In memoriam, to those who were tased to death

[MadHound]

I saw this piece on local television last week, and I think that it's entirely appropriate that somebody, somewhere has created a memorial for those who have died at the hands of this so-called "non-lethal" weapon.

"Harlan's family setup a memorial this past weekend, to commemorate not only the life of their son, brother and friend but all the people who have died from the use of TASERs.

There have been 386 people killed by TASERs, and that's how many crosses stand in front of the Harlan home in Moberly. Stanley's family built the memorial to raise awareness about the danger of TASERs."

<http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/f099ad60-80ce-0971-00b8-0a27a9aa0ced>

Oh, and the coroner in this case has declared the death of Stanley Harlan to be a murder.

Taser abuse is everywhere, and it is costing people money, their health and their lives. It is time we put an end to this travesty of justice.

I think next time I'm up in Moberly I'll cruise by the Harlan's place and leave some money for upkeep and repair. They're doing a good thing here.

[midnight]

1. How many more? This is so ironic that so many have died

from this compliance tool......

[MadHound]

2. This was on the loca news last weekend

Since then I've seen that two more people have died due to tasers. Two more crosses to be put up this weekend.

And it's not just the deaths, but the injuries also. We had a guy who was threatening to kill himself, jump off an I-70 overpass. Instead of trying to talk him down, they tased him. He fell fifteen feet and broke several bones. It's just absolute insanity.

[MercutioATC]

5. It's deemed a "less lethal" solution. Nobody ever claimed it was completely harmless.

When subduing a resisting suspect, LEOs have three choices:

1) Shoot them.

2) Beat the hell out of them.

3) Tase them.


People should be complying with police directions anyway. If they don't, the least harmful choice is to tase them.


That said, taser training is inadequate and protocol usually is not restrictive enough.

[MadHound]

6. Those aren't the only options

Police used to be trained to restrain people in non-lethal ways where they didn't have to resort to beating the shit out of them either.

Tasers make for lazy and brutal cops, we should get rid of them now.

[glowing]

8. Reality is that it works both ways.

There is an absolute distrust of cops in this country.. and its because they've been trained to have power.. and many abuse their power. If cops had to walk a beat and get to know their neighbors.. it would be a lot harder for them to walk in and do so much harm. I think the best thing to encourage better relationships with the police officers.. who used to be peace officers.. would be neighborhood meetings. Cops interacting with after school programs that encourage kids to do something other than get in trouble. Mentor. Listen to the community needs. As it is now, most just fear cops. I was on a jury where a kid had 5 counts hanging over his head. It looked to most of us on the jury that the cops beat him up and then they hung charges on him because he's a young black man.. they didn't want to get in trouble for brute force or sued by the family.

[VeraAgnes]

3. Let us not forget to remind people

to stop, follow commands and comply when ordered to do so by an Officer. The public has a responsibility to obey....we expect protection from crime and this is the other side of the agreement. That would be the first step for Taser abuse prevention.

[annabanana]

4. "non-lethal" my ass.

Cops with attitude are using them for punishment for "bad attitude".

[MadHound]

7. Cops are using these on people to intimidate and punish them

Not to bring them under control or compliance. Is it really right for a cop to tase somebody because of what they said. Is it right to tase somebody who's in a wheelchair? Is it right to tase somebody who's standing on the edge wanting to kill themselves?

Really now, defending the indefensible by saying we should all be good little Germans is not the answer. Gee, how did cops get by all those years without a taser:eyes: