In 2008 in Charlotte NC a police officer used a Taser on a teenage boy and shortly thereafter the young man died. I'm not sure of the details of the incident, this is just for background. On Wednesday a jury awarded the mans family $10 million in damages from Taser International. Later that night police were dispatched to a light rail station where a man was beating a woman. When confronted by an officer he continued beating the woman and got tased. He died an hour later. The police force has stopped using tasers temporarily while the ones they have are tested to make sure they work correctly and police policies are being reevaluated. The man had been arrested twice since June of similar crimes.
Tasers are considered nonlethal force and for the most part they are, I believe I heard that 700 people a day are tased in the US and a death is a rare occurrence. I'm a fairly law and order person and believe that if you do something to put yourself on the wrong end of a police officers weapon and you continue doing it until they have to stop you you sort of get whats coming to you. On the other hand, I've seen and heard plenty of stories about rogue cops and officers who abuse their authority. I've heard of a lot of incidents where tasers have been abused or used inappropriately.
It makes me wonder, are the benefits of having a supposedly nonlethal means of subduing someone worth the risks ? It seems like they do save lives overall for combative subjects. It does give officers a level of force that is short intentionally lethal but does carry some risks, I promise a .40 Smith & Wesson is a lot more lethal a lot more of the time. So, what do you think, are the risks acceptable ? Does the risk of getting tased and possibly dying come with the territory when you put yourself in the way of law enforcement ? Is the possibility of rogue cops and unlawful use enough to keep tasers out of cops hands for good ?
Tasers are considered nonlethal force and for the most part they are, I believe I heard that 700 people a day are tased in the US and a death is a rare occurrence. I'm a fairly law and order person and believe that if you do something to put yourself on the wrong end of a police officers weapon and you continue doing it until they have to stop you you sort of get whats coming to you. On the other hand, I've seen and heard plenty of stories about rogue cops and officers who abuse their authority. I've heard of a lot of incidents where tasers have been abused or used inappropriately.
It makes me wonder, are the benefits of having a supposedly nonlethal means of subduing someone worth the risks ? It seems like they do save lives overall for combative subjects. It does give officers a level of force that is short intentionally lethal but does carry some risks, I promise a .40 Smith & Wesson is a lot more lethal a lot more of the time. So, what do you think, are the risks acceptable ? Does the risk of getting tased and possibly dying come with the territory when you put yourself in the way of law enforcement ? Is the possibility of rogue cops and unlawful use enough to keep tasers out of cops hands for good ?
