Register – Thursday 16th November 2006:
According to a report on the university’s Daily Bruin, the incident occured at around 11.30 pm on Tuesday when security officers at the Powell Library CLICC computer lab “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“.
“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.”
The video shows the tasered ne’er-do-well shouting “Here’s your Patriot Act, here’s your fucking abuse of power”, while refusing to get up. Shortly thereafter, the cops tasered him a second time for his trouble.
UCPD officers later confirmed that the man at the receiving end of the righteous tasering was a student, but didn’t name him or give any further details.
Update: This one is nearly off the irony scale. Three UCLA cops were recently given “Tazer Awards” for subduing a mental patient earlier this year! Way to go guys, treat yourself to an extra donut! Maybe if you’re lucky Santa will bring you some quadriplegic kids to zap!
Update II: The victim in this attack, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, is accusing the UCLA police of racial profiling…
Associated Press – November 17, 2006:
A student who was shocked by a campus police officer’s Taser gun after he refused to show ID at a UCLA library thought he was being singled out by the officer because of his Middle Eastern appearance, his lawyer said.
Yagman said his client declined to show his school ID because he thought he was being targeted for his appearance. His family is of Iranian descent.
Update III: It appears the UCLA doesn’t trust its internal police force, as the university has ordered an outside and independent probe of this attack.
Los Angeles Times – November 18, 2006:
Hoping to calm the furor created when UCLA police used a Taser to subdue a student studying in Powell Library, the university’s acting chancellor announced Friday that a veteran Los Angeles law enforcement watchdog would head up an independent investigation of the incident.
Norman Abrams said he ordered the probe after the university received numerous calls and e-mails from parents and alumni raising concerns about the officers’ actions during the videotaped Tuesday night arrest, which has been widely seen on TV news and the YouTube website.
“I want to assure them that the UCLA campus is a safe environment. Student safety and treatment are of paramount concern at UCLA,” Abrams said. “We plan to move ahead promptly with a complete and unbiased review.”
Abrams said Bobb has a proven track record looking into allegations of police misconduct, including the Rodney King beating and more recently the riots at the L.A. County jail system.
For everyone who thinks the cops did the right thing, you might want to read this…
One of the issues Bobb’s investigation will examine is whether the officers complied with the university police rules for using Tasers.
Several local police agencies — including the LAPD and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — allow officers to use Tasers only if a suspect poses a physical threat or is acting combatively.
The sheriff’s policies expressly say deputies can’t use Tasers simply to move someone
Blown way out of proportion. The guy could have been having a shitty day and choose a poor way to show it. Before tasers you would have a baton strike on a nerve plexus for pain to soften you up. Wielding batons can result in considerable more injury. You have someone flying into a rage in a public place. You have to bring him under control quickly before he hurts himself or someone else. Police work isn’t pretty. How many of you want to do it, I don’t.
Boy you people live in a fantasy land. #1 rule, the guy with the gun is always right. If you ever forget rule #1 you stand a very good chance of dieing. I saw no violation of proceeder’s here only a kid you never had to do as he was told as a child. Reality is painful. I believe what most of the commenter’s here mistake for freedom is anarchy.
It’s times like these I actually miss the ’70’s. Honestly, there was a LOT of over-reaction going on here… not just by the cops, either. It’s time to Mellow out America. Respect shown by the bonehead heavy-handed cops, the bonehead student “i-want-attention” crybaby, and bonehead no common-sense “security operatives” would have kept all this in perspective.
Just what is a “security operative” anyway? Are computer labs dangerous at UCLA? This reminds me of an old Soviet Russian joke:
It’s OK honey, I checked and it’s only a burglar. I was scared it was the police.
Why do you think they are not real cops?
#32: You know, at the university I go to, we also are required to have campus ID on our person whenever on campus. But the difference is–at least so far–we don’t go totally ape shit when someone doesn’t have their ID. Last I checked, the cops have radios, don’t they? Out here in Nebraska, it’s pretty easy to see if someone is a student by checking out their name, student number, etc. I bet the kid could have even logged into his student records/account page to show them, but they wouldn’t have listened anyway. These cops were looking for a fight, and they escalated the situation more than it should have been.
I hope these clowns are prosecuted for assault with a deadly weapon. And more power to the students, it was darn close to a riot, they could have taken down the cops and placed them under citizen’s arrest….
