# 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:** 2
**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 20, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/21 "2006-07-20T23:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] It’s also a pretty idiotic form of policing, which was my point. [/QUOTE] What is-restraining someone who is resisting arrest? > [@](#): > > [QUOTE=control-z] > How much of a swing can you take at someone standing at the passenger side of the vehicle while you’re seated in the driver’s seat? She probably swatted at the second officer’s hand when he grabbed for her phone. And you don’t see the problem here? She SWATTED AT THE OFFICER’S HAND when he attempted to take her phone away, because she refused to follow his orders, and thus HE was the one in the wrong? Are you really that fucking stupid? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/22 "2006-07-20T23:27:15Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] It’s also a pretty idiotic form of policing, which was my point. [/QUOTE] Well sure. It’s just that if I happen to run into idiotic policing, I know that idiotic civil disobedience is liable to get me tased or worse. The only other option I have is to go along with it and complain later, to someone whose finger isn’t on the trigger of something designed to hurt me. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/23 "2006-07-20T23:27:52Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] What is-restraining someone who is resisting arrest? And you don’t see the problem here? She SWATTED AT THE OFFICER’S HAND when he attempted to take her phone away, because she refused to follow his orders, and thus HE was the one in the wrong? Are you really that fucking stupid? [/QUOTE] OOH, take her down, she SWATTED an officer! Have fun in your communist police state. This point ain’t really worth arguing because you can’t tell what happened from the video. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/24 "2006-07-20T23:30:05Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] OOH, take her down, she SWATTED an officer! Have fun in your communist police state. [/quote] That’s generally the way it works. Tell you what, next time you get pulled over, why don’t you try that out? > [@](#): > > This point ain’t really worth arguing because you can’t tell what happened from the video. So if you can’t tell, how do you know she didn’t? Oh right, it’s because you’re a dumbass. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/25 "2006-07-20T23:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] What is-restraining someone who is resisting arrest? [/quote] Was anybody attempting to arrest her? Or is this “she didn’t put down the phone, so she probably would’ve resisted arrest if we’d tried”? > [@](#): > > And you don’t see the problem here? She SWATTED AT THE OFFICER’S HAND when he attempted to take her phone away You’ve clearly got a better copy of the video and/or a better psychic understanding of the officer in question than me. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/26 "2006-07-20T23:39:19Z")
Do it or get tasered, sheep. You have 10 seconds to comply. BAAAAAA!!! Hopefully this officer will get what he deserves, which is another jolt with the taser so he remembers what it feels like before he so nonchalantly uses it again. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/27 "2006-07-20T23:56:58Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Hopefully this officer will get what he deserves, which is another jolt with the taser so he remembers what it feels like before he so nonchalantly uses it again. [/QUOTE] I hope he gets what he deserves too, which is a commendation for capably handling a suspect resisting arrest without using deadly force. ---
**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 21, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/28 "2006-07-21T00:01:54Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] When a police officer tells you to do something, whether you think you are right or not, you do what you are told. Period. [/QUOTE] Bullshit. The authority the police possess to tell you to do something is determined and circumscribed by the law. There are things that they have no business ordering you to do, and things that are, in fact, illegal for them to require of you. I can’t find the thread now, but i’m sure we’ve had a discussion in which some of our resident lawyers weighed in on what is and is not a reasonable police order. I’m not saying that was the case in this particular instance; i’m just pointing out that your vision of apparent police infallibility and absolute authority is both troubling and wrongheaded. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/29 "2006-07-21T00:05:05Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] I hope he gets what he deserves too, which is a commendation for capably handling a suspect **resisting arrest** without using deadly force. [/QUOTE] My bolding…cite? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/30 "2006-07-21T00:05:28Z")
The ultimate irony about threads like these is that we have people demonstrating their anti-authority and anti-establishment credentials for all to see, yet somehow these incidents are few and far between, meaning that these same people are meek and compliant when they are faced with these situations. It’s message board bravado. Gotta love it. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > ‘Move to the back of the bus please, Mrs Parks’…view like yours are scary. Speaking in a cell phone and ignoring a police officer empowered to arrest you for violating the law are not civil rights. Rosa Parks made a stand on a legitimate right that was being withheld from her. Don’t try to conflate the two. It demeans Rosa Parks and the entire civil rights movement. ---
