quote:The camera recorded images of Smith's short drive down a two-lane road, but once he got within sight of the Wells' clapboard house, the dash cam also began recording sound.
As Smith pulled up, the video showed, Murphy was leaning on the roof of his car and a side door was open. He appeared to be talking to Wells, who was “in a ball position facing the ground,” according to Smith’s report.
Smith, 22, said nothing as he strode to the side of the car, his Taser in hand.
Then came the sound of the electric buzz of the Taser and Wells screaming “Oh God! Oh God!”
“Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the car! You gonna get it again,” Smith screamed.
Wells cried.
In seconds the sound of the Taser can be heard again.
“Don’t do it. Don’t do it. I ain’t gonna do nothing,” Wells pleaded.
Smith is heard threatening a more aggressive setting on his Taser.
And then he used it again.
“It felt like electricity going through your body,” Wells said. "He was tasing me so fast and I was asking them to stop. To me, it was like it was a dream."
Murphy’s report says Smith used his Taser three times.
Smith said he probably discharged the Taser three or four times for a total of six seconds. One of those times, he shocked himself.
The sound from the video suggests he discharged the device at least four times.
Wells' attorney, Gary Parker, said it may have been as many as 12 times.
So...this 57 year old school teacher sees a prowler on her property- she calls the police and a friend that lives nearby to come wait with her untill the police arrive. Cop #1 gets there and demands info on the lady's friend, which she refuses- he's not the prowler and why do the police need to hassle her friend? In Georgia, a black woman not cooperating with the white police officer is comitting "Obstruction of justice" a laughable ironic offense considering what happened next.
And then it's on to the police arresting, pepper-spraying and tasering her over and over while she screams.
Remember, this woman called the police to protect her. That'll teach her!
Yeah- and people wonder why I view police as just dangerous guys with guns.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
It seems like lately the police are all too willing to use tasers on people who are not an immediate threat to officers. I think some sort of law is order. I recall similar incidents with the police tasering the elderly, mothers, and even children. That is unacceptable on any level.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Yeah, well, unacceptable is what happens when you give people authority, guns and little electrocution devices and painful sprays and big sticks and zip strips and handcuffs, and then show them over and over that they can do almost anything they want, almost without fear of repercussion.
IOW me2@Jasonlol
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Sometimes I actually think it's better to give the filth firearms than these so-called non-lethal weapons. Coppers may not be very bright, but even the dim ones are more likely to think twice about gunning someone down without a damn good reason. Tasers and pepper spray are, I think, much to easy to use because they're perceived as being non-lethal. Any weapon use irresponsibly can be every bit as dangerous as a loaded gun.
There really does need to be very real and very serious consequences for police that abuse their power, otherwise there's just going to be more and more incidents like this and what is probably an already strained trust in police is going to completely disappear.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
And I notice that at least one of the officers in the incident apparently was hired by another police department. Nice.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: And I notice that at least one of the officers in the incident apparently was hired by another police department. Nice.
That happens in Florida all the damn time. If they quit a ploice force before they can fire them, they can still get a job at another police force- and the former employer can not "slander" them to their prospective new employers...by telling them the truth (which is supposed to be represented by the officer's record).
When I read about some cop arrested for, say, beating a suspect, they always have served at a few police departments before finally getting arrested themselves.
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
Being Lawful Good is hard enough with all the Lawful Neutrals & Lawful Evils around (I'm just Chaotic Good)...
well its just another form of reenforcement of negative thinking, making Lawful abiding cops doing thier job even more difficult... I dislike law but its nessy. gotta have it. you just tend to get asshat cops with it...
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
It seems like the police view of the taser is that it's something they have available to make people do what they want rather than a non-lethal defensive weapon, which is what it's supposed to be.
As they taze people over and over again whilst simultaneously ordering them to do something, have they forgotten that the whole point of the taser is to immobilize them. Being shocked with that much juice makes you basically incapable of doing anything. Use of the taser in that way is basically just torture.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Based on my experience of cops, I think they're all paranoid - on tenterhooks that at any moment you're going to pull something. That plus authority makes them aggressive, and the fact that a lot of them are *stupid* doesn't help either.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
"Respect my authoritah!"
I've met some pretty dumb cops in my time, earlier this year I had to spend about 20 minutes explaining to one how the high-beams on a supersport motorcycle work. (left side is regular driving light, right side is high-beam)
Oh ya, and the cops around here like to dip into the evidence locker if you know what I mean... Found a crack pipe on the floor of one cops car when I was working at the dealership couple years ago.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
And the guy in Springfield, I do believe it was, died from his tasering.
I have a couple friends that are cops. Two are alright, the third is a brutality case waiting to happen. He's a God ever since he got that damn badge.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
New rule, always clutch your heart if the tigerstripe-gun comes out.
This thread reminds me of this classic. I wonder if the same applies in the UK, it being unwise to talk to investigating police without legal counsel. If so, all the locals pouring their hearts out in "Midsomer Murders" are adorably trusting.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ritten: And the guy in Springfield, I do believe it was, died from his tasering.
I have a couple friends that are cops. Two are alright, the third is a brutality case waiting to happen. He's a God ever since he got that damn badge.
One in three- hopefully not a representative number nationwide.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I think I am lucky to know the two. I think it is usually reversed.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
In the UK, can't the fact that you didn't speak to police hurt you at trial if you rely on some evidence you didn't give to the police? Here in the states of course the wisest course of action is to keep your mouth *entirely* shut and hire a lawyer, but I was told the same isn't true elsewhere.