Tasers aren't toys

Post Reply New Topic

Tasers save lives when they're used in situations where you would have used a gun. They aren't some catch-all weapon for subduing people who look at you the wrong way or as a tool for venting out your pent up frustration.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUESdaAYfIk[/youtube]

As a weapons guy, I love the ingeniousness of the Taser and its potential as a less lethal weapon; as a civil liberties guy, I'm horrified at how the police (mis)use them. They really do need to treat using one as seriously as they treat shooting incidents, otherwise the abuses will continue.

A taser is a hand held cattle prod.

Electrical capacitors can be nasty and even deadly.

ruveyn

people have DIED at the hands of taser-wielding flatfoots with attitudes.

Though I support tasers in principle that they are non-lethal, I have little doubt it would kill me in short order if I was ever tased. So I would almost prefer to get shot in a non-vital area since it probably won't stop my heart

The whole story doesn't make any sense. Someone is probably lying or omitting something big.

I appears to be case of excessive force.
I only watched the first 45 seconds or so of it since I knew from experience that the Young Turds would have made me side with the cops no matter what. Mini-rant over.
Yes, some cops do go a bit heavy on the taser. I'd rather they just went back to using the PR-24 or Asp instead and saved the tasers for prisons.
There's just something dehumanizing about tasers and coming from me that's saying a lot.

We live in a police state

The old adage, "less-than-lethal" doesn't equate to "non-lethal", applies.

I like them for police (in addition to sidearm and trunk gun). You have a weapon that can potentially defuse situations that before would require a .40 Cal round through the torso (which seems to be more often than not, fatal; which is the opposite for electric stun weapons). Such as the mentally ill wielding a knife (they'd always catch .40 Cal rounds previously), psychically aggressive individuals that the police can't control (contrary to popular belief, a large man is hard to subdue if it's just two police), and other assorted perturbed individuals.

I always used to laugh at the idea of tasers and how they were used. It wasn't until a local deputy had one pointed at me ready to fire for me to have respect for them.

teach cops how to subdue suspects using martial arts deflection techniques, and use the taser only when that fails. there is no real reason a taser should be wielded against a disabled somebody in a wheelchair.

From what I have noticed, at least with the cops in my area, is that you only see younger cops carrying Tasers. Most of the older cops prefer a baton.