UCLA: "Show ID or get tasered"

[Rocketman]

If the account relayed by Olbermann was accurate, this guy was sitting at a computer when the cops walked over to him and asked to see his ID.  The guy felt he was being profiled, and suggested that the cops should ask for ID's from other students as well.  I don't blame him one bit.

It's a well-known, clearly understood policy that only students are allowed in that library after 11:00pm.  Perhaps the fellow should get the racial chip off his shoulder and abide by the rules instead of picking a fight that he is guaranteed to lose in the near term.  How did he know that they hadn't asked for student IDs from other people in the library while enforcing the 11:00pm rule?  Was he watching them the whole time?  If so, why was he in the library watching the community service officers, instead of studying?

I dunno what actually happened.  I do know that I've logged countless hours in university computer labs, and I've never seen a cop approach a person and ask for ID.  If I was asked for ID, I would feel duty-bound to do something other than reflexively reach for my wallet and produce ID.  I would most likely ask why he wanted my ID.  If he said only students were permitted, I would have assured him that I was in fact a student.  I will not live in a "your papers, please" society.  If the university wants to check ID's at the door, that's their prerogative, but these cops should not be approaching library patrons in the first place unless library staff called to report a problem.

As I understand it, this guy was a student, and was therefore following the rules.  All he did was refuse an unreasonable request.

I don't know what Olbermann's report said, but multiple accounts said the student had his backpack on and was headed out the door when he was stopped.

The UCLA PD guidelines don't justify use of the Taser in this situation.

Kevin

I think when the officers first approached him, he was sitting at a computer.  There were other students sitting at other computers nearby, and they obviously weren't asked for ID's.  The cops left him alone for a bit after the first confrontation, then accosted him again as he was leaving.

My view is that if you tase a person who is in handcuffs and lying limp on the floor, you should spend time in prison for assault and never wear a badge again.

[mvpel]

You should read up on this incident, Rocketman, before commenting.

The LAPD didn't ask him for his student ID first, the Community Service Officers (campus security) did, as is their responsibility after 11:00pm to enforce the students-only rule.  An eyewitness account relates that they had made an annoucement to that effect. It was only after he steadfastly refused to document the fact that he was a student eligible to stay in the library after 11:00pm, or to leave, that the police were called in.  One of the eyewitnesses said that the guy's first angry scream of came from the desk at which he was working - not quite a polite refusal to show ID.

Did the University computer labs in which you've logged countless hours have a policy of "students only" after a certain hour, in spite of being open 24 hours?  If not, your experience is not applicable to this situation.

Checking ID at the door would do no good after 11:00pm, since the goal of the 11:00pm students-only check is to have people who are not students leave the library, so that some guy off the street, who assured the CSOs that he was a student, won't be lurking in the women's bathroom at 3:00am.  Is that "unreasonable?"

Library Crime

Calling the lawsuit vile and malicious, Judge Allen Sharp threw out a case Dec. 6 that had been filed by a child molester against a library facilities manager and the library's security company.

The molester claimed that the library should have prevented him from harming the child.  He said the security company and its supervisor should have called the police when they saw him trying to open doors on the third floor of the library.  Because they did not stop him while he was casing the library, "an innocent boy was victimized as well as the State of Indiana, St. Joseph County, and myself Ladell Alexander," he claimed.

=====

Last week a Texas appellate court upheld the conviction of Trinity Joe Campbell who was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a five year old girl in a public library restroom. His sentence of 60 years confinement was affirmed.

A.R., the five-year-old victim, testified at trial that she went to the public library with her mother. While at the library, A.R. went to the restroom by herself. A.R. testified that when she came out of the stall a man was in the restroom, took her back into the stall and touched her "pee pee" with his finger. A.R. testified that he then put her on the sink and touched her "pee pee" with his "pee pee." A.R.'s mother testified that, when A.R. returned from the restroom, A.R. was crying and said that a man had touched her. A.R.'s mother reported the incident to the librarian. A.R. was able to identify appellant, and the librarian called the police.

I agree that zapping him while offering only passive resistance, instead of dragging his sorry ass out of there, is over the top.  Cops are supposed to do arm curls with barbells, not jelly donuts, in preparation for situations just like this one. Taser policies generally reflect that - the Miami PD allows Taser on active resistance and up, not passive resistance.  These cops will probably be disciplined at least.

[mrapplecastle]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5g7zlJx9u2E
"I said I would leave"

[Rocketman]

The only thing I'm sure of is that these cops committed a crime when they tased this person.  My other comments are speculative, and were qualified as such.

[mvpel]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5g7zlJx9u2E
"I said I would leave"

Yeah, so what?  You've never known of screaming jerkwads to stretch the true or lie outright while the cops are hooking them up?  Why didn't he just leave, instead of flipping out when the cop touched him while escorting him out?

[mrapplecastle]

yeah we all know the cops hate to taser people
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1242761.htm

[error]

Cops stretch the truth and lie outright.

[mrapplecastle]

Error, is there a reason we are not on the highest alert???

[error]

Error, is there a reason we are not on the highest alert???

Because things can still get worse.

[mvpel]

Cops stretch the truth and lie outright.

Of course they do.  What's your point? 

[error]

Cops stretch the truth and lie outright.

Of course they do.  What's your point? 

All the credibility these cops might have had went out the window when they stood the guy up in front of the stairs, and THEN Tasered him AGAIN, causing him to fall down the stairs.

[mvpel]

Since when did he "fall down the stairs?"  That's the first I've heard of anyone mentioning anything of the sort about the video.

[error]

Since when did he "fall down the stairs?"  That's the first I've heard of anyone mentioning anything of the sort about the video.

It's clearly visible in the video. They get him stood up in front of the stairs, and then hit him with the taser. He loses his footing, falls down the stairs. The cops follow, and so does the whole crowd of students who were watching.

And I mentioned it three days ago!

[mvpel]

I guess that was after the point I stopped watching since I was getting tired of listening to his hysterics.

[error]

I guess that was after the point I stopped watching since I was getting tired of listening to his hysterics.

Oh, so that's how you defend the cops. You just don't pay any attention to what they actually did and focus on the "hysterics" of the victim.

I'll keep that in mind when they attack you unprovoked.