Should this man be punished?

[oktalist]

Kid is stopped by police and tries to run. His running results in his accidental death, and it's the officers fault?

Yes. He fired his taser at someone whom he had no reason to believe posed a danger to anyone, which is morally wrong IMO. Even more so because he gave no warning. He fired his taser from a moving vehicle, which is stupid and reckless. His wrong, stupid and reckless act resulted in a death. His being a police officer has nothing to do with it. The police are subject to the same laws as everyone else.

Had he stopped his bike and not run like a person that just did something wrong, I'm willing to be he'd still be alive.

That is not a credible defence, any more than "if he hadn't have slept with my wife, he'd still be alive right now."

Lesson of the day: When a police officer tells you to stop, you stop.

The police are supposed to keep the public safe. The deceased was a member of the public. We have a right to expect not to have our lives endangered, whether by the police or by anyone else, unless we endanger someone else's. To do that is the exact opposite of keeping us safe. The officer in question doesn't deserve to wear the badge (if indeed it happened like the OP said it happened, and it's the court's job to determine that).

A world in which we must obey every whim of any arbitrarily designated "police officer," on pain of death, is not a good world to live in.

 

[Thedayrecker]

if he did plant the weapon and/or he used the taser without any decent warning or attempt to use another method to get the guy to pull over then yes, yes he should be punished

I agree with this, also if you're not going to have a poll don't put it in the title. I'm getting really sick of these fake poll threads.

Yeah, sorry about that. Idk what happened to the poll.

Although, it strikes me as odd, that you just came for a poll...

EDIT: There, fixed it for you

 

[Divine Miss Bee]

i the cop should be punished, yeah. he shouldn't have fired the taser while driving. seems to me he shouldn't have fired it at all.

 

[team star pug]

If he's lowering the population, let him free to work the way he finds neccisary.

Ard says "That young man is robbing that old lady, SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT!"

Body falls over, covered bullet holes. He weakly lifts his arm into the air.

Ard says " RPG!"

The body explodes, 'gears style'

Old lady says " He was helping me cross the road! "

Ard says "Assault on an Officer. SHOOT SH00t SH0Ot!"

 

[-Samurai-]

Kid is stopped by police and tries to run. His running results in his accidental death, and it's the officers fault?

Yes. He fired his taser at someone whom he had no reason to believe posed a danger to anyone, which is morally wrong IMO. Even more so because he gave no warning. He fired his taser from a moving vehicle, which is stupid and reckless. His wrong, stupid and reckless act resulted in a death. His being a police officer has nothing to do with it. The police are subject to the same laws as everyone else.

The second the kid disobeyed the police officer, he became a criminal. Evading police and resisting arrest are felonies. Criminals are presumed dangerous.

I don't know what video you watched, but I heard plenty of warnings. Also, flashing lights and sirens are a pretty good indication that there's an officer of the law around. When the lights and sounds follow you through yards and streets, that's a sign that the officer after you. That kid knew the officer was after him, or wouldn't have started to ride faster and take evasive maneuvers.

At that time, it was legal and wasn't against the departments policy to fire a taser from a moving vehicle.

Once again, had the kid stopped like he was told, he wouldn't have been tased.

Had he stopped his bike and not run like a person that just did something wrong, I'm willing to be he'd still be alive.

That is not a credible defence, any more than "if he hadn't have slept with my wife, he'd still be alive right now."

Except the fact that it's true? His decision to run resulted in his accidental death. You cannot sit there and say that had he stopped, the officer would have gotten out, tased him, then got back into his car and run him over.

Lesson of the day: When a police officer tells you to stop, you stop.

The police are supposed to keep the public safe. The deceased was a member of the public. We have a right to expect not to have our lives endangered, whether by the police or by anyone else, unless we endanger someone else's. To do that is the exact opposite of keeping us safe. The officer in question doesn't deserve to wear the badge (if indeed it happened like the OP said it happened, and it's the court's job to determine that).

A world in which we must obey every whim of any arbitrarily designated "police officer," on pain of death, is not a good world to live in.

I knew there would be one of those responses. One of those "We don't have to blindly follow authority" responses. There's a difference in blindly obeying authority, and using common sense. If you can't discern the difference between the two, it's no ones fault but your own when you suffer the consequences.

[small]Wow I murdered the arrangement. It took forever to fix. Sorry about the disorganization in the "you've been quoted" message.[/small]

 

[oktalist]

No, the Officer shouldn't be punished. If they can't prove the gun was planted - then nothing should come of it. He didn't mean to run over the kid.

No, but he did mean to fire his taser from a moving vehicle, an incredibly dangerous and life-threatening act, not only to the suspect but also to other members of the public, and unjustified due to the suspect not posing a threat, and in this instance it resulted in a death. Those are grounds for a manslaughter charge in my eyes, or whatever is the equivalent in US law.

The gun is a separate issue. Whether or not the suspect was carrying a gun is entirely irrelevant to the question of whether the officer acted properly in firing his taser, because at the time he had no reason to believe that the suspect had a gun.

At the very least he should be dismissed from service. I expect more from the police.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Around 50% of the police force should be in prison.

For Russia and everything nearby, increase that to 99,9% - America dosen't get it nearly as bad.

We Britons get it nice I hear. Ofcourse we have some curroupt police officers but not as many in other places. It's probably due to some law they have to follow that says they can't have too many white police otherwise they get charged with racism, or so I hear. Though they get brutal sometimes, it's normaly an accident if someone gets killed.
OT: Yes, but he should have a legal trail if he is found guilty then give him a life sentence or worse.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Sounds like a stupid cop who presumed some dude was stealing something and decided to plant some evidence.

Why wouldn't he be punished?

