Are Tasers Really Safer than Guns?

(CBS)  It was all caputured on video. Peter McFarland sat down after a deputy ordered him to do so while pointing a taser at McFarland's chest. The 64-year-old had fallen at his home but refused to be taken to the hospital because he didn't have insurance, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

The deputy told McFarland they could take him to the hospital by ambulance, but McFarland refused because he couldn't afford it.

Despite his wife's objections, deputies kept the taser trained on him and ordered him to get in an ambulance:

Deputy: We can take you by ambulance, we told you that.

McFarland: I can't afford it.

McFarland's Wife: He has a heart problem.

Deputy: Put your hands behind your back.

McFarland: F*ck you.

Deputy tases McFarland.

Deputy: Stop resisting, stop resisting…or I'll give it to you again.

The deputy shocks McFarland several times while continuing to tell him to stop resisting.

This is the latest incident to raise controversy over the use of tasers, which police departments claim can reduce injuries and fatalities. But a study of major U.S. cities, found deaths in-custody actually rise sharply - nearly six times - during the first year a department uses tasers. Dr. Byron Lee of the University of California at San Francisco led the study.

After the first year in-custody deaths returned to the same level as before tasers were introduced. Tasers are now used by more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies.

By 2008, a study by Amnesty International showed in at least 35 states there were deaths after tasers were in use. 55 in California and 52 in Florida.

Experts say the risk of deaths increases when a person is shocked with a taser more than once Peter McFarland was hit four times.

"What I saw in (the McFarland video of the tasering) was a non-life threatening situation turned into a life threatening one," said Dr. Lee.

"All of a sudden they just showed up," said McFarland. "And they came in her like there was a fire going on, or some gunfight was going on."

McFarland is now suing the Marin County California Sheriff's Department, which says its deputies were following the law and department policy.

[protectyourselfnow]

The deputy was definitely out of control judging by this article. On the other spectrum, Taser guns and other stun devices are a very good source of protection. Due to their nature of being a non-lethal weapon the police are using them in situations where it's not warranted. I believe instead of getting somewhat physical with a person they are just pulling out the Taser and using it unnecessarily in certain situations such as this one. It's easier than using physical force!
personalprotectionandmore.com

[protectyourselfnow]

It does seem apparent that some of the police departments are over using the Taser Gun. The police officers need to use their heads and think before they shoot! In this case I don't think it was warranted to use it on a 60 year old. I'm sure that 2/3 officers could have handled the situation without a Taser. I do firmly believe in their use and believe that the police should be using them when needed. You can purchase self defense weapons by going to <a href=http://personalprotectionandmore.com/TASER-X26C-c10/>Self Defense Weapons</a>

[tankmansquare]

A man's home is supposed to be his castle. The right of any citizen to guard and protect his home is tantamount in any free society. NO ONE has a right to come into your home and force you to do ANYTHING! I guarantee you this, that had they tried to use force, I would have used like force against them in my own home. Americans objected to the British barging into and occupying their homes, why shouldn't they object to black uniformed Gestapo doing the same? Just because we break down doors in Iraq, shoot and threaten Iraqi citizens, doesn't mean we should do the same thing here! Perhaps they want to turn the whole world into a war zone.

[Mikel-P]

Many Americans invited the British into their homes, expecting to be rewarded with superior teas - in fact, that's why the people of Boston (Who are the biggest bank robbers in America!), threw their own tea into the docks - because it was total rubbish. Though I don't drink tea personally - I only feed it to my horse, Magnifico.

[ksmit2]

No problem. Just tell them to use guns instead if you think that's best.
The guy that didn't want to go to the hospital is a case of police policy
abuse. Most of the time this would never happen in this situation.

[consciousnes]

You wonder why cops tend to be more leathel today? listen to the attitude of the comments that have been posted. Most of them are negitive and anti-authoritiy driven. People today have no respect for anyone in authority and that includes their parents. Kids today and I am talking about kids up through their 30s have a attitude that "I am going to do it MY way" PERIOD. And NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME.

[Mikel-P]

This guy was 68 years old with a heart condition. The cop doing the electrocuting, in the old man's own home, looked a lot younger and fitter. I suppose it's the young cop that you're talking about, as the one with a lack of respect for his elders, and an attitude problem, huh?

[ToolMangler1]

Any deputy that tasers a 60+ year old person without trying handcuffing first should be fired. He is not suitable to exert authority over anyone. Tasers should only be used in place of a gun. What ever happened to "come-alongs" and other devises. I saw a 145 lb woman Cop put a 300 lb drunk on his face and cuff him with nothing but a 'Come-along'. (She never hit him with anything.) A PCP user is one that should be tasered if he doesn't obey.. (some do, some don't)

[tankmansquare]

