Traffic-Stop Taser Cop Acted "Reasonably"
Utah Officials Say Trooper Felt Threatened In Incident Widely Viewed On YouTube Website
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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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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 270 CommentsUtah authorities call that reasonable?
What are you Mormons smoking up there?
Pu$$y!
"...and acted reasonably"
BS!
The cop was belligerant and stupid. They driver was belligerant and stupid. But Tasers can KILL. There was NO NEED to taser that kid. He was NOT running away. He DID NOT present any danger to the cop or to anyone else.
Just be glad the cop wasn''t gunownerdan or one of his buddies, though. They promise to shoot to kill whenever they feel "threatened"!
If this trend continues, soon the legal definition of "threaten" will be met by anyone who "looks at you cross-eyed"!
Their job is dangerous and it''s dirty. But it was obvious on the tape the young man was just trying to make his point. This cop was way out of line. They had to look really hard at the tape to find something they could point at if all they had was him reaching for his pocket, geezus.
Cops Gone Wild!
How in the H-E-LL was this gonzo officer "threatened"? I have seen the video over and over, on TV and the Web, and the young man did not make ANY threatening comments or actions that could POSSIBLY have led that policeman to feel he was in imminent danger of harm. Just another case of a cop going WAY over the top, and his buddies higher up protecting him - he ought to be disciplined, not praised as a HERO.
I''ve said it before and I will say it again: the cops are NOT the good guys.
Vhat''s Tis?
You von''t Siine?
Weee Havv vays to maka yu Siine!
Siine or Yu Di!
Sigh Hail!
No More Rights!
No More Rights!
Taser them all and let the courts sort them out!!!
Gotta Love Bushit and Crew!
This moron ignored the officer''s instructions, turned his back on the officer, then stuck his hand in his pocket. He deserved every volt he got!
Anyone who doubts the validity to the fact that we now live in a police state controlled by fascist, need only open the local newspaper.
%u201CForce always attracts men of low morality.%u201D Albert Einstein
Maybe you should move to Sudan and name your dog muhammad. You need to be taught the true meaning of ''fascist''.
I think he''d thoroughly enjoy discussing the ludicrousness of giving cops - or any segment of the population - instruments designed to inflict pain and then telling them it is OK to use them as long as they perceived a vaguely-defined "threat".
Particularly when those instruments can cause death.
It is too bad that Dr. Stanley Milgram has passed away.
I think he''''d thoroughly enjoy discussing the ludicrousness of giving cops - or any segment of the population - instruments designed to inflict pain and then telling them that they should be used if they feel that a vaguely-defined "threat" exists.
Particularly when those instruments can cause death.
If the cop intended to simply arrest the motorist, why not place him under arrest as he stepped out of the car?
Was the motorist stupid to place a hand near a pocket? Yes. But it is the officer who engineered the whole thing over being *dis"ed* by a member of the public.
Now the public is going to have a little more *dis* for officers and police are going to scratch their heads and wonder why.
Seeing this video makes me want to taser the stupid cop... over and over. And now, after reading what the cops "superiors" say, they need it, too. Is that what they wanted? Do they want a public who WANTS to do them harm as a simple retribution? They got it.
By the way, if I had been the wife I''d have shot the cop in the head when he approached my door because I would have felt my child''s life and my own life was in danger plus my husbands life. I have a heart condition and he might Taser me just for the heck of it.
UUHH? Excuse me, but cops ARE here to protect the public,, by enforcing the laws, it makes all safer. Theoreticly anyways.
I posted this comment on another CBS story(Pastor: %u201CWife "Feared" Cop Husband%u201D)%u2026%u2026 yesterday
**********
%u201CIn a roughly two-year period beginning in 2002, police responded to 18 domestic disturbance calls at Peterson%u2019s house. Savio (his wife) accused Peterson of beating her and threatening to kill her, but no charges were ever brought against him.
Instead, Peterson twice persuaded prosecutors to charge Savio with domestic battery. She was acquitted both times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Appraently, the entire Bolingbrook Police Department, Judges, and prosecutors are culpable in Savio%u2019s death.
18 domestic violence call responses in 2 years. Savio couldn%u2019t get any charges brought against Peterson but they prosecuted her (twice, with no convictions).
After telling prosecutor that Peterson had beaten and threatened to kill her, Savio was found dead in a DRY bathtub and the coroner still ruled that she had drowned %u201Caccidentally%u201D..
Incidences like this and other obviously unjustified tasering/shootings occur constantly and only a fraction make the national news
There will be some who are, perhaps, either cops, ex-cops, or %u201Cwanna be%u2019s%u201D, defending these actions.
BTW, Infidel_Us is also a Bush apologist.
Cops have told me by signing a ticket is NOT an admission of guilt. I asked why bother signing then,,, He could not give me an acceptible answer, because he did not know either... ***
What about the people that were NOT just blowing off steam Ever think of that?
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.
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The driver tried to return to his seat and the officer felt threated ??
Oh brother !!
Stay out of Utah !
It wasn''''t a Lexus, it was a Dodge.
Posted by letus2 at 11:27 AM : Dec 01, 2007
The guy was walking back to his vehicle because he wasn''t going to sign the ticket - so electrocute him for not signing the ticket and then claim he felt threated - this cop needs to find a different occupation before HE really hurts someone !
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