Lords of Death Forums Lords of Death Forums LoD General Discussion TASERS

Rash,
In some cases misused I would agree, but you could say the same thing about mace. Saying that officers "often" misuse tasers is a blanket statement.
Unconstitutional - how?
I wish they had more deterrent's for assholes, but had a better system for acknowledging injustice when it happens. The overburdened court system doesn't seem to be working.
It is just not reasonable for a department to have access to translators of every language.

Ill give you this for departments that are not expected to cater to the international community, but this particular incident happened at YVR. Vancouver International Airport.

Very ignorant.
That's a cute list, but you don't know what you are talking about.
It could EASILY be debated that a number of the things on that list are just as unsafe as the taser.
Additioanlly, the taser is (without debate) more safer for the officer than ANY of those options, except verbal. If an officer says "step out of the vehicle", and you do anything but what was asked, you are an idiot. You can argue fourth amendment rights until you are blue in the face, but that will just get you tased. There is a time and a place for everything, and the side of the road is not the place for litigation.
-G
P.S. - If you KNEW what you were talking about, you would know you cannot tase someone after pepper spraying them (as Taser Int. specifies in their training). So unless you SKIP pepper spray (oh no!), you cannot put taser after it.

even though i can outdrink him like no tomorrow

nvestigation continues into Taser death of Ont. man
Becky Rynor and Al Sweeney, Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit on Tuesday identified Jeffrey Mark Marreel as the man who died Monday after he was shocked by a police using a Taser.
Ontario Provincial Police said the 36-year-old, of no fixed address, was being combative and was disturbing others during an incident Monday morning at the beach hamlet of Turkey Point, on Lake Erie, about 130 kilometres southwest of Toronto.
"During the encounter, police deployed a conducted-energy weapon," police said in a statement.
A passing motorist called police from Krista VanPaemel's house after seeing Marreel looking strung out and threatening cars.
"He described it as holding a three-foot metal plate, ah, like a piece of a staircase over his head and acting like he was going to throw it at the cars or lunging at the cars with it," she said.
Residents say Marreel then tore apart a telephone box, cut himself, and walked down the road waving a piece of metal. He was chased by an OPP cruiser, left behind blood on a garbage container, and then was shocked by a Taser at a nearby intersection.
Police say he collapsed in jail in Simcoe, Ont., after being transferred there following the Taser incident. He later died in hospital.
Officers said they administered first aid until the ambulance arrived, and the man was then rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
On Tuesday, Margaret Marreel of Delhi, Ont., said she is dealing with a shock and grief that no mother should face.
"I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it," Marreel said.
She called for a ban on police carrying Tasers.
"If they go with three or four cops you mean to tell me they can't deal with one man and put him in a cruiser?" she questioned.
Other media reports said the man's father, Noel Marreel, said his son was depressed after losing his job at a flower shop two weeks prior to the incident and had a history of drug use. He also said his son recently had broken up with his girlfriend.
An autopsy performed Tuesday was found to be inconclusive and further forensic tests have been ordered to assist in determining the cause of death.
"The circumstances and sequence of events are all a focus of the SIU investigation," said SIU spokesman John Yoannou. "Of course, the investigation includes police methods, in this case the Taser."
The SIU unit is an independent agency that investigates incidents involving police in which people are hurt or killed.
Since 2003, there have been 20 Taser-related deaths reported in Canada. More than 300 people across North America have died.
The RCMP's watchdog released a report last week, saying he wants stricter guidelines on the use of Tasers but did not recommend an outright ban or a moratorium on the weapon.
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Inconclusive... and I couldn't find a more recent article (I welcome you to try). That's not remotely black and white there, Stretch. Also, the man's behavior was stupid crazy and probably warranted the tase anyway... try again?

All due respect, I have NO IDEA what that means....?

a police officer will never employ unnecessary force or violence and will use only such force in the discharge of duty as is reasonable in all circumstances,
The use of force should be used only with the greatest restraint and only after discussion.negotiation and persuasion have been found to be inappropriate or ineffective. while the use of force is occasionally unavoidable, every police officer will refrain from unnecessary infliction of pain or suffering and will never engage in cruel, degrading or inhumane treatment of any person.
I don't know I'm arguing about this with you, Like I said previously you defend a police state s no matter what. The Police are always right after all and have never done things like, forced confessions, police brutatallity, planted evidence, wrongful arrest, illegal search and seisure... ect. ect. As long as they get the "Bad Guys" right?
If you think cops can be trusted to do anything but fufill their own personal agenda then you are ignorant.

better taser than nightstick.

I don't have any lower standards as far as when it is reasonable to kill than the next guy. However, the Taser is not a lethal weapon, much like the baton. The officer could have taken his baton out and swung it at the suspects arm. The suspect then might have lifted his arm, causing the baton to be deflected and strike the suspect in the head... killing the suspect.
The baton is not a lethal weapon when not used as such, but death can still occur. The officers in all these cases did not MEAN to kill the bad guy - if they did they would have shot him/her. Also, if one in every ten, or even one hundred, or even one thousand people were dying because of taser RELATED issues, you might have a point. But really, it's more like one in every ten thousand, and even then it's not a decent sample of the population - it's a sample of the criminal element. Millions of people have come in contact with police officers who had tasers and walked away un-tased. Each one of them could have done something to get themselves tased, but each one of them either realized they had broken the law, or decided they would take their issue where it belongs - the court room.
-G

Part of an officers training to carry a taser is to be tased. How many officers die yearly to their training?
According to the IACP there are 663,535 officers in the United States. What percentage of officers carry tasers, and how many have died in training?
I could not find a single incident where an officer died in training. That sample alone is far less than 1%.
IACP