Phillies Fan Runs Onto Field, Gets Tasered

leavingwt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqtPUhYdz6M

Monday, a 17-year-old named Steve Consalvi ran onto the field at Citizens Bank Park. Wearing a red shirt and khaki pants, he ran around waving a white towel above his head, a police officer Tasered him. The incident raises some interesting legal issues. Foremost, are police officers using excessive force when they use a Taser who have run on the field of play. The answer, not surprisingly, is ... that depends.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/05/04/legal-analysis-was-tasering-phillies-fan-excessive-force/

keyser soze

Being a Phillies fan isn't a reason to taser someone. A Cubs fan, that's another story.

I'm torn on this issue. The video illustrates how effective the weapon is. Further, would anyone watching this actually want to run onto the field? But, it does seem a bit excessive. Maybe an entirely new sport could be born. A few people with tasers vs. a dozen or so opponents.

StoneWall

I can't help but laugh at the crowd in the stands cheering him on and then boo'in when he gets shot with the taser.

The crowd seems to want to watch him out running the security more than watch the game. LOL

leavingwt

Steve Chapman. . .

Last week, a 17-year-old knucklehead exposed his idiocy to the world by venturing onto the field at a Philadelphia Phillies game and running around waving a towel. When a pursuing policeman got weary of the chase, he pulled out his Taser and shot the kid.

For that, the officer won praise from players, sportscasters, and city police commissioner Charles Ramsey, who said the cop "acted appropriately. I support him 100 percent." The cop was in line with department policy, Ramsey said, because "he was attempting to make an arrest and the male was attempting to flee."

Really? Hitting a delinquent with a potentially fatal 50,000-volt burst of electricity even though he poses no physical danger to anyone and has zero chance of escaping? Maybe the commissioner should read the directions from the Taser manufacturer, which say the devices are meant to "incapacitate dangerous, combative or high-risk subjects."

The Police Executive Research Forum says they "should be used only on people 1) actively resisting or exhibiting active aggression or 2) at risk of harming themselves or others." A federal appeals court ruled that cops may not use Tasers unless "the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public."

Sure, shooting the kid with a Taser taught him a lesson and will undoubtedly deter others from following his example. But if that were the only consideration, riddling him with live ammo would have been even more effective. The rational response would have been to let him cavort until he ran out of gas, then take him away, leaving punishment to the courts.

tec

I know its rare, but tasers have killed people. It makes them a dangerous weapon in my opinion. Less dangerous than a gun, and I agree that in a dangerous situation they are justifiable.

But for this?

Can you imagine the outcry and injustice if the kid just happened to be one of those rare instances where the tazer killed?

Tammy

Judge Dread

Tazers were promoted as a non-lethal alternative to the use of a firearm.

From what I have seen on videos and in articles read, they are being used in situations where the use of a firearm would not even be a consideration.

I call it excessive force.

Judge Dread

Phillies Fan Runs Onto Field, Gets Tasered

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