A letter (“Kudos to Vancouver officer,” Our Readers’ Views, April 30) states Officer Andrea Mendoza did her job “despite the political nonsense she was subjected to.” What nonsense? The controversy was because she pulled down a suspect’s pants and threatened to Taser his genitals. It’s on camera and no one is denying it. It happened. This is not a typical turn of events.
With this decision, apparently it’s OK to expose a suspect and threaten harm to them in order to stop the subject from resisting. Or maybe only if the officers were also assaulted, as happened here? Does this decision apply only to resisting male subjects or are women’s genitals also fair game if they resist? And does the gender of the arresting officer matter?
It will be interesting to see how official procedures for the Vancouver Police Department are updated due to this ruling.
