Cop tasers guy for not signing speeding ticket

[Renew Deal]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fae_1195587967&p=1

Are you required to sign a ticked if asked to by a cop? Is it absolutely a requirement? Because that seems like it's at least against our principles (and laws) of privacy and liberty.

I support the police whole heartedly in the country, but taser guidelines must be severely changed. Taser usage should be a second to last resort. Physical force and night sticks should precede it. Guns should follow it.


Here's a story about it I found: http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_7523456

[The Straight Story]

1. I say use the club, the gun, and the taser all at once

:)

[Renew Deal]

2. lol

:spank:

[NYVet]

4. I see that you are discriminating against chemical irritants.

What about the pepper spray man?

[The Straight Story]

7. Spray em first to blind em, then taser, beat, shoot, rinse and repeat

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

3. i got a ticket last summer and signed it.

"By signing it you are acknowledging you received a ticket, you're not admitting guilt" I was guilty but thats beside the point.

[Renew Deal]

5. I would sign it too under those conditions, but I shouldn't be required to.

No one should be required to sign a ticket. It's at least a violation of privacy.

[AlCzervik]

6. i didn't ask if i had to or not but---

when he was done you know what i said to him, "thank you officer" Seriously, i still haven't lived that down. "Thank you" gaaaa!

[Renew Deal]

8. I do the same thing.

Thank you. May I please have another. :evilfrown:

[AlCzervik]

exactly! I got pulled over for having my front windows tinted, a no no here and i knew it when

i had it done, i managed to not get pulled over for 2 1/2 years but the chp finally got me, after the ticket, the thank you and so on i'm driving home reliving the "Thank you" and my daughter is howling in the front seat singing "Mom got caught riding dirty, they see her rollin, they hatan"

[pnwmom]

11. I agree with you. I'm sure they're not supposed to be tasering anyone in those

circumstances, anymore than they should be clubbing them with a nightstick.

[Kingshakabobo]

17. You aren't being required to sign it.

The other choice is to be arrested if you don't want to acknowledge receipt of the ticket.

This Cop is a PIG. There's no doubt about that.

The pig made absolutely ZERO effort to diffuse the situation and let the kid know the repercussions of not signing the ticket.

There HAS to be some procedure on file to inform the person what happens if they don't sign. The pig even recaps at the end by saying "i told him you don't want to sing? ok, you are under arrest." He skipped right to the arrest part.


Disgusting.

[hootinholler]

20. Um, how is it a violation of privacy???

:shrug:

-Hoot

[Renew Deal]

26. The government has no right to your signature.

I know it's ticky tack, but it's valid if you believe in liberty. (I don't mean this antagonistically.)

[hootinholler]

31. Good luck with that in court.

A signature as acknowledgment is long established.

-Hoot

[Renew Deal]

34. Yes, and so is privacy.

Of course a signature is a valid form of acknowledgment. I'm saying that no one should be legally required to sign a citation by the government (or anything else).

[HereSince1628]

14. Typically it says that near the line you sign.

I think in Illinios signing a ticket was one of the obligations of being awarded the license as it is part of
"obeying traffic laws." But it's been over 40 years since driver's ed., so I could be remembering that wrong.

I never would have thought failure to comply would result in electro-shock therapy applied by an amateur psychologist.

[notadmblnd]

9. I've never been given a ticket I've had to sign

and I've gotten plenty over the years. Must be a law specific to that state?

[Renew Deal]

12. My friend got one in VT and he had to sign.

I think it depends on the state and even the individual department.

[Marrah_G]

10. I'm thinking that cop is going to be in some trouble

His reaction to the man is bizzare.

[Renew Deal]

13. And he says something like "That hurts huh?" later in the video.

That's so wrong. I live in NY. The NYPD doesn't carry tasers. If they don't need them, no one does. That said, taser guidelines need to be rewritten that a taser is the second to last resort.

[DS1]

15. maybe he sings his documents with bullet holes

and the cop just misunderstood him

[Whoa_Nelly]

16. The guy kept asking to have the officer read him his rights after placing him under arrest

Never does read him his rights or state what he is being charged with except for not following his instructions.
The officer also searches the man's vehicle briefly before returning the registration to the wife, then proceeds to tell the other cop who shows up in the scene (as back up?) a very over-dramatized version of what occurred.

I can understand an officer taking the stance of threat as these guys are always in a position to not try to second-guess any one with whom they come in contact, but this sure seemed way out of line.

Wonder what happened afterward?

[skypilot]

18. I just finished watching it...

...and at around the 9:38 mark the first cop tells the other cop who showed up on the scene that the driver was "jumping around" before he got tasered. That clearly did NOT happen.

[Whoa_Nelly]

28. Perhaps the officer was just following what he understands the Utah statute to be

Not standing up for the officer, but did find this statute per Utah law:
http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE41/htm/41_04012.htm

41-6a-209. Obedience to peace officer or other traffic controllers -- Speeding in construction zones.
(1) A person may not willfully fail or willfully refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of a:
(a) peace officer;
(b) firefighter;
(c) flagger at a highway construction or maintenance site using devices and procedures conforming to the standards adopted under Section 41-6a-301; or
(d) uniformed adult school crossing guard invested by law with authority to direct, control, or regulate traffic.
(2) (a) If a person commits a speeding violation in a highway construction or maintenance site where workers are present, the court shall impose a fine for the offense that is at least double the fine in the uniform recommended fine schedule established under Section 76-3-301.5.
(b) The highway construction or maintenance site under Subsection (2)(a) shall be clearly marked and have signs posted that warn of the doubled fine.



