Maybe she shouldn't have been 18 and pregnant.

/Just sayin'

"It's considered a tool," Smith said. He later added, "It was probably not the smartest thing to do."

You know who else is considered a tool?

If a shoe can be considered a deadly weapon, a Taser should be too.

I bet that cop is voting for McCain.

dont tase me bro

DrMcNinja: Maybe she shouldn't have been 18 and pregnant.

/Just sayin'

YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!!!!1111!11!!11! ITS A BEAUTIFUL THING!!11!11 THEY'RE ADULTS AND WE'RE HAPPY THAT THEY'RE GOING TO START A FAMILY!!!1111!!!1!!! MAYBE THE FATHER WILL EVEN GET TO MEET JOHN MCCAIN.

Is there any study, not just people blogging and blowing off steam, that attempts to measure police brutality/corruption/incompetent boobery in the US vs. other countries?

Seriously, my grad student friends had no illusions about how cops act based on their own countries of origin; I won't name names here.

Are we really better than any other Western democracy by this measurement? Are they all pretty half-ass? Is it just us? Are we better than South American law enforcement? It is tricky doing apples to apples comparisons across cultures and legal systems, but surely someone has tried. Citations? Anyone?

A pregnant woman??? Tasering has officially hit all women hardest? Will something be done? Will something think of the children? Will a few new government agencies be established? Will the someone cut this woman a check?

fta:It was not clear if the two women are related.
well, since it IS west virginia, i'm gonna have to go with 'most-likely' as my answer
/keep'n it in the family

Maybe we should hang all current cops, judges, lawyers and politicians and start with a new batch of asholes.

FTFA: "He Tasered me because it was my birthday,"

i don't know why, but that made me laugh

"He Tasered me because it was my birthday"

I can't stop laughing

Smeggy Smurf: Maybe we should hang all current cops, judges, lawyers and politicians cop haters on Fark and start with a new batch of asholes.


/ FTFM

DrMcNinja: Maybe she shouldn't have been 18 and pregnant.

/Just sayin'

Because adults shouldn't get pregnant.

rednecks & tasers always a winning combo

Babbs: Smeggy Smurf: Maybe we should hang all current cops, judges, lawyers and politicians cop haters on Fark and start with a new batch of asholes.


/ FTFM

If you're dumb enough to think the cops don't see you as a criminal already and the county sees you as a revenue source then God help us if you've already bred.

This is SHOCKING!!!!!!1!

It's pretty clear from reading the article that all involved were just goofing off, and none of the involved parties thought anything else of it. So this isn't one of the typical "bad cop" stories we get around here. Having said that, I personally don't want the cops in my town "goofing off" with their friends and their tasers, so this guy is still an asshat and deserves a reprimand. And maybe he should consider, oh, I don't know, growing up?

Babbs,

I am not sure that you realize your civic duty in a pluralistic representative democracy. All authority figures should be questioned and challenged, blind trust should never be given over. This applies not only to elected officials, but also to any and all law-enforcement persons. They have weapons. They are of mediocre or even sub-par intelligence (on average). They are paranoids, and are constantly having that paranoia reinforced by their everyday actions with criminals and each other.

Personally, I respect cops as far as they respect me. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt when first meeting them-- but as soon as a cop wanders off the utmost professional behaviour while on the job, you can be goddammed sure that I will be watching that cop like a hawk, and standing up for my rights as vigilantly the Constitution and Bill of Rights allow. That same policy is extended toward any authority figure. It is a central tenet of liberty-- I need to keep my liberty every day.

Smeggy Smurf: Maybe we should hang all current cops, judges, lawyers and politicians and start with a new batch of asholes.

Please tell me you're trolling. I would argue that lawyers are often the ones fighting for the rights of people victimized in this way. Lawyers are the individual's final check against unbridled government power in situations such as this.

Saturn5: DrMcNinja: Maybe she shouldn't have been 18 and pregnant.

/Just sayin'

Because adults shouldn't get pregnant.

lol, I have yet to meet an 18 year old I would call an adult.

Set Phasers, to Stunnings!

Smeggy Smurf: Babbs: Smeggy Smurf: Maybe we should hang all current cops, judges, lawyers and politicians cop haters on Fark and start with a new batch of asholes.


/ FTFM

If you're dumb enough to think the cops don't see you as a criminal already and the county sees you as a revenue source then God help us if you've already bred.

If you're dumb enough to believe that tripe, I feel sorry for you.

