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Meyer was shocked with a Taser after event organizers asked police to remove him when he continued to heckle the senator and struggled repeatedly with officers trying to remove him from a university auditorium.
He was charged with resisting an officer with violence, a felony, and disturbing the peace by interfering with school administration functions, a misdemeanor.
University Police Lt. Alton McDilda, who runs the department's training program, said force guidelines are based on a suspect's behavior.
"You have to have some threat of danger to the officer of possible violence," McDilda said. "The officer-subject ratio is always taken into consideration and the size and ability of the subject."
The department's 18-page use of force policy is similar to others around the state, including the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Office. In situations where a person is displaying "active physical resistance" - evasive movements or pushing or pulling away from an officer - use of a baton, chemical spray or Taser is permitted.
A video of the event shows Meyer forcibly being led from a microphone in the audience and walked to the back of the auditorium. There, he breaks free from officers pushes away, then falls with officers to the ground. As he repeatedly asks, "What did I do wrong?" he struggles and kicks, according to an arrest report.
At one point, he is warned to stop resisting or he will be Tasered. Sgt. Eddie King instructed Officer Nicole Mallo to stun Meyer after repeatedly being unable to handcuff both his hands, the report states.
"Under those facts, the use of a Taser is totally reasonable," said Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminal justice professor who is conducting a study for the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice on Tasers.
He was charged with resisting an officer with violence, a felony, and disturbing the peace by interfering with school administration functions, a misdemeanor.
University Police Lt. Alton McDilda, who runs the department's training program, said force guidelines are based on a suspect's behavior.
"You have to have some threat of danger to the officer of possible violence," McDilda said. "The officer-subject ratio is always taken into consideration and the size and ability of the subject."
The department's 18-page use of force policy is similar to others around the state, including the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Office. In situations where a person is displaying "active physical resistance" - evasive movements or pushing or pulling away from an officer - use of a baton, chemical spray or Taser is permitted.
A video of the event shows Meyer forcibly being led from a microphone in the audience and walked to the back of the auditorium. There, he breaks free from officers pushes away, then falls with officers to the ground. As he repeatedly asks, "What did I do wrong?" he struggles and kicks, according to an arrest report.
At one point, he is warned to stop resisting or he will be Tasered. Sgt. Eddie King instructed Officer Nicole Mallo to stun Meyer after repeatedly being unable to handcuff both his hands, the report states.
"Under those facts, the use of a Taser is totally reasonable," said Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminal justice professor who is conducting a study for the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice on Tasers.
Orange County Sheriff's Capt. David Ogden, a use of force expert with three martial arts black belts, said the Gainesville incident appeared to be a "textbook," justified use. Tasers, he said, prevent further injury to officers and suspects.
"Use of force isn't pretty," said Ogden. "Nobody doesn't say the Taser doesn't hurt. But the second it's done, it's done."
"Use of force isn't pretty," said Ogden. "Nobody doesn't say the Taser doesn't hurt. But the second it's done, it's done."
Taken from "Florida Police Followed Guidelines in Campus Taser Incident," published in the Orlando Sentinel.
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