What's the deal with "STOP RESISTING!!"

[apacherose]

In every video I've seen recently of cops using their Tasers to incapacitate people who clearly pose them no threat, I've noticed that they will without fail shout "STOP RESISTING!" as the victim writhes helplessly on the floor. And in situations where they fire the Taser repeatedly, they continue to shout "STOP RESISTING! STOP RESISTING!" as their victim becomes more and more docile and tucks deeper into the fetal position.

People have raised the idea recently that these cops have actually been instructed by their superiors to carry out these vicious attacks. I think the fact that 100% of them shout the same phrase, "STOP RESISTING!", without fail could be an indication that they've indeed received explicit training in exactly how to Taser a clearly non-hostile victim.

What is going on here??

[Poll_Blind]

1. It's their CYA (Cover Your Ass) line.

They know if they ever get hauled into court over it, they'll have themselves on tape (whether they taped themselves or someone else did) saying "Stop Resisting!" to back up their defense that the subject was "Resisting Arrest".

This reminds me of a somewhat-related story: A long time ago, probably back in the 80's when New York was cracking down on the mafia, there was a mafia person coming out of the courthouse and reporters were trying to get him to say something. Filmed from one reporter's perspective, they were in the throng of reporters and as the subject passed the reporter asked him some question.

Immediately the subject or the subject's lawyer grabbed the video camera in such a way as to completely cover the lens. At that moment they shouted quite loudly "Let go of me!" and then you heard a loud pop which was either the lawyer or the mafia dude just laying out the reporter with a punch to the face.

So if you just had that video to go off of, it would look (well, sound really) like the reporter might've grabbed the lawyer or the mafia dude.

However, since there were a bazillion reporters there there was lots of video taken of the same incident and it showed the reporter hadn't touched either the lawyer or his client at all: When they shouted "Let go of me!" it was their CYA line.

Most people don't have CYA lines. I don't. But people who regularly break the law/commit crimes like this, do. It's from a lifetime of doing shit like this, getting caught and called to task for it that they pre-emptively use things like this to make it look like what they did is defensible.

PB

[apacherose]

3. That makes sense

I figured that's why they say it. It just seems so strange to me that SO MANY officers are caught seemingly every week pulling this bullshit on completely harmless people.

It feels like it almost has to be an organized effort....right?

[Poll_Blind]

7. Well, from what I've gathered, lots of police departments use...

..."boilerplate" tactics in a given situation. Basically canned things to say or do to make yourself come out looking as good as possible in a situation. Again, if videotaped but also if there happen to be bystanders who can corroberate the officer's story- (at least that they said or did something the officer claims to have done).

For instance, as you pointed out, the common boilerplate for tazing someone is to pre-emptively call out "Stop Resisting!" Now, a protester was maced and tazed in my town and the exact same thing happened. He was videoed by others and he wasn't resisting arrest, yadda yadda.

For car stops, it's "Your speech is slurred" or "I smell marijuana". How many times have you heard/seen that?

These boilerplates are all really shorthand for scripted behavior which appears to give the officer justification for escalating an event.

In the same way in our line of work we have shortcuts, know the boundaries, etc., so do the officers. They do this stuff day in and day out: They know exactly what to say and do to control and shape a situation. And if they don't have justification to escalate a situation, they know exactly the things to do and say which give the appearance of needing to escalate it.

PB

[eShirl]

2. They can never remember the line is supposed to be "Resistance is futile."

[empleh]

4. what videos are you talking about?

I'm going to school to be a police officer and have done internships, and there are people out there
That try so much shit to get away the police have very few options to control the situation.

[griffi94]

5. uh huh

[griffi94]

8. here's one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMicj15ZMKo

i like what his superior says "you may be 72 years old but that doesn't give you the right to argue with the police and fight with the police on the side of the road"

this cop was pissed because she didn't show the proper respect to his authority. imo


here's another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmByfTKKUV4&p=636BB8A2CFB36F80&playnext=1&index=12

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. Odd how they edit out the part just before he tases her.

Why do you suppose they did that?

[griffi94]

14. i didn't watch it that closely

and for me personally it wouldn't have mattered. i hate fuckin cops. anything that gives a cop a hard way to go is good by me. i really like when they balls out catch one abusing his authority and fire his ass.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. "i hate fuckin cops."

"anything that gives a cop a hard way to go is good by me."

Well then you're not really in any position to be complaining about tasering.

[griffi94]

19. sure i am

i'm a law abiding citizen. there's no law against hating cops. as long as i don't resist arrest...and i'd never do that anway. there's also no law that says i have to respect cops.

[apacherose]

16. This, for one

I could spend an hour digging up a hundred videos of on youtube but this one should do the trick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS-N1dl0VQA

[backscatter712]

6. It's how they make a police beatdown look less like the Rodney King tape.

It's still ten cops on top of one poor schmuck, going to work on him with tasers, firearms, blunt instruments, boots and fists, over some incredibly petty or imagined act of defiance, but if they're hollering "STOP RESISTING!" at the top of their lungs, they can claim in court that the perp was still somehow twitching in defiance even though it's not visible on the tape, therefore the cops were justified in rupturing his spleen.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. You Don't Think Cops Are Trained On What To Say In Any Given Situation?

I can confirm that they are with 100% certainty. I know it for a fact. I know that cops are trained how to "properly" fill out reports in order to give them the best chance at a conviction (ever wonder why all police reports are exactly the same? I don't. I've seen thousands of them over the years, and they all contain the same buzzwords). I know for a fact that cops are trained how to testify in Court. I know each and every way cops are trained to do whatever is necessary in order to get the conviction, because I know people who have infiltrated the training sessions. I've even got a friend who works for the State BCI team (my source on the "inside") who tells me every dirty trick the cops are taught.

And if you believe for one hot SECOND that cops aren't trained on what to say WHILE they're committing horrifying atrocities in order to best cover their asses, you're either naive or willfully stupid. I don't think it's limited to just taser training. I think they're trained to shout, "Stop resisting!" WHENEVER they use force of any kind (billy club, gun, pepper spray, taser, whatever).

[Jester Messiah]

10. They're training us like dogs.

Just do as you're told, submit to authority, and the pain will go away. The lesson is as much for the on-lookers as it is for the person getting the voltage.

[SidDithers]

11. "It's coming right for us!!"...

Sid

[Pithlet]

12. This would be more of the mindless "cop bashing" on DU some piss and moan about.

But it needs to be talked about. Tasers in particular have only made the problem worse.

[apacherose]

17. ?

What about my OP is "mindless"? I've thought long and hard about this issue, and it continues to puzzle and scare me

[MindPilot]

15. I always want to hear the victim shout back

"then stop trying to arrest me!"

[fascisthunter]

20. these are sick individuals with the power of a badge

that you speak of... I'm only glad not all are like this, but it does appear this may be rampant. The police force needs to weed the bad eggs OUT if they want citizens to respect and trust them. We pay their salaries and for their benefits...