17th Jan 2008
Yet Another Taser Death
This is from www.startribune.com. I haven’t had the fortitude to write a post every time I read about someone getting killed by a Tasering. But it still seems like hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear of another instance of Taser related death. This time it was a 29 year old man on his way to the airport to pick up his parents. He got into an accident in rush-hour traffic, and according to police became ‘uncooperative’.
According to the State Patrol, he was involved in a rush-hour crash on Interstate Hwy. 694 near Silver Lake Road in New Brighton. The State Patrol said troopers shot him with the Taser because he was uncooperative. He was breathing but unconscious when paramedics arrived, according to Allina Medical Transportation spokesman Tim Burke but was pronounced dead at Unity Hospital in Fridley.
Click here for the full story. Tasers are touted as a non-lethal alternative to guns and supposedly save hundreds of lives in instances where police would have otherwise resorted to deadly force. Are we to suppose that someone who becomes ‘uncooperative’ in a traffic incident is normally in danger of being shot? Police are routinely using Tasers to subdue people when ever the situation becomes uncomfortable or whenever the officers are having a hard time dealing with them, not in instances where they would have used deadly force in the past but may have resorted to forceful physical restraint. We need to seriously rethink the role of ‘non-lethal’ weapons in law enforcement or we will continue to see more and more of these senseless killings.
This is from www.startribune.com. I haven’t had the fortitude to write a post every time I read about someone getting killed by a Tasering. But it still seems like hardly a week goes by that we don’t hear of another instance of Taser related death. This time it was a 29 year old man on his way to the airport to pick up his parents. He got into an accident in rush-hour traffic, and according to police became ‘uncooperative’.
According to the State Patrol, he was involved in a rush-hour crash on Interstate Hwy. 694 near Silver Lake Road in New Brighton. The State Patrol said troopers shot him with the Taser because he was uncooperative. He was breathing but unconscious when paramedics arrived, according to Allina Medical Transportation spokesman Tim Burke but was pronounced dead at Unity Hospital in Fridley.
Click here for the full story. Tasers are touted as a non-lethal alternative to guns and supposedly save hundreds of lives in instances where police would have otherwise resorted to deadly force. Are we to suppose that someone who becomes ‘uncooperative’ in a traffic incident is normally in danger of being shot? Police are routinely using Tasers to subdue people when ever the situation becomes uncomfortable or whenever the officers are having a hard time dealing with them, not in instances where they would have used deadly force in the past but may have resorted to forceful physical restraint. We need to seriously rethink the role of ‘non-lethal’ weapons in law enforcement or we will continue to see more and more of these senseless killings.
Posted by the Geek under 
Tyranny 
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