Taser Incident

Ah, the story that will not die. Many of you, especially those who reside in Utah, have seen or at least heard about the guy getting tasered by a Utah Highway Patrol officer during what should have been a routine stop. I watched the whole thing on youtube. First of all, I'm not sure why this was allowed to be disseminated to the general viewing public. Yeah, yeah, public records and crap, but is the UHP stupid? Ok, don't answer that. Seriously, keep that video under wraps. At least get a court injunction to allow for the video to only be viewed by attorneys and clients in a lawsuit. Regardless (irregardless is an invented word, people) of the video evidence, I personally think many people are missing the point. DO WHAT THE COP SAYS! Unless he is telling you to break a law, coercing you into "favors", or telling you to do something that will cause you bodily harm, DO WHAT THE COP SAYS. You can give your side in court later. When he pulls out his gun or taser, DO WHAT THE COP SAYS.

Of course some cops are corrupt, on power-trips, or merely incompetent, but they still are cops. Arguing with a cop is more often than not going to get you in more trouble. Repeat after me, do what the cop says. Be respectful and you have a good chance of getting nothing more than a warning. Or play really dumb. Obviously, this isn't going to work every time. When it doesn't there are better ways of handling it than arguing or provoking the cop. In a traffic stop, be respectful, say yes sir/ma'am, and if it is for speeding, ask to see the radar. If they refuse, you have some influence with the judge later. Arguing isn't going to work. What do you think will happen? The cop gets beat down enough verbally that he throws up his arms in defeat and says he won't give you a ticket and have a nice day? Never happens. They get aggravated. First of all, they are totally irritated that you aren't giving them respect of office. Second, they are human and don't like having attitude thrown at them. Third, they are cops. I believe it goes to their heads a bit having that power.

Now here is my real issue in regards to this story. Who in Hades does that idiot getting pulled over think he is? I'll tell you who this whiny, holier than thou jerk thinks he is. He thinks he is the moral superior to everyone around him. I know you know the type. He's the guy who is right all the time, just ask him. He's the guy who thinks he knows more about everything than everybody. Obviously he would know more about the law than the cop because he's him. He's the guy who thinks his intellectual skills will get him out of the perceived injustices that he encounters in life. He honestly believes he has the moral high ground in whatever argument he is in. He's like that brown-nosing AP on your mission that was better at kissing butt than really being a true missionary. He's like that bleeding-heart pansy who makes his decision based on an ideal rather than on the cold hard facts that make ideals unrealistic sometimes. He's the college professor who thinks he knows more than everyone else because he is educated, and thus is supposedly expected to spew his opinions about matters of morality, politics, or religion even though his expertise is something called Early European Literature. He is like politicians from both parties who claim to know what is best for you and everyone else based on their own limited experience and opinions.

As I watched this whiny pansy complain and try to verbally twist this cop around, I couldn't help but look forward to when the jerk got tasered. Listen to this guy. He's the guy in Sunday School who answers all the questions, but not exactly correctly. You know the type. He's the guy who tells you how to be, think, act, and live, but obviously hasn't read the U.S. Constitution to see that he is wrong. This guy got under my skin. His girlfriend/wife was almost as bad. How dare a cop pull us over. We are good people. We're not criminals. What did we do wrong? I've never even been grounded. Personally I would have wrote him about 3-4 tickets. Harassing a police officer, broken tail-light (which happened to break somehow after I pulled him over), the original speeding ticket, and finally resisting a police officer.

I thought that for the most part the cop was pretty calm throughout. I do think he finally overreacted with the tasering, but by then I hated the whiny guy and thought it was deserved just for being a butthole. The cop was pretty clear in his instructions, he told the guy what he was pulled over for (even though the guy kept asking after he was told at the beginning), and the cop wasn't being too much of a jerk himself. I think he should have yelled in the guys face saying "HEY BUTTFACE, I PULLED YOU OVER BECAUSE YOU WERE SPEEDING! STOP WHINING AND SIGN THE TICKET! IF YOU DON'T, AND LET ME BE CLEAR BECAUSE YOU CLEARLY ARE AN IDIOT, IF YOU DON'T COMPLY, I WILL USE FORCE AND ARREST YOUR HIGH AND MIGHTY BUTT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" The cop doesn't have to read the guy his rights right away, he could do it in the car or when things settle down. The cop will get the shaft because he tasered the guy probably unnecessarily. But the guy was a complete jerk. This is a case where the cop is totally frustrated. The guy won't comply at all, but is not doing enough yet to get forceful with. The cop tried to be reasonable, but finally had enough. In this day and age, it is not a stretch to think that a guy that is this uncooperative could have a weapon or something. In reality, this guy is probably afraid to even hold a steak knife and the cop should have realized this and just grabbed him and thrown the cuffs on him. He was probably afraid of getting slapped by this guy.

Just do what you are told. It starts at home with enablers. In school these are the kids that think the rules don't apply to them. What do you mean I can't text my friend all during class? That's silly. What do you mean it is wrong to copy someone else's work? That's not cheating. What do you mean no food in class? I'm hungry. Kids these days are more and more pampered. Let me give you one example. In my school, we HAVE to provide a complete review for the students for their final. No problem, I do anyway. But, we also HAVE to give them the answers to the review. Not have them go and find the answers. Not have them do some actual work and search their books for answers, no way, that is way too hard for these kids. So basically, I have to give my students a review that is basically a copy of the final exam with the answers provided. They are required to do nothing more than breathe. They are not required to put forth any effort or do any thinking other than memorizing the answers. Enabling is the name of the game. I remember getting no test reviews in high school. Maybe a review for the final that we had to fill out or make our own notes for. I give my kids test reviews with the exact test questions and they still whine because I make them actually look for the answers. The final is a different story, so the only thing I can make them do is copy the answer down rather than give them a printed copy. They whine about that too. These coddled, enabled kids are our future. They are appalled when they get pulled over. How dare anyone scold me or tell me what to do.

Doomsday is close.

That's my take on this situation.