Thread: Taser Controversy

while still dangerours yes but these tools are considered LESS THAN LETHAL NOT NON LETHAL because a taser shot to the chest has much lower probability to kill someone than a .45 round in the chest

The report is in, but criminal charges have been left to the Province.

CBC News - British Columbia - RCMP wrong to use Taser on Dziekanski: report

Justice may follow.

Originally Posted by xman

criminal charges have been left to the Province.
Justice may follow.

Not likely, especially if you are police or a politician in this country. What's the standard line? ''All charges have been dropped as there is not a likely chance of conviction''....... That was the excuse given when Rahim Jaffer was caught with blow on his person!

The officers will just get desk duty or worse yet, suspended WITH pay, which I've never understood.

i support the use of tasers 100%. as it has already be stated they are LESS lethal not NON lethal, meaning they can possible kill if not use properly. the same goes for rubber bullets or salt guns.

the big problem is that people would give police a hard time about using their guns when they needed to and claim that everytime they had to use them it was "unjust" now they give them these less than lethal weapons and the people are still saying it is to much. I believe that next they will issue a bag of marshmallows to every officer and say "here these are for your personal defense". i BELIEVE that yes in all US states to be certified to carry a taser you must first be tased yourself and get it done once a year to stay "current". same thing goes for mace (not pepper spray but MACE). i know of plenty of people who have been tased in the chest with no problem at all, well except for the fact that they were tased.

and the people who say "the taser was an excessive force" i dont really know how bad something would have to be for it to be considered acceptable to use the taser, but i can assure you that when a cop goes to use his taser the first thing that crosses his mind isnt so much "is this excessive?" its more like "oh @$#% i feel threatened" and in that situation i would rather neutralize the threat than have it neutralize me. it used to be that they could deadly force if they felt threatened at all, now even if they feel their LIFE is being threatened they are still expected to use a taser (not sure if i agree with that)

now im not saying these weapons never get abused, but the officer who is likely to abuse them would most likely be the same one who would abuse his firearm. it is a chance you take when you give a weapon to anybody, these officers are "supposed" to have good enough judgment to use their equipment properly and i may be a sucker but i do believe that most of them do.

im sorry this is more than i planned to write, but to wrap it up i believe that tasers are an acceptable tool when used properly and not abused.

-dan-

Originally Posted by sinnfein

and the people who say "the taser was an excessive force" i dont really know how bad something would have to be for it to be considered acceptable to use the taser, but i can assure you that when a cop goes to use his taser the first thing that crosses his mind isnt so much "is this excessive?" its more like "oh @$#% i feel threatened" and in that situation i would rather neutralize the threat than have it neutralize me. it used to be that they could deadly force if they felt threatened at all, now even if they feel their LIFE is being threatened they are still expected to use a taser (not sure if i agree with that)

now im not saying these weapons never get abused, but the officer who is likely to abuse them would most likely be the same one who would abuse his firearm. it is a chance you take when you give a weapon to anybody, these officers are "supposed" to have good enough judgment to use their equipment properly and i may be a sucker but i do believe that most of them do.

im sorry this is more than i planned to write, but to wrap it up i believe that tasers are an acceptable tool when used properly and not abused.

-dan-

There have been too many reports of tasers being used on elementary school children. I don't believe any officer should feel physically threatened by an 8 year old child. Barring extremely unusual circumstances, I cannot imagine any justification for tasing a small child.

Originally Posted by sinnfein

these officers are "supposed" to have good enough judgment to use their equipment properly and i may be a sucker but i do believe that most of them do.

Don't tase me, bro!

Besides Police Officers are highly trained to be able to handle any situation. If the are faced with a threat say a baseball bat or knife, hey, they should be able to use their secret tactics to handle it. The sidearm is for display only. Right?

Originally Posted by Utopian

There have been too many reports of tasers being used on elementary school children. I don't believe any officer should feel physically threatened by an 8 year old child. Barring extremely unusual circumstances, I cannot imagine any justification for tasing a small child.

i fully agree that this is a misuse of any type of weapon, i did say there are officers out there that will misuse them.

as for unusual circumstances there have also been 8 year old kids with guns, now should you blast a taser at an 8 year old kid pointing a gun at another kid? i dont think i would be able to answer that unless i was put in that kind of situation (which hopefully will never happen). but i do believe that if it came down to it tasing that kid with a gun would be alot better than him shooting someone, or even himself by accident

-dan-

Another hint of justice.
CBC News - British Columbia - Crown may reconsider charges in Dziekanski case

Greetings from quiet little New Zealand. This may all seem a bit strange to you folk from the US of A. Our Police are not routinely armed (though this is slowly changing and more weapons are available in vehicles). Private citizens can not carry handguns and I am fairly certain that it's difficult to even own one without a collectors licence. Tasers have recently finished being trialled by Law Enforcement and are slowly being rolled out across the country.

I work as a Paramedic and have not yet had to treat anyone who has been tasered. When the recent trails were conducted and Police officers were being tased to show their effectiveness, colleagues of mine were present and a couple even had a "go" with taped electrodes. They assure me it's very unpleasant but better than a bullet - or even a Police dog for that matter. I've certainly cleaned a few dog bites!

Electricity has the potential to cause abnormal cardiac rhythms but this would be the exception rather than the rule. The concept behind defibrillation is not that the heart is restarted by the current - you can't shock a flat-line. Instead, the shock over-rides the abnormal electrical impulses and gives the normal pacemaker site of the heart a chance to take control of the now resting heart muscle.

As many have stated there will always be people (in or out of law enforcement) who will use force inappropriately. I would have to agree that inappropriate tasering is least likely to cause ongoing problems to the tasee.