Is this abuse of power of what?

[kizza01]

UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.

No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.

The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.

The student began to yell "get off me," repeating himself several times.

It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.

UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.

Video shot from a student's camera phone captured the student yelling, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your fucking abuse of power," while he struggled with the officers.

As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said "stop fighting us." The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.

"It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life," said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.

As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.

Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present in the library during the incident, said police officers threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an officer for his name and his badge number.

Gordy was visibly upset by the incident and said other students were also disturbed.

"It's a shock that something like this can happen at UCLA," she said. "It was unnecessary what they did."

Immediately after the incident, several students began to contact local news outlets, informing them of the incident, and Remesnitsky wrote an e-mail to Interim Chancellor Norman Abrams.

***************************************
And heres the video link (pretty gross stuff):
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-8746986378908034485

[Gekigengar]

um yes.....

cops are currupt nowadays...

and i always thought that police always have to give a warning 3 times before they can actually act upon "the criminal" or in this case the student?

[Dicky]

Subject them to the business end of the thing as part of their training.

[scblack]

and i always thought that police always have to give a warning 3 times before they can actually act upon "the criminal" or in this case the student?

Nup, never heard of a three warning rule. That'd be a phantom.

[Binaural]

Seems to me that tasering a student then tasering them when they won't get up is pretty irrational, if not ridiculously vicious behaviour by the cops. Getting a few thousand volts to the kidneys is going to seriously mess with your motor functions, and isn't the standard injunction from cops to stay down when you're being arrested while they put the cuffs on?

On the plus side, I can see that the student in question is going to get their student fees paid for by the university/UCPD when he sues them for millions. Hope evicting a student from the library after hours was worth it, when he was already leaving. What a bunch of cretins :rolleyes:

[TonyG]

It all depends on what he is studying. If he was an Arts student using up valuable Library time looking at the national geographic magazines in a quiet corner, then bad luck.

Where were these cops when you need 'em, like the G20 conference. Some of those tools deserved a few rubber bullets (all of them actually)

[djdom]

poor guy.... subtiles any1? nhttp://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-3430929986872629006

[Binaural]

Subject them to the business end of the thing as part of their training.

As a matter of fact, I think some cops in the USA do actually receive a low-power hit as part of their training. However, I also understand that as part of their training they are taught a taser should be used on "stun" as an alternative to lethal force only, since they have killed quite a few people. Good luck proving removing a student from a public university library after hours was that sort of situation though!

[Mo]

how stupid are those cops...constantly repeating stand up like it's the only word they have in the vocabulary.

that's unbelievable for university police though..
that guy must have done something seriously wrong or the cops are just stupid....

[johnny]

Not exactly difinitive footage, but the point still remains; two big security guards could not physically restrain and remove a young student without resorting to weapon use?!

They should be sacked on that alone!

At the end a student is threatened with a tazerif he doesn't move in a particular direction: "Move over there or you'll be tazed too.". My lord, the kid should have taken the tazer. Not only would he be a millionaire, but he could go visit that cop/security guard in prison to thank him!

The student didn't sound like he was doing himself any favours, but it's still a pretty pissweak reaction, it's not as if UCLA is known for its violence and crime....

[exvitermini]

Not exactly difinitive footage, but the point still remains; two big security guards could not physically restrain and remove a young student without resorting to weapon use?!

They should be sacked on that alone!

At the end a student is threatened with a tazerif he doesn't move in a particular direction: "Move over there or you'll be tazed too.". My lord, the kid should have taken the tazer. Not only would he be a millionaire, but he could go visit that cop/security guard in prison to thank him!

The student didn't sound like he was doing himself any favours, but it's still a pretty pissweak reaction, it's not as if UCLA is known for its violence and crime....

agree on all points..

i just listened to the clip and im disturbed and pretty pissed off..
so i would hate to think what it would be like if i was one of the onlookers

[Jon]

How long before someone gets a repeat of Kent State? For those that dont know 4 Kent state university (US) students were shot AND KILLED during a Vietnam war demonstration in the early 1970's.They were shot, not by campus rent a cops but by the national guard when they were supposedly using non lethal crowd control......:( :mad:
cheers jon

[demo man]

As Johnny said, the student certainly didn't do himself any favours.

As far as I can tell he started yelling at an incredible volume as soon as the cops touched him. Probably didn't need to do that.