Your apologetic rant for police action does not hold water. If you think the police always act within the law, you are mistaken. Whether it?s planting a "ham sandwich" (unregistered firearm) in New Orleans, shooting a man 80 times as he fumbles for his keys to get into his apartment in New York, or shooting through a window at a man at a costume party because he is holding what appears to be a gun (toy) in Los Angeles, or shooting a woman as she awakens in her car simply because she has a gun near her side in Riverside, all indicate that the police were not concerned with protecting the citizen's rights to due process or probable cause, but simply a knee jerk their reaction to kill.
One wonders if even their lives were ever in danger. Whatever happened to taking up a defensive position behind something and using loud speakers? When a man went on a rampage in a tank in San Diego, they simply opened up the tank and shot him instead of using tear gas. Or when an Asian man was blocked in by police in a parking lot, with no where for him to go, the cop deliberately position himself between the front of the car and the building to give himself the excuse to shoot the suspect if the car inched forward (it did, and the man was killed). A policeman recently shot a black man in the back, even though he was face down and handcuffed. Old ladies have been tasered getting out of their cars. If a policeman thinks he has to use a taser on old people to get them to do whatever they want, then they are indeed cowards! Police departments in Philadelphia and elsewhere have used deadly force excessively when it was never called for. Police in New Orleans shot unarmed civilians in the back on the Danziger Bridge after Katrina. Police rioted in 1968 and attacked people who were exercising their right to assembly for redress of grievance. They continue to do this at protest rallies in Seattle and the Democrat and Republican conventions.

[watchdogtexas]

I cannot believe the stupidity of the comments. This story should have never been printed. John Blackstone is one of the worst reporters I have ever read. Just a liberal activist going after the police and the hype of the story. He does not tell why the police were there, they just picked this house out of thin air. The police report would state the call and is public record but he left it out for a reason. Many medical calls police respond with the ambulance to give assistance and for the medical crews safety. If they had their tazers out it sounds like he was being belligerent from the beginning. When are people going to learn, we give the police the authority to perform their jobs. Right or wrong when the police ask you to do something you follow it. They do what they feel is necessary at the time to protect themselves from harm. It does not help to argue with them because they will always win at the time. Then you bring your complaints after the situation is over.

Maybe it would have been better for the police just shoot him in the leg, and then he could have gone to the hospital on the tax payers dime?

Wake up and smell the coffee!

[Mikel-P]

You're so right brother! They should have shot this belligerent old dummy in the leg, and taught him a lesson about the law, and the courageous young men in uniform, who risk their lives day in and day out trying to get grouchy old guys into ambulances.
This old man had a heart condition, so the policeman risked his own life by tasering him even - he might have had a pacemaker that could have blown up like a mother****ing IED!... Or had a thrombo and jumped about 6 foot up in the air when the 50,000 volts hit him, landing on the brave young officer, or an innocent burglar in the house who was just robbing the old fool.
It would have been much safer for the brave officer to shoot him in the leg, and then take him down to the precinct, where they could give him a good tasering in a more controlled and safe environment. Serve & Protect brother!...At all times! But especially protect the police.

[mecanik-2009]

Tasers should be treated the same as a firearm. The same rules should apply. Only to be used in self defense or to stop a serious crime against another person. This cop should be charged with murder.

[consciousnes]

Oh, I see you would just as soon be shot in the chest as tasered in the chest.

[Mikel-P]

I think murder might be a bit strong, seeing as the old fella's still alive and talking to the reporter. But I see what you mean - why mess around? This is America after all! LIke when they executed that retard woman in Virginia the other day. They used lethal injection. Now if we really wanted to get efficient, we could equip all our police officers with much more powerful tasers, and then when they feel the need to use them, as in the case of this grouchy old man, they could just fry the sucker where he stands, and do away with the cost and delay of court trials, death row, expensive lethal chemicals etc, and speed the whole process of American Justice right up!... It would be just like you'd wired the old fool into Old Sparky - but right there in the comfort of his own home! If you make the tasers powerful enough (Where's Halliburton & Blackwater when you need "em?), you could even charge the old man's widow for a cremation!

[us_1776]

Tasers are completely unpredictable.

You could taser someone and how any number of different outcomes from no effect, to incapicitation, to death.

With a gun you have a more predictable outcome depending upon where you aim. With a taser there is no 'aiming'. No matter where you tazer someone you could kill them.




.

[Mikel-P]

I think we should ask all the CBS viewers, "If a policeman bursts into your home to taser you when you won't get in the ambulance, as is his right and duty, where about your person would you least like to be tasered?"

Then, once we know the answers from a couple of million citizens, we could introduce federal police tazering protocols that make sure we all get tasered in the right place once the police have burst into our homes.
Personally speaking, as a man, I think I'd prefer not to be tasered in the testicular region,,, especially in the left one.

Or maybe right in the eyeball?

[protectyourselfnow]

I do believe that the Taser is a good source of weaponry compared to guns, however in my opinion the problem stems from not knowing the condition of the person who is being tasered. The milliamps in the Taser are not enough to kill someone. Voltage is not
a factor here either, it's the milliamps of the gun that matters as with stun devices also. It takes 1 Amp to kill someone where as a Taser gun only has 2.1 to 3.6 milliamps, stun guns range between 5 to 8 milliamps! Not enough to kill but definitely enough to incapacitate someone for sure! <a href=http://personalprotectionandmore.com/</a>