Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Taser incident should create dialogue, not jokes about Philly fans

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Like the national media needed more reasons to go after Philadelphia sports fans. First, they had the Santa incident, more recently they had the vomiting incident, now they have the Taser incident.

So, get ready for the jokes. Get ready for the "only in Philadelphia" stories and the "of course it was a Phillies fan" comments. What you will hopefully also hear is that fans run onto the field in every city and this isn't the first fan to be tasered at a game. Hopefully we can get something positive out of this, too, like some good dialogue about what constitutes excessive force. Should a minor who didn't have a weapon be neutralized with a Taser gun or should the beefy security guards tackle him and risk breaking bones? Will this act of Tasing someone deter fans from jumping onto the field?

As for my opinion on it, you won't find it here. To me, this is a police issue, not a sports issue. Last I checked, I'm a Philly sports blogger, not a commenter on law enforcement.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Don't be a wuss.
say it already.
the police are using excessive force. i love how the news is afraid to say it... seriously, like the fsu student, "Don't Taz me Bro" what the hell goes on in cops minds, i guess everyone is a criminal until proven guilty. excessive force. that's their way of life.