As much as I respect, in general, our nation’s police forces, I also believe they overstep their authorities by leaps and bounds.
This may go against popular sentiment, but I don’t believe that a police officer, by the mere fact that he/she pulled you over, has the right to demand that a person must [i]obey[/i] all commands issued. Where is it written that a police officer can instantly and unilaterally, without judicial review, suspend all of a person’s civil rights and individual rights? Sorry, that dog just won’t hunt.
Just because a person is pulled over by a police officer for a minor traffic infraction, it doesn’t mean that person is guilty of anything; it doesn’t mean that person’s free speech is suspended ([i]You’re a dirty, rotten pig,[/i] for example); it doesn’t mean that person’s right to privacy is suspended ([i]Where are you going? None of your damn business[/i]).
Just write the ticket, and let a person be on his/her way. There’s no need to get into a power-struggle. Besides, in any [i]power struggle[/i], the police officer works for the citizen, not the other way around.
In the case of the 72 year old Texas woman who refused to sign a speeding ticket, and the officer let it escalate into a circumstance in which he actually tasered her on the side of the road, he acted without regard to her individual rights, assuming the posture that he was God and Dictator, and that she must do everything he demanded. That should be 100 percent unacceptable to ALL Americans.
True, she was feisty; she was rude; she was not cooperating; she was defiant; she was pissed-off. BUT SHE WASN’T A THREAT. If he actually thought she was a [i]threat[/i], then the officer is a wimp and doesn’t deserve to wear the uniform.
Here’s what should have happened:
Just issue the speeding ticket. If she refuses to sign it, tell her that you’ll make a note of her refusal to sign, but tell her that she still must either pay the fine as indicated or go to court to challenge the charge – and then hand her the unsigned ticket. If she refuses to take the ticket, tell her that it will be placed on her windshield, but she STILL must either pay the fine or go to court to challenge the charge. Tell her that if she does neither, a warrant will be issued for her arrest.
He might have even said, [i]”I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m just doing my job. You have a nice day, and please drive carefully.”[/i] Let her scream and rant, and let her verbally abuse you – as you walk away.
Instead, he went on a power-trip; he insisted that she obey his every command; and he tasered her (tortured her?) because she refused.
This country is going to hell in a handbag when police abuse like this goes unpunished. And not only is it going unpunished, but it’s being justified.
