Interesting News Piece from Bremerton, Wa.

[Dallas]

My wife found this in her news digest the other day.

BREMERTON, Wash. - A sheriff's deputy who was trying to get a man down from a tree shot and wounded him after mistakenly pulling a gun instead of a Taser, authorities say.
The deputy, a five-year veteran of the force whose name was not released, was placed on leave while Thursday's shooting is investigated.
Deputies carry both a Taser and a gun on their utility belts. The Taser, or stun gun, is similar in shape to the compact .40-caliber gun the deputy carried, sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilson said.
The victim was listed in satisfactory condition.
The man had climbed a fig tree and stayed there for hours, talking to himself. Deputies were unsure whether he was intoxicated or psychotic, and they wanted to get him down before he hurt himself or others, Wilson said.
Deputies and rescue workers tried to coax him down for almost two hours, during which he became increasingly hostile, said David Blakeslee, an employee at an auto repair shop nearby.
Blakeslee said the man climbed down on his own after getting shot.
"He said, `Ow, that hurt. I'm coming down, I'm coming down,'" Blakeslee said

[FloridaCliff]

Note to self:

Stay out of trees in Washington.

[gumpy]

Since when is it illegal to talk to yourself while sitting in a fig tree? 

Man, you'd think they'd post these new laws somewhere! What do you suppose was the actual violation? Was it the sitting in the fig tree part?  Or was it the talking to himself part?  Or was it that specific combination - talking to himself WHILE sitting in the fig tree?  Is it ok to sit in another type of tree and talk to yourself?  Maybe a birch tree, or elm tree?  How about a pine tree?

...And in the news today, police report they investigated a man who was sitting in a pine tree and talking to himself. However, they say there is no specific law against that, so nobody is paying him any mind. They did, however, have to call in a botanist to make the determination that it was, in fact, a pine tree, and not a fig tree, that the man was sitting in. When questioned about this, the chief of police said simply, "Our officers are trained to enforce the law using all means necessary to the situation. They are not trained to tell the difference between fig trees and fir trees. We leave that up to the professionals!"

And in other news, police were called to the lake in city park today where they arrested a one armed man in a boat who was bothering the other boaters by continually rowing in a circle.

[Dallas]

Kind of makes you wonder doesn't it.
Is it now illeagal to think about breaking the law?
I was just thinking about the "Suspected Terrorists Group" in Florida who hadn't actually done anything except talk about bombing a building.
The only person who had said he was a part of Alqueada was the FBI informant.
Yes, they bought pictures of buildings and possibly were going to do the deed, but to be arrested for "Thinking about it?"

How about everytime I think about putting my foot down harder on the accelerator to see how fast I can go in the bus? Should I be arrested? How about thinking those bad thoughts about my ex wife? Should I be arrested for that?

Hmmm, this is a scarey turn inthe way laws are interpreted and enforced.

Sorry, I'm off my soap box now.

All Hail the Boys in Blue, and I really mean that. It's more the politics involved that scare me.

Dallas

[Casper4104]

Ain't that something,,,

Zapping a guy to get him out of a tree is like committing suicide because of your fear of dying.  The guy is several feet up in the air, Zappers cause convulsions and a loss of motor control – there's just no way this can turn out well.  Were there mattresses?  A pool?

Was he trespassing in somebody else's tree?  Did the tree have a "No Trespassing" sign nearby?

I wonder if this guy's real crime wasn't "Failure to obey the orders of a police officer".

Is that actually a crime?  If you're legally sitting in your tree (and it is your tree, in your yard), legally watching legal birds, legally talking with your imaginary playmate Vince - and you know that you're not doing anything wrong, and a peace officer (without a warrant/court order) asks you to come down out of your tree, and you say "No, thanks - I'm happy right here and I think that blue footed booby with the leather bra is coming back and Vince says we should wait.", is that a crime?

There've been reports of some guys being real cavalier with the "Less-Than-Lethal" stuff (Zapper-Tazer-Pepper spray).   I believe that 99-44/100% of peace officers are great people doing their best at a tough job, but that other 0.56%,,,

Would causing a guy sitting happily-harmlessly in a tree to go into convulsions and fall out of said tree come under "Serving" or "Protecting"?  (Sorry, cheap shot).

Ok, soapbox relinquished.  I feel better now, and Vince says to let it go.

Casper

[Busted Knuckle]

Please ya'll don't confuse the issue here! It's about the right of a policeman to use necessary force to uphold the law!    LOL  BK

Only 4 more days to VOTE when is best for you, an your's for the "TN Fall Bus Bash at Knuckle's!
  We gonna have a BLAST at the"TN Fall Bus Bash" at Knuckle's