Do you even know any cops?

You know, I don't care. Just stop talking.

Well the pregnant girl failed to tell the cop that she was pregnant. She fails.
I'm pretty sure the cop is supposed to ask about health problems, including pregnancy, before he "instructs" anyone in the safe handling of a tazer. He fails.

The cop tazered a fireman because it was his birthday? He double fails. Take his tazer away.

"Don't taze me po-po!"

My taser goes to 11.

You know who's asinine? The subbie who wrote this headline after apparently only reading the first three sentences of the article.

And a new fetish is born...

Anyone know where I can get any pregnant teen Taserin' porn.

Cause man am I ever turned on now!

skippytheferret

I'd like to sign up for the taserin'-er portion of this pornography. I'd be the taseree but I'm too old and I'm incapable of belly conception.

/Penis

dave2198: If you're dumb enough to believe that tripe, I feel sorry for you.

Do you even know any cops?

Actually, police officers treat almost everyone as a suspect, even during minor traffic stops.
In fact, many police departments have a major focus ON revenue generation, by issuing tickets for non-safety-related violations.

So, he was actually right.

Just like not all Farkers are assholes, not all cops are assholes. Except for Smeggy Smurf.

/ That is all

As a suspect, as in, a criminal suspect, not just someone who was speeding.

Doesn't mean they're going to taser you for nothing (though plenty of officers do), but it does mean they will keep their hands on said taser (or gun) even when they have no reason to believe you're anything but a person in a hurry.

If I was that cop's boss, he'd have to turn in his badge and gun immediately. Tasing a pregnant woman? Inexcusable, I don't care what the circumstances were.

You know.. it's been some years since I've used a Taser, and the ones I used were slightly old even then, but I don't recall having the option to turn the taser to "low power," unless you put in dead batteries.

TeddyRooseveltsMustache: If I was that cop's boss, he'd have to turn in his badge and gun immediately. Tasing a pregnant woman? Inexcusable, I don't care what the circumstances were.

There was a time when we'd take a guy like that out back and beat him with a hose.

puffy999: issuing tickets for non-safety-related violations.

puffy999: not just someone who was speeding.

Speeding IS a safety violation. Try again.

puffy999: dave2198: If you're dumb enough to believe that tripe, I feel sorry for you.

Do you even know any cops?

Actually, police officers treat almost everyone as a suspect, even during minor traffic stops.
In fact, many police departments have a major focus ON revenue generation, by issuing tickets for non-safety-related violations.

So, he was actually right.

Suspect != Criminal
Departments that try to overtly generate revenue from citations rather than focusing on what matters get reprimanded by the higher ups.

So, actually he wasn't.

Relatively Obscure: You know.. it's been some years since I've used a Taser, and the ones I used were slightly old even then, but I don't recall having the option to turn the taser to "low power," unless you put in dead batteries.

You are correct. New ones don't have "power settings". They are pre-programmed.

So if Palin shouldn't be trying to fire a cop who made death threats and tased a minor, this guy should just get minimal punishment and keep his job too, right?

Wolf Flywheel: Relatively Obscure: You know.. it's been some years since I've used a Taser, and the ones I used were slightly old even then, but I don't recall having the option to turn the taser to "low power," unless you put in dead batteries.

You are correct. New ones don't have "power settings". They are pre-programmed.

exactly what i came here to say

Wolf Flywheel: Relatively Obscure: You know.. it's been some years since I've used a Taser, and the ones I used were slightly old even then, but I don't recall having the option to turn the taser to "low power," unless you put in dead batteries.

You are correct. New ones don't have "power settings". They are pre-programmed.

I was wondering. Tried to look but couldn't find much either way. Really, the idea of having adjustable "power levels" seems both rather counterproductive and dangerous, anyway.

g0dzilla: Babbs,

I am not sure that you realize your civic duty in a pluralistic representative democracy. All authority figures should be questioned and challenged, blind trust should never be given over. This applies not only to elected officials, but also to any and all law-enforcement persons. They have weapons. They are of mediocre or even sub-par intelligence (on average). They are paranoids, and are constantly having that paranoia reinforced by their everyday actions with criminals and each other.

Personally, I respect cops as far as they respect me. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt when first meeting them-- but as soon as a cop wanders off the utmost professional behaviour while on the job, you can be goddammed sure that I will be watching that cop like a hawk, and standing up for my rights as vigilantly the Constitution and Bill of Rights allow. That same policy is extended toward any authority figure. It is a central tenet of liberty-- I need to keep my liberty every day.

