The “Break it Down” Blog

This is a pretty cool turn of events. In this video, Cpl. Thomas O’Connor (white) stops Eugene Snelling (black) for going 70 in a 65. O’Connor approaches Snelling’s window and asks for a license and registration, when Snelling asks why he was stopped and then 1 other question, O’Connor begins yelling “LICENSE AND REGISTRATION!”. Snelling responds with “Whoa! whoa who!” to try and calm the officer down, to which O’Connor replied “No whoa whoa whoa!” and opens Snelling’s driver-side door, draws his taser and points it directly at Snelling while telling him to get out of the car.

Snelling gets out of the car with his hands up while O’Connor continues to yell at him who eventually tasers him for no reason and calls for backup.

Now the good news, the statesman reports, the Austin police department actually issued personal appologies to Snelling for the incident. Beyond that, Art Acevedo, the new chief, watched the video then distributed it through his department to make a case of what not to do and what won’t be acceptable behavior:

When Art Acevedo, the new chief from California, saw the video, he strongly disapproved of O’Connor’s action but saw in the footage what some would call “a teaching moment.” He released the video, told officers to watch it, and made it clear that any officer who did the same as O’Connor would be in serious trouble. The chief’s warning was appropriate and welcome.

In light of all the rampant tasing and macing, it’s nice to see not only the personal apology, but making an example of specific cases of behavior that aren’t acceptable.

I wonder if the rampant tasing is a case of cop’s shifts being too long and them getting tired of dealing with shitty people all day… maybe the police force needs to be overhauled, offering relaxation classes, masseuses or some other services to deal with the constant stress?

I wonder if marijuana was legalized and cops were allowed to smoke on the job, if everyone would just calm down a level or two… thoughts?