UCLA (university of california, los angeles) tazer incident

whoster

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[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3GstYOIc0I[/YOUTUBE]

this is the craziest thing in the world.

at UCLA there is a student ID check at 11:00PM in the libraries.
this Iranian student didn't have his ID, so he was about to leave when he got stopped...and apparently tazer-ed because he was well, without id and in the library.

(i'm not a student there, but a lot of my friends are, and i'm currently writing transfer applications for UCs)

i can't believe this happened at a "world-class" institution
 
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Hopefully I'll get better support here than on the Land Rover forum I'm on. They all think he didn't get zapped enough. I say it was unnecessary and the repeated tazer-ings were completely unjustified.
 
apparently tazer-ed because he was well, without id and in the library.

First of all, it's hard to know what exactly was going on as the video obviously doesn't tell the whole story (we don't know if the kid was a known troublemaker?) and it's hard to see exactly what's happening because of the lighting. However, it seems like he was being a bit hard-headed on purpose. He should have just got up and left when they asked him to. It's like complaining that a cop shoots you when you refuse to put your hands in the air. Then you wonder why....well it's because you deliberately refused to listen to a simple instruction when you knew there were consequences if you didn't....kind of a no-brainer.
 
Ok, he made a big mistake by screaming "DON't TOUCH ME" at the top of his lungs to Police Officers. Not the smartest thing to do if you want to maintain peace. He really should have known better.

Then "Officers told Tabatabainejad to stand up and stop struggling, which he allegedly refused to do." Well, that was dumb of him as well.

I'm not saying the cops weren't over-aggressive, but he really could have avoided this quite easily.
 
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I couldn't see the whole video so the first taser could have been justified, but after that... they are completely unjustified... the guy was already handcuffed and tasering him for not getting up (err... hello, he just got electrocuted, I think he would be temporarily paralized). After you handcuff someone, will you still threaten a robber with a gun if one guy is pinning him down? A Police officer does not have any more rights than a normal civilian, isn't he only supposed to use his weapon in a defensive situation like any other Citizen? Well, he was clearly not attacked or in danger so I think every taser from the 2nd one was unjustified.
But the first could be unjustified, we just need the whole story.

and this sentence "Back off or I'll taser you as well"... are police even allowed to say that?
 
I mean he told them to F-off and refused to stand even after they got him to his feet. He seems to just like being a jerk to cops. I'm not saying that all the zaps were justified, but atleast a couple seem to have been.....

The AP says that "he refused repeated requests to show student identification and wouldn't leave, police said." Add that to the fact that he was screaming like a mad man....

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-16-student-stunned_x.htm?csp=34
 
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yea... but I've never been zapped before but AFAIK, you're muscles are pretty much dead... ie I don't think you can stand... but even if he didn't stand, how was Zapping him going to help? Don't you just get a few more guys and lift it? As I said, the officer had no defensive justification to taser him again when he was already in custody, and I think the officers should have known better about what Taser does to people.

It would be a pretty useless POS if all the taser does is make someone go ahhhhhh... and then the guy can keep running....
 
Yeah, I agree that they appear to have overdid it, but the entire thing could have been avoided if he just would have left when they asked him to, but instead he wanted to make a scene, and he got his wish I guess.

This article says that "when an officer refused the student's request to take his hand off him, the student fell limp to the floor", which if he did that before they zapped him the first time, that was really stupid of him to do. He should have just walked out like they asked him to.

And now he's pressing charges:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-ucla17nov17,1,7669200.story?track=rss
 
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^yea... I agree with you on the part about overdoing it. But whether the first taser was justified, neither of us would be able to fairly determine it unless another video surfaced. If he was making a scene or being an ass and threatening the officer, yes they did the right thing, if all he wanted to do was leave then no.
 
Well, according to the articles, he was being a bonehead, and if this video was taken before the first zap (which I think it was), then all the mad shouting is evidence of that. He wasn't planning to walk out peacefully.

