Congratulations Trooper John Gardener, you are a footsoldier in the new fascist world order.
Hopefully this asshole is fired and can't get any kind of job higher than mall security from here on out. But even that might be too much power for this dude.
Update: A police forum where a bunch of fascist sons of bitches collectively virtually slap Tasey McAsshole on the back. I can't help but try to imagine the time before this "wonderful" advancement in technology. Wouldn't a police officer be forced to use a little more thought then when dealing with an unruly citizen? I mean he's not just going to shoot him with a regular gun is he? Well, the fine fellows on this forum say in that case the citizen would be on the ground. How violent American police are. I can't help but think that police elsewhere would first try to restrain the person using just their hands rather than grinding their head into the asphalt.
I am truly horrified that the NZ Police are considering using this awful device. It means that regular thought processes can be removed from the equation when dealing with tense situations. Rather than become peacemakers, police will become more trigger happy because of the purpoted "safety" of the device. Well, the UN has just ruled use of these devices may constitute "torture". That seems like an extreme assessment, but only until you consider the power crazed fascists that populate so many police departments. A great many of the people defending Tasey above subscribe to the belief that any questioning of a police officer is out of bounds. Communities should reject this style of policing. The police are present, after all, at the behest of the community, and are ultimately responsible to them.
With respect to this specific situation, I understand the flow of control involved in the incident. I empathize with the driver wanting to avoid having to sign anything if he didn't have to. I feel in these scenarios Joe Citizen isn't given all the information needed to make the best decision. For instance, if everyone knew they were obliged to sign to promise to appear in court, otherwise be taken to jail so that they could be guaranteed to appear in court, I think most people would just sign the form. However it seems that in so many cases, the only way to discover these things is through non-reversible escalation.
I understand that in every day life a police officer is going to encounter people with varying amounts of attitude. Guess what: we all do, no matter what our career path is. You don't see software engineers jumping on other software engineers and beating the crap out of them because someone copped a bit of an attitude or broke the rules. Or tasering them. Carrying weapons means increased responsibility over the average Joe, not less.
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He won't be fired. His superiors, up to the highest possible one, are even meaner, more power-hungry, and aggressive creatures. In fact, he may be promoted. "They Live", you know.