Cops Taser And Arrest Man For Trying To Save Son From Fire

[Castle Bleck 19,360]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/08/newser-taser-fire-stepdad-toddler/3475087/

 

What...

 

...the...

 

...BUCK, MAN?!?!

 

Just... what the buck?!

[DubWolf 17,263]

I've seen worse. They simply did not want another fatality. If the father would have told the officers what was at stake, and that he would rather die trying than do nothing, they maybe could have given him a chance (though I feel like he probably did tell them that). The police were being aggressively defensive.

[GhostPony750 959]

o_o

 

Nope.jpg This is simply awful omg.

[Shanks 10,816]

I hope they all felt like big strong men picking on some poor guy trying to save an innocent child, the fucking pigs.

[Tech Pony 64]

Holy sheep guys... The cop was preventing the man from doing harm to himself. I was a paramedic and firefighter years ago. They did the man a favor. 

 

They have the authority and mandate to prevent you from doing harm from yourself. 

Edited December 20, 2013 by Tech Pony

[NocturnalRainbow 248]

They made the right call here, he would have surely perished, you can't run into a burning building with no protective gear on. They prevented another person from dying,

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

Okay, this is just getting old. I'll just sum things up with these two clips

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO_JJcZ0Igw

 

Those cops were COWARDS!

 

Thinking they're doing right, thinking they're all that when they're just low down pigs!

 

Strip them of their job and prevent them from returning. 

 

These are the things in today's society that get me pissed!

[Castle Bleck 19,360]

@Wingin'Wolf, Tech Pony & NocturnalRainbow: Understandable... except for, you know, the tasering and the jail time and all.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Anti-Villain

[Commander Tangent 861]

This would be fine if they just did it to save his life. 

 

But seriously, Jail time? WHAT FOR?

[Tech Pony 64]

He was released without charge. 

[Thrashy 2,800]

They have the authority and mandate to prevent you from doing harm from yourself. 

 

Does anyone really have the right to interfere with a man's paternal (or woman's maternal, for that matter) instincts? In an emergency situation, parents tend to do what they feel is absolutely necessary where their offspring's well-being is concerned.

[Tech Pony 64]

By law, yes they have the right to. It was a judgement call. Was it the best judgement call? Probably not. If I had been there I'd have tried some other way of restraining the man first.

[Shanks 10,816]

They made the right call here, he would have surely perished, you can't run into a burning building with no protective gear on. They prevented another person from dying,

Okay so lets prevent a guy from going into a fire but fry him with a taser to "save" him, yeah I am sure that makes a lot of sense. *sarcasm* This has to be the most cold blooded response I have seen in a thread in quite a while, riddle me this exactly what would you do if you were that guy? From your response it seems like you probably never lost a loved one before and I hope you never have to go through that kind of hell, so I suggest your try to put yourself in his shoes before praising the cops like they are Jesus Christ. Even if they were to right to restrain him, was it really necessary to treat the situation like he was a dangerous criminal after them with knife instead of a desperate man trying to save a loved one? Police need to have compassion which these pieces of filth clearly lack so they can all rot in hell.

[Tech Pony 64]

@, It may have been cold blooded, but it sure was effective.

[Shanks 10,816]

It may have been cold blooded, but it sure was effective.

And I am sure that pistol whipping him or beating him over the head with a billy club or even shooting him would also have been "effective" but far from called for but I guess since they have badges and uniforms that must mean they are completely above the law because we all know that police are infallible super beings that never abuse their power. Call me crazy but I think that the police should follow the law just like us the people, they are people and giving any people such unchecked power is reckless and dangerous.

Edited December 20, 2013 by EarthbendingProdigy

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

What if the cop was in the tased-man's position? Would he just sit there and let his kid burn alive? Yes, they were most likely abiding by the law. But is the law always correct? No. What's right is whats right. Either they should have sent some firemen into the house to save the son, or they should have let the guy go, and get his kid. I mean, how would you feel if you were on the ground just after being tased, knowing your son was burning alive? 

 

It's your duty to protect your child as a parent. Seriously, this makes me mad. Imagine not being able to save your own kid because you're too busy getting fucking tased. 

[Tech Pony 64]

And I am sure that pistol whipping him or beating him over the head with a billy club or even shooting him would also have been "effective" but far from called for but I guess since they have badges and uniforms that must mean they are completely above the law because we all know that police are infallible super beings that never abuse their power. Call me crazy but I think that the police should follow the law just like us the people, they are people and giving any people such unchecked power is reckless and dangerous.

 

He was mandated by law to prevent this guy from doing harm to himself. He chose a nonlethal method to do so. He was not above the law, he was following the law. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

What if the cop was in the tased-man's position? Would he just sit there and let his kid burn alive? Yes, they were most likely abiding by the law. But is the law always correct? No. What's right is whats right. Either they should have sent some firemen into the house to save the son, or they should have let the guy go, and get his kid. I mean, how would you feel if you were on the ground just after being tased, knowing your son was burning alive? 

 

It's your duty to protect your child as a parent. Seriously, this makes me mad. Imagine not being able to save your own kid because you're too busy getting fucking tased. 

Overall, the law needs to be revamped...seriously. 

[FancyPhoenix 197]

Not getting into any wars here, but just to state my personal opinion, I do agree with Tech Pony. The officers made the right choice by restraining the guy. Sure they could have used some less aggressive methods than a taser, but they couldn't have let that guy into the house where he would've been killed with almost 100% certainty. A fire without any protective gear is a deathtrap. 

