Re: Tasered by Utah Highway Patrol
Many, if not most of us work with the public. Sales, service, etc. What could be more challenging than dealing with an unreasonable, uneducated, person who doesn't realize that the cop is only the first step in the process. You can go to court and plead your case to a "neutral" third party for anything from a parking ticket to murder. This means little to those who believe "the customer is always right". Those of us who deal in these situations know that the customer is more often than not wrong.
In my training of new employees I usually start out with the statement that respect is earned, titles mean little, and the cut of your suit even less. Inspire a person to believe in you because of your knowledge, disposition, and the way you "listen" and you will always have the upper hand. The man who raises his voice or uses profanity or loses control will ALWAYS be the loser.
Being a cop is the most challenging profession I can think of because the outcome of all situations will reflect on you professionally. Do to little and someone gets hurt, you are the goat. Do to much and you are labled a tyrant. In as much as this was a simple speeding ticket and not a domestic violence issue or something of public threat, the cop clearly didn't get it. He had all of the guys info. He was getting a ticket. Walk away.
If you talk to a cop the way you talk (ed) to your father you will always be in the right church. I will have spirited debates with my dad, but I will never question his integrity or sincerity.
Todays political correct mentality hamstrings our law enforcement. The tazer has to be preferable from a lawsuit perspective as the marks it would leave won't have the emotional impact that a nightstick to the head, or worse a gunshot would. And heaven forbid he actually touch a person. I am against the way the cop handled this but if he had used mace, we would have folks talking about how so-and-so died from being maced. I also think that just because they are public servants doesn't mean they can be insulted or ridiculed by a person. Why is it some think that they can treat someone in a particular way based on where they derive their paychecks? Only an idiot would try to claim "free speech" rights in situations like this. Those should be additional infractions in my opinion. And if we had laws that addressed this, then I think that by default the police would encounter less resistance to insignificant issues such as this.
