02-13-2008, 08:29 PM
>How long would it have taken to clear this up versus the time she spent in the emergency room and then jail for resisting arrest? What kind of outcry would there have been if the police officer had listened to her story, let her go and then it turned out that the credit card had been stolen?
Probably the same amount whenever there's a wrongful release. That is, it depends on the location and the act. (Or alleged act, as the news would say.) I'm by no means advocating that this woman does not have some responsibility in the matter. Or that the officer does not have some grounds for some suspicion. Doing that kind of job usually comes with the danger of seeing everyone as a potential suspect. An even greater danger is not having that sense at all, because without it can obviously cost lives.
Having said all that, I'm really hoping this isn't a case of 'efficiency' vs proper process and discipline. And to muddify it even more clearer, I'm actually -for- the development and field study of taser like systems, because properly used I see it as a valuable tool.
What I'd rather not see, is the misuse of it in the name of efficiency and safety. That to me, usually leads to an increasingly long list of what is taser worthy. What's that Simpsons episode again, with Jasper the old man reciting what offenses are worthy of a paddlin'?