 

I feel for the child's family, and I think it's horrible that something like this happened, but if they hadn't stopped that guy, there would be two bodies to mourn right now. 

 

 

What if the cop was in the tased-man's position? Would he just sit there and let his kid burn alive? Yes, they were most likely abiding by the law. But is the law always correct? No. What's right is whats right. Either they should have sent some firemen into the house to save the son, or they should have let the guy go, and get his kid. I mean, how would you feel if you were on the ground just after being tased, knowing your son was burning alive? 

 

It's your duty to protect your child as a parent. Seriously, this makes me mad. Imagine not being able to save your own kid because you're too busy getting fucking tased. 

I'm sorry, but did you even read the article? They clearly said "After he was pulled back, a firefighter tried to enter the home but was forced back by the heat, the AP reports." 

 

Even the firefighter WITH FULL PROTECTIVE GEAR was forced to retreat from the house. How in the name of Celestia do you people think the man without any gear could have survived??

Edited December 20, 2013 by Jamza

[Shanks 10,816]

He was mandated by law to prevent this guy from doing harm to himself. He chose a nonlethal method to do so. He was not above the law, he was following the law. 

If that is the case than whatever that law is should probably be changed as it clearly in this case excessive force which I am pretty sure is unconstitutional and the last time I checked the constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land and not just a series of suggestions. And if tasering someone is a "non lethal method" than can you explain why so many people have died from being tasered? And even if it actually was a non lethal method it is not the only non lethal method and I still stand by the fact that these cops are a complete disgrace and are not fit to scrub a shitty gas station toilet with a tooth brush much less actually be a cop.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Abiding by the law is fine, the cops didn't have to taser him but going into a burning building without protective gear is suicide. You have a duty as a parent to protect your child, I just question the law sometimes. We all know that the law isn't always in the right, they probably tried to prevent him from going in the burning building and decided to use a taser on him.

 

Arresting the man was where I just scratch my head.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Scootalove

[NocturnalRainbow 248]

Okay so lets prevent a guy from going into a fire but fry him with a taser to "save" him, yeah I am sure that makes a lot of sense. *sarcasm* This has to be the most cold blooded response I have seen in a thread in quite a while, riddle me this exactly what would you do if you were that guy? From your response it seems like you probably never lost a loved one before and I hope you never have to go through that kind of hell, so I suggest your try to put yourself in his shoes before praising the cops like they are Jesus Christ. Even if they were to right to restrain him, was it really necessary to treat the situation like he was a dangerous criminal after them with knife instead of a desperate man trying to save a loved one? Police need to have compassion which these pieces of filth clearly lack so they can all rot in hell.

Okay, I kind of spoke wrongly. Not everything they did in this situation was right, they threw him in jail for one (temporarily, but still) and they probably didn't have to taser him either. I'm not sure what the situation was like though, maybe they did have to use a taser to stop him from going back into the house. They were right in restraining him, the way they went about it was wrong. 

[Satsuki Kiryuin 1,155]

They did the right thing and the community gives them anger. I'm pretty sure if it was a controllable house fire that ensured that they would have the ability to save his child, they would have tried to rescue the kid. But if you read the article properly, it clearly states that, "..After he was pulled back, a firefighter tried to enter the home but was forced back by the heat..". They're just trying to keep as many civilians safe from the fire. Only a professional should attempt to rescue someone from a burning building.

 

"They were worried he would succumb to the smoke and heat and we'd have another fatality.", so please stop acting like they're evil people just because they didn't want another person to die.

 

Love and Tolerance, my butt.

[Tech Pony 64]

If that is the case than whatever that law is should probably be changed as it clearly in this case excessive force which I am pretty sure is unconstitutional and the last time I checked the constitution is supposed to be the supreme law of the land and not just a series of suggestions. And if tasering someone is a "non lethal method" than can you explain why so many people have died from being tasered? And even if it actually was a non lethal method it is not the only non lethal method and I still stand by the fact that these cops are a complete disgrace and are not fit to scrub a shitty gas station toilet with a tooth brush much less actually be a cop.

 

The fatal flaw with what you say there is that by demonstrating self harming behavior you show legally that you're no longer posses the mental capacity to make rational decisions for yourself. That gives the authority to first responders to step in and act in your best interest. As a paramedic, I would have restrained the guy as well. Mechanically at first, then if necessary call for orders for Haloperidol.

 

Deaths by tasers do happen, but they're extremely uncommon and most likely due to an underlying heart condition. Studies have shown that 99.7% of victims of being tased suffer minor (eg. minor cuts and bruises) injuries or none at all. That's outstanding I'd have to say. 

[SomariFeyWright 776]

Even though I'm normally an idealist, I'm more on the cop's side with this one. This is real life, not a movie. More than likely, if he'd ran into that fire, he would've died. Probably before he could even find his son.

 

Were they right in tazing him? No. There were many other ways they could have restrained him before they'd need to even consider tazing him. But keeping him out of the fire was the right thing to do, and giving him just a little bit of time should have sufficed well enough to calm him down and let him think things over. And besides, he was released with no charge, which means he still has a clean criminal record. ... Supposedly.

 

I think people really need to calm down and think things through a bit. Honestly now.