SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 1, 2007
Traffic-Stop Taser Cop Acted "Reasonably"
Utah Officials Say Trooper Felt Threatened In Incident Widely Viewed On YouTube Website
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Play CBS Video Video Utah Man Tasered Harry Smith speaks with Jared Massey who was Tasered by a Utah state trooper while receiving a speeding ticket, a procedure spokesperson Sgt. Jeff Nigbur says is under review.
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(AP / CBS)
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Trooper Jon Gardner remains on leave, primarily for his safety, after numerous anonymous threats were made against him, said Supt. Lance Davenport of the Utah Highway Patrol.
Gardner twice zapped Jared Massey with a Taser when the driver walked away and refused to sign a speeding ticket on Sept. 14. The incident was recorded on Gardner's dashboard camera. Massey filed a public-records request and posted the video on YouTube, which said it has been viewed more than 1 million times.
"We found that Trooper Gardner's actions were lawful and reasonable under the circumstances," Davenport said at a news conference, joined by Scott Duncan, commissioner of the UHP's parent agency, the Utah Department of Public Safety.
The investigation was conducted by officials in the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the highway patrol. The officials have asked the Utah attorney general's office to also review the case to determine if laws were broken.
Massey was not at the news conference and could not immediately be reached for comment.
The video showed Massey arguing about whether he was exceeding the speed limit on U.S. 40 in eastern Utah. Massey got out and walked to the rear of his vehicle. The trooper pulled out his Taser when the driver tried to return to his seat.
Massey shrieked, fell and said: "Officer, I really don't know what you're doing."
"Face down! Face down! Put your hands behind your back," Gardner said.
When Massey's wife emerged from the passenger side, the trooper ordered her to get back in - "or you're going to jail, too." Moments later, when another officer arrived, one of them said, "Oh, he took a ride with the Taser."
Davenport said that comment was inappropriate.
Officials said Gardner could have issued the ticket without Massey's signature. The investigation found use of the Taser was justified because Massey had turned his back and put a hand near his pocket, Davenport said.
"For a law-enforcement officer, that is a very, very scary situation," he said.
Nonetheless, the trooper now realizes that other options were available, Davenport said.
The UHP has received thousands of phone calls and e-mails since the video was posted online, many of them critical of the trooper. There also have been online threats against Gardner.
"I think mostly it's people blowing off steam, and that's fine," Sgt. Jeff Nigbur, a UHP spokesman, said Friday before the investigation's conclusions were announced. "But you can't say you're going to endanger somebody's life."
He said there was no evidence that the trooper's life is in danger. Massey has pleaded for the online threats to stop.
Tasers use compressed nitrogen to fire two barbed darts that can penetrate clothing to deliver a 50,000-volt shock to immobilize people.
Tasers are manufactured by Taser International of Scottsdale.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 271 CommentsPosted by nggr at 08:27 PM : Dec 03, 2007
Sorry, I''m a little too smart to get tazed by a cop, though some probably would do it just so they can sue like Massey apparently intends to do. I wish I were in the jury pool. I''d render a verdict in favor of sending that impudent little twerp to bed without his dinner.
geez, and who''''s for anarchy?
Posted by nggr at 08:12 PM : Dec 03, 2007
When a cop yells at you to put your hands behind your back, you ought to expect that the consequences of failing to comply will be unpleasant. I might question a cop if I disagree with what he is doing, but by the time he''s yelling at me to put my hands behind my back, I''ll probably figure it won''t hurt to comply whereas failing to comply might be dangerous.
Posted by Candide777 at 08:21 PM : Dec 03, 2007
the cop didn''t look anxious, he looked angry.
and the burdon is on the officer to keep control of himself in this case.
i dont think that someone wanting to argue with me about a speeding ticket would suprise me or scare me if i were a rookie cop.
whatever, say dude over-reacted, he did not deserve 10 full seconds of 50000 volts, period.
and i''m sure you''d be a whiny little b*tch worse than he if a cop tazed you, seeing that you think no cop would do it.
when they do, you''ll complain, i guarantee it.
Posted by nggr at 08:09 PM : Dec 03, 2007
oh, please, you really think that''s what was going on here? what you had here was an apparently inexperienced officer who got spooked when some idiot reacted irrationally to recieving a speeding ticket. To be sure, the officer has learned something from the incident, but there''s no need to create a federal lawsuit out of this. Massey would have avoided being tazed if he had conducted himself reasonably, and he has no one to blame but himself. You watch the news story and you can tell what a HUGE baby he is; he''s the type who blames everyone but himself for his problems, which apparently go well beyond his inability to appreciate that traffic stops can be very dangerous for officers. Had he not been such a self-centered baby, he might of realized that he was making the cop anxious by behaving the way he did.
you''re serious, if the guy would have died you would still say the cop had the right.
insane, completly insane.
tasers can easily kill, so the hypothetical is not far removed from reality, and you would say the cop had every right, and should go un-punished.
geez, and who''s for anarchy?
you shouldn''t complain about that, your family will survive inflicting similar damage on the gene pool as well. effecting a semi-slave/police state in which no-one is allowed to question authority.
