# Officer tasers woman twice..for driving on a suspended license **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 20, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399 "2006-07-20T22:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/181 "2006-07-22T20:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Are these two good-sized grown men frightened of a normal-sized 22 year old woman? The cops had to struggle with her to cuff her anyway, so why was the tasering necessary? [/QUOTE] Ever tried cuffing someone who doesn’t want to be cuffed and is resisting? I have. I wish we had had Tasers back in the days when I was a cop. These days, I teach Defensive Tactics for Law Enforcement Officers. I start the class by taking the smallest student and telling him to resist being cuffed; no fighting, just being uncooperative and resistant. I then have the three biggest cops handcuff him. It usually takes about two minutes. Imagine what it would be like if he had been actually fighting with them. I then repeat the exercise and have him cuffed within 10-15 seconds by using pressure point control tactics. Pain compliance is a wonderful thing. That’s why tasers are so good; they do not require the officer to get within arm’s reach of the suspect, thereby increasing officer safety. ---
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/182 "2006-07-22T21:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] This is part 3 of a long traffic stop where a woman is tased twice during an arrest for driving on a suspended license: [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/video/taser\_video3a.html](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/video/taser_video3a.html) She was stopped for speeding and a bad taillight. I don’t know how much time elapsed between part 2 and 3, but when they went to arrest her she had a cigarette lit and was on the phone with somebody. Instead of reasoning with her they gave her about 25 seconds to get out of the car, which seems really unreasonable to me. She had been mouthy and distrusting of the officer in part two of the video, but I don’t believe she was any danger to the officers, just an annoying melodramatic woman. The officer seemed patient and reasonable except he just chose to use the taser too damn fast. I tell you, I wouldn’t normally strike an officer but if they tasered me that quickly and out of the blue I’d want to do some damage. [/QUOTE] In order for your point to have any validity the woman would have to have said “OK officer, I’m hanging up now” and got off of the phone, that second. She had a suspended license and from what I read was speeding. She didn’t get off of the phone. She practically ignored the officer. Whether or not she took a swing, I couldn’t see, but she isn’t making too many “I was in the right” points. I don’t feel sorry for the mouthy melodramatic bitch at all. ---
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/183 "2006-07-22T21:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] ‘Move to the back of the bus please, Mrs Parks’…view like yours are scary. [/QUOTE] Thats apples and oranges. Its so not a fair comparison that as a black man, I feel insulted that you would even try to compare it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/184 "2006-07-22T21:18:16Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] Jealous of you? That’s kind of like being jealous of a cracked-out streetwalker. [/QUOTE] I feel very sorry for you. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/185 "2006-07-22T21:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=JustAnotherGeek] Granted, she was still non-complient, but I would be willing to bet that officer #2 could have very easily just restrained her arms. [/QUOTE] Ever tried it? Our restraint training for violent/combative patients calls for a minimum of **five** people to restrain one person. ---
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/186 "2006-07-22T21:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] I feel very sorry for you. [/QUOTE] That makes one of you. I don’t. Calling you a streetwalker was unwarranted. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/187 "2006-07-22T21:57:40Z")
[QUOTE=shizaru] That makes one of you. I don’t. Calling you a streetwalker was unwarranted. [/QUOTE] I can’t help but feel sorry for someone who seems so bitter and hate-filled. She must be very unhappy. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/188 "2006-07-22T23:14:41Z")
Or I just find your constant ‘hubby this’ ‘hubby that’ refrain as annoying as sand in the underwear. You don’t like what I have to say about cops? That’s fine, but you don’t get to sit on a high horse and lecture me about what wonderful people they are as if none of my experiences ever happened. My firsthand experience in life contradicts your lecture, so pardon me if I’m not going to take you and your ‘hubby says’ word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/189 "2006-07-22T23:30:11Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] Or I just find your constant ‘hubby this’ ‘hubby that’ refrain as annoying as sand in the underwear. You don’t like what I have to say about cops? That’s fine, but you don’t get to sit on a high horse and lecture me about what wonderful people they are as if none of my experiences ever happened. My firsthand experience in life contradicts your lecture, so pardon me if I’m not going to take you and your ‘hubby says’ word for it. [/QUOTE] Are you ever going to actually address the incident that’s being discussed? Again, do you think the woman was in the right? