# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 85
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1681 "2015-04-11T20:41:06Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I can’t blame the sister for resenting the false charge of smoking weed. Or is it your claim, **Smapti** , that the cop wouldn’t have lied unless he already knew she was a scumbag who deserved the lie? Who says he lied? You _will_ note that the article states she had previously been arrested on a pot charge, by the same officer. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1682 "2015-04-11T20:49:49Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > So, we’ll amend the **mhendo** rule to allow “throwaway lines” anywhere in the post provided the appropriate outrage line is included. Outrage line may now be located either at the beginning or the end of the post. > > Shall we publish this or do you want to further modify it? …why don’t you just admit that you had decided to troll this thread with that comment and leave it at that? Because there isn’t any other logical reason why you would drop that bomb in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1683 "2015-04-11T21:33:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Who says he lied? You _will_ note that the article states she had previously been arrested on a pot charge, by the same officer. Mea culpa. I noticed the prior arrest, but missed that they were both cited in the incident in question. Still pepper-spray and tasering and tasering again was very excessive in the absence of any threat, no? And do you agree that the cop’s attempt to erase the video was criminal? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1684 "2015-04-11T21:41:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > And do you agree that the cop’s attempt to erase the video was criminal? Come on, now, we know that the police _never_ tamper with evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1685 "2015-04-11T21:45:45Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Still pepper-spray and tasering and tasering again was very excessive in the absence of any threat, no? I do not find any fault with the cop’s treatment of noncompliant repeat offenders. > [@](#): > > And do you agree that the cop’s attempt to erase the video was criminal? That depends. If the police committed no crime, then deleting the video cannot possibly have been destruction of evidence of a crime. Furthermore, we currently have it only on the word of the suspect that the video was deleted at all. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1686 "2015-04-11T21:50:11Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > You know, I’m so glad that you chose to take this to the Pit so that this time I can call you a jackass like you deserve. In two separate threads discussing this murder, the only thing that you have found worthy of comment is the fact that the victim was a deadbeat dad. What fucking relevance can you possibly think that has to a goddamned murder? The man was shot multiple times in the fucking back! It’s the height of audacity for you to come back into this thread and play innocent. We all saw what you were doing here. So please, tell us what you really think about the victim here. You obviously have an opinion that you’re just _dying_ to express. And if you’re too cowardly to actually speak plainly instead of hiding behind coy statements and “just asking questions”, then kindly do us all a favour and save us your inane drivel. > > Jackass. Nice siggy. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1687 "2015-04-11T22:14:27Z")
Just to lighten things up around here: [Woman, 90, locked officer in basement, settles with police](http://www.wbaltv.com/i-team/Woman-90-locked-officer-in-basement-settles-with-police/11028044#ixzz3FHgr3Tb1) > [@](#): > > Venus Green, who was 87 when she was handcuffed, roughed up and injured by police, will receive $95,000 as part of a settlement with Baltimore City. The city chose to settle the case instead of taking a chance in front of a jury. Maybe, just maybe there’s the beginnings of a change in the air. And good for her! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1688 "2015-04-12T00:45:32Z")
Can the police require you to exit your vehicle if you’re not under arrest? Does ‘I smell marijuana’ suffice for probable cause? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1689 "2015-04-12T00:56:57Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Just to lighten things up around here: > [Woman, 90, locked officer in basement, settles with police](http://www.wbaltv.com/i-team/Woman-90-locked-officer-in-basement-settles-with-police/11028044#ixzz3FHgr3Tb1) > > Maybe, just maybe there’s the beginnings of a change in the air. And good for her! From the article: > [@](#): > > In the past two fiscal years, the city has paid out $16.8 million in claims against the Police Department. City Council President Jack Young voted against this settlement and others, saying he is “tired of the Police Department bleeding money.” Maybe the Council President should focus his attention on the number of police engaging in the sort of behavior that leads to payouts. Another guy with his priorities out of whack. Friend of yours, **Morgenstern**? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1690 "2015-04-12T02:03:42Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Actually you’re wrong here. > > I really do have to say _something_ if you wish to attribute it to me. Otherwise, by stating what you think I might have meant is pure conjecture and supposition. And that’s sort of weak sauce for any argument. > [@mhendo](#): > > Reasonable people can make reasonable inferences. Sure. Consider the following. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > If it was, I think **get lives** and most his family would probably be doing the old west “rope dance.” I infer from this that Morgenstern is a bigot. Using euphemisms for lynching and suggesting that a poster’s family would be subjected to such treatment is KKK stuff, right? I am willing to consider myself incorrect in this regard. I do not apologize though: in fact I believe I might be doing Morgenstern a favor. I certainly am not the only one to have encountered coded bigot-speech in the past. Others will infer without posting. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1691 "2015-04-12T02:09:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [So… the NYPD Just Broke an NBA Player’s Leg.](http://www.thenation.com/blog/203937/so-nypd-just-broke-nba-players-leg) Ouch. Weird story. I guess more information to come. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1692 "2015-04-12T02:15:35Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > . I certainly am not the only one to have encountered coded bigot-speech in the past. Others will infer without posting. That sounds awfully like a liberal “dog whistle” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1693 "2015-04-12T02:28:30Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > That sounds awfully like a liberal “dog whistle” to me. I don’t follow. I mean c’mon. Jokes about lynching? Really? Combined with allusions to heredity? I was trying to cut him a little slack in that last paragraph, as I have sympathy for those who accidentally write something that can be taken the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1694 "2015-04-12T09:58:38Z")
