Taser use no alternative to intelligent police work

[struggle4progress]

All we are doing when we arm police officers with Tasers is giving them a brand-new weapon with which to shoot people they are not shooting now. Like a lot of people who don't like the idea of police officers blowing away citizens, I thought the use of non-lethal Taser stun guns sounded like a good idea. That is, until I saw one demonstrated. <snip>

When you actually see a demonstration, you immediately recognize the attraction for police. And it's not because Tasers are a non-lethal alternative.

It's because the effect is pretty spectacular. The gun shoots out two dart-like probes that attach to the human target. Then, another pull of the trigger sends 50,000 volts of electricity coursing between the two probes. The victim (there's nothing else to call him) lights up like a Christmas tree. <snip>

In practice, Tasers are simply a grisly new tool to be used against citizens. It may not be surprising that a large number of cases in which Tasers have been used seem to involve those folks police officers don't seem to like very much - teenagers, African Americans, Latinos, you know the ones. <snip>

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=36278&ntpid=1

[Warpy]

1. Instead of stepping back for a second and listening to an excited

person in crisis, hearing him out and then addressing the situation, the cops are just using the tasers to shut him up. This is tragic and a misuse of police power against citizens. It's got to stop.

The way to make it stop is to classify the taser as any other police weapon, and require the same sort of internal investigation any time one is fired. There's nothing like the prospect of interviews and masses of paperwork to make a trigger happy cop think twice about zapping people who may be in crisis, but who are no threat to the cop or anyone else.

[struggle4progress]

2. Yes. And clear regulations must govern use of force. eom

[Solon]

3. I believe the problem is with classification...

Tasers are considered "less than lethal" though it has been demonstrated otherwise. They should be classified by the police as "lethal" just like guns. Unlike what you see on TV and the movies, police departments and state laws have STRICT guidelines has to what is acceptable force that is to be used against a suspect or civilian. Suspect goes after you with fists, you MAY NOT fire a gun at him, using your nightstick at best, of course, this is a judgment call of the officer, however, in the case of a firearm discharge and/or killing of suspect, they are usually given paid leave while the incident is investigated by Internal Affairs. The same reviews and safeguards should be in place with tasers as well, not even a rewrite of the rules needs to be in place, simply classify them as lethal, regardless of what Taser International Inc. says in its press releases.