And by the time he says "I was tazed for no reason....." he seems recovered enough that he could have coopertated with them, but then he chooses to tell them to F-off instead :roll:
 
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oh yea... forgot about the beginning, but I believe the first sentence was don't touch me, maybe he was trying to cause trouble or maybe he just didn't like to get touched which is perfectly fine to say to an officer if he does not plan to arrest you... although if I picture that scene with the voices, this is what I think happened:

He was asked for id, said he didn't have one a tried leave
then the officer pulls him back or blocks him
this is where he says, don't touch me

because why else would he be at the door? If the officers dragged him there, there is no reason why they couldn't drag him further out.
 
Yeah, you're right. It's hard to really know without seeing everything. I shouldn't jump to conclusions ;)

He was screaming "DON'T TOUCH ME" really loud though. Screaming at a cop is not exactly the wisest thing to do if you want to avoid conflict.
 
^haha... I know, but after some reading, I just found out that the cops weren't rent-a-cops, they are sworn in as proper law enforcement officers (ie. any normal police officers)... wow, is this a new thing in the US to use proper cops to even patrol unis now? I know my uni still uses Rent-a-cops

but I would really like to know the outcome of this if he tried to sue the police officers or something, also maybe those students who saw the whole thing can say exactly what happened.
 
Yeah, he's going to press charges:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-ucla17nov17,1,7669200.story?track=rss

And I've never heard of real cops patrolling campuses either...well, they might drive through them, but I haven't heard of them actually going in and asking for IDs. The college I went to just had "Public Safety" (Rent-a-Cops).

The more I think about the this, I think it was a cross between him being a bonehead and the cop's desire for a power trip.
 
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^I think the general public is allowed in my uni's library, I remember I had a few friends who came to my uni to study for exams because their car was in the workshop for repairs (They crashed into each other :lol:)... obviously no one came round to check id's but I believe its allowed.

and thx for the link jeffy :D
 
you guys are kidding right? you cannot be serious and agreeing with police actions. I would not sue the cops i think i'd shoot them in their faces. He was laying on the floor and they tazerd him? OK you loose your cool and you tazer the guy -once. Similiar stuff happens everywhere. But you keep tazering him - what is this the inquisition?
Its just sad that you have such either brainwashed and stupid or sadistic and stupid cops. And they keep hiding behind the laws yet people give them support - like the guy must have earned it. I'd like to see someone who agrees with cops to find himself in similar situation. The cops deserve to be publicly humiliated and severly punished.
If a sadist like that can wear a badge than nobody is safe anywhere. We all better shut up and listen to retards in uniforms - they know better right.
I don't think that anyone defending the cops knows anything about human rights or so called freedom. If you defend it you are a scared conformist imo.
 
^huh? Who was defending the cops reaction? I already said the 2nd taser was unnessasary but I cannot say whether the first was justified or unjustified as we cannot tell from the video.
 
Ok, in the experience of my entire family the universities that run their own police force tend to attract the bottom-of-the-barrel cops; ones that could not cut it in other police forces. Most of the time these guys never graduated college themselves and get off hassling "college kids." In the time my cousins, brother and myself were at the University of Utah there were several instances that actually resulted in the University Police being investigated by the Highway Patrol (state police) because of their actions. These cops could have de-escalated the confrontation if they had even the slightest bit of training, but apparently they didn't. Instead of trying to talk the guy down they made the situation worse by using the Taser. There was no evidence that I saw of the kid being aggressive. "One of the officers placed a hand on one of his arms, to which the student objected." Putting hands on someone should be done only when there is no other option. It sounds like he was calm until one officer grabbed him while another was "approaching" him. I would take exception to that as well.

Let's get something out of the way, the cause of this was the student "failed" to show ID when asked. UC is a public institution, so the Bill of Rights applies. Last time I checked, it's not Constitutional for a cop to just ask you for your ID without cause. Even so, maybe he forgot his ID in his dorm, maybe he lost it, or maybe he had it with him and just took exception to the way to cop questioned him.

I have done hours and hours of training in conflict resolution, domestic violence, physical restraint techniques and thousands of hours of psychology. From what I can tell the cops are the ones at fault for the situation. Could the student have shown his ID (assuming he had it)? Yes, but the cops are the ones who are supposed to resolve conflict, not cause it. This is crappy training, plain and simple.
 
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