Yet, in the vid, the cop tells the other cop that when the guy refused to sign, he said, "That's fine.", as if that part was no big deal. He seems to base his justification on the man's behavior, i.e., getting out of his car and walking toward the officer's vehicle. If I understand what happened after the watching the vid, the man was wanting to see exactly how fast he was speeding, and that he was actually in the 40 MPH zone and speeding when the cop first pulled him over.
Am going back to watch this again. Am not sure if the officer was trying to arrest him before the guy got out of his car or after.

Have yet to find a Utah statute that states a speeding ticket must be signed, but would guess that when a Utah officer requests your signature, there would be expected obedience to the officer.

Not once did the guy appear to be a threat, IMO, but am not a police officer, so I have no real idea how they perceive situations.

[Kingshakabobo]

24. Unfortunately, the kid needs a little lesson on dealing with the police.

First of all - arguing your ticket in the street will do no one any good. The time to do your fast/sweet/crying talking is before it's written.

Second - being read your rights is not necessary unless being questioned.

Third - I don't think the cop has to drop what he is doing and have a conversation with you while he is cuffing you.



That said, the cop is a badge-heavy PIG. He made ZERO effort to diffuse the situation and explain the ramifications of not signing the ticket.

[THUNDER HANDS]

30. was he under arrest or just taken into custody?

you don't have to be read your rights if you're just taken into custody.

[Whoa_Nelly]

38. The cop stated to the man he was being arrested for not obeying him

He had the man get out of his vehicle to arrest him for refusing to sign the ticket.

Just watched the vid again.

[tjwash]

19. Well, that's just proof that we need to privatize all the police departments.

Hold on...I was just trying on my "Support Ron Paul" asshat for size.

**peels the fucking thing off of his head and tosses it in the trash**

Damn that thing hurt. I was having sick fantasies about blackwater psychos in police uniforms, getting paid with checks written by Halliburton.

:yoiks:

[Renew Deal]

25. lol

I'm glad you pointed that out. I doubt that many of the Paul people realize this.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

21. maby it's time to call 911 (and tell the cop that you did call)

when we get pulled over for speeding, or any time we are about to be tasered, at lease 911 has records. If enough people tie up 911 because of the fear of being tasered maby they will think about using them.

[noonwitch]

22. It might be something they do to show that the person received the ticket

We don't sign them in Michigan, unless it is being returned to the court with a check for the fine.

[Kingshakabobo]

23. Do they take you license in Michigan?

Illinois has done it both ways. I would prefer to sign than surrender my license - makes it hard to go out boozing.

I don't know how Illinois is doing it theses day as I haven't been pulled over in several years - knock on wood.

[durrrty libby]

27. Even borderline morons know arguing with a cop will only cause you problems

The guy acted irresponsible, especially with his kids and wife with him

[Renew Deal]

29. Should you be required to sign something without knowing what it is?

Because that's what the cop asked for.

[durrrty libby]

36. He knew what it was. It was a ticket. The signature does not admit guilt

[Renew Deal]

43. The cop didn't say any of that.

He said sign it. The guy asked what for and the cop wouldn't say.

[MadHound]

35. Oh, so thus he deservered to be tasered? Is that what you're saying? n/t

[durrrty libby]

37. Not at all, but you do love jumping to silly conclusions

[MadHound]

41. Not jumping to conclusions at all, that is why I asked the questions

But hey, thanks for jumping to conclusions.:evilgrin:

[pacalo]

32. **Warning: Stereotypes used in the following story are sometimes reality**

In 1971, I was visiting a college friend way deep south for the weekend. We were on our way to the beach on the Gulf of Mexico & we were about to enter a small town, in which my friend warned me was a speed trap. For the stretch of the entire town, maybe a couple of miles total, the speed limit was 20 mph. My friend told me to go 15 mph because the police were known for watching for out-of-town license plates.

Sure enough, just a moment after I entered the town, a police car (with a very old, grumpy driver at the wheel) emerged out of the roadside brush. I pulled over, confident that I had done nothing wrong. :eyes:

"Hello, officer."

"You were going 22 miles per hour in a 20 mph zone."

"Are you sure? My friend here, from (a neighboring town), warned me about the speed limit; in fact, I was going slower than 20."

"You'll have to sign this ticket."

"But I wasn't speeding. I was going no faster than the car in front of me, which you didn't stop."

"Sign on the bottom line."

At first it crossed my mind to refuse to sign the ticket at all, but then I took the ticket & signed my name in an exaggerated fashion, meant to signal dissent to anyone who later might have viewed the ticket.

"You sassy kid! I stand out here in hot weather keeping my town safe & you sass me like that? You follow me to jail!"

I followed him back to the station, crying my eyes out at the injustice. My friend was dumbfounded; she knew I had done nothing wrong & she was embarrassed about living so close to the crooked town.

When I got inside, the police officer had toned down his behavior, but he explained to the room full of his colleagues that I had been "sassy". After several moments of standing there, still crying, it was clear that nothing was going to happen; the officer had no grounds for keeping me there & following him "to jail" was just a tactic to scare & humiliate me. Several officers approached me in a consilatory manner, asking if I was okay. I was so angry that I ignored them, & asked if I could leave. Yes, I could leave, but my driver's license would be kept until I paid the ticket.

Monday morning, I went to the sheriff's office in my town to report what had happened & he was very sympathetic & helpful. He knew about the police department in the town, asked for my ticket, & said he'd call a friend of his.

Thank goodness tasers weren't the rule of the day back then. On the other hand, I might have been a very wealthy woman right now at that town's expense.

[JVS]

33. LAWSUIT!

[blogslut]

39. That officer was high on teh macho

Granted, it's idiotic to argue with a state trooper and this is exactly why. Not all of them are reasonable civil servants.

[rug]

40. What a dick.

[Beerboy]

42. Thanks for the link, this looks like must-see internets!