Texas does it again!

[Gator]

Texas seems to lead the way in self-embarrassment, from its judicial system to its law enforcement.

The topic du jour comes courtesy of the Austin Police Department, which set up a pedestrian safety initiative in the hopes of cutting down on jaywalkers in a busy area near the UT campus. One girl, who was jogging with headphones, didn't heed the call of an officer (probably because she was wearing headphones and couldn't hear him) and so he grabbed her by the arm and arrested her. Not for jaywalking, mind you, but because she couldn't identify herself.

Once this goes viral, the chief of police makes matters worse by saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "Our town isn't as bad as other towns, where there are rapes." He attempts to defend the officers by saying there have been nearly 2,000 injury-related incidents connected to jaywalking in that area, and he didn't want to see 2,001. Whether you like it or not, pal, you now have 2,001.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Controversial-arrest-of-Austin-jogger-caught-on-5262902.php

 

[MisterCreosote]

Texas has a ways to go before it catches Arizona.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Once this goes viral, the chief of police makes matters worse by saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "Our town isn't as bad as other towns, where there are rapes."

There is no need to paraphrase, Gator. And what he said was worse than that. He didn't just say there are rapes in other towns, he said there are rapes perpetrated by the police in other towns.

"In other cities, cops are actually committing sexual assaults on duty, so I thank God that this is what passes for a controversy in Austin, Texas," Acevedo told reporters.

 

[DeskMonkey1]

It's terrifying knowing that if my wife asks me to accompany her to the store and I don't take my wallet (wife primarily drives) that I could be arrested for not being able to identify myself to a cop.

 

[Riptide]

It's terrifying knowing that if my wife asks me to accompany her to the store and I don't take my wallet (wife primarily drives) that I could be arrested for not being able to identify myself to a cop.

I have my driver's license number and a credit card number memorized.

It's not that hard to do. Saves time, and someday I might need them in an emergency.

 

[RickStain]

The article doesn't say anything about her being arrested for not having ID or not being able to identify herself. It says she was arrested for allegedly refusing to give her name to the cop.

Cop acts in a ham-handed manner
Person who refuses to cooperate with said cop ends up arrested
Local chief says something tone deaf trying to defend his cop

There's an awful lot of dog-bites-man there.

And honestly, *if* it went down the way the cop says, it doesn't even seem that ham-handed.

AFAICT, here's what happened.

The police department decided they wanted to cut down on jaywalking. I don't know their city well enough to know if that's a good use of their resources, but I've been in enough college towns to believe that it can be a real problem.

The officer sees a woman out jogging and jaywalking, so he attempts to stop her. Because she has head phones on, she doesn't hear him say "Hey, you!" so he grabs her arm. She panics and screams, trying to pull away. Which is perfectly understandable.

I don't know exactly what happened after that, but at some point she ends up on the ground, in handcuffs, screaming and crying. She refuses to give her name to the officer and ends up arrested for that.

When media attention follows, the police department gives a pretty tone-deaf PR statement defending the officer.

She was clearly in the wrong by the end. I understand her initial panic, but what on earth do you think should happen if a police officer wants to give you a warning or a ticket and you refuse to give your name? "Oh, well, I guess if you won't tell me your name, there's nothing I can do. You're free to go."?

The police department clearly sucks at PR.

But unless more information comes to light about the time between her initial pulling away and her arrest, I don't see anything in the account that makes the officer look bad. It was his job to try to stop jaywalkers, and it's his job to arrest people who completely refuse to cooperate with his authority in a situation.

Could he have been too quick to put her in handcuffs? Could he have roughed her up unnecessarily? Maybe, but I don't see any of that alleged.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Texas has a ways to go before it catches Arizona Florida.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

The article doesn't say anything about her being arrested for not having ID or not being able to identify herself. It says she was arrested for allegedly refusing to give her name to the cop.

Cop acts in a ham-handed manner
Person who refuses to cooperate with said cop ends up arrested
Local chief says something tone deaf trying to defend his cop

There's an awful lot of dog-bites-man there.

And honestly, *if* it went down the way the cop says, it doesn't even seem that ham-handed.

AFAICT, here's what happened.

The police department decided they wanted to cut down on jaywalking. I don't know their city well enough to know if that's a good use of their resources, but I've been in enough college towns to believe that it can be a real problem.

The officer sees a woman out jogging and jaywalking, so he attempts to stop her. Because she has head phones on, she doesn't hear him say "Hey, you!" so he grabs her arm. She panics and screams, trying to pull away. Which is perfectly understandable.

I don't know exactly what happened after that, but at some point she ends up on the ground, in handcuffs, screaming and crying. She refuses to give her name to the officer and ends up arrested for that.

When media attention follows, the police department gives a pretty tone-deaf PR statement defending the officer.

She was clearly in the wrong by the end. I understand her initial panic, but what on earth do you think should happen if a police officer wants to give you a warning or a ticket and you refuse to give your name? "Oh, well, I guess if you won't tell me your name, there's nothing I can do. You're free to go."?

The police department clearly sucks at PR.

But unless more information comes to light about the time between her initial pulling away and her arrest, I don't see anything in the account that makes the officer look bad. It was his job to try to stop jaywalkers, and it's his job to arrest people who completely refuse to cooperate with his authority in a situation.

Could he have been too quick to put her in handcuffs? Could he have roughed her up unnecessarily? Maybe, but I don't see any of that alleged.

