It seems like every time I turn on the news lately, the cops have been tasing people left and right. The guy at the University of Florida during John Kerry's speech, the drunk woman in Ohio who was handcuffed and the cops still tasered her-several times, and the protesters in Brattleboro, Vt. The one that really got me was in California and they tased a 15-year-old autistic boy.  Personally, I think cops are getting out of hand with these things. Sure, it can be used to help prevent fatalities when trying to apprehend a dangerous person, but as far as I can see, NONE of these specific incidents involved a dangerous person-except for the cops with their tasers. I think these cops are getting a bit sadistic and seem to enjoy using these things and inflict pain on other people. I think they are getting off on it-and the power. And since it is legal, they don't have any recourse so, they are using them more and more when it is not necessary.


Any thoughts? Comments?


Cat

In North Wales, a Police chief constable Richard Brunstrom has been "zapped" with a Taser electronic stun gun.

Mr Brunstrom, 53, offered himself as a target to feel the effects of being shot with 50,000 volts, and was hit for less than two seconds.

Footage on the force's website shows him swearing as he is floored. He warns people who disobey Taser-armed officers they will "not enjoy the consequences".

North Wales Police is expanding the use of Tasers to rural areas.

The footage of the tasering can be seen here.

The cops don't have a person's medical records in front of them.  They cannot know for sure what kind of effect the electric shock will have on the subject's bodily constitution.  99% of the time the shock will merely be painful and temporarily incapacitating, as intended.  I would be concerned about long-term damage---and possibly death--if the subject has any one of many neurological, psychiatric, circulatory, respiratory, cariopulmonary, or musculoskeletal disorders.  What about pacemakers.  What about metallic prosthetics or other hardware installed in the body?  I don't know the answers, but I haven't seen these questions addressed either. 

Law enforcement should use Tasers only in lieu of lethal force.  Otherwise, the Taser will become increasingly a tool of intimidation and a method of convenience because it is a quick and dirty way to subdue a subject.

The cops don't have a person's medical records in front of them.  They cannot know for sure what kind of effect the electric shock will have on the subject's bodily constitution.  99% of the time the shock will merely be painful and temporarily incapacitating, as intended.  I would be concerned about long-term damage---and possibly death--if the subject has any one of many neurological, psychiatric, circulatory, respiratory, cariopulmonary, or musculoskeletal disorders.  What about pacemakers.  What about metallic prosthetics or other hardware installed in the body?  I don't know the answers, but I haven't seen these questions addressed either. 

Law enforcement should use Tasers only in lieu of lethal force.  Otherwise, the Taser will become increasingly a tool of intimidation and a method of convenience because it is a quick and dirty way to subdue a subject.




Of course there has been some abuse of the Tasers... no doubt about that, but then any implement given to the cops is gonna be misused by the incompetent or malevolent.

That said, if I am a cop and a 200 pound Meth Head is starting to swing at me, I'm gonna tase the SOB before he overpowers me.  But if I already got the guy on the ground and he is cuffed-and-stuffed, I don't think he'll need any tasing.

Of course there has been some abuse of the Tasers... no doubt about that, but then any implement given to the cops is gonna be misused by the incompetent or malevolent.

That said, if I am a cop and a 200 pound Meth Head is starting to swing at me, I'm gonna tase the SOB before he overpowers me.  But if I already got the guy on the ground and he is cuffed-and-stuffed, I don't think he'll need any tasing.


I agree.  If a police officer's life and limb are jeopardized by a violent subject, tasing is justified, as in the scenario you presented.  Pepper spray might not bring down that assaultive meth head.  The electric shock is preferable to Rodney King-ing the guy. 

However, there is no justification for tasing somebody who is merely argumentative or uncooperative.  And there certainly was no need to tase that kid at the Kerry speech. 

Cops like to show off--nobody f*cks with us!

BTW, the first thing I though was, "You'd have to tase me just to wake me up after listening to John Kerry drone on and on for a half hour! Ha-ha-ha!
:-\\
Then of course Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert made the same joke.

Regarding Andrew Meyer, there are several things most people don't know or realize.

1: The cops were behind him before he even started speaking. Rumor has it that's because he grabbed the mic from another student and was talking out of turn. If this is the case, he deserved to get tased for that and being a raging hypocrite (nice to whine about free speech while denying another's right to do so).

2: Regardless of what he was saying about being arrested, he was not under arrest, at first. The cops were escorting him out, not arresting him.

3: Funny that these video clips appeared on the internet within minutes of them being shot - can we say "staged"?

4: I find it curious that students at the campus are having these rallys days after when, aside from that red headed chick, NO ONE looked concerned or even got out of their seat in the auditorium.

5: When cops escort you, or attempt to escort you, off premises, and you resist, you can expect bad things to happen to you.

Here's a site with a few video clips of different angles:

http://www.publicspeecher.com/2007/09/19/videos-dont-tase-me-bro-andrew-meyer/

There's one clip that shows him outside the room, talking to officers. He asks what he is being arrested for, and the female officer responds with "inciting a riot".  ??? ??? ???

She should be fired for being such a complete and utter retard. Seriously, did anyone see a riot there?

