AP: 3 men die after police Taser blasts

[question everything]

3 men die after police Taser blasts

ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 7, 2005

FREMONT – At least three California men have died during the past week after they were shot by police with Taser stun guns, prompting calls for restrictions on the popular law-enforcement tool.

Dwayne Zachary, a 44-year-old Sacramento County man, died after he was shot several times with a stun gun during a fight with sheriff's deputies late Thursday night, authorities said.

Eric Mahoney, 33, of Alameda died in Fremont on Wednesday night, five days after he was shot numerous times with a Taser as he attempted to climb a wall to escape police.

Brian Patrick O'Neil, 33, of San Jose died Monday after police used a Taser on him during a confrontation. Similar incidents have been reported in Santa Rosa, Pacifica, Vallejo and Salinas over the past year.

More..


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050807/news_1n7taser.html

[merh]

1. Let's see the pro-tasers folks come in and explain this away.

:popcorn:

[AX10]

7. They will stay away.

I have no respect for them. Tasers can kill, that is a fact!

[merh]

8. I am old enough to remember that the improper use of guns

caused similar debates. Before lawsuits and legal battles, before departments recognized that they had to restrict the use of firearms, the police and the pro-law enforcement folks would argue that firing a weapon in the air or at the perpetrator was better than the perpetrator hurting the innocent or getting away.

Cops used to just shot at folks or shot in the perpetrators direction if he/she was fleeing or shot in the air to frighten the bad guys. I mean, after all, they were cops and they were trying to enforce the laws and protect the citizens. It was silly to think that they should be restricted in their use of the weapons, they were the good guys.

The debate is not new, just a new lethal weapon to control or ban.

[AX10]

9. Is this sarcastic....

"Cops used to just shot at folks or shot in the perpetrators direction if he/she was fleeing or shot in the air to frighten the bad guys. I mean, after all, they were cops and they were trying to enforce the laws and protect the citizens. It was silly to think that they should be restricted in their use of the weapons, they were the good guys."

[merh]

11. Is what sarcastic?

The fact that cops used to just shot their weapons without stringent controls or review by shooting boards or the thinking that justified the actions?

[AX10]

17. It was my misunderstanding. Please ignore that post.

Thanks, Merh!

:)

[etherealtruth]

2. So, gee duh, tasers ARE lethal weapons ...

Haven't there several police departments (in the news) publicly questioning their use?

OR

Am I once again delusional ... seeing things as I'd like them to be vs. reality?

[whistle]

3. These weapons are being manufactured in Florida, correct....

...I ask only because there seems to be no controls or regulations as to how these weapons are to be used and at what level of power generated. Victim's families need to take a class action law suit against the manufacturer as well as the police departments who are abusing the use of these weapons.

[cosmicdot]

4. Taser International is located in Scottsdale, AZ

"TASER International, Inc. develops, assembles and markets non-lethal, conducted energy weapons. TASER International's corporate headquarters with its manufacturing facility is located in Scottsdale, Arizona."

http://www.taser.com/flash.htm

Is there only one company?

How many municipalities nationwide issued purchase orders for them?

Was Homeland Security money spent on them?

Bernie Kerik and others must be laughing all the way to the bank.

[BiggJawn]

5. Bernie Sez: "Buy my Product?"

"Yeah, Babay! Cha-CHINGGGGG!"

[merh]

10. Homeland security grants are provided to law enforcement

to purchase weapons and equipment such as tasers and HAZMAT uniforms and crowd control devices.

Federal grants don't go to helping the departments with their manpower concerns any longer. Bushco did away with the community policing grants and replaced them with the homeland security grants. Their corporate buddies get rich, the officers are inundated with propoganda about "terrorists" and the kool aid flows.

[shanti]

6. sounds like nor cal's

"finest" have been given the go-ahead to taser....:grr:

[Gregorian]

12. Is it time to shut down the company that makes them, or what?

AND hold them responsible for murder?
This is absolutely blatantly crazy.

[AX10]

19. Send in the FBI with their real guns (glocks) aimed.

Shut down the company by force if needed. LBJ used the FBI to deal with the scumbag bigots in the 60's south and we should use the FBI now to deal with TaserInt who lied about the safety of this weapon.

[Voltaire99]

13. Maybe a sane society could use Tasers properly.

Frankly, I doubt it.

Of this much, though, I'm sure.

Handing this weapon to US cops--for two decades the infantry in the catastrophically unsuccessful "war on drugs" that only feeds crime and violence--is a farcical mistake.

Take the things away before more people die.

[slaveplanet]

14. kick

[Ms. Clio]

15. Even the MANUFACTURER is now warning about multiple taser shots

Taser manufacturer warns of safety risks
Houston Police Department forms a committee to look into the stun guns' use locally
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
St. Petersburg Times

TAMPA, FLA. - Taser International, maker of the controversial stun guns used by thousands of law enforcement agencies, including Houston's, has issued a training bulletin warning that repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration."

For subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks," says a recent posting on Taser International's Web site.

The three-page bulletin appears to counter instructions in a training manual Taser International issued last year.

It also departs from the manufacturer's previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1681245&mesg_id=1681245

[MGKrebs]

16. I'm not pro-Taser, but maybe I don't understand.

What is the controversy? That they advertise it as being "non-lethal"? Nightsticks are non-lethal too unless your head gets cracked open. Even a fist can be lethal. So what is the alternative? Would we rather that they shoot bullets, which I assume have a much higher lethality? That one guy was FIGHTING A COP, and it sounds like another cop shot him with the taser. Are we saying we would rather they just duke it out?

Is the battle to change their advertising? Take them off the market? If so, why? Provide better training?

[AX10]

18. Tasers are a weapon and should be used properly.

TaserInt lied when they said that there are no side effects to being 'tased'. That is false.

[sendero]

20. The problem is..

... that everyone is aware that a poorly placed nightstick stroke can kill. Everyone is aware that bullets can kill. Everyone is aware that a choke-hold can kill.

But cops have been sold that the taser is a "magic bullet" that incapacitates but doesn't kill.

That is simply wrong, as we now see.

[bribri16]

21. It's time outlaw Tasers. Police too loose with using them

They might not use guns as readily.

[okieinpain]

22. they are too loose with them. I would prefer to get beaten to death

at least that way the cops arm would hurt too.