Oh give me a break. He wasn't basically arrested for making an illegal lane change at the maximum he would have recieved a traffic citation or a warning if he had not been aggressive towards the officers. He was being placed into what was more than likely temporary custody for being confrontational and even after that he would have probably been released without being arrested after the officers had completed their job. What he was being arrested for was resisting arrest when he pushed the officer away who was trying to put him into custody so they could complete their job and from all reports and what filtered down to even my station down here after he pushed that officer away he immediatley started towards the female officer who was providing backup which is when he got tasered by that female officer. Now with all that said and the absolute fact that most assualts and homicides that occur to police officers occur in your common every day traffic stops if you are actively placing a man into custody who has refused your orders and he pushes the officer away who is trying to put the man into custody and then he starts towards you in an aggitated state what are you going to do?
Nice post. Would the anti-police / pro-resisting arrest crowd please address this very insightful post? I believe the police deserve respect. Giving the perp the benefit of the doubt each time is disrespectful to the efforts of our police force.
good point. whether racial profiling is wrong or not, the fact is we're all guilty of it. how many of you would feel as safe in South Park, Houston as you would in Sugarland? you don't, and basically it's b/c you're profiling. i know i'm more likely to be conscience of my surroundings, and lock my car doors, in SP than in Sugarland.
Maybe so, but it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the crime rate in the area. I'm suspicious of *everybody*, regardless of race.
What? I've had several run ins with cops that were unpleasant. I was cited with a curfew violation way back in high school. I was at a house party, the cops came in and gave everyone under 18 a curfew violation. Of course that is total BS and would never hold up in court (it was dropped, but we all had to go down there and waste time), but the guy was just doing it for a power trip. He kept saying stuff like "one more word out of any of you and you are all spending the night in jail". The guy was a grade A jackass. However, just because he was abusing his authority and being an ******* doesn't mean I decided to respond by kicking his ass and walking out of the door. I took the citation, went down to the courthouse, cleared it up, and moved on. And all of the stuff Rocket River is posting makes no sense. Who cares if he was racially profiled. He pushed the cop. He deserved to get tasered. What kind of imbecile physically assaults a police officer because of a BS pulling over?
A lot of us. You are correct that two wrongs don't make a right. However, I think both sides of this argument are making a lot of assumptions. It doesn't behoove us to come to opinions about and divide ourselves over it when none of us know what really happened.
And I'm white. It just amazes me how people can use safety to justify racism/prejudice. You would think ignorance goes away with education, but I guess not.
I don't think that profiling is racist or prejudicial. Just like with anything else, if you abuse profiling, that is when it crosses the line. I can't stand cops but I also can't imagine them giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. That would be reckless. I don't know all of the facts of the case so I'm not making any judgments either way.
trick or treating, advertising, whatever comparison you want to make doesn't work because its all proactive. investigating crime is reactive, it assumes a crime has taken place. that's my point, the statistics argument doesn't even come into play until a crime has taken place. why did they pull weary over is the issue, were they searching for a criminal. you just throw out statistics on crime, but the police didn't say they were searching for a criminal. if the police isn't searching for a criminal they have no reason to pull over someone suspicious. according to some reports, they didn't even pull him over for the plates, only discovered that after they pulled him over.
you guys who support profiling what do you think police are going to find. somebody riding around with a body in the trunk and 5 kilos of cocaine under the seats. what's the point?
Come on P . .. didn't you see why they pulled him over?? A Black man . . looking back and forth at the police. . . You know such RECKLESS EYEBALLING is not allowed Rocket River
http://isiahcarey.blogspot.com/2006/11/charges-dropped-against-houston-texans.html CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST HOUSTON TEXANS PLAYER! FRED WEARY GETS HIS DAY IN COURT! As The Insite first told you two weeks ago - Houston Texans football player Fred Weary's arrest was very questionable. See file story on the Insite. The judge aparently didn't buy the weak story being told by the 2 arresting HPD officers and prosecutors. In court Tuesday prosecutors equated Weary pulling his hand away from two HPD officers during the traffic stop as resisting arrest. The judge said since when did that action equate to resisting arrest. The prosecutors then moved to drop the charges. The judge agreed and now the case is over!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4363671.html Nov. 27, 2006, 11:57PM Activists ask HPD for moratorium on Tasers Demand follows incident involving African-American football player By MIKE GLENN Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Community activists are calling for a moratorium on the use of Tasers after an HPD officer fired her stun gun at a Houston Texans player during a traffic stop after police said he resisted arrest earlier this month. "This white officer saw a big black man and had that innate fear of a big black man in her presence," said Quanell X with the New Black Panther Party. "The minute he made a slight move or gesture she disagreed with, (he) was 'Tased.' " According to police reports, the Taser was used to subdue Texans lineman Fred Weary when he "became verbally combative and extremely argumentative" after he was pulled over Nov. 14 along Loop 610 West for driving without a front license plate and failing to signal. Weary, 29, denied he did anything wrong, and resisting-arrest charges against him were dismissed. The recent incident has caught the attention of the Houston Chapter of the NAACP. Carol Mims Galloway, NAACP first vice president and former District B councilwoman, said the incident is another example of how HPD targets African-Americans. Deric Muhammad of the Millions More Movement agreed. "If you are caught at the wrong place, at the wrong time and clothed in black skin, you are a target," he said. Quanell X said more than 90 percent of those who have been shocked by the stun guns in the past two years are black. Houston police said their statistics tell a different story. Officers have used the stun guns 982 times since December 2004 when they were adopted for use, HPD officials said Monday. Police said 620 of those struck were black; 220 were Hispanic; 121 white and eight were Asian. "Race plays no part," in the use of a Taser, said HPD spokesman Lt. Tom Jennings. HPD officials said an investigation is conducted when an officer uses a Taser. An offense report must be completed, and a supervisor is sent to the scene. HPD Executive Assistant Chief Charles McClelland scrutinizes each incident and prepares a report for Chief Harold Hurtt. The community activists, however, said an independent group should be used. A town hall meeting will be held Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, 3815 Live Oak. ----------------------------------------------- Is going back to the billy club such a good idea?
While I think it certainly sounded like the police overstepped their authority with Weary, I would be very much against taking the Tasers away from police.
They should suspend these cops........making erroneous allegations and arrests that are unwarranted? An example needs to be made. DD
Understand - i don't drive drunk My 98's fly - i don't drive no junk No cop gotta a right to call me a punk Take this ticket - go to hell and stick it Put me on a kick butt - line up, times up This government needs a tune up I don't know what's happenin' - what's up Gun in my chest - i'm under arrest
