Quote:
Originally Posted by RainMaker
The taser was useless for a guy running away many feet from the cops.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog
Running away is relevant. Being "many feet" away, is not. You can close 20 feet (from a dead stop) in about 1.5 seconds. They were probably about 12-15 feet apart. If Brooks stops and the officer doesn't, he will be close enough for him to apply the taser in about one second or less.
This is actually going to be a very technical trial with a lot of use of force experts likely to testify for each side.
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Carmen is correct on this, it is not useless, but still with two officers there this was not a justifiable outcome.
If it is a single officer in this situation, maybe you have a case for discharging your weapon. With no backup, if they were close he could have immobilized the officer with the taser. That opens up the suspect taking his gun or further assaulting him.
I still go back to earlier thought though on training to control suspects. Two officers adequately trained on safe restraint should "usually" be able to control the situation and not lose their taser. That's a broad brush and there are many variables, but as a rule I would expect officers to be able to effectively restrain an intoxicated suspect.