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/190 "2006-07-23T00:02:03Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] You don’t like what I have to say about cops? That’s fine, but you don’t get to sit on a high horse and lecture me about what wonderful people they are as if none of my experiences ever happened. > [@](#): > > My firsthand experience in life contradicts your lecture, so pardon me if I’m not going to take you and your ‘hubby says’ word for it. Conversely, as we just supposed to take your word for it that every cop you’ve ever come in contact with is an asshole? And, furthermore, take your word for it that any force which has ever been used against you was not justified? What motivation would I have to lie? Here I am, on an anonymous message board. I could confess freely any misconduct I have seen without any fear of reprisal whatsoever. Your vague claims of misconduct don’t compare with what I’ve heard and seen from Hubby’s eight years of working closely with law enforcement officers (going on raids, participating in arrests and in investigations). Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/191 "2006-07-23T01:37:57Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] Or I just find your constant ‘hubby this’ ‘hubby that’ refrain as annoying as sand in the underwear. You don’t like what I have to say about cops? That’s fine, but you don’t get to sit on a high horse and lecture me about what wonderful people they are as if none of my experiences ever happened. My firsthand experience in life contradicts your lecture, so pardon me if I’m not going to take you and your ‘hubby says’ word for it. [/QUOTE] Good to know your personal experience is more valid than **Lissa** ’s firsthand experience. That clears it right up. Has it ever occurred to you that when the police are against you, and the posters on the board are against you, and EVERYONE seems to be against you…that maybe the problem is with you? As in, you’re a fucking pain-in-the-ass, arrogant bitch with limited-to-no social skills and an inability to see anything from any perspective but your own? I used to think you were just another troll, but I’ve since realised you’re a pathetic reactionary jerk with no ability to accept anything that challenges your perspective on the world. **Lissa** ’s right - it must suck to be you. However, unlike her, I’ve completely run out of empathy stores to put up with that kind of bullshit attitude. - **BWP** , minus trademark smiley. ---
**Author:** ![Blanche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blanche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blanche)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/192 "2006-07-23T01:43:05Z")
I’ve had bad experiences with the police, most of which I’d rather not discuss. I’ve also had good experiences with police, like the officer who let me use his phone to call a ride and left me at a convenience store after I totalled my car, when he could have arrested me for DWI. I don’t believe all cops are bad. I don’t automatically assume one is bad when I meet him, but I’m always prepared for that possibility. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/193 "2006-07-23T01:57:14Z")
> [@](#): > > **Blanche** said: > I’ve also had good experiences with police, like the officer who let me use his phone to call a ride and left me at a convenience store after I totalled my car, when he could have arrested me for DWI. I don’t believe all cops are bad. So you were driving while intoxicated and a cop let you go for whatever reason and this is supposed to be an example of a good cop? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/194 "2006-07-23T02:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Wow to you too, for knowing that she was such a clear and immediate danger as to justify such extreme measures. Thank you for proving **Guinastasia’s** point for her. What you say above is EXACTLY why officers are taught to respond the way that they do, as has been explained to you numerous times, by numerous posters. > [@](#): > > The woman in this case knew or strongly suspected she was being arrested\*\*, and continued to resist commands and (allegedly) struck at an officer. I don’t know whether local police procedure was followed acceptably in this case, but it hardly looks like a glaring civil rights violation.\*\*\* > [@](#): > > Brilliant. “She was being arrested” becomes “she probably knew she was going to be arrested”, without any question. Reading comprehension is your friend. The women WAS being arrested. The police officers were in the process of arresting her, and due to her prior history she probably strongly suspected that this was it for her. The two statements are from the different perspectives of both her, and the two officers involved, therefore yes both statements are true. There is no mystery here. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/195 "2006-07-23T02:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=DragonAsh] Incidentally: she went on and on wailing well after the incident - am I the only one who thought it sounded fake and forced? [/QUOTE] You have kids don’t you? I can tell. 