Fuck Tha Police

From Palm Beach, FL:

Man dies after being hit with Taser

PALM BEACH POST

FORT PIERCE — A Nashville man who was combative and acting erratically outside a gas station died Saturday after he was Tasered at least twice by police who were trying to slip leg restraints on him, acting Police Chief Sean Baldwin said.

It is the second time in less than a year that a person has died shortly after being shocked with a Taser stun gun by a Fort Pierce officer, but Baldwin said he has not ordered changes in department policy.

Just before 11 a.m., Douglas John Ilten, 45, pulled into the Pilot Travel Center at 7150 Okeechobee Road in a Budget rental truck filled with musical instruments. He began ranting and tossing items from the truck, Baldwin said.

A witness flagged down officer Hall Solomon, who briefly struggled with Ilten before handcuffing him and placing him in the back of a patrol car. Because department policy dictates that suspects be searched for weapons before being taken to jail, Solomon waited for officer Scott Ceckanowicz to arrive as backup before removing Ilten from the car and searching his clothing.

At that point, Baldwin said, Ilten's tirade intensified and the 6-foot, 200-pound man began violently resisting officers' attempts to search him and restrain his legs.

Ceckanowicz fired his Taser gun in "drive stun" mode at least twice, meaning an electrical shock was issued without the accompanying darts, Baldwin said.

Moments after the discharges, the officers rolled Ilten over and noticed he was not breathing, Baldwin said. They performed CPR until paramedics arrived, but Ilten died at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute.

Police and the state attorney's office are conducting internal and criminal investigations.

The officers have been placed on administrative leave with pay until a review is completed, but Baldwin said it appears the officers acted properly.

"This is a tragic incident, and my heart is filled with sorrow for this man and his family," Baldwin said. "Both officers are extremely upset. These officers are here to serve the community, and we certainly don't want to hurt anyone."

Speaking from her home in Nashville, Ilten's wife said her husband was "very kind and generous" and was not prone to a quick temper or irrational thoughts.

The owner of a music supply store in Nashville, Douglas Ilten stopped at the gas station while on his way to Fort Lauderdale to deliver band equipment for a cruise ship he supplies each year.

"I talked to him (Friday) night," Ann Ilten said. "He had just gotten to Florida, and he said he was making good time. The truck wasn't behaving as well as it should have, but that was pretty typical. He had rented that truck before."

Ilten said that from what police describe, she thinks her husband was looking for a piece of equipment in the back of the 21-foot truck and wasn't bothering anyone. Ilten didn't drink irresponsibly, use drugs or carry weapons, she said, and would never have made threatening gestures to others.

"I'm angry," said Ilten, who has spoken to a lawyer about her husband's death. "I don't understand why (police) had any reason to approach him in the first place."

Solomon, 54, joined the department in 1999 and is a patrol officer, use-of-force instructor and hostage negotiator with one minor disciplinary incident noted in his personnel file.

Traffic officer Ceckanowicz, 39, joined the department four years ago and did not have any disciplinary incidents noted.

Last February in Fort Pierce, Samuel Hair, 48, died three days after being stunned by a Taser; an autopsy did not say whether the Taser played a role in his death. It said Hair's enlarged heart, coupled with the police struggle, caused his death.

Ann Ilten said her husband used to own Keyboards in Black & White but recently started a new company called Black and White Backline Co.

Records show Douglas Ilten filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March 2005, and he was charged with DUI in January 2004 in Tennessee after police who had stopped him for speeding smelled alcohol.

Although Baldwin said his department's Taser policy has changed 12 times as new information became available, he praised the stun gun's overall effectiveness in subduing combative suspects and protecting officers.

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Now then...

Some of you work in my business, the rest of you just need to follow along. How many times has some jackass that wasn't paying attention helped pack the truck and misplaced or lost some gear? It happens. It pisses me off too. I totally understand this guys frustration looking for something in the back of a truck, that runs like shit, after a long drive. Ranting, raving, throwing things around; all par for the course and all perfectly legal.

Why then were the cops involved?

Some asshole...

They probably assumed that it was stolen gear and reported it to the police as such to the police. The police, not known for asking questions, or at least the right ones, AND... not known for tact and diplomacy, approached him, probably said or did something to make him assume a defensive position which led to confrontation, which led to struggle, which led to tazer, which led to death. As far as anyone can tell, nothing illegal or shady was going on. Even if he was out of control, did he take up arms? NO.

If he was hitting cops, why couldn't they have retaliated in kind?

The answer... they don't have to. Tazers have given cops opportunity to shoot first and ask questions later. It's bad enough that we have a cadre of morons charged with policing our society; but we combine that with conventional guns, and now with "non-lethal" weapons (i.e. tazers) and have a recipe for disaster.

So this opens up discussion time. Do we give cops too much power? Too much authority? Do they deserve special laws making it more illegal to hit them than it is to hit a stranger? Or am I out of place? (I know I'm not, but I'll engage the conversation anyway)

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Now some silliness...

Fair Warning... this is of no substance whatsoever...

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