However, Police using any more than a firm grip on the kids arm and carrying/dragging him out of the library would be far too much. A Tazor is fucking ridiculous and I hope they get their arses sacked and fined for that shit.

Very poorly trained coppers! I'd hate to see what they'd do in a riot situatiuon or something.

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

C'mon lads, give the guys a break. There were only two of them after all and these students can be mighty dangerous when cornered. Besides it's been a long time since Kent State (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings) and I'm sure they were getting nostalgic...

['Ross]

Video was somewhat dodgy and non conclusive but at the start it does seem like he racially insults an officer. I have no clue about what happened at the start but I reckon the second time he got tazed he deserved it. Repeatadly swearing at the officers and they say at least twice get up or we will taze you again, then he predictably gets tazed.

[thecat]

To be licenced to use a tazor in Australia you do actually get shot by one in training.

A mate of mine is licenced, he said the pain lasts about 30 seconds and that 30 seconds was the longest week of his life....


Did the cops act heavy handedly in this case? Probably but we don't know all the details. The kid may have been a known offender and considered dangerous. They may have had reason to beleive there was a bomb in the back pack. There may have been all sorts of issues going on that we are unaware of. I mean it's not like the cops were called just because the kid had over due library books.

Then again, maybe the were just to gun happy hollywood "It ain't gunna happen on my shift" thugs.

[Dicky]

To be licenced to use a tazor in Australia you do actually get shot by one in training.

I was half kidding... I'm a little surprised to learn that, but it's good to see they actually teach some respect for what it's capable of.








So how long, I wonder, until these buffoons hit someone with a pacemaker, or lots of metal internal bits...?

[alpinestar12]

it's hard to judge without being there but the tazers were almost certainly not needed. I hope the student takes them down legally.

[johnny]

Repeatadly swearing at the officers and they say at least twice get up or we will taze you again, then he predictably gets tazed.Yes, but........

two big security guards could not physically restrain and remove a young student without resorting to weapon use?!

They should be sacked on that alone!

['Ross]

Yer johnny I agree that the actual act of tazing the guy was uncalled for and should probably have not been resorted two and the cops should have been able to restrain him without using weapons, but when threatened multiple times with tazing and he refuses their instrucitons what does he expect? I reckon second time he deserved it.

[Randy Rhoads]

That really pisses me off. The UCLA will probably get away with it and do it again.

Good find djdom, it sortof puts a picture in your head.

I hope those officers get punished severely.

[exvitermini]

Video was somewhat dodgy and non conclusive but at the start it does seem like he racially insults an officer. I have no clue about what happened at the start but I reckon the second time he got tazed he deserved it. Repeatadly swearing at the officers and they say at least twice get up or we will taze you again, then he predictably gets tazed.


the guy may not of been able to stand as tazors can do that to you for a bit, and what would of you done if happened to be in this guys shoes?

['Ross]

If I was in that guys shoes? Well at the start I have no idea because I have no knowledge and have seen no real evidence as to what actually happened however I would not have screamed and yelled abuse at the officers when I realise they can taze me and even if I couldnt get up (I honestly think the guy could have) I would not have continued swearing at them.

Personally if I was in the library or whatever when I knew I shouldnt have been and I saw cops coming I probably would have attempted to run away, then probably get caught and end up being tazed.

[TIMOH]

the guy may not of been able to stand as tazors can do that to you for a bit, and what would of you done if happened to be in this guys shoes?

He was disabled

[alpinestar12]

He was disabled

aparrently.

[Binaural]

If I was in that guys shoes? Well at the start I have no idea because I have no knowledge and have seen no real evidence as to what actually happened however I would not have screamed and yelled abuse at the officers when I realise they can taze me and even if I couldnt get up (I honestly think the guy could have) I would not have continued swearing at them.

Personally if I was in the library or whatever when I knew I shouldnt have been and I saw cops coming I probably would have attempted to run away, then probably get caught and end up being tazed.

What, no real evidence apart from a movie of the event? What more do you want? The police officers used waaaaay too much force to solve an extremely minor problem. No, problem is too big a word; the guy was already leaving, there was no problem other than a bunch of chimpanzees deciding to make a day of it. Tazers can kill susceptible people and I am pretty sure asking a guy to leave a library (where other eyewitnesses have said he was causing no trouble other than being in a library after hours without his student card) is not cause for potentially lethal force.

