Taser Revisited

[Papa9571]

During the last thread on this subject there was an incident where an inmate died due to use of a taser. The individual was tased 5 times during arrest and another 4 times while in a cell in jail. The indiviual died as a result and the coroner has  ruled the death a homicide.

The jail has since banned the use of tasers in the facility and has also placed rules in effect that any tased individual must be taken to the hospital and pronounced helathy before the jail will accept the inmate.

Which leads me to the obvious question. Who is at fault here, the inmate for resisting or the officers for tasing the individual so many times, and do you think they will be charged?

[Scottler]

Once that steel cage is locked, my sympathy is gone.  Good riddance.

[AlphaBravo]

i read in the new sciencest mag today that they might put tasers on aircraft and that air korea alreadly hav them because ther non fatal


Craig

[Ivan]

Ever messed with a fully loaded camera flash... that's how a taser feels if you do just one short shot

[Craig.]

electricity is dangerous whether its 1 volt or 1000.  however they are still more useful than guns.

Once that steel cage is locked, my sympathy is gone.  Good riddance

thats unfair. so your saying its ok a person dies in jail even if all they did was steal a car.

[Scottler]

All they did was steal a car?  Are you forgetting the fact that stealing cars is ILLEGAL?

I'm saying that if you've done something that results in your imprisonment, I'm not going to feel sorry for you when something happens to you.  You're in PRISON.  If you weren't out stealing cars, you wouldn't have been in prison.

And yes, there are those rare cases where the guy in prison is in fact, not guilty.  But the justice system was set up a certain way, and until that method is changed, I'm not going to second guess it.  Otherwise, I have to second guess every conviction.

Short answer:  STAY OUT OF PRISON and you won't have a thing to worry about.  

[Hagar]

I have no sympathy for convicted criminals at all, providing they're guilty of course. This does not give anyone the right to physically abuse prisoners in jail. I suspect the individual in this particular case was a violent type of person, whatever he might have done. In this case the use of tasers might be appropriate & preferable to firearms. From some cases I've read about they appear to have been used excessively & far longer than necessary to bring the situation under control. If I'm to believe what I read they've even been used on people who have been manacled & no further risk to anyone. This is what worries me, not so much the tasers themselves.

[Papa9571]

Hagar you are quite right and I agree with you 100%.

The individual was handcuffed after the first application of the taser and was tased 4 more times after that.

In his holding cell he was tased 4 more times. This actually stopped his heart and he died.

While I agree that tasers are preferrable to guns they need to be used with care and responsibility, unlike this case.

And there is no reason to use a taser when you are in your cell. There are more effective ways of dealing with inmates in those situations.

[Scottler]

If it turns out that the inmate was tasered AFTER being handcuffed, then yes, the guards should be disciplined.  But as with the case I mentioned a few weeks ago, if you're behaving appropriately, you're not going to find yourself on the wrong end of a taser, and in this case, you're not going to be in jail to begin with.

[TacitBlue]

From what ive seen, there is no reason to taser someone twice. Granted, that was on the show "Cops", so they probably only showed a good example.

[Scottler]

It's easy for us outside of the situation to reflect on it and determine what the officers SHOULD have done.  But the truth is, only the officer and the inmate know the details of the scenario.  Whether it is fair or not, my blind faith is going to go to those entrusted to uphold the law before it goes to those who have made a career out of breaking it.

[Hagar]

You have more faith than me. Blind faith is a dangerous way of thinking. Some police officers are totally unsuited to the job. I'm sure the same applies to some prison officers.

I wouldn't do their job for anything & most have my full respect. You get rotten apples in any group of people. I know from my own experience that a small percentage abuse their authority. In some cases this has gone on for years & been hushed up by them & their colleagues. If this is discovered they should expect the full process of the law. If they're sent to jail for it they might find out what it's like on the other side of the fence.

[Saitek]

As far as I understand it has nothing to do with wether they shold be used at all. It sounds like the guards were just torturing the guy, or at least abusing their powers. That could be done in a multitude of ways.  ::)

[Scottler]

Hagar, you're right, there are some bad apples.  You're going to get that anywhere, and in the case of police officers, those bad apples can be quite a danger.

But if you've got a bag of apples, and we do it your way, you're just going to throw every apple out because it COULD be bad.

My view is to assume the apples are not rotten, and then throw the rotten ones out as I get to them.

[Hagar]

My view is to assume the apples are not rotten, and then throw the rotten ones out as I get to them.

Of course. You must trust the system or it couldn't work. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be vigilant. The problem with having blind faith in anything is that someone can, & probably will, abuse it. Most people, including judges, would believe a police officer's word against a member of the public even when the member of the public is telling the truth. The same applies to a prison officer & a convicted criminal. This is fine providing that police officer or prison guard isn't one of those rotten apples.