So I get it, police can’t be reasonable, they can’t have a cool head and defuse a situation. They can only escalate things. They’re not suppose to think, just draw their batons and whack a few people or tazer then because “He deserved everything dished out to him… he practically demanded it.”
Iron men with wooden sticks have been replaced by wooden men with iron sticks. But don’t forget, these ARE rent-a-cops. If they had judgment and a cool head and were able to defuse a situation in a reasonable manner, they would be real cops….instead of unemployed which is exactly what’s going to happen to them.
OK, so I don’t know how to use blockquote.
Actually, these were fully trained and certified police officers…
http://www.ucpd.ucla.edu/
…Which only makes it worse, I think. Around here, the common perception amongst students is the local campus cops are cops that weren’t good enough to make the city police force… If there’s any truth to that, well, you reap what you sow…
There is no law saying you have to “respect” authority. If you think there is show it to me. You have to obey the law and a lawfully given order by an officer but they can not arrest you for being disrespectful. Unless that disrespect is interfering with their enforcement of the law. Respect goes both ways and a lot of police officers don’t show any respect for the power they have been given.
Now, I don’t think these officers violated his rights, at least not from what I could make out on that video. They did however exasperate the situation by there actions which show a lack of judgment. It appears the situation could have been avoided and they did nothing but show their “perceived” power.
This is what happens when the Crack Ho’s run the joint!
What would have happened when the woman who asked the “officer” for his credentials, and he refused to produce them, had she said, “You might zap me, but you can’t zap ALL of us at once”
The officer was just as much in the wrong for not giving the student HIS credentials when asked for them. I work indirectly with a police agency, and believe me when I say that there are MANY of them that believe that they “don’t have to obey the law, because [they] ARE the law!” MANY of them would love to rush and clobber the first person they could, but because they would get reprimanded, they don’t.
Welcome to the 21st Century. Big Brother is still watching.
I suppose the campus security officers have more training and restraint than the police officers? They seemed to have acted properly. I suspect the police officers had every right to do what they did. And when, oh when, are people going to learn that you don’t mess with people who have weapons? Even when those with the weapons are completely wrong.
That said, the whole scene stinks. And I hope and expect it will result in procedural changes. How is it that supposed intelligent people in authority could not use their creative smarts to quietly coax the fellow outside – without disrupting and upsetting a whole lot of students? Add to this the unfortunate fellow’s sure desire to make a nice big outburst against “the Man.”
RBG
This is absurd. #1 is wrong, the police should be charged with assault and the university should be sued if they condone this. Police are supposed to be trained to deal with arrogant pricks. If he was being an arrogant prick, fine, they can escort him off the premises. There is NO excuse to use violence (yes, horrifically painful electrical current used to disable a person is definitely violence) in a situation that is merely asinine.
As for the girl who asked for their names and badge number, good for her. Let them know in advance that what they’re doing is unacceptable. Let them know that they’re breeding contempt for authority. Let them know that if anyone in that room has any say in the matter, they will burn.
They can wait until the trial to know they were caught on video as well.
Well put, #40.
If these aren’t real cops, but just security guards then I agree that they went overboard and should be fired. And I also apologize to SN, though I still think he’s just making up arguments that aren’t real.
You don’t have to respect the cops because they have a gun. You have to do what they say, though because they are the cops.
I’m sure the German people watched similar things happen to the Jews and had similar conversations. I have almost been run over on my bike by cops running stop signs. I’m not worried about normal drivers they are nice, but cops don’t seem to care.
Money says that the cops were at fault on this one and abused their power. I saw and heard nothing that resembled someone really being confrontational with them.
Also whats with them not giving up their badge numbers? Next thing you know they’ll be wearing ski masks.
Um, can anyone explain to me why they have random I.D. checks at UCLA? That seems pretty intrusive. Has it always been that way over there? What are they looking for? Terrorist activity? Wouldn’t there be better ways to monitor that, like gather some evidence or something?
Why do we have to say that any 1 person is at fault here. The way I see it all parties involved did some pretty stupid things.
Some things to note:
1. This could have all been avoided if the guy had his student ID on him to begin with. I did not attend UCLA but where I went to school the ID was practically required just to use the restroom. It was something that everyone accepted and nobody had a problem with because it kept people who didn’t pay for the services from being able to use or abuse them.
2. So the cops/rent-a-cops or whoever ask him to show some ID or leave. Sounds like he could have chosen then to leave, get his ID, then return and continue what he was doing, no problems.