I''ll translate -- had Massey not survived, it would be one small evolutionary step forward for humankind -- as it stands, Massey will get paid a huge lump sum, he''ll continue to breed, and his children will end up as spoiled, stupid and unable to contribute to society as he is.
Posted by Candide777 at 07:58 PM : Dec 03, 2007
that makes no sense.
and you are avoiding the question.
Posted by Candide777 at 07:55 PM : Dec 03, 2007
didn''t see that. i saw him refuse to sign the ticket, i saw the cop order him out of the car (and turn his back on the "threat" for the majority of the confrontation),i saw the officer stomp over to his car and, lay down his clipboard, face massey, and immediatly draw his weapon. i saw massey get scared and probably confused about what was going on, and the cop tasered him.
i did not see any threat posed to the armed officer by the un-armed massey. i cannot see what you define as hysterics. i only can see rash judgment by the officer.
same scenerio, same actions, same decisions, but massey dies.
over the line yet?
yes or no
Posted by nggr at 07:53 PM : Dec 03, 2007
Score one for Charles Darwin! :)
Posted by nggr at 07:14 PM : Dec 03, 2007
Hmmm, I''m not feeling very frightened, not even when I get pulled over by the police. Generally, I feel pretty confident when dealing with the police, confident that they will respect my intelligence, which I usually demonstrate immediately by being polite and cooperating instead of acting like some hysterical idiot the way Massey did.
Posted by Candide777 at 07:49 PM : Dec 03, 2007
hypothetical,
same scenerio, same actions, same decisions, but massey dies.
over the line yet?
yes or no
Posted by nggr at 07:21 PM : Dec 03, 2007
Okay, I''m having a hard time making the connection between the teachings of Karl Marx and my opinion that the cop''s actions, though perhaps unnecessary, were not over the line. I generally consider myself capitalist who favors laws to prevent monopolies, so I''m not sure the communisits will have me. Can you explain why they should?
Posted by Candide777 at 07:04 PM : Dec 03, 2007
you have the right to remain silent....
Posted by Candide777 at 07:04 PM : Dec 03, 2007
arguing to some cop about whether or not you were speeding is FAR from vigilante justice, FAR from anarchy. the concerning part of this story is how insignificant the alleged crime is. and the cop was more than willing to use potentially lethal force against someone who has not in anyway threatened him.
look, i''m not saying a cops job is not dangerous, i''m sympathetic tothe dangers they face, but part of being a cop is to make sound judgment on what constitutes a threat. something this officer failed at. and when you make a bad judgement that harms an innocent citizen that turned out to be a non-threat, you should have to face some consequenses.
but you dont.
a cop apparently can draw a taser and zap you at any point, say he was scared for his life, and weaklings like you will fall all over yourself defending his poor judgment and lack of real police skills.
good job, commie
Posted by Candide777 at 07:04 PM : Dec 03, 2007
again, i fail to see where the cop had the right to take him into custody. i fail to see the threat.
i guess little scared wussy-boys like you can see though.
yep, a coward.
you can comply, thats fine.
but when you condone blind obedience to authority over a speeding ticket, a coward.
the matter was mis-handled by the cop, AND he got away with it, so you got what you want.
my concern is how police seem to not consider tazers weapons, they so readily draw on people with them. these things are NOT non-lethal.
question,
where is the threat in this video, i dont freak out over the smalest things so i am having the damndest time finding it. at what point is the officers life being threatend? i would really like to know, so that i know when to submit, so i wont be an idiot anymore.
run away scaredy cat. little sissy-boy.
Posted by nggr at 06:36 PM : Dec 03, 2007
Stop, you''re killing me with laughter! So, if I comply when an armed cop tells me to put my hands behind my back, that makes me a coward? LOL! I''d rather be a live coward than a dead brainless twit! As I said before, this is evolution at it''s best. Complying when an armed cop tells you to put your hands behind your back doesn''t make you a coward, idiot, it makes you unharmed. Like it or not, when you live under the rule of law, as we do, you don''t get to take the law into your own hands. That''s anarchy. There is a procedure for dealing with cops who abuse their power, so get smart, learn your rights, and learn how to enforce them instead of giving the cop all the justification he needs to taze your stupid butt the way Massey did.
Posted by Candide777 at 06:24 PM : Dec 03, 2007
there is no rush involved when its described as "taking a ride on the tazer"?
yeah, the paper work stops them right. yeah, wouldn''t want to get suspended with pay for 2 months.
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