Here's that awesome dashboard video of a policeman in Syracuse, NY tasing and arresting a mom in front of her minivanful of kids.
She'd just turned onto the family's street when the police officer pulled her over for talking on a cellphone while driving. Only she didn't have a cell phone. So he gave her a ticket for going 5mph over the speed limit, only he didn't have any radar. So she was all, "let's go to the tape," and he was all, "Get back in your car." Then he pulled back her out of the car and tased her for getting out of the car and for blocking traffic by lying in the road.
The video was posted by the the local paper. Surprisingly, she's not winning the sympathy battle in the YouTube comments, where people are calling for the tasering of all "socer moms," just to teach them a lesson about respecting law enforcement. For the record, she's a wrestling mom.
Mom tasered in front of kids in New York [youtube via andrewsullivan]
She wins my sympathy unless I am missing something here...was the cop on an ego trip or what.
She does not win my sympathy vote. You never get out of a car unless the cop tells you to and you listen to the cop. Those are better rules to teach your kids.
I'm with MyHormones. I agree that you should never get out of the car unless asked but wow, this guy really seems out of control. Plus I think more and more cops are becoming bullies, which is truly sad.
Good grief. How on earth can you be unsympathetic - for getting out of her car she was tasered, pushed to the ground and arrested in front of her children? What a great way to instill trust in authority figures into the next generation.
The mom sure doesn't look like any threat, and the officer sure does look furious and out of control.
She may not have used perfect judgment, but her confusion/questioning/disbelief sure didn't warrant a tasering. If an officer can't handle a slow-moving, ordinary incident like this one, he/she needs to find another profession - fast.
He did over react. She did comply by getting back in the car. He then pulled her out and then tasered her. It is a good question of how would he react if it was someone aggresive.
Not to mention the fact that she in no way deserved to be taken down to the station. What on earth was his justification for arresting her? Sorry, but being a bitchy wrestling mom that asks questions isn't against the law. Nor is stepping out of your car. Nor is refusing to do what a cop says as long as you're not resisting arrest or causing a public nuisance.
The police are there to stop law breakers. They are not there to tell you and I what to do.
She showed some questionable judgment, sure, but any cop that can't handle that woman without a taser needs to be shown the door.
She did show some questionable judgement... but seriously... being pulled over for being on a cellphone when you don't even HAVE a cellphone with you? And then he makes up that she was going five mph over the limit. Sounds like he was just upset because he found out he was wrong.
The officer definitely over reacted. The only thing I wish is that we could hear their voices on the tape. It certainly doesn't "look" like she's throwing a hissy fit or acting threatening or anything of that nature... in other words, she was showing no actions whatsoever that warranted him tasing her.
I don't see how you can watch this and not have sympathy for this woman....unless of course, you think cops should just have unlimited power to do whatever the hell they like, which some people do believe. Of course, youtube isn't exactly known for its brilliant comments.
not able to see this scenario....its very painfull.