Phillies fan ran onto the field, got tasered by police

[blid]

A taser is an electroshock weapon, is the thing, and in some uses borders on torture. (You've probably seen some of the incidents on YouTube.) One of the bigger problems with tasers is when officers get too comfortable with them, and resort to inflicting great pain on someone just because it's easy. Oh, who cares, they'll be fine, I don't want to chase the guy, *ZAP*. That's not right. That's corporal punishment and that's not something we really do here, especially not as punishment for something general like "being an idiot." In this case you can always say we don't know and maybe the guy was going to harm a player or something... unlikely, but that's fine... in too many other cases, though, the use is more clearly excessive.

[GeorgiaBird]

A taser is an electroshock weapon, is the thing, and in some uses borders on torture. (You've probably seen some of the incidents on YouTube.) One of the bigger problems with tasers is when officers get too comfortable with them, and resort to inflicting great pain on someone just because it's easy. Oh, who cares, they'll be fine, I don't want to chase the guy, *ZAP*. That's not right. That's corporal punishment and that's not something we really do here, especially not as punishment for something general like "being an idiot." In this case you can always say we don't know and maybe the guy was going to harm a player or something... unlikely, but that's fine... in too many other cases, though, the use is more clearly excessive.

Yes, any tool can be misused. I have to say, though, my fear of it getting misused in a situation where there are 40,000 witnesses is much less than my fear of it being misused in situations where there is no one around to see it.

(By that logic, I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to use it at Camden Yards!)

[GeorgiaBird]

A taser is an electroshock weapon, is the thing, and in some uses borders on torture. (You've probably seen some of the incidents on YouTube.) One of the bigger problems with tasers is when officers get too comfortable with them, and resort to inflicting great pain on someone just because it's easy. Oh, who cares, they'll be fine, I don't want to chase the guy, *ZAP*. That's not right. That's corporal punishment and that's not something we really do here, especially not as punishment for something general like "being an idiot." In this case you can always say we don't know and maybe the guy was going to harm a player or something... unlikely, but that's fine... in too many other cases, though, the use is more clearly excessive.

And again, if this isn't the answer what is? Tackle him?

What is the probability of long term injury of tackling him vs. tasering him?

[blid]

You get several security personnel on the field and corner him, walk him off the field, kick him out of the stadium

[GeorgiaBird]

In some cases that is fine. But I would much rather he be dealt with instead of watching him run around playing keep away for five minutes. Baseball fields are big.

[Big Mac]

He roots for a Philadelphia sports team, that's probable cause in my book...:laughlol:

*Don't mean to offend any OH'ers who root for Philly teams, just a joke.

[Jammer7]

A taser is an electroshock weapon, is the thing, and in some uses borders on torture. (You've probably seen some of the incidents on YouTube.) One of the bigger problems with tasers is when officers get too comfortable with them, and resort to inflicting great pain on someone just because it's easy. Oh, who cares, they'll be fine, I don't want to chase the guy, *ZAP*. That's not right. That's corporal punishment and that's not something we really do here, especially not as punishment for something general like "being an idiot." In this case you can always say we don't know and maybe the guy was going to harm a player or something... unlikely, but that's fine... in too many other cases, though, the use is more clearly excessive.

Water is commonly used in torture, should we stop drinking water and ban it unless death is imminent?

The tool is just a tool, the action is up to the user.

Action is always faster than reaction, ALWAYS. Do you wait until someone brandishes a weapon before you act? No, because you will likely be too late. You end it as quickly as possible before it escalates. And you do it as safely as possible for all parties.

Another thing, if you believe the suspect is armed with a deadly weapon, through, as someone said, "by a reasonable articulable suspicion," you don't come up with a taser to defend lives. Tasers are not automatic...too many variables come into play. You remove your firearm from it's holster and go from there. Did I mention that action is ALWAYS faster than reaction?

We can debate this all night long. The bottom line is safety. We cannot presume any idiot who runs on a field is just out for a romp on the field. Bad things happen quickly. Apathetic attitudes about unknown dangers get people hurt...and sometimes killed.

A deployment of a taser is not corporal punishment, it is a means to end the situation safely and subdue the suspect with minimal or no injury. That is our job. If someone breaks into your house while you and your family are in bed, are you going to want us to chase the guy through your house? Or, would you want us to stop them as quickly as possible....even using a taser? You don't know what they are going to do or what their intent was. All you know is they are there and they are not supposed to be. And you are in fear of the safety of yourself and your family. The players, coaches and umpires take their safety seriously. The field is their domain, no one else is supposed to be there. That is why the police are there.

Lastly, I firmly believe everyone has the right to their opinions. I have fought for that right my entire adult life like several on this board. However, I invite you to broaden your knowledge base and walk in our boots for a while. Put your safety and well-being on the line, then your well-informed opinion will be more appreciated.

[byrdz]

The police commissioner and mayor are backing the officer's decision, and MLB was just waiting for their investigation to comment, so we'll see what they say. My guess that as serious as they take the "field trespassing", likely stemming from the KC attack, they will also support him.

Bottom line, sounds like if you step on the field and act like a moron, you may get a new hairdo. Otherwise go play in traffic if you want to get on TV.

[Birds of B'more]

Printed on the back of every ticket sold to sporting events in Philadelphia.

[Don_Aase_Fan]

You gotta love Philly...

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/f5aDC.png"></img>

Hilarious! Any way to work a D-cell battery into that? You know, complete the trifecta?

[RShack]

Oh, good grief, people, just watch the video. There was nothing, and I mean nothing, about the goofy fan's behavior that was a threat to anybody or anything... except maybe to the ego of the cop who saw that the goofball was not obeying his orders. This was not about threat abatement, it was about using a weapon because the goof disobeyed the cop's command.

[RShack]

And again, if this isn't the answer what is? Tackle him?

What is the probability of long term injury of tackling him vs. tasering him?

As I explained in post #16, there is nothing particularly hard or dangerous about restraining a guy, provided that you've got 3 or 4 guys who are in decent not-fat shape and who know what they are doing. That's true even if the person in question is crazy, and not just a drunk goofball like this guy was. People are making a completely unreasonable big deal about the threat this goofball supposedly presented. He wasn't a threat, he was a goofball who had too many beers. A blind man could see that. And the use of weaponry was not about threat-abatement, it was about using intrusive force because the cop couldn't stay with the guy, was getting embarrassed in front of umpteen thousand people, and got PO'd. If cops acted like this all the time, there'd be massive confrontations at frat houses every weekend in every college town in the nation. Fortunately for everybody, most police officers have a lot more sense than this guy did.

[JDubs]

But how do you know it was not going to become dangerous? Do you know his intentions? Once he doesn't surrender, I have no problems with him being tasered.

It would have been funnier though if they had hit him in the face like in The Hangover!

The first moment you have a reasonably articulable suspicion of danger (not a very stringent standard)...then you tase. This guy ran onto the fields with taser pointed. It is NOT a remedy of first resort and the video kind of infuriated me a little. I really could care less about this kid...in fact, in any other circumstance, I'd be all for tasing a philly fan. It's about the fact that the officer thought it was ok to taser someone before trying to resolve the situation in any other less forceful way. Disgraceful.

[JDubs]

Printed on the back of every ticket sold to sporting events in Philadelphia.

Those statements carry almost no legal weight because even a reasonable person does not usually read them.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Those statements carry almost no legal weight because even a reasonable person does not usually read them.

You didn't read it, did you