On the other hand:
A. In general the people/cops who were trying to get the guy to leave made very bad decisions regarding thier approach to the situation. They seemed to be doing everything they could to exert thier position or supposed power over him rather than trying to resolve the problem.
B. Tasers and other supposedly non-lethal devices should only be used to protect against someone who poses an immediate physical threat. If a guy is waving a gun around then heck yeah hit him with a taser or even a real gun if necessary but this student didn’t have a knife or any kind of weapon so at the most extreme a set of handcuffs would have been more than adequate.
It just seems like all parties involved did everything they could to make the situation worse instead of resolving it peacefully. If I were to have to say any one party screwed up more than the other I might say that the police took it too far but overall everyone involved did some pretty dumb things.
Just my $.02
I looked at the University of California (Faux) Police Department’s website again, and they’ve issued a press release on the matter:
http://tinyurl.com/yxq724
There’s certainly more to the story, but I still think police everywhere are abusing tasers.
By the way. Nice video if it was really from a camera phone. 7 minutes worth of decent footage. Technology like that is going to have a big impact on situations like this in the future.
#48 Your $.02 is priceless.
That’s reprehensible. Tell me why library police officers are allowed to carry tasers, again?
And to the unconscionable people who are defending the police officers actions, since when do you have a right to taser someone who is not threatening you?! When someone is lying on the ground?!Disgusting.
I’m sure the German people watched similar things happen to the Jews and had similar conversations.
*ding* *ding* *ding*
We have a winner! The comment thread has officially jumped the shark by alluding to Nazism!
I’m sure the German people watched similar things happen to the Jews and had similar conversations.
I think ID cards are an abused system.
“The Germans had pieces of flare that they made the Jews wear.”
🙂
#5 said:
…And lastly, if tazers are a non-lethal means of force, then why do people die from their affects?!
Maybe I can help answer that one. There is research going on into that mystery. There is a controversial theory about “Excited Delirium” that may or may not explain tazer deaths. It’s very controversial, so be careful of your sources when you google it !!! There are events that occur in a tazer death that are critical but rarely reported in the media, such as the length of time between the tazing and the occurance of death, and the length of time it takes for a paramedic to realize they are losing their patient. Also, look for the role acidosis plays in this event.
So are they cops or not? What is the difference? why are they called police officers if they are not officers? How was the guy arrested for resisting a police officer if they aren’t police officers?
Could someone please clear this up?
They are cops. The intial point of contact was a community service officer (non-sworn officer) who escalated the incident to the sworn police officers (the ones who tasered the guy).
The link to the UCPD’s website is previously posted at #40.
I’m also amazed at how quickly this collected comments… is it lunch hour on the west coast or is this just all that much more empassioning?
Stefan- Thank you UCLA police for making me appreciate living in Europe, the true home of democracy.
Yeah the UK ‘cough’, ‘cough’, is a true ‘cough’ home of democracy.
This is an an example of state sponsored terrorism. Get in line kids, cause we’re in control, if you dont like it, we’ll just taser you until you DO!
I find it absolutely DISGUSTING that anyone here can find this a fair use of force. Respect for authority? Are you kidding me? Sure this kid acted irresponsibly and should have left right away. And its highly possible that his kid should have been arrested and questioned. However, when he was tasered, he was not a danger to the cops or the students. He was mearly shouting. This is a disgusting use of force and these things can even be lethal in rare cases. They should be used only in the most EXTREME circumstances. I challege the respondants to this article: Have any of you ever experienced the pain of a taser? I haven’t, but I’ve heard its one of the most painful things that can happen to you. So how about this, you shut up and stop endorsing this horrible treatment until you’ve experienced this for yourself.
Oh and by the way, this guy was a muslim. That tells you a lot right there. I’d bet my life that there was a racist element to this.
This is a particularly disturbing video that, personally, riled me up. I predict that it is going to spread on the internet like wildfire, and we’ll be hearing about it on NYTimes pretty soon. Remember Dean Howard’s scream?
Also, it is unambiguous to me that the police did not handle this situation correctly, whether the guy was cooperative or not. I find it incomprehensible that the situation would have escalated like that if it the police handled it better; and that’s more than their job, it’s a moral obligation, because they have tasers and the students don’t. But, whatever the truth is, I predict that the public outrage will determine the outcome, for better or worse.
I second acree here. The race element is pretty key to creating the public outrage that will lead this story into the NYTimes. God, I love the NYTimes.