If I stopped the lady for the violation in this story, it would have resulted in an infraction, so no arrest would be involved. Around these parts, if a vehicle operator refuses to sign a traffic infraction, it’s an additional charge resulting in an additional fine of $158. As long as I can definitely ascertain the identity of the operator, I personally could care less if they refuse to sign. I just add the new charge to the infraction and send them on their way. They can plead guilty and mail in the fine or they can go to court and argue with the judge.
I don’t get all up about it. I just don’t care- life is too short to fight about unimportant things. No chest-thumping or ego-protecting measures are needed. I'm secure in my manhood.
(Not saying the incident was the result of that behavior as I don't know the laws of TX)
I'm assuming that the incident occurred where the law either requires an operator to sign the citation and refusal is a misdemeanor – or - the speed laws that were broken are a misdemeanor. If the latter is the case, around these parts, the operator is technically under arrest at the time of the stop as a misdemeanor offense is an arrestable offense. The officer has the discretion to either issue a citation and release the operator on a “Promise to Appear” – or - take the operator into custody and do the whole “at-the-station” arrest process.
For me, I consider issuing the citation and releasing the person on a PTA is basically cutting both the person and me a major break. No towing of the vehicle is involved, the person is only subjected to a minimum inconvenience, and my report is a lot easier to write and I don’t have to spend the hours involved in the whole arrest procedure. IMO, it’s a win-win for all involved. Should I decide to go with the citation and PTA and the person refused to sign, it would then result in an in-custody arrest. Sorry… my discretion is then limited and that limit was reached by the person refusing to comply with the law.
We don’t have Tasers. If a person is not complying with a lawful arrest we have to go hands-on. In the video incident this thread is about, the bottom line is she was told she was under arrest. She failed to comply. It’s probably fortunate she ran into an officer that had a Taser.
The officer was lucky also. Had he not had one, the video of him going hands-on would not have been very pretty. The appearance of the level of force used when going hands-on even against a non-complaint person looks bad on film. I know- I’ve seen some videos of those.
