Officer tases handcuffed woman for spitting on him

[billstaf]

The cop was out of line and the department will likely end up squirting out a bunch of money to make this go away. Dealing with a dumb subject does not authorize the cops to act the same way. Taseing a cuffed person is way beyond necessary.

I thought that all cops had spit hoods now. That would have solved the issue without having the department end up getting sued.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[tommy62]

Bet she was shocked and deservingly so.

[Crowman]

"Someday, somewhere, when you least expect it...."

Seems like the officer forgot the immortal words of Allen Funt of Candid Camera...

[mlr1m]

She was drunk and unruly, and we all know how drunk folks came be.. Bottom line, she deserved what she got, and he was not acting within policy and was suspended for his part of it. fact is, I bet both of um will handle the same situation differently next time...

Whether or not she deserved what she got should not make any difference when determining if the officer may have used excessive force. We don't want to return to the old days of officers tuning up citizens on the side of the road.
Or do we?

Michael

[ericb327]

After reading some posts and a bit of retrospect I have something to add. I have seen countless posts where members preach about use of force by civilians. Some responses here are quite interesting about what would happen if someone spit in your face! What if you're carrying? Do you respond with escalating force while armed? You've just made use of your firearm quite hard to defend in court. Now is the time to stand by your convictions and call the police and be a good witness. Your decision to go armed has limited your ability to respond with escalated force as some would argue although spitting could be assault, its not life threatening.

Any thoughts?

[gottabkiddin]

Whether or not she deserved what she got should not make any difference when determining if the officer may have used excessive force. We don't want to return to the old days of officers tuning up citizens on the side of the road.Or do we?Michael

I guess you missed the rest of the post that followed the part you put in bold.... There is such a thing as standard act of conduct in this world. Everyone knows that spitting at someone, anyone, is not only a disgraceful act/statement, but as noted can be a health hazard as well. So, did the drunk deserve the tase? Heck yeah she did. Was the officer wrong for his part? As for his duty to the badge, yes, but as a individual that had just been spit on by a loser with as much class as a pig, No. Like I said in a previous post. Troy West gave Tosha Hill a well deserved beat down for spitting and hitting on him, and normally I would not condone hitting a woman under any circumstances, but when a woman puts herself squarely in a mans position and decides to assault a man like a man, well IMO, she got what she deserved. Welcome to the 21st century my friend.

[HotGuns]

After reading some posts and a bit of retrospect I have something to add. I have seen countless posts where members preach about use of force by civilians. Some responses here are quite interesting about what would happen if someone spit in your face! What if you're carrying? Do you respond with escalating force while armed? You've just made use of your firearm quite hard to defend in court. Now is the time to stand by your convictions and call the police and be a good witness. Your decision to go armed has limited your ability to respond with escalated force as some would argue although spitting could be assault, its not life threatening.

Any thoughts?

I think that most of us understand that spitting in ones face does not justify use of lethal force.

[ericb327]

I think that most of us understand that spitting in ones face does not justify use of lethal force.

Most being the key word. A few responses and those that liked them say otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I would want to respond with fist to face but we are all armed and have certain legal ramifications to consider.

My post was about escalating force that could lead to lethal force and the possible legal ramifications.

[phreddy]

The person was already restrained. He was in cuffs.

Michael

Her hands were restrained. There was no restraint on her method of assaulting the officer. He used a tool at his disposal to stop the assault. Hopefully they put a surgical mask or something similar on her to keep her from spitting on someone else.

[suntzu]

I decided to look at the video again closely. There is no justification in my mind to taze her. The only motion she had going forward was when she spat at the officer. Before the officer had the tazer out she was leaning back on the counter, hands behind her. No excuse.

If someone spat at me and I punched them in the face and broke there nose, pepper sprayed them I would be arrested for assault. Why are things different for an officer?

[OldMick]

She spit on him - assault. He prevented her from doing it again, to him and/or to anyone else. I saw it as a perfectly appropriate response.

[WHEC724]

...
If someone spat at me and I punched them in the face and broke there nose, pepper sprayed them I would be arrested for assault. Why are things different for an officer?

Suntzu, I'll take a stab at your question;

You and I are civilians now. We can blend with the crowd, and walk away when the fights break out or the shooting starts. Police officers are required to run towards the fire and be the pointy end of the spear. That means that they need to command a certain level of respect, and to thugs, pain is often the only thing that they understand.

I'm speaking from a logical and moral point of view, not the twisted pile of law designed to protect criminals. I fully realize that my logic loses in a court of law, and don't dispute that.

[phreddy]

I Why are things different for an officer?

A lot of things are different for LEO's. They have more powers than an average citizen because they are paid to. Look at the arrest powers an average citizen has in your state, I would bet they a much weaker than an LEO. They are in my state.

[suntzu]

A lot of things are different for LEO's. They have more powers than an average citizen because they are paid to. Look at the arrest powers an average citizen has in your state, I would bet they a much weaker than an LEO. They are in my state.

I did not know the power of a LEO was to get mad at someone that spat on him and taze them in retribution. The lady showed no more signs of aggression. Take leo out of this and insert you or me. We would be in jail right now.

Yeah, let us bring back the good old days.

[Landric]

In North Carolina spitting on an officer while in custody is a class F felony:

§ 14‑258.4. Maliciousconduct by prisoner.

(a) Any person in thecustody of the Department of Correction, the Department of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, any law enforcement officer, or any local confinementfacility (as defined in G.S. 153A‑217, or G.S. 153A‑230.1),including persons pending trial, appellate review, or presentence diagnosticevaluation, who knowingly and willfully throws, emits, or causes to be used asa projectile, bodily fluids or excrement at a person who is an employee of theState or a local government while the employee is in the performance of theemployee's duties is guilty of a Class F felony. The provisions of this sectionapply to violations committed inside or outside of the prison, jail, detentioncenter, or other confinement facility.