Salt Lake Tribune
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jon Gardner used his Taser to zap a motorist who became uncooperative during a traffic stop.
Many people who viewed the confrontation after it was posted on the Web site YouTube thought Gardner was out of line.
However, UHP officials on Friday announced Gardner’s actions were justified when he shocked Jared Massey twice during the Sept. 14 incident in Uintah County.
Gardner’s actions “were lawful and reasonable under the circumstances,” UHP Superintendent Lance Davenport said at a news conference held at UHP headquarters in Taylorsville.
Internal investigators are continuing to review the case.
Davenport acknowledged there was a “communication breakdown” between Gardner and Massey, and that Gardner had alternative options that he didn’t use to resolve the situation. Gardner zapped Massey after he refused to sign a ticket, put his hand in his pocket and walked away from the trooper. Massey filed a public-records request after the incident and received the dashboard video from Gardner’s patrol car, which he posted on YouTube. The clip has reportedly been viewed more than 1 million times.
A short time later, an unidentified officer strolls up on scene and Gardner tells him that Massey “took a ride with the Taser.”
“That comment was inappropriate,” Davenport said Friday.
No shit. So I guess in Utah, putting your hands in your pocket is considered a threatening move. We blogged this story earlier and the video is here.
Seems to me this guy learned the hard way the fact that some cops are eager to over-compensate for their little weenies. Argueing with a cops (especially lame -”But mommy, I don’t understand !” – types of stalling to try to make things change type arguments, is gauranteed to piss off even a good cop. I’ve found that an overt display of respect for their authority always works in my favor. I gained this wisdom after being beaten to within an inch of death inside a Philadelphia police station by no fewer than ten of Philly’s Finest while I was handcufted to a stretcher used to carry me in from the beating I received outside. I was a skinny 17 year-old kid at the time. Ah, the memories ! …
“So I guess in Utah, putting your hands in your pocket is considered a threatening move.”
–John I don’t know what world you come from, but, yes, here on planet Earth putting your hands in your pocket(s) when a cop is yelling at you not to move is a threatening move. The cop was an idiot and unprofessional in allowing the situation to escalate to that point, but when it did get to the point where he had a guy backing away, putting his hands in pockets, I think the taser was justified.
>>This kid was behaving in a threatening manner.
You think? I didn’t see any threat in his behavior. I think the worst you could say about him is that he was sullen. The cop, on the other hand, was a fucking lunatic. Who screams at a pregnant woman with a little baby like that? Did he imagine she was a suicide bomber, out for a Sunday drive in the minivan?
>>but when it did get to the point where he
>>had a guy backing away, putting his hands in
>>pockets, I think the taser was justified.
Well, maybe, maybe not. If it ever got to that point, which it didn’t. The guy was walking back to the driver’s side door, and hooked his thumbs in his pockets, with the fingers outside.
That cop was just looking for an opportunity to fill somebody full of hot juice. Pulling a taser on some guy who looks like Beaver Cleaver, out for a ride with his pregnant wife and baby. Jesus. That assmunch should be beaten to within an inch of his life. Or maybe shot in the head with a taser. That’s good for controlling unruly misbehavors, right?
You’re mean Mr. Mustard.
Its stories like these that make me wanna get my own taser…
what you wanna play it like that copper? ok ZAP!!!!
You can talk trash on the blog all you want but when the man pulls you over he owns you. This is not a myth, this is a legal fact. Every court from the local one to the supreme has said so. So when ol smoky has you be respectful; and keep your hands where he can see them. Or be willing to take the juice.
#26 Damn straight – what is this so hard to understand? (Or is this an American issue?)
Cheers
The cop was way out of line. He was uncommunicative and vague. The officer was the one that escalated the situation way out of proportion.
Basic psychology says that when a person is confronted with imminent danger there are 2 responses: Fight or Flight. The driver chose flight. Quick you are staring down the barrel of a black pistol with absolutely no warning. Is it a gun or a taser? Can you tell the difference? What do you do? In my opinion the driver did the correct thing. He put his hands in his pockets to indicate that he was not a threat and moved away from the officer to remove himself from harms way. The look of surprise when the officer drew down on him and the comment “what is wrong with you” indicate the driver thought the cop was crazy.
