Working as an LEO in a state that falls in the 9th circuit, I would not have been able to use my taser in this manner given what I saw in the video. The 9th circuit has ruled that a taser can not be used as a means to gain compliance for anything less than aggressive behavior. I could have used OC, but not the taser. And this is based solely on what I saw in that clip of the video.
Reaching into the backpack coupled with a refusal to exit the vehicle would have been enough. Legally speaking. Don't know about your dept policy
I think it would have as well if the use of the taser was immediately upon him reaching into the backpack. It sounded like he had reached in the backpack which resulted in an officer drawing a firearm, which did not cause the use of force. That's only based on what I could tell with the narrow video and what the woman was saying a minute prior to the breaking of the window.
I did give bad information of a sort. The officer would have been justified to use the handheld taser in "drive stun" mode without the prongs. In that condition, the taser doen't incapacitate. It just hurts a lot.
