All you Basin natives out there, here's the latest scandal to come out of our area. You will probably recognize Lauren Massey (Whiting) and her husband, Jared from the video. I want you guys to let me know what you think about this. It seems like the cop was way, way out of line. At the same time, I guess he possibly could have construed Jared's actions as aggressive. Still, I say he overreacted big time and should be disciplined.
If you're upset enough about this, you should write in or call Uintah Co. Commissioner Mike McKee.
If you're upset enough about this, you should write in or call Uintah Co. Commissioner Mike McKee.
23 comments:
Craziness......how do we write to him..do you have the address sistah?
County Commission Address is 155 East Main Vernal, Utah 84078. Mike McKee is The County Commissioner who is directly responsible for control on all county roadways. If you want to share your thoughts with the Vernal UHP then call their number (435)789-3111.
This whole tasering thing has really gotten out of hand. I'm not sure exactly what part of "To protect and serve" that falls under. That was pretty ridiculous. If I were a little less lazy, I probably would write to the County Commissioner.
This video was so disturbing. Even worse than the officer's actions is the fact that he felt he was justified. I really want to know how this played (or will play) out. It makes me afraid to drive in Utah . . . the only place I got pulled over twice in 5 minutes . . . once for a broken taillight and again for not slowing down fast enough after a speed limit change. Let me know what happened next!
Sorry, I need to post again to subscribe to the comments.
I haven't watched it with sound yet - no audio at work - but the video alone was crazy! I had no idea!
I guess we've all learned not to approach or walk away from a cop with a taser? And what kind of jerk treats an obviously upset pregnant woman like that?
Also, I feel like I'm famous because this happened in the Basin. :-)
I've always been of the "treat officers with utmost respect, even when pulled over, because they're just doing their jobs and keeping everyone safe" mindset, but as of right now I'm a little nervous. An innocent situation can spiral out of control so fast!!
I can't wait to get home and turn on the audio.
CAN you, legally, walk away from an officer who's pulled you over and asked you to exit your vehicle?
I'm not sure if it's legal to walk away or not--I doubt it though.
As I see it, there are a couple of BIG things the officer did wrong.
1-He never read Jared his rights. A huge huge oversight.
2- The lack of communication was horrendous. Just a few concise statements from the officer explaining his intentions could have diffused the entire situation.
In the "real world" we would never see anyone else get away with something like this. Other people besides cops work in dangerous situations (e.g. an inner city convenience store clerk), but we don't find them tasering people they come in contact with just because those people don't follow their instructions.
But I will admit that cops are in a unique situation. They come into contact with very dangerous people daily, and they have the fact that they are constantly, potentially, in danger hammered into their head. If they wait to take action until a person actually pulls a gun on them,then it's too late.
So the underlying question is this: Is it okay for cops to unjustly treat people occasionally when misunderstandings like this arise because they are acting for the "greater good" and attempting to ensure their own survival, as well as the survival of others?
All right, well I have now heard the audio and discussed it with my future lawmaker husband.
He and I agree that the use of a Taser in this situation was excessive force BUT the Masseys won't get far if they attempt to bring suit.
No, Jared was not under arrest (so technically no rights-reading was necessary yet, right?) at the time of the Tasering, but he was obligated to obey the officer, who asked him to stop and put his hands up. Furthermore, walking away was probably the worst move.
According to Desnews, use of a Taser is justified when other means of control have proved inefficient. The officer used verbal commands and they were inefficient. (We do not think that he used them well, please don't misunderstand. But if this came to court, and he said that, it would probably fly.)
We think Jared should get compensated for any hospital bills incurred - if there were any - and he should be able to contest the ticket in court like anyone else.
Also, he, and we, should learn something from this. Armed police officers are not good people to mess with.
And to answer your last question, I think we can't employ people to protect and police our society, and give them basically full privileges to do whatever's necessary to do that, and then try to dictate their actions to them. Cops make split-second decisions in volatile situations every day. Not surprising they get a little trigger-happy.
However, "for the greater good" is an extremely scary term. I understand where it comes from and what it should mean, but what it CAN mean? Whoa.
The only problem with this is...The cop dropped all charges of resisting arrest against Jared.So basically Jared got tasered TWICE...(he tasered him again when he was on the ground telling him to roll over, because Jared didn't do it fast enough) for going 5 over in a 40 mile and hour zone. That is basically legally what it boils down to. The cop dropped all other charges but those. So if you look at it from that standpoint. I sure as heck don't want some crazy cop tasering me twice for speeding. I agree with Lacey that had Jared known he was being placed under arrest for not signing a ticket (which who knows if he can even do?) He probably wouldn't have re-acted the way that he did.
Plus a taser is considered a deadly weapon and only to be used when someone gets physical, or you think you are in physical danger. Jared may not have followed instructions..however, he was not physically assaulting the officer in anyway. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Just FYI, this video was added to you tube a couple of days ago, and already there are 25,000 views. There are also a few pages of comments, some from people who sound like they know what they are talking about (although I cant be sure). If you want to read the comments, just go to you tube and type "speeding ticket taser).
And Aug, Im just wondering where you got your info? Did you call Lauren?
Good update. Thanks.
Good points. But you won't get Tasered twice for speeding. If you're speeding and you get pulled over and you get mad and act like you're about to flee the scene, you better hope you're not in the Uintah Basin. Apparently that's grounds for Tasering there.
I agree with you though, that 5 miles over the speed limit isn't grounds for what happened. Even if Jared WAS fleeing the scene, it's not like it was a hit and run or something.