😃 Yes, she sounded JUST like one of my kids after having been thwarted from getting their way and then going on to have a huge temper tantrum. You could even hear in her voice about the exact moment she decided “that’s it, I may be on the ground, but by DAMN I’m going to make their lives a living hell with my noise”. She went from the semi-understandable and reasonable “wuh wuh wuh” sounds, and then she starts escalating a little, and then, just like a bratty toddler having a temper tantrum, she starts into it, and you can hear the exact moment she makes that decision. I thought it was comical. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/196 "2006-07-23T02:47:13Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] Oh boy, your husband’s job again. For a nanosecond, I almost forgot that he was a prison guard. Good thing you’re there to remind everyone. In **my** experience with cops, they’ve been bullies behind badges, and completely willing to abuse their power because they know full well other cops will defend them. There’s a reason that the cops who report other cops for bad (and illegal) behavior are ‘rats’. And in mine, when one cop threatens you or fucks with you or oversteps the bounds of the law, the blue wall of silence goes up and they close ranks faster than Jesse Jackson whips out the race card. I stay away from cops. I don’t trust cops, I don’t like cops, and I do everything I can to make sure I’m not around them. [/QUOTE] Some people rely too heavily on hollyweird’s version of life for their own good. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/197 "2006-07-23T03:06:27Z")
[QUOTE=catsix] ave dinner at a cop’s home when cops ahve been nothing but shit heads to me? I’ve had to work with them, and I really didn’t like it. They walked around with their chests puffed out acting like they were king dickhead of penis island, exuding that better-than-everyone else attitude I find so common with badge wearers. They cover shit up for each other, even when what one of them did is downright illegal. They can threaten, harass, assault, and then arrest the victim who makes any effort of standing up for themslves. But hey, at least I wasn’t sodomized with a broomstick and killed. There’s nobody else but cops who can fuck you up, severely, and know you can do absolutely nothing about it. Defend yourself? Yeah right, that’s crime. Cops know it, and use it and abuse it all the time. [/QUOTE] Wait, wait. I’m utterly confused here. These are men we’re talking about, and in catsix’s world, men can do no wrong and are only “bad” because they’ve been at the mercy of evil femi-nazis. Wow, the power of evil feminazis has spread to the police? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/198 "2006-07-23T03:28:23Z")
Oh, it’s not just feminists-it’s everyone. Don’t you know? **catsix** is the world’s biggest victim. I wonder if she actually ever relaxes, or just sits there, in her muscles clenched so hard she’s got perpetual rigor mortis, even before she dies. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/199 "2006-07-23T03:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Oh, it’s not just feminists-it’s everyone. Don’t you know? **catsix** is the world’s biggest victim. I wonder if she actually ever relaxes, or just sits there, in her muscles clenched so hard she’s got perpetual rigor mortis, even before she dies. [/QUOTE] I totally thought you were going to say perpetual constipation! 😃 ---
**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:** [July 23, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/200 "2006-07-23T03:31:50Z")
**Lissa** , i realize that you might have been too interested in your pissing contest with **catsix** to answer my question. Either that, or you’re really not interested in discussing this issue logically. But i’m still wondering why the fact that you know some cops through your husband’s job has any relevance here. Have you been on late-night traffic stops with these people? Have you watched them do their jobs in situations where they thought no-one else was watching? The fact that they appear to be “ordinary folks” during your interactions with them don’t necessarily tell you very much at all about how they do their job. As i said in my previous post, i think that “most cops have a genuine desire to do good in the world, and that true rogue cops are the exception rather than the rule,” but your appeal to off-the-job encounters and casual recreational interactions strikes me as rather irrelevant to this debate. And i think that’s what **catsix** was trying to get at. Sure, it’s silly and unreasonable to assume that all cops are crooks and/or bullies; but those who argue against such a position often seem to take the position that all cops are angels. In my opinion, there are frequent enough reports in the press of corrupt or bullying police to suggest that, while a minority, such police are present in most departments, and are present in sufficient numbers to pose a danger to the general public and to their fellow officers. People might look at [this story](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/07/22/corruption_case/) (posted today) and say that these cops are the exception, not the rule. I would agree with that, but such cases happen often enough that arguing for the infallibility and incorruptibility of law enforcement—as some folks seem to imply—is plain idiotic. And cases like this understandably influence how some members of the general public come to view the force as a whole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399.md?page=11)