**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 21, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/31 "2006-07-21T00:06:23Z")
By the way, **control-z** , your link is old news. We discussed this particular incident [last June](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320004). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/32 "2006-07-21T00:07:53Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Speaking in a cell phone and ignoring a police officer empowered to arrest you for violating the law are not civil rights. [/QUOTE] OK, well don’t conflate the power of arrest with situations where no arrest is being attempted, and we can all shut up about resisting arrest, m’kay? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/33 "2006-07-21T00:11:35Z")
From the link: > [@](#): > > The Aug. 6, 2004 incident began as a normal traffic stop but took an ominous turn when the driver refused to get out of her SUV. It ended with a Boynton Beach Police officer hitting the 22-year-old woman twice with his Taser during her arrest. She WAS being arrested for driving on a suspended license. Driving is also not a civil right. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/34 "2006-07-21T00:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] She WAS being arrested for driving on a suspended license. [/QUOTE] Huh? Your quote doesn’t say so, nor does the video show a reasonable attempt at an arrest. Where are you coming from? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/35 "2006-07-21T00:17:39Z")
A police officer friend of mine told me that there are three steps [ol] [li]Ask the person to comply[/li][li]Order the person to comply / advise them of the consequences if they do not comply[/li][li]Require the person to comply (physical force)[/li][/ol] > [@mhendo](#): > > The authority the police possess to tell you to do something is determined and circumscribed by the law. There are things that they have no business ordering you to do, and things that are, in fact, illegal for them to require of you. I can’t find the thread now, but i’m sure we’ve had a discussion in which some of our resident lawyers weighed in on what is and is not a reasonable police order. I got five bucks that says a policeman ordering you out of your car during a traffic stop is a legal order and will be upheld in any court in the land. Are we on? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/36 "2006-07-21T00:17:59Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] My bolding…cite? [/QUOTE] Watch the video. The officer gave her a legitimate order-to hang up and exit the car. She did not do so. That is resisting arrest, or perhaps a lesser charge that some municipalities have called ignoring instructions from a police officer or something like that. A police officer does not have the right to order you to suck his dick or dance across the freeway at rush hour or to clean the windows of his cruiser with your tie, so can we just get rid of the inevitable strawmen before they crop up? Please? He does have the right to order you to step out of your car during a traffic stop, and if you refuse to comply with that order, you can be subdued and arrested, as this woman rightly was. You really, really shouldn’t spout off at the mouth if you have no idea what you are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/37 "2006-07-21T00:19:19Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Huh? Your quote doesn’t say so, nor does the video show a reasonable attempt at an arrest. Where are you coming from? [/QUOTE] Are you for real? What do the words “during her arrest”, the last three words in the quoted part of the article, mean to you? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/38 "2006-07-21T00:20:08Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] By the way, **control-z** , your link is old news. We discussed this particular incident [last June](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320004). [/QUOTE] I didn’t realize it was that old, I saw it in the top stories of [digg.com](http://digg.com) today. Didn’t remember hearing about it before. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/39 "2006-07-21T00:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] That is resisting arrest, or perhaps a lesser charge that some municipalities have called ignoring instructions from a police officer or **something like that.** _Something like that_ != ‘resisting arrest’ (Maybe I’m being wound up by the discovery, courtesy of CrapTV, that in Britain there’s no legal obligation to leave a vehicle just because a policeman requests it. But I’m amazed at the suggestion of complete subservience being suggested by so many people.) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399/40 "2006-07-21T00:24:03Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Are you for real? What do the words “during her arrest”, the last three words in the quoted part of the article, mean to you? [/QUOTE] Re-read my response to your quote. You’re the one taking too many things at face value. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officer-tasers-woman-twice-for-driving-on-a-suspended-license/365399.md?page=3)