Comments on: Taser: An officer's weapon of choice
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- Given a choice between being shot, hit with a baton or tasered I choose being tasered. But, then again, I was taught not to run from or be aggressive toward the police. My respect for law enforcement officers is not as great as it once was, but I still respect the law. You do not argue with a person carrying a badge and weapons.
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- A bunch of sadist .. look at the expression on those so called men using the taser..happy as a lark to inflict pain. SICK!
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- Tasers are killers, a least 4 I have died in Connecticut from them, now you can add another. http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/fairfield_cty/man-dies-while-police-attempt-to-subdue-him They story writer is not calling it a taser but it is.
"The man attempted to assault one of the medical technicians. While trying to gain control of the man, officers used their electronic control device at least three times."
This is a great shock to the body and not everyone can take it. Getting hit 3 times is like getting electrocuted. This form of controlling someone out of control should be banned. - Reply to this comment
- I've been a street cop for 36 years. We were trained on, and issued tasers 8 years ago. I've deployed it 4 times since then. Each time, it was used on a violent subject who was a clear and present danger to a citizen or myself. Worked like a charm. No injury to anyone, subject apprehended. Almost no more having to fight with these guys and risk serious injury (or worse) to him or me! And like it says, the mere sight of a taser has had more than one guy bent on "not going without a fight" simply turning around and placing his hands behind his back to be cuffed. A great tool of the trade, and I use it sparingly.
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- Rick Smith and Taser International are frauds. Their Technical Services Director Andrew Hinz has admitted to destroying two taser cameras that recorded an incident in which Palo Alto Police Officer Kelly Burger shot me in the face without warning. The Palo Alto police removed 20 to 30 seconds from the videos that recorded the incident to cover up how Ofc. Burger tortured me with electricity. Additionally, the tamper proof recording devices in the taser guns which document the duration of electrical discharge have been tampered with and Andrew Hinz has covered this up. Go to:
http://injusticesystem.weebly.com/taser-international.html for complete details. - Reply to this comment
- I usually side with the law, but the simple fact is that tasers can and do kill and shouldn't be used indiscriminately.
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- Did anyone notice the black woman being tased in TX after a traffic stop. All cops are nazis and should be tased in their teeny,tiny, microscopic sacs!
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- Am a bit sickened by your story on tasers...don't we just love our technology?...to a fault, i would say.
What about the technology that would have school children--not to mention adults--learn skills such as meditation and nonviolent communication, both of which teach the capacity to control one's anger in the first place and deal with conflict constructively. These practices should be institutionalized in our schools along with reading, writing and arithmetic. That's the kind of re-tooling I'd like to see. Please do a story on this! Meditation is already being taught to school children in Oakland, CA. Gandhi said it himself: "if we are to reach a real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children." - Reply to this comment
- To all nazi;s who thinks this weapon is a good idea, use it on your mother and if she enjoys it then use it on your tiny sacs. If it is still your weapon of choice then you are truly a nazi!
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- Below is an editorial of mine (The Nevada Observer Oct1, 2006.) There are items included which you may want to include in any follow up story.
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Tasers: Lethal, Dangerous A Look From The Other Side
Simply Put, Pigs Are Not Human
by Bob Bennett
Tasers are advertised as non-lethal alternatives to firearms for law enforcement and others. At least 103 people died between June 2001 and March 2005 after being stung by them. Numerous others have received serious injuries, including at least one police officer who went out on disability after having been jolted during a training session.
Taser's position has essentially been that all deaths and injuries would have happened anyway, and it was just coincidence that they happened at the same time, or shortly afterwards. While the legal (and increasingly political) strategy of stick your head in the sand, drive up the cost for your opposition and force them to kiss your behind has worked so far for Taser, it is a strategy used most successfully by governments and large corporations. Taser doesn't have deep enough pockets. A large enough judgment could result in bankruptcy and that would be a shame.
Their products are much less lethal than being shot, but they need to set standards on their use which takes into account the variety of medical conditions people have. Extrapolating results from testing products on young healthy pigs to humans in crisis is bound to have numerous shortcomings.
There are similarities and differences between the brains of pigs and humans. We both have brain stems controlling basic metabolic function, like heart rate and breathing. The brain stem is all primitive instinct and repetition, incapable of emotional complexity or anything resembling genuine thought. We each have a limbic system. This is the seat of emotion and memory. Incoming stimuli is colored with emotional valences associated with past events. Arguably the human limbic system is more complex than that of a pig. Pigs lack a neocortex. When we alter our immediate actions because of long term interests, when we communicate in complex sentences, or engage in abstract thought, we are using our neocortex. Due to traumatic brain injury, use of drugs, severe mental illness, or other conditions, the neocortex can at times shut down, or nearly so. This is when police officers find themselves in a position where use of force, lethal or otherwise must be considered. Often there isn't much time to make the decision.
Language and the relationships which one makes form not only the basics of human communication, but the root of psychological problems as well. It is remarkable how many problems human beings have that nonhumans can literally not imagine. In his book, Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life, Steven Hayes, a professor at UNR, delves into how our problem solving abilities can also lead us into traps that create suffering. Fortunately, he also shows us the way to get out of these traps... and how to avoid them in the future. Essentially it is a consolidation of practically everything I've learned about recovery from mental illness during the past twelve years. It may aid many from being in a position where they find themselves on the receiving end of a Taser, or other use of force.
Deaths associated with use of Tasers include excited delirium, brain damage due to lack of oxygen and/ or blood to the brain, and can be the result of a drug overdose or severe psychiatric illness and can cause metabolic changes that put the person at higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Positional Asphyxia, when a person's breathing is curtailed due to the position he is placed in. Metabolic Acidosis, when a person blood is more acidic than normal; and various types of heart attacks, Cardiac Arrhythmia, Ventricular Fibrillation, Cardiac Myocardia. Most of the people have died following repeated or prolonged shocks. Often it isn't the jolt which kills, but surrounding circumstance.
Taser needs to set reasonable guidelines for their use which takes into accountthe complexities humans exhibit. My suggestions are:
Person is presenting a danger to himself or others.
Maximum of two jolts, separated by at least 5 second intervals. Most deaths and severe injuries occur following multiple jolts.
Officers certified in their use first receive Crisis Intervention Training. During the past few years police departments in both Las Vegas and Washoe County have made CIT available. At least one officer from both Douglas and White Pine Counties has taken part.
That a person Tasered not be placed in prone restraint or have his breathing otherwise restricted.
That they not be used on pregnant women. At least one fetus has died when the mother was jolted in the back after walking away from an officer.
That they not be used on children. - Reply to this comment
