What is law enforcement coming to? Are they friend or foe?
By dloveli
@dloveli (4366)
United States
August 14, 2009 6:56am CST
I was watching the news this morning and there was a women who was pulled over accused of using her cell phone and speeding while driving. When the officer came up she handed him her license and registration and told him she didnt have a cell phone. After he checked her purse and things and there was no cellphone. He then said "well you were speeding". In the end he tazed her. In front of her two children. Was this really necessary? The officer is now on desk duty and he is being sued. Obviously they think he was wrong. WHat scares me is how many times is this going to happen before they take steps to control the use of a taser. Before I started this discussion, I researched this topic and found that people have died from wrongly using this weapon. Who's next? The children of this poor woman must be terrified. What do you think? Do you know anyone who has had this happened?
4 people like this
13 responses
@melanie652 (2524)
• United States
14 Aug 09
Yikes! That is horrible! I can't imagine the woman got so unruly she needed to be tazed?? That's awful he did it in front of her kids too. Poor kids are probably having nightmares about it. Very sad. I hope she wins her lawsuit!
I didn't know about people dying from being tazed, but if they have heart problems I can see it happening.
2 people like this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I also saw that clip on TV this morning and was disgusted with the cop's behaviour. It was so unnecessary. This was police brutality. I was VERY GLAD to hear she is suing the police department. Her poor kids must have been terrified. I think they were in the car about 40 minutes while this was all going on. The part that really got to me was when the cop pulled her back out of the car and tasered her for the second time. I hope she gets a big award and the cop gets fired never to work in any type of law enforcement ever again. 1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I forgot to add she was not using her cellphone and was not speeding!
1 person likes this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
14 Aug 09
NO dont know any one that has been tazered.
and to me the only ones that need to be tazered are people that are out of control like police stand off of a gunman holding someone hostage.
or some one relaly fighting the police in bad things they have done and can be controled any othre way.
Also they tazers shouldnt carry 50 thousand volts!Just enough to put that person down which would proabably be around 200 volts! Ya get shocked with just 110 volts at a plug in at your house is it isnt hocked up right and that can hurt some and 200 runsa you stoves so 200 volts would be about right to put someone down and not kill them!
1 person likes this
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
16 Aug 09
we have local cops almost as bad.
some of them here once they get that badge they get powermad.
you have to be really careful what you say if they stop you for anything.
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I know alot of policemen and women and I think for the most part they do their job well....once in a while you'll get one with a God complex who thinks they can do anything they want....it's a power thing....but of all the police I have met in the last 20 years most of them are following their rules and regulations...
1 person likes this
@Saulrelative (63)
• United States
15 Aug 09
This is terrible. Do we know what convinced this man to taser the poor woman? Also souldn't something like that get you fire, no questions asked? Its amazing what the world is coming to. Hopefully the new generation will see some new changes.
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I don't believe everything I see in the media and I say this as a newspaper owner myself. I started my own weekly newspaper in our small town competing against a daily newspaper because of that. The media focuses on negativity to get ratings and sell papers. In a small community minded town the people don't want that. Our daily paper was taking many things too far and people were tired of it. For that reason I don't tend to believe everything that is shown on the news or written in a newspaper.
If the man tasered the woman for no reason he does deserve to be reprimanded. However not all law enforcement act in this manner and we never hear the stories where the use of a taser may have actually helped a situation. We only hear the negative stories. I'm sure the good far outweigh the bad.
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
22 Aug 09
Luckily we're not having a lot of these problems in Canada. Cops have gotten too big for their britches these days, and it's getting out of hand. I once had a cop in the USA threaten me because the guy driving the truck I was riding in didn't have his plates up to date. That was not my fault, and had I known that, I would not have gotten in the car with him.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
14 Aug 09
That is awful. I think some of the law enforcement people use their power too much in situations where they should not have to. They let their power go to their head. I do not know of anyone personally who has had this happen but I see cases of it on the news and the officers are laid off while they do an investigation.
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I agree with you, dloveli, to a degree. This information is scanty. Pieces of the puzzle are missing. There had to have been something that happened after the officer charged the woman with speeding to lead to the tazering incident. I am not saying that she did anything wrong, but I just don't understand why he would tazer her for no reason at all. As is often the case, second-hand accounts are often given with the best light placed on the teller of the story. Most police cruisers are now equipped with video recording devices, and I would like to see what really happened here.
@ajaykashyap77 (64)
• India
14 Aug 09
Its ridiculous. I dont think theres any need of any such enforcement as women has every right to speak and in fact it is he universal truth that women can never stay quiet so no law can stop them from talking lolz.
@linkmaster111 (74)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I don't know anyone who has been tazed, but I think its really horrible when a police officer abuses his power and thinks that hes above the law. I'm glad he's getting sued and I hope she wins the case, because things like this are just awful.