The drawing of the taser was not justified in any way let alone the firing of taser. They were having a discussion and not even a really heated one at that. The officer drew down on the driver before any supposed indications of danger to the officer. The officer should have communicated with the driver and explained what was happening. That is his job. He should have tried to diffuse the situation. That is his job.
I also feel for the wife. Look how fast she hops over to the drivers side to get away from him when he comes over and opens the door then leans into the car. She was scared witless.
Utah may feel that the officer was justified in tasering the driver, but he should still be fired. Take away the tasering and he still put himself and the driver in unnecessary danger. He turned his back on someone he was intending to arrest, he opened the passenger side door with out first making sure the wife did not have a weapon, he lied to the other responding officer, and finally he left the driver laying in the roadway.
#22 –”John I don’t know what world you come from, but, yes, here on planet Earth putting your hands in your pocket(s) when a cop is yelling at you not to move is a threatening move.”
I am sorry I will have to respectfully disagree with you. By putting your hands in your pockets you are indicating to the other party that you do not intend to to use your hands as a weapon against them. That is part of Psychology 101. The drivers body language said it all. When confronted with the taser. He noticeably hunched over, he put his hand in his pockets, and he backed away. All three things should have been screaming to the officer that he was not a threat. This is an example of a threatening move. Straightening up, making a fist in front of you and moving towards the officer. Notice that my example is the exact opposite of what the driver did.
In closing, this whole incident could have been avoided had the officer just been able to string more than 2 words together and explained calmly and rationally what was going on and what the guy was getting a speeding ticket for exactly. Kinda fast does not cut it.
OK, I guess that I’ll have to spend my vacation dollars in a place where they don’t taze common folk for traffic stops.
Goodbye Miller Motorsports Park, hello Laguna Seca.
>>#26 Damn straight – what is this so >>hard to understand? (Or is this an >>American issue?)
From my Australian perspective, having seen quite a few of these stories, it does seem to be a little different in the US than in other countries. I hear a lot of talk about respect for the lawman – not in the context of respect for a preacher, a doctor etc., but the respect one would give a mountain lion or a bear. Not quite the same thing.
A trivial example – calling police officers ‘sir’. In Australia, the only people who get called ‘sir’ have been knighted, and even that has been phased out. To me, this seems to speak to the police officer not as a fellow citizen, but as a citizen of a higher order.
My respect for Australian police is based on their contribution to our society, the difficult job they do, their respect for the rule of law, and mutual respect due to our equal status as citizens.
As a law-abiding citizen I don’t fear walking past a cop, or being pulled over for a random check or ticket.
Of course, in Australia, only special operations police get access to tazers at the moment. Normal cops get handguns and capsicum spray.
Yes, people here get gassed and shot occasionally but it isn’t generally something that a law-abiding citizen will face because a random cop is having a bad hair day.
You know if the driver would not have been a asshole about the ticket and simply signed it and fought it in court. He could have drove off and enjoyed the rest of his day. But, his ego trip about being right and the officer being wrong ended up getting him zapped!
With the drivers poor attitude and coming unglued about a traffic ticket!
I can see why the officer would want to protect himself. Plus, the girlfriend or wife made things worse by getting out of the vehicle.
This put the officer at a disadvantage.
Were is this guys respect for the law? He showed no respect at all for the officers directions!
OK Bullshit!
Putting your hands in your pocket to a police officer means “I have something in there that I am going to pull out and kill you with it” especially when walking away and concealing your front side. For all he knows the kid has a switchblade or a small gun he is going to pop out and try to use. The kid has already shown himself to be combative and unresponsive so why would it be a stretch for him to jump to the next level and try to over power the cop?
If you want to reach in your pocket when a cop has you pulled over you are supposed to tell them that you are going to reach in your pocket and the reason you are going to reach in your pocket. This way they don’t get jumpy and end up shooting you.
Do you have any idea the kind of crazy shit people try on cops? Even with their pregnant wife and children on scene? I saw a guy punch the shit out a cop with his 9 year old son standing right there. So any argument about there being a pregnant wife and kid there is void.
