Californian police have justified their actions following an outpouring of public objection to their use of a taser gun in detaining a naked party goer at the Coachella festival recently. In case you missed the incident the first time around, you can check the video, and healthy debate amongst ITMers, here.

In the days since the video went viral online the identity of the tasered individual has been revealed as 23-year-old Johnathan Fredrick Felch. He was arrested at approximately 7.15 pm on the first day of the festival, Friday April 17, for public drunkenness and resisting arrest. A local police department spokesman, Ben Guitron, has defended the action of officers. “That was the best way to subdue him and take him,” Guitron said. “He was touted as someone intoxicated and belligerent. Forty percent of our people (arrested) were intoxicated and belligerent.”

David Chandler, president of the Coachella Valley Security Academy, also revealed that the taser is fast becoming the preferred method of restraint in favour of the traditional ‘baton’ approach. “Some departments are going to the taser prior to going to the baton or if there’s an incident with a lot of people or a closed indoor area you may not want to use the pepper spray and therefore go directly to the taser so each department has there own policy and procedure that they follow,” he told KESQ.com.