Judge rules against park ranger who used stun gun on dog walker
Source: SF Chronicle
A federal judge ruled that a National Park Service ranger acted unlawfully with unreasonable force when she used a stun gun on a man who was walking his dogs off-leash after he gave her a false name in unincorporated San Mateo County in 2012.
The incident began the afternoon of Jan. 29, 2012, when Gary Hesterberg, 50, of Montara took his two dogs, a beagle named Jack and a rat terrier named JoJo, on a walk as hed done many times before in the Rancho Corral de Tierra open space, referred to as the Rancho.
The Rancho always had laws requiring that dogs be kept on-leash, but the court found no evidence that the law had been enforced, and Hesterberg was used to letting JoJo run free. The land had recently been acquired by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and part of Ranger Sarah Cavallaros duty that day, the first day of enforcement, was to take an 'educational approach or soft enforcement with regards to violations of the Ranchos new rules, according to court documents.
Cavallaro stopped Hesterberg and talked to him about the new rules. The conversation grew increasingly contentious, and Hesterberg gave the ranger a fake last name because, he testified, I dont want to be placed on some offending dog walker ... list.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judge-rules-against-park-ranger-who-used-stun-gun-5813401.php
rpannier
(24,304 posts)makes what she did criminal (IMO)
I must have missed the Amendment in the Constitution which said you had to give your real name when walking your dog off leash
SpartanDem
(4,533 posts)Not saying that justifies what she did, but it is crime.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)For good reason.
passiveporcupine
(8,175 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Too often law enforcement personnel act like they are in the midst of a video game.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)dballance
(5,756 posts)He was freaking walking his dog like he had done many times before.
Perhaps you might have missed the part of common law that says that if there is a law, but the enforcement officers regularly ignore it, then the law becomes invalid.
She never stated any real reason he was being either "detained" nor "arrested." Therefore he was free to go.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)different from an officer refusing to wear a name tag when required. I have not seen any officers without name tags being tazed.
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)With all the bad cops out there, why the fuck would anyone cooperate willingly? It's like our war on drugs and terror, America's brutality is just making the problems of this world worse. Much worse.
cui bono
(19,926 posts)Getting really sick of it.
We need to start a movement to overhaul all police/leo training.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)there is your reason cops go from Zero to Asshole in nothing flat, as 'disrespect' must be met with increased force instead of trying to defuse a confrontation they lost control of.
packman
(16,296 posts)Cops are trained and it is drilled into their psyche that they MUST be in control of any situation either through their actions or mere physical presence on a scene. Remember the uproar (seems so tame now) about cops wearing black leather gloves and the image that projected.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)"traditionally dogs run free beaches and parklands" to on leash or no dogs allowed.
And our Parks and our Public Lands- will hire the "crabby, abusive, military police" to enforce the new over-regulating, excessive ticketing on "the peoples" parks and lands.
good thing this police officer didn't have a gun or she may have killed the dog runner.