Well said, sir. I applaud you.

dave2198: Suspect != Criminal
Departments that try to overtly generate revenue from citations rather than focusing on what matters get reprimanded by the higher ups.

So, actually he wasn't.

Absolutely. State and national accreditation organizations are sticklers for this sort of thing. If you are found to be doing this and are a state or nationally accredited department, you will be fined or lose your accreditation and therefore lose the government funding which is awarded to accredited agencies. Therefore, we can surmise that writing tickets for the money will actually lose you money. Not to mention the fact that most tickets are written for state statute violations and the agency that writes them only keeps like 10% or less of that fine. The rest goes to the state.

Relatively Obscure:
You are correct. New ones don't have "power settings". They are pre-programmed.

I was wondering. Tried to look but couldn't find much either way. Really, the idea of having adjustable "power levels" seems both rather counterproductive and dangerous, anyway.

They are pre-set for time limits too. When you pull the trigger and let go (like firing a gun) it will deliver a 5 second jolt. No more. It can be cut short by activating the safety switch. The only way to make it last longer is to hold down the trigger which is strictly forbidden at most departments. And you can't lie about anything you do with a taser as there is a tiny CPU inside of the taser that can be accessed through a USB port which details time and length of usage. The taser is a fantastic tool and it actually catches the "tools" who misuse them.

Video of the incident. He looked justified in his decision to me.

I'm tasering people right now so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

I don't know why everyone has to bring iup a disability/minority when something bad happens

"She was pregnant"
"Hit a Senior Citizen"
"Clubbed a blind person"
"A women was robbed"

Sure, the jolt could have negative affects on her precious unborn cletus, but so is being pregnant at 18.

Why can't people just say
"Two people were tazered by a cop"
"Hit John Doe"
"Someone got hit by a bat"
"Someone was robbed at gun point"

Wolf Flywheel: They are pre-set for time limits too. When you pull the trigger and let go (like firing a gun) it will deliver a 5 second jolt. No more. It can be cut short by activating the safety switch. The only way to make it last longer is to hold down the trigger which is strictly forbidden at most departments. And you can't lie about anything you do with a taser as there is a tiny CPU inside of the taser that can be accessed through a USB port which details time and length of usage. The taser is a fantastic tool and it actually catches the "tools" who misuse them.


Yeah, I was familiar with some of that. The ones I used were pretty old (looked for a pic and couldn't find one) and didn't really have very many safety or investigative features. Newer ones were coming in as I was going out, but still nothing like the new ones today.

HexRei: You know who's asinine? The subbie who wrote this headline after apparently only reading the first three sentences of the article.

What's wrong in the headline? The cop did taser a pregnant woman and a firefighter. The explanation is he was playing around.

How is the subby asinine?

g0dzilla: Babbs,

I am not sure that you realize your civic duty in a pluralistic representative democracy. All authority figures should be questioned and challenged, blind trust should never be given over. This applies not only to elected officials, but also to any and all law-enforcement persons. They have weapons. They are of mediocre or even sub-par intelligence (on average). They are paranoids, and are constantly having that paranoia reinforced by their everyday actions with criminals and each other.

Personally, I respect cops as far as they respect me. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt when first meeting them-- but as soon as a cop wanders off the utmost professional behaviour while on the job, you can be goddammed sure that I will be watching that cop like a hawk, and standing up for my rights as vigilantly the Constitution and Bill of Rights allow. That same policy is extended toward any authority figure. It is a central tenet of liberty-- I need to keep my liberty every day.


Agreed. There are FAR too many people in the USA who blindly follow, make generalizing statements in support of people they don't know.
My wife was married to a cop for a little over a year. Not only was he a psychotic wanting to get his gun off, but his friends were the same way.
Plus, their favorite hobby was shaking down prostitutes and known drug dealers, stealing their cash rolls and kicking them out of the car. I mean, what were they gonna do? They should have been grateful not to be arrested, right?

The day she left was the day she went on a ride-along and he was grinning while bouncing a pregnant hooker off the hood of the car.

He got fired eventually but not before he killed someone.


He showed up on the scene where a man was threatening to shoot himself. He shot the guy within 90 seconds of arriving, in spite of the fact that other cops had been on the scene talking the guy down for over 5 minutes.

Albuquerque Police Department. Gotta love hiring Internal Affairs off the regular force so they already have friends on the beat.