I like bashing cops as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure why these particular officers should have treated this particular motorist any differently than any other impaired driver. These aren't doctors, they are officers of the law. If they have to sit around waiting for permission to use weapons on every uncooperative driver they encounter, nothing will ever get done.
Who bashed cops? The only thing I dislike more then bashing cops is sounding like a cliche. But here I go: Some of my best friends are cops (one specific is a training officer in Seattle PD that's been a very good friend of mine and my family for about 30 years) and the only thing I hate more then bashing cops is when they do something worthy of reasonable criticism. NO profession is beyond reasonable criticism.
So, what department authorizes use of -"weapons"- to induce cooperation?
Less then lethal weapons get used to protect officers or the public... did anyone see that in this video? I'm not denying that it might've happened. The guy could have had a mac ten in the hand that was toward the interior of the cab but I hope the media would have caught that. It looked to me like a sloppy drunk guy with three officers on him. All of them with radios to call for 3 more.
You don't need an MD to see the medalert chain and pull it off (so your backup can read it). With a b/gl rate of 11 the guy should have been -dead-, -before tasing-. -If- we have all the facts here then imo those officers should be off duty and they and their department should be covering a good portion of the guys living expenses for as long as he's got 'em. My .02 from what I saw. bk425
