Should law enforcement agencies stop using tasers?

by Gopher 49 Replies latest social current

• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  Hillbilly to answer your questions.... first the woman was actually trying to help the man out but failed cause he couldn't speak English

  Then he got more agitated as the hours pressed on as he had been in the same area for 8 or 9 hours with no assistance until someone called the police when

  he started to destroy things, maybe that was a deliberate attempt to draw attention, but man did it ever go wrong

  As you can see in the video the man was not being aggressive to the police but rather trying to back away from the situation, it was not found that he had a weapon.

  If he did have some kind of weapon or object well maybe then it would seem reasonable to use the tazer but that was not the case.

  Remember there were 4 officers attending the situation and they could have easily subdued the man to the ground with physical force.

  It was a rookie that first asked the other officers if he should tazer the man and they agreed.

  I think they could have handled the situation probably without force if they surrounded him and cuffed him into control.

  Do you think the guy would have cooperated if all the officers were to pull out their batons and surround him I think so.
• 

  VoidEater

  "Medical documentation strongly supports that the Tasers are a safer use of force alternative compared to hands on, punches, chemical sprays, batons and canine bites," Tuttle said.

  Hi Gopher: Yes, this statement is so over-simplified as to be meaningless. Begs questions: Safer for who? As a percentage of what?

  It's been about 2 years since I saw an incident across the street from me (this was in Northern California). A clearly problemmatic man was standing naked on the sidewalk at about 11:00 PM. There were four police officers ranged around him. While I couldn't hear anything that was being said, i could clearly see that there were no antagonistic moves being made. One of the officers has a taser out, and at some point (as I said, without visible provocation) shoots the naked man. The man immediately goes down, backwards, crashes the back of his head on the sidewalk. After a few seconds of the man not moving, one of the officers produces a rolled towel from his patrol car and places it under the man's head. The man never got up - after about 10 minutes an ambulance arrived and took the man away.

  Of course, the immediate death of some people from tasers has been in the news.

  The place tasers play in LE may need to be refined a bit; from what little I've seen, it appears that there may have been a certain nonchalance regarding their presumed non-lethal properties, or that they have become overused. Of course, the company the produces them would prefer that their product continue widening sales.

  Off Topic Comment:

  The south did before the civil war, and if they'd just not had to take the first shot they might have lasted longer.

  I believe the southern states had self-assessed that their economy and "way of life" (e.g., slave labor) would not survive without an expansion of "slave states". If I understand it, this was at the crux of their political debate. As the territories became states, would they be "slave states"? If not, that was it - they were doomed. This explains a bit of the desperation with which they approached secession - the Federal government was setting things up so that there would be no new "slave states". So, in their own estimation, they were destined for extinction unless they fired the first shot.
• 

  avishai

  I'd personally rather get tasered than get hit with a baton, choked out, shot with a beanbag, rubber bullet etc. There are far more instances per year of people dying from restraints, etc., than tasers, you just don't here about them because they're not "new."
• 

  frankiespeakin

  Burn,

  I got guns and a sawed off shot gun held on me by four state troopers(1978?) once for bank robbery((I was innocent even though I'm not totally against stealing from the rich and giving to the poor (robinhood syndrome)).

  This is what happened: There was a bank robbery the bank was right on the entrance road to interstate 84(good getaway for robbers). They were really good and never got caught(hi five). 2 were dressed a security guards and one dressed as a clown. The clown came in first a couple of hours before the hiest, with flowers from a supposed secret admirerer and handed them to one of the women tellers. A few hours later 10minutes before closing time the security guards dressed robbers come in the banked followed by the same flower carrying guy in the clown suit. They then put the closed sign in the window, disarm the security system, herded everyone into the rest room, and escape with about $125,000 according to the newspaper(not a bad haul for the job IMO). Nobody was hurt.

  Any way my dumb luck is that the car(same color as the robbers getaway car) I was in had a break down on the same interstate highway, a few miles up in the same direction that the robbers headed on the interstate. After our car broke down my 2 companions and I were walking to the next exit, but I was behind them about a couple of hundred yards, as I dropped my glasses and was back tracking to find them. I gave up looking for them and was heading to meet my companions.

  As I was half running to catch up with them four state trooper cars surrounded me fast like lightnoing, guns drawn and one pointed right in the back of my head. I said something and was told to shut up and keep walking to where the four trooper with guns drawn on me directed me. I did not shut up as they commanded but asked that they let me put my hands up in the air, which I did without thier consent every so slowly so as to not get my head blown off especially by this one really gunhoe cop that had the sawed off shot gun to my head in all his gleeful excitement blurted out: " God I feel just like when I was in Vietnam, I want to shot me a few Migs." They must have thought I was the one dressed in the clown suit, because I joked with them while they had me at gun point. After about 30minutes they let us go, but I was pissed and demanded a ride to our destination, which they reluctentely granted, lucky for them I wasn't in the suing mood I'm in today.

  About 2 weeks latter one of the guys I was with having lunch with pointed out the state trooper in plain clothes waiting in line ahead of us. So I said to my friend watch this, Im going up to him, he begged with me not to, but I went up to him while he was placing his order and made my hands in the gesture one uses to symbolize pistols and put them in his face and said him,," bang bang,, I think I will go and shoot me a few Migs,, remember me?" The guy said no rather nervously,, I said "remember the bank robbers on 84 that you stopped." Well he was all embarased and appologised profusely.

  So I think you make a good point about being respectful and all but to each circumstance is it own merits as to what is best.
• 

  jacethespace

  DONT TASE MEEE BRO! DONT TASEE MEEEeeeeeeee
• 

  ferret

  I have to agree with minimus on this one. they might just as well shoot them with their service revolvers. There are more people dying from tasers then real guns. I say ban them altogether.
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  Yes they do make law enforcement easier for the officers, but at what cost.

  When these things were being sold to the agencies they were assured they could never kill a person, well a few years have passed since then

  and that statement has proved false.

  Taking a life for the sake of making someones job easier is not a good approach to control the behavior of people, at least not in this modern era
• 

  hillbilly

  not to sidetrack this thing.. but we need to keep in mind that police officers get killed too... 154 in 2004 alone. How many officers have been saved injury by using tasars, compared to taking suspects to the ground when they dont want to be taken?

  I'm with Avi... I think If I stepped outta my mind I prefer tasing to rubber bullets, or having a crew of guys beat me with sticks.... But then I'd rather not step out of my mind. Comply get cuffed and let my lawyer figure it out.

  ~Hill
• 

  DaCheech

  all I can say is this: when I get pulled over by a cop, I make sure i'm:

  1) cooperative

  2) have all documents ready and willing

  3) be courtious

  they risk their lives every day!
• 

  heathen

  The thing that really should concern us is the fact they really are putting cops through some de sensitivity training so they may even feel good about tasing people .