Editorial: UCSA Taser resolution inaccurate, uninformed
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 28, 2006 9:00 p.m.
The University of California Students Association released its
“Police Brutality Resolution” on Monday related to the
Taser incident ““ the problems with this resolution start with
the title.
The drafters of the resolution throw around terms such as
“police brutality,” spell the student’s name two
different ways and seem not to have actually researched the details
of the incident before jumping to conclusions.
Before calling for “the immediate suspension of all
officers involved in the two incidents,” UCSA ““ the
voice of all UC students ““ would have done well to research
the UCLA Taser use policy.
In fact, the officers involved were acting in accordance with
university police policy. Maybe the policy needs to change, but
people should not get suspended for doing what they are trained to
do.
The document also continues in the tired vein of student
government resolutions, stating investigations must be
“acceptable to and approved by the student governments”
of UCLA. Students who have watched a few episodes of
“CSI” are not qualified to make judgements as part of
police investigations.
We have no intention of condoning the actions of the police
officers involved, but if UCSA wants to pass any further
resolutions on police behavior, they should do so in an informed
and reasonable manner, rather than drafting a two-page resolution
full of inaccuracies and ridiculous requests.