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Yes, the kid was obviously minding his own business. The fact that the officer can't even come up with a real charge cements it. (Besides, would you stop if ANY car suddenly veered onto the wrong side of the road and started driving on the sidewalk behind you? I know I wouldn't stop, police car or not)

 

[Doug]

If all is as the OP says, then yes, he should be punished harashly, given it seems he abused both his power and authority, and the trust put in him as an officer of the law, and used that trust to try and obstruct the course of justice.

 

[gamepopper101]

Even if Steen was guilty, Ard shouldn't have tazed him or even KILLED the guy.

 

[GothmogII]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not sure I'm picking up on the racism angle. Watching the video, the officer -does- yell at Steen to stop the bike, and yes, Steen refuses to do so. Officer Ard simply states on his radio that he is in pursuit of a black youth. This is descriptive nothing more. While it is certainly possible Officer Ard did have racist motivations that caused him to suspect Steen of criminal actions, none of that comes across in the video at all. (Or even in the article for that matter.)

The gun planting though doesn't make sense, for what purpose does it serve? It doesn't justify the killing, unless Steen had fired the weapon, or looked like he was about to.

Also, the mother's and family's attestations to Victor's character aren't entirely irrelevant, I don't really see any reason not to believe them, even though, I doubt I or anyone in here knows them personally. But, if what they say isn't enough to present the type of person he was, why exactly is it fair to swing the opposite direction and therefore assume he was up to no good?

As for Officer Ard, he acted recklessly, and there's no debating that I would hope. However, having listened to the video, he -did- sound concerned once he'd realised what he'd done and called for medical assistance, and whether this was sincere or if he just realised how bad he just messed up I don't know, but it does seem like the whole affair was a mistake, a horrible one, but a mistake nonetheless.

I don't really know how he should be punished though...nor is it any of my business.

 

[Necrofudge]

I saw a story similar to this where two officers harassed a recently escaped kidnapped individual. They made homophobic remarks and took him back to the kidnapper.
For those of you who don't know what that story is about, the kidnapper was Jeffrey Dahmer.

The police were removed from the force but pressed charges and no long-term punishment was given.

Essentially, police can get away with anything within reason.

 

[Xojins]

Yes he should. I hate when cops fuck up big time and get away with it; as it was stated in the article, if the kid were hit by someone other than a cop, they would be facing vehicular homicide. But it was a cop, so likely all he'll get is a stern talking to by his boss.

 

[TheTim]

wait, the taser instantly killed him? or he hit his head on the ground, im confused.. either way he probably shouldnt be a police officer.

EDIT: nvm i read the article, he should atleast get vehicular manslaughter at least.

 

[Trivun]

Oddly enough, I was playing GTA: San Andreas earlier today. For those who haven't played it, one of the main groups of enemies is a trio (later duo) of corrupt police officers, known as C.R.A.S.H, who you have to do missions for otherwise they'll implicate you in a cop killing that they committed (and are later internally investigated for).

But yeah, back on topic, judging by the evidence so far, the guy should be punished pretty severely. He killed a kid in cold blood, then apparently planted a weapon on him to cover it up. So surely he should at least get a life sentence in prison for that, right?

 

[Doug]

wait, the taser instantly killed him? or he hit his head on the ground, im confused.. either way he probably shouldnt be a police officer.

The taser caused him to crack his head and the impact killed him instantly is how I read it.

 

[Shapsters]

He may have acted a little rash and that had a massive consequence. That's very unfortunate but if the police officer had reason to believe he was fleeing the scene of something then it's his duty to stop him. If the kid who died had of been white this would never have been an issue. And that's what bothers me.

Acted a little rash? Don't you think that's a bit of an understatement in a situation where someone ended up dying? The cop had no actual reason to pull the person/kid/guy, sure he might have suspected something but he still had no real reason.

Oh and I watched the video, that was honestly ridiculous. He tased the guy that was riding on a bike which is clearly criminal negligence, obviously the person was going to fall off the bike and hurt himself and the cop felt the logical decision after tasing him is to drive directly to the spot where the guy was riding?

Whether the person killed was black, Asian or Jewish it really makes no difference, the cop handled the situation more than poorly and a person died because of it, thus criminal negligence.

 

[CZS PublicEnemy]

We can't have cops hunting down and tasing people to death without any idea of what or why they have done anything at all. If a cop started chasing after me with a taser for no reason at all, I'd run too.

 

[Kurokami]

Please read this: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/death-of-teen-on-bike-shows-risks-of-expanded-use-of-tasers/1112106

Now a summary for the "TL;DR'ers" out there.

A police officer, named Jerald Ard, saw a 17 year old, black male, named Victor Steen riding a bike around 2AM, and decided he was breaking a law somehow. Ard did a U-turn, "veered" onto the wrong side of the road, and up onto the sidewalk, and attempted to pull Steen over. When the Steen didn't stop, Ard pulled out a taser, and fired, causing Steen to fall over, where Ard hit and instantly killed him.

At first the officer said he thought the kid had stolen something from a nearby construction site (which he hadn't), but changed his story to "The kid didn't have a light on his bike". Paramedics found a 9mm pistol on Steen's body, that, mysteriously, had no fingerprints on it, and, according to Steen's family members "Victor was afraid of guns", suggesting the gun was a plant.

This particular incident happened in October of last year, and in April, Ard was put on a two-week, unpaid suspension.

Now I ask you, esteemed Escapist, should officer Ard be more severly punished?

That seems immensely screwed up, don't cops generally report crimes/chases etc before pursuing someone? If so what was the message like?

Obviously, from the way that's written he should be trialled or something, but I don't have the whole story, what judgement can I make?

Edit: Just forget what I said, saw video.