Look, mom, I'm on TV getting tased!

[SiteWolf]

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...cmpid=15585797

whatdya think? is this the right way to handle situations like this?

[P562045]

I will let others decide if this is excessive force.

But this was handled the wrong way.

So I guess a Taser should be used when someone eludes the police a little longer than the police would want them to.

As I said the police went about this the wrong way.

Whatever happened to tackling the person on the field and getting them of the field as soon as possible.

[SayOw]

Whether or not it is right is kind of an odd question...

I would think under no circumstances would this be the correct behavior for the police but since most of the American population is content with the loss of civil liberties in exchange for the perception of security, this is probably the 'right' behavior for the police of this country..or at least will become the 'norm'.

Hopefully they made room for this horrible criminal in prison by letting a level 3 sex offender out....

[SiteWolf]

I would agree it's excessive....especially since they could see no heinous plan on the kid's part (I mean he's just running waving a hanky....not like there was indication he had C4 strapped to his chest). Philly police chief, however, is 100% behind his officer.

Here's a question I would pose to the police, too- do you STILL feel this was the right move if the kid had been injured crumbling to the ground while running at full speed?

I found it more than a little odd that the kid called his dad and told him he was going to do it....and the father didn't VEHEMENTLY tell him NOT TO DO IT.

[crspy]

It may have been excessive, but getting tackled at full speed would probably hurt just as bad. The guy knew he was breaking the law when he ran out there and he should of been prepared for the consequences. It's all a big joke to see how long it will take to get caught when fans run on the field. How long can they run in circles and make the security look stupid. Well this time security got the upper hand. I bet it will be a while before someone tries it again.

[SiteWolf]

Unfortunately there are enough people that think it would be cool to get tased.....you might be surprised...this could start a run of this crap....

[TroyB911]

I 1005 disagree with the using of the taser. I mean maybe if that cop did a few sit ups this would be a diff story. Taser was only used when the kid could not be caught right away. Why not shoot him with rubber bullets or a bean bag gun. Black eye on law enforcement to tase this kid.

Do I agree with the kid? No it was stupid. Of course you can toss fish on the ice and also equally get arrested and fined then released. A taser is an equalizer that is to be used in the situation where an officer feels he is in danger. Where exactly was ANYONE in danger with this young kid running around waving a towel? Absolutely inexcuseable for the use of it. Of course like a Dolphin GM there will always be an excuse of why something so stupid was done. When the intent was not there no the physical threat it should not have been used.

The only thing that could be said for the other side is this. How scary was it to see the tennis player get stabbed a while back. Short haired girl. I think german. She never really recovered. I am just appauled by the useage and saw that fat cop with his teeth clinched firing at him and it made me sick. Get some fitter cops to work those games. What if he did have a knife? He exposed the whole security of that ballpark and people need to be fired.

Lastly he did call his father to say whadda u think? His dad said I would think it was stupid and u could get into a lot of trouble. The boy did it anyway. Cant really fault the dad.

[P562045]

Just out of curiosity more than anything.

When did they stop showing the fools going onto the field.

I agree with Troy that there are only certain situations that if the police must use a Taser this was not one of them. I don't think a Taser should be used that often at all. But I could also see where the police would feel justified in using a Taser in certain situations. Such as someone on drugs or alcohol and it was hard to take the suspect into custody. The police feeling justified in their own actions is the way it is sometimes even though the police can make the wrong decision as I feel they did in this particular case by using a Taser against someone.

But what really upsets me the most about all of this is that the police even have to have an investigation into if what the officer did was the right thing to do or not as he was performing his police duties in this particular situation. That is just a little beyond my comprehension that in the initial period after the incident the police defended the actions of their police officer that tased this young man.

And yes I am fully aware that police officers can get into some very difficult situations but to me this was not one of those times.

[P562045]

There is one other thing I want to mention. Who exactly in the police department thought it would be a good idea to bring a Taser into the ballpark in the first place. I just can not think of reason why a person should have a Taser at a ballpark much less the police.

[SiteWolf]

obviously, I don't know exactly what they're investigating, but one thing is.....should one of their officers even be ON the field in that situation

...not that this officer was in the wrong....but as a policy going forward


Too many talking heads on TV and radio have been saying 'he got what he deserved...if you do it, expect to be tased'......well THIS kid couldn't expect to be tased..noone else had.

And also 'I'm glad he got tased. This will deter the next guy from going on the field'. How long did THAT deterrent last...some dork IN THE SAME STADIUM did it 24 hours later.

But this isn't a deterrent for someone who IS planning something heinous. If some guy has plans to shoot a player or whatEVER a guy with bad intentions would get on the field for...isn't going to change his mind about doing it over a taser.

...so the ONLY positive to tasering is...the fan stops running
Does that override the negative press for the force?
Does that override the possibility the fan is injured?
Does that override the possibility the fan has long term effects from being tased? Don't laugh, it happens more than you think...after all, what does a taser DO? It's short-term electroshock 'therapy'

[SayOw]

Originally Posted by P562045

When did they stop showing the fools going onto the field.

I do believe it was shortly after/during Morganna, "The Kissing Bandit" episodes that most of the members of the media agreed to no longer give any coverage to attention-seekers. All that was doing was making games last longer and promote more people jumping onto the playing surface to try and get attention...

Obviously there are instances where the 'spectacle' is so outrageous...Fan Man, streaking during the Academy Awards and now this instance of a fan being tasered, that the media can not ignore the story and have to report it...

But as Orren has already stated and with the media giving this incident coverage, there is little doubt that fans are now going to jump on fields everywhere in hopes of at least getting tased and then hopefully be on television and become a star and get all the attention they are craving...

Running onto the field and not getting tased = no tv time.
Running onto the field and getting tased = national media attention.

I already begin to shudder at what some of these morons are now going to do to try and get tased...

[BlackDiamond]

It's just one step closer to them actually shooting someone.

[BlackDiamond]

This looks like proper use for a Taser.

Zapped

[rich76]

If these idiots want to be tased now...screw 'em...pump up the voltage and tase the crap out of them. Buying a ticket does not give anyone the right to do what the hell they want...it entitles one to watch the game and not annoy anyone else there that also paid to watch and enjoy a game.

Here's a nice handy model......

[TroyB911]

To answer the prior commenter. Police are at all stadiums as one of their off-dept jobs. Some work bars. Other work concerts. They are only allowed so many opportunities. In a case of a event in the public a taser is encouraged over a regular fire arm. IE if u miss a bad guy lil Jimmy can get shocked but not his head and cotton candy blown off.

This will not discourage your once every other month yahoo from entering the field. I think I saw one during the Mon Nite football game that was here when SD had that big fire. But hey free tickets and beer dont result in a favorable outcome. Bottom line is it was handled poorly. Apologize and move on. But also to answer it was not the police officer's job to chase the kid. It is the job of event personnel. After they run the guy down he is handed off to police and escorted out. This fat cop got tired of being embarrassed and made a bad decision.