**Another Day, Another Video, Another Name Goes Hashtag: #Eric Harris** [New Video Shows Unarmed Tulsa, OK Man Shot and Killed](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/video-shows-tulsa-man-shot-deputy-meant-stun-article-1.2181787): > [@](#): > > The botched encounter was captured on a disturbing video released by police on Friday — nine days after the fatal Tulsa shooting. > > “He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath,” Eric Harris says as he struggles on the ground following the April 2 shooting, which flew under the radar until video emerged a week later. > > “F— your breath,” a callous officer can be heard saying. “Shut the f— up!” ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1695 "2015-04-12T12:13:40Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > From the article:Maybe the Council President should focus his attention on the number of police engaging in the sort of behavior that leads to payouts. > > Another guy with his priorities out of whack. …snip… Agreed. But maybe by hitting them in the pocketbook they might finally get a clue? … nah. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1696 "2015-04-12T13:00:52Z")
> [@camille](#): > > **Another Day, Another Video, Another Name Goes Hashtag: #Eric Harris** > > [New Video Shows Unarmed Tulsa, OK Man Shot and Killed](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/video-shows-tulsa-man-shot-deputy-meant-stun-article-1.2181787): It is messed up that they have a 73-year-old cop chasing down suspects. And it seems to me that the guy was already down when he was “tased”. I’m guessing they still had a grand retirement send-off for ole boy, though. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1697 "2015-04-12T14:43:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > It is messed up that they have a 73-year-old cop chasing down suspects. And it seems to me that the guy was already down when he was “tased”. > > I’m guessing they still had a grand retirement send-off for ole boy, though. Are guns and tasers really _that_ hard to tell apart? Do they weigh the same and feel the same way when held? ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1698 "2015-04-12T14:43:40Z")
> [@camille](#): > > **Another Day, Another Video, Another Name Goes Hashtag: #Eric Harris** > > [New Video Shows Unarmed Tulsa, OK Man Shot and Killed](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/video-shows-tulsa-man-shot-deputy-meant-stun-article-1.2181787): This story reads like an Onion parody of police shootings. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1699 "2015-04-12T15:38:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Firstly, it’s “lede”, not “lead”. [Either is acceptable.](http://blog.bleacherreport.com/2013/05/22/at-the-risk-of-burying-the-lead-were-going-to-spell-it-lede/) So your ongoing streak of factual accuracy in this thread continues. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/1700 "2015-04-12T19:17:44Z")
> [@camille](#): > > **Another Day, Another Video, Another Name Goes Hashtag: #Eric Harris** > > [New Video Shows Unarmed Tulsa, OK Man Shot and Killed](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/video-shows-tulsa-man-shot-deputy-meant-stun-article-1.2181787): I’m not sure what the big deal is. The police killing took place on Thursday and by Sunday [they concluded that no further investigation was necessary](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/05/oklahoma-stun-gun-eric-courtney-harris). So we’re all good right? Why do people think there might be a problem with police procedures or a reason to reprimand an officer who killed somebody? It’s already been noted that it was an honest mistake. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are guns and tasers really _that_ hard to tell apart? Do they weigh the same and feel the same way when held? Cop mistakes gun for taser, July 2014: [http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-mistakes-gun-taser-shoots-unarmed-man-job/](http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cop-mistakes-gun-taser-shoots-unarmed-man-job/) Cop mistakes gun for taser, 2002. Taser Co. sued for resemblance: case dismissed. > **[California Cop Mistakes Gun for Taser and Kills Handcuffed Suspect](https://jonathanturley.org/2007/12/19/california-cop-mistakes-gun-for-taser-and-kills-handcuffed-suspect/)** > > Recently, a viewer asked if I was not a bit too critical of tasers and asked if they were not better than having to resort to guns. The most obvious answer is that tasers are now used by some offic… Taser M-26: [http://www.smartstun.com/TASER-M26C-wLaser-\_p\_57.html](http://www.smartstun.com/TASER-M26C-wLaser-_p_57.html) I don’t know what its heft is and it has bright yellow markings. But it could conceivably feel like a gun in an andrenalized situation, or so I speculate. Reading the wiki article, it appears that Tasers aren’t deployed as casually in Britain and Germany. More testing, more skepticism. In Australia it varies by state: sometimes general patrol officers are permitted to carry them, sometimes not. > **[Taser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser)** > > A TASER is a conducted energy device (CED) primarily used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus less-lethal manner. Sold by Axon, formerly TASER International, the TASER fires two small barbed darts intended to puncture the skin and remain attached to the target until removed by the user of the TASER device, at a speed of 55 m/s (120 mph; 200 km/h). Their range extends from 4.5 m (15 ft) for non-Law Enforcement Tasers to 10.5 m (34 ft) fo Mistakes from Taserguns blog, last updated in 2004. Bor-ring! [https://taserguns.wordpress.com/](https://taserguns.wordpress.com/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=84) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=86)