Wow, rough day for this officer I suppose

[SC1903A3]

Depending on which side of the fence your on may color how you perceive what happened in the video. What I saw in the video was that both sides were at fault for the way the incident played out. Here is Austin PD's response to Officer O'Connor's actions. He got a 3 day suspension.

Here's the Chief's Report to the Director of Civil Service:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/opm/download ... 06-635.pdf

Here's the Transcript of the IA interview:
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/pdf ... idavit.pdf

Edit:

After further thought...

If I had been the officer this is how I would have approached the vehicle.

Me: Good afternoon sir, I'm officer [insert name here] with the Austin PD. The reason I stopped you to day is that you have no LP visible and you were traveling over the posted speed limit. May I see your driver's license and proof of Insurance.

I understand about verbal escalation and Officer O'Connor's initial contact was a recipe for disaster. Had I been the driver, I would have not escalated the situation like the person Officer O'Connor stopped however, the average person when confronted in the same manner might respond in a defensive manner that the officer could perceive as a challenge to his authority.

[stevie_d_64]

Seems to me its always a good idea to comply regardless of the tone and or demeanor of the Law Enforcement officers manners...

That being said, in this case, I might not have been so unprepared for the inevitable contact questions that will come...I will have my license(s), registration and proof of current insurance ready to hand to them the instant they ask...That might very well have saved a few amps in this case...

Otherwise, I feel I am pretty safe in my vehicle without getting out if the situation gets to be in my reasonable determination, a potentially hazardous encounter...An almost unrealistic and unfathomable chance of that happening anyway in my book...

This kinda reminds me of the goober in Florida:

"Don't Taze me Bro!"

[Penn]

I think if someone is not complying, tase him, but, you gotta give the guy a chance to comply. It sounded to me that the driver was a little flustered and was trying to find the DL. The officer gave him no opportunity to find it before hauling him out of the vehicle. I don't think he was professional at all.

Bottom line is, the Chief of Police is using the dash cam as a training video of what not to do during a traffic stop and the Officer involved was suspended for three days. Also several officers (not involved in the incident) spoke out and apologized for the actions of the officer involved. How often does that happen?

[dihappy]

The only thing out of line was the violator.

It was a good TASE

Im sure glad the Chief doesnt think so.

A controversial traffic stop has brought a harsh warning from Austin's police chief.


Monday, APD Chief Art Acevedo said he wants to make sure what happened will not be forgotten.

"I've been talking about this tape with the officers for about five or six weeks," Acevedo said.

O'Conner was disciplined for the confrontation before Chief Acevedo was hired over the summer. Acevedo said he saw an opportunity to turn a wrong into a right.

"It is important for us to learn from the mistake of others," he said.

Acevedo says he is not out to embarrass O'Conner, who is back on active duty. He is using the tape as a new training tool for all Austin police officers.

It's something Snelling believes could have helped O'Conner when they met.

APD takes lesson from tasing (09/30)

"I don't want him to lose his job, but he should. His excuse, as I hear it, this was his first time using Taser, and if he had the training for it, you know when and when not to use a Taser," Snelling said.

Austin police officers are not using stun guns as often as they once did. In 2004, there were 334 deployments. In 2005, there were 215. The numbers for 2006 are still under review but estimates put stun gun uses at approximately 170.

Chief Acevedo says misuse of the devices, like in the Thanksgiving Day incident, could cost the department the use of what he considers to be a life saving tool.

"Bottom line -- we need to make people aware of what expectations are of this department, and they need to take a look at how we are treating people out there," Acevedo said.

The chief says the police officers who have reviewed the tape agree what was done was wrong. He says those who fail to learn from the mistake could end up out of a job.

[dihappy]

I'm not sure if he wasn't a danger to the officer. He was belligerent before he stopped out of the vehicle,

What do that call that? "Contempt of Cop?

As soon as the guy said "whoa, whoa" that cops buttons were pushed.

How dare that guy tell the police officer "whoa, whoa, whoa". No one talks to a cop like that!

That cops needs to watch that video of the traffic stop where that guy lost his marbles and tore up the traffic ticket. Nothing was going to stop that cop from having a good day :)

[KD5NRH]

I will have my license(s), registration and proof of current insurance ready to hand to them the instant they ask.

This is the dumb part IMO; why would anybody do something that requires a license, and have that license buried in all sorts of junk? I keep my DL, CHL, and a copy of the insurance card stacked in a front-pocket wallet for just that reason; by the time an officer is out of his car, I have the car in park, interior light on if needed, both hands on the wheel with all three of the above fanned so he can see the CHL when he gets to the window, and the mirrors adjusted to put his takedowns back in his windshield.

