Man Tased flying his drone in State Park

[480sparky]

Seems he was tased as his running away was somehow deemed a danger to others.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'm going to offer a bit of a contrarian view here. And I acknowledge upfront I don't know the NPS rules for using tasers or any kind of force. And I don't know the details of the case (other than the brief article--which let's assume is factual and reasonably accurate for right now).

1. The National Parks have become quite a haven for drug trafficking/transportation and a host of other illegal activities. And the NPS is understaffed, most park rangers will admit that they can barely cover the territory in the park, let alone police it. Talk to any park ranger and they'll tell you that it's a growing problem, they're doing their best to deal with it. So they tend to be suspicious of anything that seems out of the ordinary.

2. A national park is considered Federal land. And a member of the NPS (i.e.: a park ranger) is considered law enforcement. When they give a command to stop or produce ID, you're required to do that as a condition of being in that park. It's equivalent to you being stopped by a cop on the street, asked for your ID and instead you choose to run. What would happen next if you did that? (And no, I'm not talking about what would happen if you were black.) Most folks don't get that, they think a public park is "free land" with license to do whatever you want and a park ranger is just there to make sure the trash can doesn't overflow. Nah, the Park Ranger is the first option for rescue, first aid, and law enforcement plus crowd control, keeping the peace, property preservation, managing conflict, spotting potential danger (like fires or a collapsed trail) and also a friendly docent.

3. There have been a number of memos within various Federal agencies recently (including the Park Service) to be on the look out for drones as a means of delivery explosives.

Now, I'm not arguing the tasering decision was legit and appropriate. Or that the Ranger acted within reason. But I can tell you that Rangers are instructed to stop the use of drones (for a variety of reasons, only two of which are disturbing the wildlife and safety of other humans). And Rangers are told to stop anyone and get ID when someone is violating rules (even if they don't cite you or expel you ) or if you're engaging in suspicious activity or in an area that has had problems before (like loitering near a road that have been used as landing strip for drug drops or human trafficking, etc.). And Park Rangers have the legal right to do so.

I'm a huge fan of Park Rangers and the NPS. They've been extremely helpful for me as a photographer more times than I can count. They've almost always been willing to bend the rules or look the other way if you aren't being a jerk. I've had Park Rangers offer all sorts of tips to me as a photographer...best way to beat the crowd, best location for a sunset on that specific day in Yosemite, best place for a stable tripod setup, least likely location to have a crowd, best early morning feeding spot at Yellowstone for wildlife...and on and on. Even when they were originally "on full alert" mode and asked for my ID (it's happened at least 3 times), when I was cooperative, they suddenly became very apologetic and extremely helpful. I'd prefer to see no-one tasered. But almost every Park Ranger has dealt with a wide multitude of bizarre and dangerous activities so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in cases like this.

I understand what you're saying being a Texan but this took place in Hawaii. If you watch the videos floating around the net, it shows his drone laying next to him after being tased. It's a small 3" toy, just lights and no camera. It's just a cheap toy he bought off some sidewalk vender.

 

[480sparky]

Perhaps you can point out where in a video the drone is visible with enough clarity to show there's no camera on it. I see a small drone, with lots of lights on it. And certainly cannot ascertain whether it has a camera.

 

[Designer]

You stated man was tased for refusing to lease, the man said he was tased while trying to leave.

I think I said "uncooperative". As in; refusing to stop and be identified, running away. Those things tend to get the full attention of LEOs.

 

[Braineack]

you can be 100% uncooperative and expect not to be tased. in fact the 9th circuit court of appeals ruled on just that very thing and found the officers used excessive force.

Tasers are especially dangerous on a fleeing suspect because they quite often land on their face as they are unable to use their hand to break their falls. I'm willing to bet there's policy against using a taser on a fleeing suspect (most departments have policy against it), and the officer must give verbal warnings that he will shoot a taser, and allow the suspect to comply before firing (case law).

All this could have been avoided if the ranger had any sort of tact and didn't feel bitter about not being able to join the real force.

 

[407370]

Do any of the Americans commenting on this thread understand how horrific this all sounds to non Americans?

3. There have been a number of memos within various Federal agencies recently (including the Park Service) to be on the look out for drones as a means of delivery explosives.

