Say Please at U. S. border nets pepper spray

[classicman]

Say please' at U. S. border nets pepper spray

A Canadian who demanded courtesy from a U.S. border security guard says he was pepper sprayed and held in custody for three hours for asking the disrespectful officer to "say please" when ordering him to turn his car off during a search.
"I refused to turn off the car until he said please. He didn't. And he has the gun, I guess, so he sprayed me," said Desiderio Fortunato, a Coquitlam, B.C., resident who frequently crosses the border to visit his second home in the state of Washington. "Is that illegal in the United States, asking an officer to be polite?"

He said he was questioned by a border officer who demanded he turn off his car and, when asked to make the request more politely, threatened to spray him with his pepper gun if he did not comply.
"I just felt I should stand my ground about it. I should not be treated like that. No matter what kind of position you are in, if you want respect you have to show respect," he said yesterday. "I asked him three times and when I didn't turn the car off, because he didn't say please, he pepper sprayed me.... It was terrible. For half an hour or so I couldn't see anything."

Mr. Fortunato said after he was sprayed he was forcefully taken into custody by several officers. He was held for three hours before he was released without being allowed entry into the United States. Mr. Fortunato says he was dismissed with a warning to be more cooperative in the future.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers are trained on how to handle confrontation, and refusal to comply with a direct order is justification to use capsicum spray, also known as pepper spray, or other "soft techniques" such as physical holds.
"The combination of training and experience is what our officers use to communicate with passenger on a day-today basis. Our officers will give direct orders or commands to passengers, especially in situations where there may be a safety concern. It is the obligation of the passenger to be compliant with those," said spokesperson Mike Milne.

By his own admission, Mr. Fortunato is a stickler for courtesy and respect. The Portuguese native, who has lived in B.C. for 25 years and has owned his second home in Washington for three, pulled a similar stunt at the same border crossing about one year ago. In that case, he was ordered to wait hours to be questioned before being allowed to cross.
Once, he said, he asked a Canadian border agent to be more polite when requesting documents, to which the agent responded with a sheepish "please."

The Canadian caved and the American sprayed. From what I understand when interacting in this type of situation, isn't the officer in charge? The officer gives a direct order or command, you must comply, no? I mean in a reasonable case like this. I wonder if the office overreacted or if Fortunato was being a dick and resisting.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes, a dick. The US border guards I've interacted with are not congenial or particularly pleasant. They are all business, but not unreasonable.

[sugarpop]

Well, I guess he really showed him.

Seriously though. Demanding an officer to be respectful is kinda nutty, if he wasn't being abusive or anything. It ain't a crime to be impolite, and while maybe some officers could use a course in manners, I think it's better to just allow them to do their job. They need all their faculties of observation, so maybe that guy just thought the officer was being impolite, when really he wasn't.

[Cloud]

The guy is obviously an idiot. You don't mess around with those people; they will be polite if you are.

[jinx]

They should of tased his beanbag.

Huge difference between US and Canadian border agents though, in my experience. I was detained too (by the US side), but they didn't find it.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by jinx

but they didn't find it.

lol - good

[sugarpop]