[Meech]

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Anyway, I've tried to avoid this discussion, but there are some seriously unnerving thoughts in this and other threads on this incident. So here are some thoughts on the it from someone who spent ten years as a police officer/prosecutor:

First, the student is a total douchebag.

Second, despite the first comment, there is NO excuse for a group of FOUR TO SIX police officers to REPEATEDLY use a taser on ONE guy who has shown no signs of serious aggression or threats of aggression. Two officers could have easily handcuffed him and removed him from the premises. I'm confident that I could have done it myself without injuring him simply by using a pressure point to get him off the ground.

Third, these officers threatened non-aggressive bystanders with a tasering. This is nothing short of an unwarranted police aggression.

Fourth, the police - and the police ALONE - are responsible for escalating this situation. The kid wants to yell and scream about being forced from the library. SO [censored] ING WHAT? Let him make himself look like an idiot. The worst thing the officers could have done was make an idiot into a cause celebre - and they did it.

Finally, I've been tased on the stun setting. It didn't affect me that much - it hurt, but it didn't take me off my feet. On the other hand, when it was used on another guy in my department - who was 210 lbs. of solid muscle and trained in MMA fighting - he was knocked off his feet and pissed himself. The thing with tasers is that they affect different people differently. A lot depends on how it makes contact with the person being hit with it. So people who think that the "drive setting" doesn't hurt are kidding themselves and are probably the same kind of people that like to sit behind the security of a computer and say, "10K FIGHT YO."

Personally, I think that tasers are dangerous and should be abandoned. The UCLA department regulations on how and when to use it is pretty similar to other that I've seen, and as far as I'm concerned, are too liberal with regard to when they can be used.

So those are my thoughts on the situation. I'm fairly confident that I'll get some follow up questions on what I've said, but since I'm really busy today at work, I won't have a chance to answer many. Don't be offended if I don't get to yours.

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Great post. There is hope.