Is this any different than spanking? The cop “Spanked” the lad for “not following directions”. If this is allowed under law then spanking my children for similar behavior should be allowed. All parents should have tasers and use them when appropriate.
Wow… The people with strong daddy complexes here don’t get it. This cop is learning the difference between being right, and dead right. Sure this cop was totally justified to tase this guy. However from the volume of death threats that he has received and apparently continues to receive his career as a cop is over.
And good riddance, this guy is the archetypal bad cop that gives all cops a bad name.
#31, John S.,
What you don’t understand is that it costs money to fight a ticket. Usually more that the ticket is worth. The cost of fighting a ticket is not recoverable. So, maybe you don’t mind shelling out a few hundred bucks to fight it, more if he uses a lawyer, but most
The cop didn’t tell him what the ticket was for. When asked several times, the cop still refused to tell him how fast he had been going and didn’t write the speed on the ticket. Also, if you watch the beginning of the video, the cop’s car obscures the temporary 40 mph sign.
He had not been placed under arrest. That means he is under no obligation to follow the cop’s “directions”.
After he was told he was under arrest, the cop told him he was being arrested for not signing the ticket and not following his orders. Not signing the ticket is not an offense. Speeding may be, but not signing the ticket isn’t.
Therefore the arrest was illegal as there was no crime the guy committed.
He did not put his hands in his pockets. He hooked his thumbs in is all. His fingers were visible at all times. That belies your threatening gestures.
***
As an aside, watching the video, most of the passing traffic appears to be going much faster than 40.
>>when the man pulls you over he owns you.
Until he starts shooting you with 50,000 volts for no reason, and screaming like a meth-head at your pregnant wife and your baby, and is fucking stupid enough to do it on videotape.
In the old days, The Man did own you. He could beat you, stomp you, shoot you, do whatever he wanted to do and say it was “self defense”. In the era of the car-cam, that’s not so easy to get away with, and you end up with mental defectives like this guy, who not only want to bully harmless civilians and thier Pleasant Valley Leave-It-To-Beaver families, but they’re moronic enough to save it for posterity on tape.
Haw! Law enforcement darwinism.
#35, Fusion;
While I agree with your position that the cop was unjustified in his use of force, you are incorrect on a couple of other issues.
You do not have to be under arrest to be required to follow a police officer’s (lawful) order. I know in Nebraska, and most (if not all) states, there are laws requiring compliance with lawful orders given by a peace officer. Otherwise you wouldn’t have to obey the cop directing traffic, for instance…
Also, in most states, you are required by law to sign a ticket. In some states it is an admission of guilt, but in the majority it is a “promise” to appear in court. Without the signature, they are authorized to take you to jail and have you post bond as your promise to appear.
However, being that in some jurisdictions, signing a ticket is an admission of guilt, the cop handled this situation poorly. The proper response would have been, “Sir, signing a ticket is merely a promise to appear in court and is not an admission of guilt. It is required by law, so I would advise you to sign it.”
#37 nate,
When I wrote that I thought about “directing traffic” and the such. I didn’t want to make the comment TOO long and was trying to stick to the relevancy. You are quite correct though.
The cop told him he was under arrest for not signing the ticket and not following his directions.
In this case, it can not be a crime to not sign something. That is what he was arrested for. As you point out, the signature is an acknowledgment to appear in court. That makes the signature the bond. The “crime” is the speeding. The cop did not arrest him for the speeding.
The cop does not have the authority to just order a citizen around. Not following a cop’s “directions” is not a crime. If the cop were directing traffic and the motorist disobeyed, then yes, that would be Obstructing Police”. Because there was no authority of public interest, the cop’s directions were without proper authority and may be rightly refused. Of course, that is right up until the cop tells the motorist he is under arrest then he does have to comply.
That makes the arrest illegal since there was no proper crime identified to the motorist. In order to effect an arrest, the cop needs probable cause. If the law does not exist that the motorist is being arrested for, it cannot be a proper arrest.
The number of people willing to justify and unjustifiable force is stunning to me. Did you even watch the video, or did you not have time between marathon rounds of bootlicking?
an unjustifiable use of force. . .that’ll teach me to post without proofing!