[johnny]

If I was in that guys shoes? Well at the start I have no idea because I have no knowledge and have seen no real evidence as to what actually happened however I would not have screamed and yelled abuse at the officers when I realise they can taze me and even if I couldnt get up (I honestly think the guy could have) I would not have continued swearing at them.

Personally if I was in the library or whatever when I knew I shouldnt have been and I saw cops coming I probably would have attempted to run away, then probably get caught and end up being tazed.I understand that he wasn't helping his cause, but I would say that the officers still did not need to tazer him or even threaten him with it. Just because he was warned of it doesn't give the action legitimacy. There are many holds and techniques that make people move very quickly and much quieter than that. Not only was it excessive force but it was spectacular force that has now given the act international attention. They over-reacted rather monumentally by using the tazers at all.

The only thing more unprofessional would have been shooting him, a baton would have even been more appropriate for a stubbon, un-armed loudmouth.

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

Yer johnny I agree that the actual act of tazing the guy was uncalled for and should probably have not been resorted two and the cops should have been able to restrain him without using weapons, but when threatened multiple times with tazing and he refuses their instrucitons what does he expect? I reckon second time he deserved it.

Afraid not. That's like if I were to say to you "stop that or I'll smash a bottle across your face" and then glassing you after you fail to follow the instruction. Just because yopu were warned first doesn't make my actions any more acceptable or legal.

Tazers are issued for SELF-DEFENCE use only. The security guards were using it as a cattle prod.

Hope the guy takes them to the cleaners! Bloody wannabe store detectives...

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

The only thing more unprofessional would have been shooting him,

Ahh, God Bless the London Bobby...

:D

[S.]

Afraid not. That's like if I were to say to you "stop that or I'll smash a bottle across your face" and then glassing you after you fail to follow the instruction. Just because yopu were warned first doesn't make my actions any more acceptable or legal.

Legally speaking maybe, but what's the point of making a threat if you don't actually intend to carry it out? Duh...

[Drizz]

Can't see an damn thing from the video. (Google video sucks!)

If that many security guards can't remove a student without causing so much ruckus, they all should be fire.

[Gekigengar]

but when threatened multiple times with tazing and he refuses their instrucitons what does he expect? I reckon second time he deserved it.

er.....comon man..... if u were to get tazored first thing u would do is collaps to the ground and then try to recover from the shock by not moving.....or somthing... not straight away get up and and walk off..


would you want to get up right after u got shocked..

[Dozer]

We are only seeing and hearing what happened in the library. Maybe the bloke that was tazered had done something elsewhere or was involved in something else? The cops couldn't exactly scream at him and let everyone in the room know that they needed him out of the public eye so they could question him for another crime. Maybe there is more to it.........

However, the enforcement used for the appararent incident was a bit too heavy for someone who for forgot their bus pass. Fucking pigs need to get a desk job at a waste management site for treating an innocent dude like that.

[Binaural]

We are only seeing and hearing what happened in the library. Maybe the bloke that was tazered had done something elsewhere or was involved in something else? The cops couldn't exactly scream at him and let everyone in the room know that they needed him out of the public eye so they could question him for another crime. Maybe there is more to it.........


I've read other sources that indicate the bloke wasn't causing trouble and had been picked up in a random late-night ID check. They do the same thing at my old uni; the security guards go to the library and computer rooms late at night to do an ID check to make sure no random people are in there. The guy is actually a student at UCLA; more than likely he was just doing some late night study.

['Ross]

er.....comon man..... if u were to get tazored first thing u would do is collaps to the ground and then try to recover from the shock by not moving.....or somthing... not straight away get up and and walk off..


would you want to get up right after u got shocked..

Try reading all the things I said, I did not just comment on him not getting up, of course if he could not get up due to suffering the affects of being tazed then that would be an absolute disgrace by the police officers but he was swearing at them and I do beleive he was probably resisting them anyway.

And Binuaral the lack of evidence I was commenting on was the start of the incident and the initial tazing the video doesn not show it at all, and it is not clear why the police are actaully trying to evict him from the premises.

[PINT of Stella, mate!]

but he was swearing at them and I do beleive he was probably resisting them anyway.



I think I'd be swearing if some prick had just shot me with 10,000v!

Last time I checked, rude words weren't a suitable excuse for extreme violence. Sticks and Stones and all that...

[bazza]

dude deserved it. what an idiot. he really stuck it to the man there.........

there is definetly more to this story than is shown.

[mtb1611]

I blame the Dewey decimal system.