Whatever happened to tasers/non-deadly force?

[moondust]

[valerief]

1. Not as much fun as murder, I guess. nt

[LiberalElite]

2. traded for tanks nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Tasers should probably be banned, honestly

Are you not familiar with the multiple instances of death by Taser? Or the multiple reports of substantial police misuse of Tasers (using them on suspects multiple times, for instance)?

[moondust]

7. Worse than bullets?

I think I'd be inclined to ban bullets first.

[xmas74]

13. And some used them to play with, to be honest.

I worked as a dispatcher in a smallish department and remember when the officers first received their tasers. They used them for any reason possible, including once on a dispatcher who was on a smoke break. It became a big running joke with them and they always found reasons why someone was resisting arrest, just to be able to use a taser on them.

Last I heard the department dumped the tasers because they were used far too much.

[PeoViejo]

4. The Police got bored

with watching people do a boated Bluefish imitation.

Anyway, it was unreliable. It didn't always kill the alleged perp.

[MohRokTah]

5. Only used on little children and the elderly these days.

And are about as fatal as gunshots are to the rest of us.

[madville]

6. Many departments don't have tasers

NYPD for example, only a shift supervisor typically has one.

One of my best friends is a county deputy, he has used his taser tons of times and has managed to never shot anyone with his firearm. He likely could have in some of those taser situations for sure though.

[moondust]

8. Too expensive or something? n/t

[madville]

11. It's not just the cost of the taser

There are many other factors like training costs for example. Say you buy a $1000 taser for all 50 deputies in your department, then you have to pay say $2,000 - $3,000 for them to attend a multi-day training class in another town, travel, hotel, meals, class cost, etc. And then they need a refresher course every year, and then when that model taser is discontinued and you have to buy a new model you have to do the training cycle all over again, etc.

[rustydog]

9. Tasers, like pepper spray, CN gas, ASP batons

have their place and use. If not used properly, the Taser is simply a pain compliance tool like the asp baton or stun-gun.
If not used properly, the aggressor can still fight the Tasing officer, but in great pain.

I have seen Tasers work very well against homicidal persons. The officer had the proper distance and, upon discharging the weapon the aggressor fell to the ground in muscular lock up and was cuffed without further combat. I've seen people surrender when the Taser is charged in view of the aggressor so he/she sees the arcing electric charge and hears the loud clacking, it is intimidating.

People have died from Taser use. They have died from positional asphyxia during handcuffing struggles, they have died from gunshot wounds, If they move at the wrong time, they can die from an ASP baton strike. They die from Excited Delirium...

The Taser is not the answer, it is a tool.

[ManiacJoe]

10. Nothing happened to it.

Tasers and other non-lethal force gets used all the time in non-lethal situations.
These events tend not to make the news.

[2naSalit]

12. They are rarely used

in cases of bigotry... dead bodies have a harder time suing the pleece for abuse.

[951-Riverside]

15. +1

[951-Riverside]

14. Accountability.

If I'm a mentally ill psychopath with a license (badge) to kill, why would I use a taser when I can just kill you?

There is no motivation for them to take you in alive especially if you're disabled, homeless or a minority.