on deciding how to take him down. If they dont need to use extreme force then they shouldn't and there really isn't anything in the vid that convinces me otherwise.


"Extreme force" isn't a policing term though. Use of Taser is often safer for everyone than incapacitant sprays, baton strikes, or physical methods used to gain control and compliance. The point of officers having these tools and being trained to use them is ideally to not to allow a situation to escalate past the point where it can be used i.e. if someone is attacking you it's potentially too late. It's considered a less-lethal (as opposed to non-lethal) option and that is taken into account when it's used, but equally physical strikes or compliance methods can be inadvertently lethal too.

As said, they'll have been in possession of more of the facts of that incident than the person filming or anyone who's watched the short clips. There are a multitude of factors not captured on the video that may have influenced how those events played out.
 
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