Soldato
Good luck if you are ever suspected of a crime and resist arrest.
Police Taser their own race relations adviser in Bristol
- Thread starter lurkio
- Start date
Good luck if you are ever suspected of a crime and resist arrest.
Soldato
I guess he means it was just an excuse to harrass a member of public who they took exception to and get some sort of a power trip.
That is not what a taser is provided for. It is a firearm used to protect the police and public. It is not used to effect an arrest because the person isn't cooperating.
http://content.met.police.uk/Site/taser
I am very pro-police (my father was in the Met) but from the video I have seen the guy was posing no threat to the police or the public other than resisting arrest. Yet the police chose to use a potentially lethal weapon on someone who they didn't even know was the person they were looking for or a completely random and innocent member of the public.
EDIT: Having looked at the video again the taser was discharged before the "taser, taser, taser" warning was shouted. Surely that is also a breach of standards?
EDIT again: The man was 63 years old. Unless he was carrying a weapon, which I see no evidence of, then he would be very unlikely to pose a physical threat to two police officers. They had no reason to need self defense.
Controversial edit: If there had been two male officers then I suspect they could have arrested him without the use of a lethal weapon.
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Associate
yeah because that's not bristol at all. It's a student city for christs sakes, they're talking like the bristol hates outsiders lol if you did a survey of bristol during term time you'd probably find half the population wasn't born in or around bristolI don't get that feeling from Bristol at all.
Taser is not a firearm, it's a Conducted Energy Device. This might seem pedantic but it's an important distinction to make because officers who carry Taser are not necessarily authorised to carry or use conventional firearms.
Fair point. However they are indeed a self defense weapon.
Why would I be trolling
I mean, its logical right, he wont be bothered by the police anymore, and, he doesn't waste their time.
It's a completely win - win situation for everyone.
It appears he had previously been arrested in a case of mistaken identity.
Caporegime
Caporegime
So he looks like a known criminal then. Easy to see why they were interested in him isn't it? Maybe if he'd not acted like a prat and had given his name then he could have been merrily on his way?
You can split it down in parts:
1) should they arrest him for refusing to give his identity?
2 should then be entitled to use the taser to assist with any such arrest?
3) in any case was the use of the taser actually reasonable here?
There are differences on opinions on 1) and I can see both sides but I'm not sure many ar saying the use of the taser was reasonable...
I don't think police should be entitled to taser people just because they don't like how they're behaving... only if it's genuine self defence.
1) should they arrest him for refusing to give his identity?
2 should then be entitled to use the taser to assist with any such arrest?
3) in any case was the use of the taser actually reasonable here?
There are differences on opinions on 1) and I can see both sides but I'm not sure many ar saying the use of the taser was reasonable...
I don't think police should be entitled to taser people just because they don't like how they're behaving... only if it's genuine self defence.
hrmm i might have to agree with you thar
I initally thought from the video the guy was resisting arrest and 1 of the officers was in trouble (ie at risk of harm) so the 2nd officer (female) tasered him...though not exactly following the "officer tasering guidelines and usage" protocols so to speak.
You need to be quiet.
What you are hinting at also crossed my mind.
Caporegime
How do they know.it's his house?
I'm not sure he's 'their own race relations advisor' so much as he seems to be the head of some group that have set themselves up as 'community leader' types and now engage with the police.
The incident is a bit dubious IMO, I'd like there to be a higher threshold for use of a tazer. The US police forces seem to use them for compliance purposes but in the UK they ought to be strictly self defence and not a first resort to a bit of pushing/non compliance.
Two of the actors in that scene unfortunately played up to bad stereotypes - the black guy played the stereotypical militant black guy who became all aggro because the police were talking to him when he could have just stayed calm, responded like a normal person and cleared up the issue very quickly.
The female police office played up to a really bad female in uniform role - utterly inept - she panicked and somehow managed to shoot him in the face despite being at very close range.
The incident is a bit dubious IMO, I'd like there to be a higher threshold for use of a tazer. The US police forces seem to use them for compliance purposes but in the UK they ought to be strictly self defence and not a first resort to a bit of pushing/non compliance.
Two of the actors in that scene unfortunately played up to bad stereotypes - the black guy played the stereotypical militant black guy who became all aggro because the police were talking to him when he could have just stayed calm, responded like a normal person and cleared up the issue very quickly.
The female police office played up to a really bad female in uniform role - utterly inept - she panicked and somehow managed to shoot him in the face despite being at very close range.