Are Tasers Being Overused?

[flashl]

Are Tasers Being Overused?

Though the Taser has been around for nearly 30 years, the brand-name stun gun gained new notoriety last month when 21-year-old University of Florida student Andrew Meyer got into a scuffle with campus police and uttered his now infamous entreaty "Don't tase me, bro!" — just before he, in fact, got tased. The rather dramatic incident spawned a catchy new anti-establishment anthem, picked up and repeated mostly by college students. But it has also renewed questions about whether Tasers pose any danger, and whether the police are using them too often.

Though early concerns about Tasers centered on the issue of safety, the controversy has recently taken a new twist, focusing on the conflict between civil rights and police procedure. Though the device was initially developed as an alternative to lethal force, it has become a go-to weapon in situations of noncompliance even when the use of firearms would not be considered — like the incident with Meyer, who agreed to 18 months of probation on Tuesday in order to avoid criminal charges of resisting arrest. "I think because it's electricity, and because of past use of electricity in torture across the world, there's a thought that law enforcement could use to the same end," says Lt. Dave Kelly of the Phoenix Police Department. "In other words, not to use it to gain control over somebody but to punish somebody, to create pain for someone."

If the idea of tasing simultaneously fascinates and frightens people, it's probably because the technology is a bit of a mystery. "It's harder to understand the science behind than to understand bullets or batons," says Scott Greenwood of the Cincinnati chapter of the ACLU.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1678641,00.html">Read More ...

As an alternative to stories of law enforcement officers shooting someone trying to escape apprehension it seems like a good idea.

But, hearing or reading stories about officers using tasers to get compliance from a 7 years old, a person in hospital bed, or a pregnant woman who didn't move fast enough, causes me to pause and wonder about tasers use.

[AX10]

1. It is being abused. Also, because there is no regulation on...

this damn weapon, we don't really have any idea as to any long term affects. Taser International has been involved in every test of their weapon. No true independent studies have been conducted!

[flashl]

9. Thats the rub isn't it? No regulation and no independent study.

Amnesty Intl USA: Third So-Called "Independent" TASER Study Linked to Manufacturer

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

:shrug:

[shain from kane]

3. Don't know, bro. Haven't got a clue. n/t

[endarkenment]

4. Does a bear shit in the woods? nt.

[Traveling_Home]

5. Thanks for this post eom

[NOLALady]

6. A friend came home last week

to find her 21 month old German Shepherd dead. They are waiting for the autopsy results from their vet. They think its a possibility that their neighbor (a policewoman) was doing a little target practice with her taser as the dog was found near her fence.

[flashl]

7. NO!

Horrible.

[Az]

8. There is the possibility that they are being over reported

I can't speak for certainty with this and I do find their use troubling. But the nature of the media is to find a shark attack or something and then sensationalize the snot out of it.

Consider that while violent crime and crime in general have been dropping like a stone for the last 20 years the perception generated by the media is that crime is worse than its ever been. The simple truth is that news agencies can pull in stories from greater distances and we now hear about things happening everywhere. And of course its only the most bloody and sensational stories that get the most press. So we see the world as one constant riot these days because instead of hearing whats going on in our neighborhood we hear the trouble of everywhere.

[flashl]

10. And, Taser Intl bunker mentality is not helpful. n/t