Taser Deaths Are Rising - Can We Defend Ourselves From Abuse?

TASERS INCREASE DANGER TO PUBLIC, NOT DECREASE IT

Despite police claims that tasers reduce injuries and save lives by providing officers with an alternative to using their firearms or batons, independent studies conclude that tasers are mostly used in situations where police use of lethal force – or even batons, sprays, or hand controls – would never be justified. This means that tasers actually increase the amount of danger to the public, not decrease it. (Emphasis aded) Electro-shock weapons are particularly open to abuse as they can inflict severe pain at the push of a button without leaving substantial marks. Police often subject targets to multiple taser shocks, even while in restraints and often use them against people posing no physical threat, such as against non-violent protesters or simply anyone they perceive to not be heeding a verbal command. Other studies have shown that suspect deaths by gun, or suspect and police injuries have not decreased. (Emphasis added)

EVEN POLICE ARE SUING TASER

Taser International is being sued by police officers across the nation claiming they were seriously injured after being shocked with the electronic stun gun during training classes. Injuries listed included “painful, permanent and progressive” hearing and vision loss and neurological damage, multiple spinal fractures, burns, a shoulder dislocation and soft-tissue injuries. Many lawsuits, including a few class action suits, have been filed from victims and victim’s families for wrongful tasering or death, although Taser, Int. has managed to get many thrown out via legal loopholes. Much More - A Great Site!

When people are claiming that the United States is rapidly becoming a “Police State”, the Taser is adding to that perception; I’m fifty-seven years old, and I can’t remember a time when the public was as afraid or suspicious of the police whom are hired “To Protect and Serve.” Depending on where you live, some police forces appear to be “militarizing” themselves, and when you are pulled over for a speeding ticket or other minor infraction, it’s disquieting looking in your rear-view mirror and noting that the officer who is getting out of his car is wearing combat boots, is dressed in what appears to be military fatigues, and hair that’s cut so short they almost appear to be skinheads. (I’m fortunate. I live in a county in Northern Georgia where most of the Sheriff’s officers still look like police, not Nazi Storm Troopers - and I haven’t heard of any Taser abuse.)

Even in Chicago, in a city known for it’s violence, there are studies underway that are also disputing the safety of the Taser. When the police themselves are starting to sue Taser International, that should be a nationwide wake-up call that Tasers need to go - into a trash can!

Chicago Study Calls Taser’s Safety Claims Into Question

January 30, 2008 by CBC News

Taser stun guns may not be as safe as their manufacturer claims, according to a study carried out by Chicago researchers, CBC News has learned.

The team of doctors and scientists at the trauma centre in Chicago’s Cook County hospital stunned 11 pigs with Taser guns in 2006, hitting their chests with 40-second jolts of electricity, pausing for 10 to 15 seconds, then hitting them for 40 more seconds.

When the jolts ended, every animal was left with heart rhythm problems, the researchers said. Two of the animals died from cardiac arrest, one three minutes after receiving a shock. (Emphasis added) MUCH MORE

Even USA Amnesty International is getting involved in the controversy in regard Tasers, and below are excerpts from a document that was filed in October, 2007:

USA
Amnesty International’s concerns about Taser®(1) use: Statement to the U.S. Justice Department inquiry into deaths in custody

However, we have serious concerns about the use of electro-shock devices in law enforcement, both as regards their safety and their potential for misuse. Portable and easy to use, with the capacity to inflict severe pain at the push of a button without leaving substantial marks, electro-shock weapons are particularly open to abuse, as our organization has documented in numerous cases around the world.

While in the United States police operate under professional standards,(8) we are concerned that many U.S. police departments are using Tasers to subdue non-compliant or disturbed individuals who do not pose a serious danger to themselves or others. As our reports have documented, there are many cases where we believe use of Tasers has contravened international standards which require that police use force only when strictly necessary, in proportion to the threat posed, only for as long as the threat exists and in a manner designed to minimize pain or injury. We have documented disturbing instances where we believe that Taser use has amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment which is absolutely prohibited under international law. (Emphasis added)The U.N. Committee against Torture has called on the United States to deploy Tasers only as a non-lethal alternative to using firearms.

We are particularly concerned about the capacity of Tasers to be used in close contact situations as a stun weapon – including in situations where individuals appear to be already effectively in custody – and to inflict repeated shocks over a relatively prolonged period. While we believe the drive-stun mode is especially open to abuse, we note that in dart-mode also there have been instances of alleged abuse, with officers able to inflict repeated shocks once the darts have taken hold. MUCH MORE

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