This is where you should have had a cop smart enough to realize the difference between a jaywalker and a runner. If someone is in workout gear and moving at a reasonable pace, it's not merely a case of someone crossing against the light. Runners don't stop for lights. They don't always cross at corners. They move in and out of traffic. They know and accept the associated risk. That's one reason I don't run with headphones. I want to hear traffic.

 

[ThomsonONE]

The article doesn't say anything about her being arrested for not having ID or not being able to identify herself. It says she was arrested for allegedly refusing to give her name to the cop.

Cop acts in a ham-handed manner
Person who refuses to cooperate with said cop ends up arrested
Local chief says something tone deaf trying to defend his cop

There's an awful lot of dog-bites-man there.

And honestly, *if* it went down the way the cop says, it doesn't even seem that ham-handed.

AFAICT, here's what happened.

The police department decided they wanted to cut down on jaywalking. I don't know their city well enough to know if that's a good use of their resources, but I've been in enough college towns to believe that it can be a real problem.

The officer sees a woman out jogging and jaywalking, so he attempts to stop her. Because she has head phones on, she doesn't hear him say "Hey, you!" so he grabs her arm. She panics and screams, trying to pull away. Which is perfectly understandable.

I don't know exactly what happened after that, but at some point she ends up on the ground, in handcuffs, screaming and crying. She refuses to give her name to the officer and ends up arrested for that.

When media attention follows, the police department gives a pretty tone-deaf PR statement defending the officer.

She was clearly in the wrong by the end. I understand her initial panic, but what on earth do you think should happen if a police officer wants to give you a warning or a ticket and you refuse to give your name? "Oh, well, I guess if you won't tell me your name, there's nothing I can do. You're free to go."?

The police department clearly sucks at PR.

But unless more information comes to light about the time between her initial pulling away and her arrest, I don't see anything in the account that makes the officer look bad. It was his job to try to stop jaywalkers, and it's his job to arrest people who completely refuse to cooperate with his authority in a situation.

Could he have been too quick to put her in handcuffs? Could he have roughed her up unnecessarily? Maybe, but I don't see any of that alleged.

This is where you should have had a cop smart enough to realize the difference between a jaywalker and a runner. If someone is in workout gear and moving at a reasonable pace, it's not merely a case of someone crossing against the light. Runners don't stop for lights. They don't always cross at corners. They move in and out of traffic. They know and accept the associated risk. That's one reason I don't run with headphones. I want to hear traffic.

so running makes jaywalking, not stopping for lights, moving in and out of traffic legal?

 

[BTExpress]

They know and accept the associated risk.

Runner is wearing headphones. Darts into traffic. Doesn't hear horn honking before he/she his hit by car.

Will he/she . . . ?

Do nothing. "I accepted the risk associated with darting in and out of traffic with headphones on."

OR

Try to sue the driver.

Think we know the answer to that one.

 

[Morris816]

This is where you should have had a cop smart enough to realize the difference between a jaywalker and a runner. If someone is in workout gear and moving at a reasonable pace, it's not merely a case of someone crossing against the light. Runners don't stop for lights. They don't always cross at corners. They move in and out of traffic. They know and accept the associated risk. That's one reason I don't run with headphones. I want to hear traffic.

so running makes jaywalking, not stopping for lights, moving in and out of traffic legal?

The police officer probably didn't handle it as best he should (really, how would anyone react to somebody suddenly grabbing their arm) but the woman was at fault for not identifying herself. She sure wouldn't have had that option if she was driving her vehicle and pulled over for a traffic infraction.

And had she identified herself, I would not be surprised if the officer just gave her a warning and let her go on her way.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Austin police bust suspected drunk driver (he's black!), he blows a .00, blood test also comes back clean, and now it's revealed that Travis County has the highest rate of dismissed DUI cases in the state. FWIW he looked just fine to me walking the straight line.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/26/texas-police-defend-dui-arrest-of-black-man-who-blew-0-00-on-breathalyzer/

 

[RickStain]

You are a selfish jackass on this issue. You may be a perfectly nice person in every aspect of your life, but "I'm a runner so **** everyone else on the road, I'm not stopping" is a selfish jackass attitude.

You aren't just endangering yourself. You are endangering others. What if a car has to swerve to avoid you and hits someone or something else?

 

[JC]

You are a selfish jackass on this issue. You may be a perfectly nice person in every aspect of your life, but "I'm a runner so **** everyone else on the road, I'm not stopping" is a selfish jackass attitude.

You aren't just endangering yourself. You are endangering others. What if a car has to swerve to avoid you and hits someone or something else?

But he's a runner Rick

 

[Armchair_QB]

You are a selfish jackass on this issue. You may be a perfectly nice person in every aspect of your life, but "I'm a runner so **** everyone else on the road, I'm not stopping" is a selfish jackass attitude.

You aren't just endangering yourself. You are endangering others. What if a car has to swerve to avoid you and hits someone or something else?

Too many cyclists have this same "**** you" attitude.

 

[RickStain]

Go find a track to run on. Or a trail.

 

[LongTimeListener]

If he's hit by a car, he'll know not to cross in traffic. Or his heirs will. There's no need for a jaywalking law.

/libertarianism

 

[Vombatus]

Reminds me of the basketball coach that got run over and the opposing fans created t-shirts with tire tracks on the back. Think it was Okla St if I am remembering it correctly.

 

[JC]

**** you're an arrogant prick.

 

[SpeedTchr]

Your workout is of absolutely no importance to any of the rest of us who might have to live with the weight of running your ass over one day as you dart across the street.

Run on the sidewalk.