There are two questions at hand for me. One, did the cops NEED to Taser him? 6 cops on one person is usually enough to take down even the most violent/strong offenders, and I think they could have done so here w/o a stun device, but with possible injury to the officers and/or Andrew Meyer.

Two, did the student DESERVE to get tased? Absolutely. Regardless if the cops had the right to tase him. if it would have been me as one of those officers and he started flailing wildly and resisting me, I would probably have done more than just tase him.

He got his 15 minutes of fame, coined a new phrase and raised awareness on taser use, but screaming like a total wuss is what was priceless.

I guess it's totally irrelevant that he is a 9/11 conspiracy nut and has staged things before as a means to seek attention...

If you are still repulsed by the cops tasing this kid, I suggest you don't click my signature link.  :o

As for the tasered autistic boy, I've much less information, but here's an article I found:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-taser19sep19,0,2376553.story?coll=la-home-center

Tase him or let him get hit by a car? Seems like a no-win situation to me. Again, if this is actually how the incident unfolded, the cop chose the lesser of two evils.

The wheelchair lady:

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/bbs/message.php?messageid=439509&mpage=1&showdate=9/19/07&forum=1

If the coroner has indeed ruled the death a homicide, those cops are fubared. I know a paraplegic person can still be a threat, but tasing 10 times her was way messed up. THAT was uncalled for.

As for the other cases, I haven't seen them, but what we forget is the media never reports the 99% of the time tasers are used appropriately and bring a situation under control, one that in the past may have wound up with a dead suspect or officer. I'm not saying tasers are perfect by any means, but still, the perspective that cops just like to taser people for the hell of it is only one of media spin.

My father in law as well as his son are both deputies for VA Beach corrections, and both have said getting tased (which is a requirement for using one) is much less sucky than getting a face full of CS (pepper spray). I've never been tased (or stunned), but I can vouch for the suck factor of getting maced.

Ant

Andrew Meyer is nothing but an attention whore who's fifteen minutes of fame are over.

Here's a site with a few video clips of different angles:

http://www.publicspeecher.com/2007/09/19/videos-dont-tase-me-bro-andrew-meyer/



I especially enjoyed the M.C. Hammer remix "Don't tase me"  :)

Andrew Meyer is nothing but an attention whore whose fifteen minutes of fame are over.

Nearly...

If he really was hamming it up... should he get an academy award?  And if he did, would that make him an Oscar Meyer wiener?

Don't really know enough about the circumstances to comment on this specific case: the discussion currently running this side of the pond is whether non-firearms officers should be issued with tasers.  (For anyone who didn't know, policemen over here are not usually armed - with firearms, anyway - each force has an armed contingent which may be deployed if required.)

I handled a few tasers not long ago: they feel like a cheap Chinese toy in lightweight plastic.  Carrying one around on a regular basis, I wouldn't mind betting that you lose the feeling that this is a serious and potentially deadly weapon. 
I believe some forces here have a policy that has all officers who are going to be issued with tasers are shot with one so they know what it's like - maybe they ought to institute one which says that if you're going to use a taser on someone else, you'll get hit with one yourself when you get back to the station - who reckons that might make 'em think twice before using a taser when it's not absolutely necessary?

Nearly...

If he really was hamming it up... should he get an academy award?  And if he did, would that make him an Oscar Meyer wiener?


http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sign10.gif

Tasers...

...are for amateurs.

Millimeter-wave pain generators are where it's at.

Want proof?  Go on.  Look at the stock price of Taser (NASDAQ:TASR) and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) over the past few years.  TASR was easy money from the time Taser got their toys first advertised nationwide on COPS ("hey, lookit that guy floppin' aroun' like a fish, I gotta tell Sarge and get me one o' these!") until the first lawsuit, but that train's long since left the station.

"Times are strange,
We got a free upgrade for
Snakes on a plane.
F(ar)k 'em, I don't care.
Bought the cheap champagne,
we're going down in flames, hey..."

Taser's a one-trick pony, and is played out.  The real money's in the bigger defense contractors.  Well-diversified.  Whether it's ballistic missile defense or civilian crowd control,  the technology works, and the more money you can invest in technology, the more you can get back.

"Ladies and gentlemen,
These snakes are slitherin',
With dollar signs in they eyes,
With tongues so reptilian,
This industry's venomous,
With cold-blooded sentiment,
No need for nervousness,
It's just a little turbulence."

To the farksticks currently taking potshots at unarmed monks and photojournalists in the country formerly known as (and soon to be known again as) Burma:  you're about to lose power because your own armed forces are now revolting against you.  Don't you wish you'd invested a few hundred million in non-lethal crowd control technology when you had the chance?  Well, suck it.  We can control our population -- you?  Not so much. Too late for you.  Shoulda bought in while you had the chance. 

"We seem to be losing altitude...
At an alarming pace..."

Once upon a time, we beta tested our weapons over there, so we didn't have to pay lawsuits here.  Now we beta test our weapons here, so we can assure legal immunity to our customers over there.

"...from Midtown to downtown...
Snakes on a blog..."

It's not a good thing.  It's not a bad thing.  But it sure as fark is a profitable thing.

"I suggest you grab your ankles...
and kiss your ass goodbye."
- Cobra Starship, Snakes on a Plane

Personally, I think tasers are a welcome alternative to baton beatings and lethal shootings.