The Taser Myth: How Does a 'Non-Lethal Weapon' Kill 400 People?

[babylonsister]

The Taser Myth: How Does a 'Non-Lethal Weapon' Kill 400 People?

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet. Posted December 13, 2008.

Taser's marketing coup has convinced consumers that there is such a thing as a gun that won't kill. Taser deaths prove otherwise.


On Sept. 24, in Brooklyn, N.Y., a 35-year-old man named Iman Morales fell to his death after a 22-minute standoff with New York Police. Morales, who was described as "emotionally disturbed," had climbed onto the fire escape of a building in Bedford-Stuyvesant, naked and waving a metal pole. Unable to talk him down, one officer, under order from his lieutenant, shot Morales with a Taser gun, at which point he fell to the sidewalk, head-first.

He was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead.

One week later, the officer who gave the order, Lt. Michael W. Pigott, drove to Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, a former air base used by the NYPD, took a 9mm Glock from a locker room, and shot himself in the head.

It's hard to know which are more ubiquitous at this point: stories of accidental death by Tasers, or stories of police brutality involving bullets. Just this week, in New York, a Bronx man was shot and killed after he allegedly waved a baseball bat at police officers who entered his home. In theory, these sorts of confrontations are the reason such "non-lethal" weapons as Tasers exist. But news reports tell a different tale. In the United States and Canada, more than 400 people have died after being Tasered since 2001.

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http://www.alternet.org/rights/112403/the_taser_myth%3A_how_does_a_%27non-lethal_weapon%27_kill_400_people/?page=entire

[doc03]

1. Good question. A local COP tasered an 80

year old man that couldn't hold it and urinated in the park. They said he was belligerent and resisting arrest. A 30 year old COP that is supposedly trained in various physical methods of controlling dangerous criminals had to use a taser on a 80 year old. They were lucky it didn't kill him.

[HelenWheels]

2. New toy

The police have a brand new toy and mean to use it. I used to work at a health care center. 24 of our residents were young adults who were developmentally delayed. Some of them were very strong and would become agitated and lose control. We had to either talk them down or use physical holds that did not harm them. We sure as heck didn't have any tasers. There may be instances where tasers could be used by the police but I believe they are way overused. Since I had contact with the police when we were peace protesting I have lost a lot of my respect for them and have a hard time believing what they say.