|
Main Menu
> Just say 'no'...
> BUSTED DVD Info > Our Next Film > About Flex Your Rights > Police Stop Stats > Case Law and You Frequently Asked Questions Flex Success Stories Donate to Flex Your Rights Contact Us Disclaimer FYR Google Search
Sign up for FyR Emails
Receive FREE email updates: BUSTED Endorsements
"I recently had the opportunity to show BUSTED to an introductory-level criminal justice course, which has approximately 300 students. The actors in the film are about the age of my students and the scenarios are situations familiar to my students. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. By showing both what can go wrong and how it can be righted, they went away with a much better understanding of their constitutional rights. Its an excellent film that I would highly recommend." Dr. Ralph A. Weisheit, Illinois State University Dept. of Criminal Justice Advertisement
|
|
Advertisements
|
Be Calm and Corteous to Police...You Can Give Them Hell Later!
Bottom line: If a police officer is threatening you with force, comply. There is no way you're ever going to argue your way out of a ticket with a police officer. When your emotional (like this guy was), it's hard to articulate anything you are thinking. This is exactly what court is for, give your argument in a controlled calm setting, and let the much smarter (hopefully) judge decide if the ticket was warranted.
Not to mention, you have a good chance of the cop not even showing up to court if you contest it.
I don't agree with quick use of the taser, but this guy was an idiot to not cooperate. I mean did he think the cop was kidding, when he pulled out the taser? Furthermore, his refusal to comply (started walking back to his car)with the officer nullifies any validity with his original argument over the ticket. Once he disobeyed the officer, it's all out the door, including police misconduct(Unless the cop tased or beat the crap out of him, which he didn't). In court, this just looks like the cop "doing what he had to do" to control the citizen and get him to comply.
Furthermore, in refernence to this website's caption underneath the video,"It's just awful to see the taser take the place of physical force, which would have been perfectly sufficient in this case", give me a break. There is no way "physical force" here would have been sufficient. What was the cop going to do, take him down "mono y mono" until he got the cuffs on him? The officer was also outnumbered two to one. If he had a partner or back-up with him, I could see your point. Nevertheless, the office was by himself; engaging in physical force could have potentially endangered everyone in this encounter. Think about it, what if the man being arrested successfully resisted the officer's "physical force", or if the man's wife got involved? Things could have escalated to much more worse extent very quickly.
This brings me to my next point, enough with whining about tasering. I'm not a fan of it by any means, but the way it was used here was by no means "torture" as this website labels it. I'm sure it hurt like hell and the guy will be "butt hurt" about it for a long time, but he was fine. Trust me, he would have been in a lot more pain if he was sprayed with pepper spray and for a much longer period of time. It's not like the officer was abusing his use of the taser to the point of "torture". I'm guessing this guy experienced less than 10 seconds of pain. However, like the website says this all could have been avoided if the upset citizen would have recognized the fact that the officer was not fooling around. As soon as you calm down so will police officers, so be calm! I bet you, the officer would not have even arrested the man (after his refusal to sign it the first time) if he calmed down and signed the citation.
Nobody wants to lay down and take orders from anybody especially when you think you are innocent. But as this organization advocates, you don't prove your innocence to cops on the side of the road and refusing with their orders (if anything that'll be construed as guilt), you prove your innocence in court. Which no matter how much you hate it or how right you think you are, you always always comply with a police officer orders (as long as you're not incriminating yourself) especially when it is something as simple as putting your hands behind your back.