Quote:
Originally Posted by woot
I agree that the guy was stupid to test the cop, but I really feel like the man's attitude is irrelevant. He did nothing that should have made the cop think that tasing him was a good idea. Again, every citizen of this country should have the right be a humongous jackass. Cops enforce laws, not attitudes. The guy probably deserves to get smacked upside the head by his friends and family for being a dumbass, but the cop had no right to do anything of the sort.
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I disagree on this one. This has nothing about a guy's right to be rude. It has everything to do with the safety of the officer. As you noted, cops enforce laws. Multiple laws at play here: you must follow lawful instructions from an officer (and his instructions were lawful); you must not resist arrest; you must sign a ticket or you will be arrested.
The policeman was well within his right to ask the guy to sign a ticket. Not signing a ticket will always land you in jail (and it should). The officer gave very clear instructions to the guy, and the guy totally disregarded those instructions. Traffic tickets are the most dangerous routine activity an officer engages in, statistically. So when a guy refuses to sign a ticket, and starts wandering back to the car, what do you want the cop to do?
a) ask again (he did)
b) be polite and forget about the ticket
c) threaten force (he did)
d) let the guy go back to the vehicle and out of your sight (where he could have a weapon)
e) tase the bro (he did).
To be honest, the girlfriend is lucky she finally went back to the car. She was a second away from being tased too (and she also would have deserved it).
It was a high tension situation, and the guy was escalating the situation by turning his back to the officer and going back to the vehicle. The girlfriend further escalated the tension by getting out of the car and approaching the officer who was obviously uncomfortable with the situation.
Lesson learned. Do what the cop says. Especially when he tells you he will tase you if you don't.