I’m having a hard time deciding whether this is excessive or not. My instinct is to say yes. While I think people who decide to run on to the field are morons and asking for what they get (most of the time), the use of a type of force that has sometimes proven unintentionally deadly strikes me as going a bit far. On the other side, perhaps if your average drunk fan thinks he might get more than just tackled, he might reconsider whether charging the field sounds like a lot of fun.
So what do you folks think? Is a taser too much? Most fans are just looking for a minute of fame in a game that could use a distraction, but I’m also reminded of the tennis player (I’ve forgotten who it was, now) that was stabbed by a fan running on to the court. If you think a taser is overdoing it now, would you change your mind if a player was actually injured (or worse) by a fan getting loose on the field?
I dunno; a good way to avoid getting tasered for going where you know you’re not supposed to go is, well, don’t go there. And there are excellent reasons for fans to not go onto baseball fields.
Like you said, people have already been injured by a fan getting lose on the field. Absolutely no problem with this. People have died from hard tackles also, a broken neck could happen from any hard jolt.
The point of tasering people is to avoid having to shoot them instead. It’s not something that was intended for subduing people who didn’t represent a meaningful risk to life and limb.
So if there’s no reason to shoot someone if you don’t have a taser in hand, there’s no reason to tase them either. So yeah, this is excessive.
Asimovian, you make the case that tasering may be excessive, fair enough. In your opinion, what is the correct response by the security force toward an apparently unarmed and not obviously dangerous trespasser that does not obey verbal instructions? Pepper spray him? Gang tackle him? Continue to attempt to reason with him? Ignore him?
<MeanSpiritedJerk>The only thing I didn’t like about this was the fact that when he got tased, he blacked out. It would have been epic if he had writhed there for a while. And if a mike was nearby, then his incoherent croaks and moans would have been even funnier!</MeanSpiritedJerk>
There was also the baseball umpire who got the shit kicked out of him by two fans (father and son) at a White Sox game a while back. Tasering is too good for them.
Wow. Suddenly having my metal container of sunscreen taken from me at the US Open last year makes a lot more sense. Not that you can stab somebody with it or anything but that it could be thrown at a player seems like a much bigger deal now.
Anybody who runs out onto the field at a game is a total dumbass, but I reluctantly have to agree here. (What I would really like to see is for the player to start nailing these guys. They’re pro athletes for one thing, and for another, running out onto the field only to have your hero punch you in the head would be a real deterrent.) Tasers are not supposed to be compliance tools that are used when a cop decides you are not complying fast enough. They’re supposed to be a humane alternative to clubbing or shooting someone. Unfortunately they’re very convenient to use and don’t do lasting harm to people who are not on crystal meth, so they keep getting used in a lazier and lazier manner.
Gunther Parche didn’t run out onto the court and make a scene, though. He crept up to the railing, jumped over it, ran to Seles’ chair and stabbed her. That’s different from an idiot kid who is horsing around. If these guys get near any players or do something threatening, go ahead and give them a shock for me. But if they’re just being stupid, it’s not necessary. What really bothers me is that there are now guards on tennis courts because of the Seles incidents, but when people jump onto the court, they don’t do anything. For example, at the French Open last year, a guy jumped out of the stands and ran up to Roger Federer. Nobody did anything. (Federer should have given him a forehand to the skull but I guess he was too surprised.) He tried to put a hat on Federer, and eventually security got him. I think he’s looking at some jail time. But if he’d been a lunatic who was there to hurt one of the players, he would have been completely successful.
Why do you say that? If a cop is facing a lethal threat, they go for their gun, not their taser. The taser is supposed to take down people who aren’t a lethal threat, without having to resort to nightsticks and the like. It decreases the risk to both the cop and the person being tased.
In this case though, while I’m all for tasing idiots, it seems like the overweight looking cop just got tired of chasing the guy. And he could easily have hit the other non-cop security guard in the blue shirt who looked like he was right next to the idiot.
“Tasers were introduced as less-lethal weapons to be used by police to subdue fleeing, belligerent, or potentially dangerous subjects, often when what they consider to be a more lethal weapon would have otherwise been used.”
“According to the rules of engagement for Tasers, police may use the weapon if they are under attack or if a suspect is fleeing or otherwise resisting arrest.”
The bozo on the field was fleeing and/or resisting arrest. If the other option is hand-to-hand combat that puts the arresting officer at risk of injury/death, I’ll give him plenty of latitude when it comes to using a standoff weapon like the taser.
Apparently this kid was stone cold sober and even called his dad for permission before running on the field (dad said NO). He learned his lesson the hard way. Should security have waited for the kid to start beating the shit out of some player not paying attention?
The company that makes the product is not going to restrict its use any more than necessary.
Again, the department is going to let its members do what they want to providing it doesn’t cause them problems. That doesn’t indicate tasering this bozo was necessary.
You think the teenager was going to beat the shit out of one of the professional athletes? Security hadn’t caught him but they did have him surrounded. He was not a danger to the players, who cleared way out of there.