However, I just told this story to one of my co-workers, whose son is a police officer, and she said that cops are trained to think "officer safety first" - honestly, for all that cop knew, Jared was going to get a gun, or was running away because he had a dead body or smuggled drugs in his car or something. That's a little far-fetched, obviously, but apparently that's the kind of motivation cops are running on.
P.S. Why was there EVER a charge of resisting arrest? Gardner had not said anything about arrest when the whole thing went down, that happened afterward. So technically he was not resisting arrest. This whole thing is crazy!
Ultimately, Tasering was not the way to go. I feel terrible for the Masseys, especially Lauren because I can't even imagine how scary that must have been. I just don't think they have a case if they try to file suit, which is what one website said they were going to do.
McLace, are you in TX? You better be coming over tomorrow, if you're not.
We have to do VT for the month. I totally forgot. And we have a new sister but I can't remember who it is - might be Lacey F. Anyway, we'll worry about that after the holiday.
I built the cheesecake.
Lacey- yes Lauren called me and told me that Jared had been tasered twice, and that they took pictures of both marks on his body, as well as the resisting arrest charges were being dropped. In the video the cop said that was why he was arresting Jared. Jared commented by saying "I didn't know I was being arrested." Though the website says they are filing a law suit..no law suit has been filed. Jared specifically mentioned this to all news crews...though they just took liberty with his comments and said that they were filing lawsuits. Lauren told me all they really want is for the cop or whoever to pay the hospital bill. And he just wanted people to be aware so this doesn't happen to anyone else.
I agree with you fig that cops are trained to act on spur of the moment. I also agree that Jared probably should not have backed away..however, I think it might have been a bit extreme..though the first tasering could be justifiable...however, in my opinion the second go with the taser gun was not AT all justifiable. Jared was already on the ground bleeding from the head when he administered another go with his gun. All in all there were faults on both sides..however, the cop had more training, more power and should have more self control I think.
Actually its not true that police have to read your rights at the moment of arrest. This is more of a cultural cliche propogated through movies and other media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_warning
Check the section on confusion regarding use.
Audja, you are right. Second taser was absolutely unacceptable. First taser was too, really.
And the cop should know better. I think he screwed up. And I'm glad to know that there aren't really lawsuits going on - leave it to the media to spread crap (sorry McLace, I know you are an integritable reporter). (integritable is not a word.)
The disturbing part is the timing of the officer pulling his taser out. There is no mention of Jared being placed under arrest before the tasering incident, the officer only asked Jared to step out of the car. Apparently Jared wasn't perceived as a threat until he is facing away from the officer, pointing with his hands towards a speed limit sign down the road. At that point, pulls out his taser and points it at Jared, when Jared is in the MOST unthreatening position possible. The officer basically blindsided Jared with the Taser. To make matters even MORE disturbing, the officer tasered him AGAIN, when he was on the ground and CLEARLY no threat of bodily harm to the officer. To top it off, the officer illegally searched the Masseys' car, - he had no warrant, and Lauren did not give him permission to search the vehicle. Finally, the officer perjured himself during his interactions with the other officer.
If Jared choose to sue, it would never make it to court because the Highway Patrol would be throwing money at Jared just to keep it from going to trial. In my opinion, the officer needs to be fired, and charged with Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
This is my speculation on what is happening, after viewing a few times. It seems to me, this happened because the officer feels his status as alpha male is threatened, not just his safety.
There is no good reason for the officer to whip out his taser that fast, unless there was a prior plan to use it. It hadn't escalated to an issue of safety when he drew it.
The way Jared was speaking to the officer would have triggered a response like that... Remember the wording he uses during the conversation in traffic, "What we are going to do is go back and look
at the signs. What we are going to do...., etc"
Jared was attempting to take control of the frame. To a man who feels he is in charge over everybody he sees, especially when he pulls them over, those words can be deeply offending. Put yourself in the officer's shoes in this case. I believe those words ticked him off, because they threatened his sense of being in charge. He wanted to make Jared pay, even though he had done nothing legally wrong.
So in my opinion, he quickly invented something on the spot that would make Jared pay for his offensive words.
When Jared refused to sign, he jumped on that, asked him to get out of the car, but did not tell him he was under arrest. He set up a situation where Jared would be confused and not know the seriousness of the situation, thus escalating it to the taser, (bet that felt like good retribution for the cop) and pushing it further to arrest, so he could show Jared who was in charge.
I'm not a gambling man. But if there was a wager on this, I'd bet solid money on it and fully expect to win.
Oh, I know I'm a random guy popping in here... checked the links from the youtube site and saw this blog was linking to it, so i followed it here. I'm an LDS guy from California... Its cool you guys have a little network of friends going on blogspot. I like the pic on the front of the site, looks like the BYU heritage apts not too far from where I used to live in Provo. Take care people.
Good comments from everyone. It's just such an intriguing situation that it's nice to know what other people have to say about the incident.
I thought you all would like this update, which you may have already heard anyway. Apparently, (note the key word apparently here because I did not get this directly from the Masseys but from other credible sources)it took way too long for the Vernal UHP to respond to the Massey's request for the dash cam video. When the family finally did get it, the video had been scrambled and tampered with. They had to hire a computer expert to restore it.
Now, I don't know how these accusations will play out, but that is extremely disturbing. Let's hope they don't find local officials tried to shove this whole mess under the rug. It is interesting that they're only now starting to investigate the situation.
Crazy!
Post a Comment