To me, it's like the people who wait until everything's rung up in the checkout line, then start digging for the checkbook. They usually seem surprised that the cashier is expecting payment.

[txinvestigator]

The only thing out of line was the violator.
...
Good job, APD.

I am reminded once again how thankful I am that it's unlikely I'll ever encounter you in a police/citizen context.

Oh, It only took the violator 3 minutes to throw down the race card.

And that's a full 2:20 longer than it took the officer to escalate the situation.

Well KB, You just stay in the jails because it is likely you wouldn't last on the street. Of course, you are the person that immediately went to a personal attack. Don't have anything intelligent to post?

[txinvestigator]

I understand about verbal escalation and Officer O'Connor's initial contact was a recipe for disaster. Had I been the driver, I would have not escalated the situation like the person Officer O'Connor stopped however, the average person when confronted in the same manner might respond in a defensive manner that the officer could perceive as a challenge to his authority.

No, the average person responds by getting their license an insurance and not facing off with a cop.

[KD5NRH]

Well KB, You just stay in the jails because it is likely you wouldn't last on the street. Of course, you are the person that immediately went to a personal attack. Don't have anything intelligent to post?

Mr Pot? There's a kettle on the line; should I tell him you'll call him black?

[frankie_the_yankee]

The IA interview clearly shows that the cop violated department policy in the way he acted. By policy, APD officers are required to use patience when dealing with the public, even when provoked. He did not.

FWIW, some of the redacted stuff in the IA interview seemed to indicate that the cop had some kind of medical problem that made him "edgey" if he went without eating too long. The cop seems to claim that that might have been partly responsible for his abrupt attitude. He even says that he now carries stuff, granola bars or something, to help deal with those situations where duty might force him to postpone eating at a normal mealtime.

[Wildscar]

I'm kinda take back by how man people are against the LEO. They have 2 seconds to make a decision and yall have the rest of yalls life's to tear it apart. I mean come on. This LEO doesn't know any thing about the back story of this guy. All he know is that he's being confrontational and difficult.

The only thing that I am shocked about is the LEO letting the passenger just sit there. I would have thought that he would at least ask them to step out and show him their hands.

In my opinion if you don't cooperate with a LEO of any kind then you deserve what ever you get. Any LEO should not have to ask you more then once to do anything. If he does he has every right to think you are trying to hide something.

I might not agree with TXI on everything but I have to take his side this time. I am not a LEO of any kind but I have had to talk to enough of them on the side of the road more then I care to admit. I have even been pulled over once cause the office thought I was not wearing a DOT approved helmet. I have also been mistaken for an arm robbery suspect. I didn't agree with the stop but I had my DL and Ins ready by the time he got up to me. I hold no malice against any LEO for any reason.

Hypothetically: What if this guy turned out to have drugs or guns in the car. Would all agree or disagree with the tactics of this LEO.

[Liberty]

The LEO just didn't act proffessionally he slams the door, into the guy and tazes him all because he didn't work fast enough. Sometimes it can take me a few seconds to get to my wallet, sometimes it can tan a few more to dig it out of the glove box. He didn't taze the guy in self defence. He tazed him because he was losing patience. The folks who are going to lose it in the long run over this are the LEOs everywhere. Legislatures in every state over the next couple of years are going to be concidering restricting how and when Tazers are to be used. I don't think any officer or department will be looking forward to that. Any one want to take me up on a bet that this guy will be testifying before the Texas State Lege. in 98?

Its a shame that this thread falls into name calling. I think its done intentionally to get the threads closed and close any open discussion. I've been called a cop hater too.

[Liberty]

I'm kinda take back by how man people are against the LEO. They have 2 seconds to make a decision and yall have the rest of yalls life's to tear it apart. I mean come on. This LEO doesn't know any thing about the back story of this guy. All he know is that he's being confrontational and difficult.

This was not a physically confrontational situation until the officer made it so. The Citizens mistake was that the citizen had the nerve to question the officer, and that he wasn't moving fast enough.
I too have been stopped more times than I care to admit, but I also have to admit that at any stop I have been the officer was polite refered to me as sir even when I was a teen. and has been patient when its taken me up to a few minutes to find the correctly dated insurance. The cop is the one who is supposed to be a professional, He is expected to be held to a lot higher standard than the one pulled over.

[jbirds1210]

Stop the personal attacks. This post is about an issue and it is not each other. We are all grown.

Jason