When it comes to people who are supposed to protect our safety, sometimes they take power too far.

Police officers hold one of the highest positions of power in our society. From speeding tickets to homicides, these officers are there to keep citizens safe and alive.

Unfortunately, there are some officers who use this position of respect in the wrong way.

Last week, a student was Tasered during a campus forum at the University of Flordia. The student was asking multiple questions to U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and after being asked to stop, he was Tasered.

He was excited and loud, but not harmful or out of control.

The people who had problems with the excessive questioning were not the students nor Senator John Kerry but the campus police themselves.

According to Alachua County jail records, the student was arrested on charges of resisting an officer and disturbing the peace.

"The police department does have a standard procedure for when they use force, including when they use a Taser," University Spokesman Steve Orlando said. "That is what the internal investigation would address - whether the proper procedures were followed, whether the officers acted appropriately."

There are hundreds of other cases happening each year involving the use of excessive police force.

On April 28 in Waxahachie, Texas, a man with rheumatoid arthritis, called 911 when having a diabetic seizure. Instead of the help he was expecting, police broke down his door with guns and proceeded to Taser him multiple times while he laid in bed.

According to the Waxahachie Daily Light, the man said, "I respect the law and police, but on this day I was a shooting target for them when I needed help."

Police are hired to keep the peace and also defend the rights we have as U.S. citizens. When they overstep boundaries, they actually take away these rights.

When officers beat helpless old men or Taser college students who only want their questions answered, they are committing a crime much more heinous than those they might claim to prevent. If police officers want to be helpful to society, they should put their Tasers away and use discretion.

There are homicides, suicides, rapes, burglaries and other horrific things happening in our country.

Instead of worrying about senators in bathrooms, pay raises and fuming citizens at public forums, they should be doing their job by protecting us from more dangerous issues.

Taxpayers pay the salaries of the police force, and no one pays taxes to get Tasered during unnecessary times. Having Tasers is not an issue in this. However, police officers should use them when it is actually protocol or when someone is being harmed.

The officers who use their power by overstepping their boundaries become deadly bullies.

But these bullies have Tasers, the ability to throw us into jail and even to mark our permanent record forever.

It is time for them to get over being a big bad cop. Take it from the college student at UF: "Don't Tase me, bro! What did I do?"

Christine Caplinger is a freshman in family studies and human services. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.