Texas cop uses a stun gun on a 76-year-old driver he pulled over

[Scrumhalf]

For a nonexistent inspection violation...

Texas cop uses a stun gun on a 76-year-old driver he pulled over for a nonexistent inspection violation - The Washington Post


Great job, Officer! You met the immense terrorist threat that the 76 yo posed to law and order and you neutralized it quickly and decisively. Excellent, and don't worry about anything - the grand jury will agree with you that the use of force was entirely justified and your union will ensure that you get full back pay and a raise and promotion as well.

[Mr I]

This won't change until the administration does

[rado]

Sad, really sad

[funniirishman]

Oh for fucks sake....

[jack tors]

you resist you get jacked up ... end of story

its getting a little to PC

[henry]

thats insane what is it with the cops there everyday it seems theres some sort of unnecessary act of violence by the police force.

[jack tors]

thats insane what is it with the cops there everyday it seems theres some sort of unnecessary act of violence by the police force.

media driven

[Scrumhalf]

I am sure it has been happening all the time. It's just that now, there are cameras rolling video everywhere and things are being exposed to the public more. Which is a good thing - transparency is always good.

[Scrumhalf]

you resist you get jacked up ... end of story

its getting a little to PC

Cop should held his cool, let the old man vent and then written a citation and moved on. There was absolutely no need to escalate to a takedown and a taser. This was not exactly a 20 year old gang member here. If the guy cannot face a citizen who may be argumentative without immediately flying off the handle and going to defcon 5, he has no business being a cop and having a gun.

[Chadd77]

^ Scrum, if this was a 20 yr old that started to resist when the cop tried to put his hands behind his back - would it then be ok to take him to the ground? My point being should cops be trained to act differently in each situation depending on age, sex, race, ect...?

I feel I would have handled myself in a much more professional manor but how are cops trained to react? Are the taught to react different depending on the individual?

[Bouncer]

I'm usually in agreement with scrum on all matters. I'm not saying I disagree on this situation either but I feel that the current thing to do is America is blame the cops in every situation.

Scrum if you had to deal with the absolute scumbags that the police have to deal with day in and day out I think your outlook might change a little.

[blm]

I can see both sides. There definitely has to be better checks and balances due to power hungry cops.

They do a job that I would never want to do and have to make sometimes life altering decisions in an instance.

There seems to be a witch hunt for cops nowadays.

[TKD]

Michael Brown attacked a cop. Eric Garner was forcefully resisting arrest.

John Crawford was shot and killed in an Ohio Wal-Mart carrying a BB gun that looked very much like a rifle. All the conversation is he was just shopping and there was no reason to fear him. All the blame is being put on Wal-Mart for leaving the gun out unpackaged on the shelf for two days. Why is no one asking why he was carrying this BB gun all through Wal-Mart if it was out of the packaging? He can't buy it without the packaging. If the packaging wasn't available and there weren't any other BB guns there, why would you walk it around the store instead of asking for assistance? Did the guy deserve to die? No. Did he intentionally bring fear around him? Yes.


This 76 year old swung his right hand up towards the cops face. The cop doesn't know the intention of that and neither do any of us.

What are we going to say when a police officer dies in the next few months (it will happen) because the officer hesitated worrying about getting caught on camera and being publicly persecuted? It's sad and unfortunate but the he chose to be a police officer? Then we call for the criminal to get the maximum penalty because we are angry a thug will get away with murdering a person trying to protect us.

I have been pulled over plenty of times. You know what I do, I put my hands on the top of the steering wheel. I leave them there until the officer tells me to do something. Then once that's complete, my hands go right back on the steering wheel. I have had no issues and only received warnings many times.

In my twenties I was put in cuffs a few times for very minor things. Guess what I didn't do? That's right, resist. I put my hands behind my back and answered with yes sir/mam or no sir/mam. Guess how many times the officer had to use any kind of strength on me? That's right zero times. Guess how many times I went to jail? Once and that's because I was guilty. I spent only a few hours in jail, went through the process and was out. Paid a fine and was done with it.

I know there are some that will say it would be different if I was constantly harassed by the police for no reason. Here's one fact we all know but some deny. Police officers don't have time or care to constantly harass someone over and over again for no reason.

There is always room for improvement in any line of work and there will always be bad people mixed in. Too much of the conversation is about trying to vilify police instead of focusing on providing more comprehensive training going forward and for citizens to respect officers no matter what the situation. Not once is anyone saying "please everyone remember to stop resisting arrest while we work on improving training for officers".

[BEAST]

I don't care what anyone says cop is at fault here. As soon as that dude pointed the dealer plate that cop should've turned around and walked. End of story.
Did you guys read the article? Texas laws says Even if your plates expired if you put the dealer over it you are good to go.

Why do you guys think that chief if police apologized to the old dude personally? Even he can see that officer was at faulthere. Officer should've never put his hands on him.

[Scrumhalf]

It was a citation at best, and as Beast pointed out, even that would have been thrown out.

My position is that if it is a citation, regardless of the age of the person, write the citation, hand it to the guy and let him have his day in court. No need for any further interaction with the guy. It doesn't matter if the guy is abusive, losing his temper, yelling profanities, whatever. Keep your distance, observe, write the citation and move one.

Every time, someone gives them a little lip, cops seem to take it as a direct challenge of their authority. And they have to take the guy down and beat the piss out of him just to prove that they are the boss. Let the guy rant, and when he calms down, write him the citation and move on. That is professional behavior. As a cop, yes, it is a dirty job and you are going to encounter the dregs of society, but you are also going to run into otherwise law abiding people who are just upset. You can't fly off the handle every time someone raises their voice. If you cannot control yourself, you shouldn't be a cop plain and simple. And yes, I believe that cop training in these type of situations is woefully inadequate. How to stay calm and DEFUSE THE SITUATION WITHOUT FORCE.. that should be the goal.