Summary

Forty-five seconds.That's how much time went by from the moment when Corp. Thomas O'Connor approached a car during a routine traffic stop to when he fired his taser at the unsuspecting driver.That is not the way I want my officers conducting business," Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.Chief Acevedo said he was appalled when he first saw the tape."It is my opinion the officer escalated instead of de-escalated the stop," he said.It was an incident that happened last Thanksgiving, long before he took office. Now, almost a year later, he's using it in a training video to demonstrate to other officers how not to use taser guns.The video goes on to show the dash-cam video of the holiday traffic stop. In it, you hear the driver, Eugene Snelling, ask why he was being pulled over. Snelling had his mom and cousin in the new car -- he was allegedly going five miles over the speed limit. O'Connor asked a second time for his driver's license and proof of insurance, and when Snelling doesn't hand it over fast enough, O'Connor tasered Snelling.O'Connor was put on a three day probation after the incident. He is still on the police force today.Since 2004 when APD implemented taser guns, there have been 17 allegations of improper use by officers. Acevedo tells officers watching the video to ask themselves if they would want their family member to be treated this way. And to ask themselves, "Am I that officer? Am I treating people that way for a minor traffic violation? And if you are, please change your behavior."  Dash-Cam Video Shows Officer's Improper Taser Use Austin's police chief is using video of what he calls an embarrassment to teach police about the proper use of force.The dashboard camera video provided by the Austin Police Department shows a driver pulled over by Cpl. Thomas O'Connor in November.O'Connor quickly loses control.Cpl. O'Connor: "Step out of the vehicle. Step out of the vehicle. Step out of the vehicle, give me your driver's license and proof of insurance. Step to the back of the vehicle, put your hands on the vehicle. Step to the back of the vehicle. Taser needed!"The driver can be heard screaming in the video.Chief Art Acevedo is showing the video to other officers as a training tool of what not to do.O'Connor was suspended for three days by then Acting Chief Cathy Ellison. Chief Acevedo firm: No more stunts like thisAustin, TX, "Statesman"; Editorial Board; 9/30/07 http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/editorial/entries/2007/09/29/acevedo_firm_no_more_stunts_li.htmlA somber Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo is seen on the video asking officers to consider three questions as they watch how a fellow officer conducted a minor traffic stop last year:Would they want their family members to be treated in the same manner as the suspect if stopped by an officer? Would officers be proud of the Austin Police Department if someone outside of the organization saw the tape that recorded the officer’s rudeness and unprovoked use of force?Acevedo looks directly at the camera and asks the third question: “I really want you to take a good hard look inside of yourself and determine, `Am I that officer - am I treating people that way for minor traffic violations?’ “Those questions signal a titanic shift in the Austin Police Department. It’s a welcome shift that will benefit officers and Austin. With those questions, Acevedo drives home problems that tend to undermine public confidence in police, specifically a lack of transparency that cloaks wrongful - at times outrageous - conduct by Austin officers.By all accounts (except for the department’s Internal Affairs division) the conduct of Cpl. Thomas O’Connor was truly outrageous, when he stopped a driver on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) last year for going five miles over the speed limit. The driver, Eugene Snelling, was on his way to a family Thanksgiving dinner with his mother, who sat next to him. His cousin was in the back seat of Snelling’s new car.American-Statesman writer Tony Plohetski details the incident, as well as the fallout, in today’s editions. It’s a compelling and informative story that provides a window on the city police department, its policies and the new chief’s leadership. Video of the traffic stop can be viewed at www.statesman.com.The case confirms the value of video cameras in patrol cars. The tape shows that when Snelling seems to question the officer about why he is being stopped and about the officer’s rude manner, O’Connor becomes more agitated, drawing his Taser. Forty-five seconds after demanding Snelling’s license and insurance, O’Connor shot 50,000 volts of electricity into Snelling, who crumples to the pavement.The department’s Internal Affairs division exonerated O’Connor.Some will look at the video and say O’Connor’s conduct is routine - that’s the way Austin police deal with people, especially minority suspects. The difference this time, they will say, is that the incident was caught on video. Snelling is black. O’Connor is white.This is not the only incident in which O’Connor disregarded department policies over minor traffic violations. His actions didn’t sit well with many officers, though, including former acting Chief Cathy Ellison, who recognized O’Connor’s unprovoked use of force. Despite being cleared by Internal Affairs, Ellison suspended O’Connor for three days without pay. That single action moved O’Connor’s disciplinary records and the video into the public domain. O’Connor is still on the force.Austin’s police monitor Cliff Brown also deserves credit. His office viewed the video and pressured the department to use it as a training tool of what not to do.As the new chief, Acevedo took that advice and is using the video and the case to convey his intent to transform the department’s closed culture. He is shining a light on wrongdoing by officers and building a department that officers and residents can be proud of.Acevedo ends his talk on the video by answering his third question: “If you are (this officer in the video), please change your behavior because this administration owes it to the hard-working men and women of the department to hold people accountable. In circumstances like this, we will hold people accountable and the penalty will be very severe.”