Raging paranoia is not an excuse to taser someone. The law enforcement officers are acting more like drones than the drones. What happened to the human ability of discernment?

 

[Braineack]

I think there's a law preventing that.

 

[480sparky]

Do any of the Americans commenting on this thread understand how horrific this all sounds to non Americans?............

Many 'non-Americans' haven't experienced a 9/11 type event because they're not targets of radical terrorists who merrily send psychologically-misaligned individuals out to kill as many infidels as possible. There's still a part of this world that terrorists and their targets haven't affected.

 

[goooner]

Do any of the Americans commenting on this thread understand how horrific this all sounds to non Americans?............

Many 'non-Americans' haven't experienced a 9/11 type event because they're not targets of radical terrorists who merrily send psychologically-misaligned individuals out to kill as many infidels as possible. There's still a part of this world that terrorists and their targets haven't affected.

We probably should not become too political, but I would wager a good deal that more non-Americans have been killed since 2001 than Americans in terrorist attacks. Be that as it may, a bit of common sense would have told anyone watching this that this was not a terrorist attack in progress.

 

[480sparky]

We probably should not become too political, but I would wager a good deal that more non-Americans have been killed since 2001 than Americans in terrorist attacks. Be that as it may, a bit of common sense would have told anyone watching this that this was not a terrorist attack in progress.

I'm not implying that the US has borne the brunt of attacks, nor claim that we've tallied the most casualties. Just pointing out that there are parts of this speck of dust floating around in the cosmos where terrorism, either where it originates or where it attacks, has not creeped in to.

 

[tirediron]

Do any of the Americans commenting on this thread understand how horrific this all sounds to non Americans?............

Many 'non-Americans' haven't experienced a 9/11 type event because they're not targets of radical terrorists who merrily send psychologically-misaligned individuals out to kill as many infidels as possible. There's still a part of this world that terrorists and their targets haven't affected.

Really? While there's no denying the fact that the September 11th attacks were horrendous, in the grand scheme of international terrorism, they are a drop in the bucket. Think of London & Belfast in the 1970s & 80s, Hutu rebel attacks, the Japanese subway incident... I would submit to you that far more of the world has experienced this sort of attack than you may be aware of.

 

[480sparky]

Do any of the Americans commenting on this thread understand how horrific this all sounds to non Americans?............

Many 'non-Americans' haven't experienced a 9/11 type event because they're not targets of radical terrorists who merrily send psychologically-misaligned individuals out to kill as many infidels as possible. There's still a part of this world that terrorists and their targets haven't affected.

Really? While there's no denying the fact that the September 11th attacks were horrendous, in the grand scheme of international terrorism, they are a drop in the bucket. Think of London & Belfast in the 1970s & 80s, Hutu rebel attacks, the Japanese subway incident... I would submit to you that far more of the world has experienced this sort of attack than you may be aware of.

OK, once again. No one seems to get this. Please read it.

I'm not implying that the US has borne the brunt of attacks, nor claim that we've tallied the most casualties. Just pointing out that there are parts of this speck of dust floating around in the cosmos where terrorism, either where it originates or where it attacks, has not creeped in to.





I'll toss this out once more, just in case anyone missed it.

I'm not implying that the US has borne the brunt of attacks, nor claim that we've tallied the most casualties. Just pointing out that there are parts of this speck of dust floating around in the cosmos where terrorism, either where it originates or where it attacks, has not creeped in to.

 

[407370]

Many 'non-Americans' haven't experienced a 9/11 type event because they're not targets of radical terrorists who merrily send psychologically-misaligned individuals out to kill as many infidels as possible. There's still a part of this world that terrorists and their targets haven't affected.

The world is full of nutters. It is still not an excuse for the use of a taser on a guy flying his toy aircraft.

The purpose of terrorism is to disrupt "normal life" seems to me like job done.

 

[gsgary]

........ If someone takes off running the officer has no clue what the person intends to do and running will make them think he's got a warrant out on him or something...........

Still, no reason to zap him. Running away is not endangering others any more than a jogger in a park.

Don't they usually shoot them with bullets when running away in the US and then have riots ? I think he came off lightly

 

[480sparky]

Don't they usually shoot them with bullets when running away in the US and then have riots ? I think he came off lightly

Depends on if the person has a firearm. Not everyone here is armed like Dirty Harry.