Reply #47: i agree about one thing

[paulsby]

especially when officers were first issued (and agencies first adopted) tasers, they were overused and still can be (like any use of force) due to the "gee whiz it's a new toy" syndrome, among other things.

undeniably.

also, imo some agency policies set taser usage too LOW on the UOF continuum.

any time a taser is used, our agency requires a form be filled out (i've never fired my taser, so never had to fill it out), so taser usage can be tracked, statistically and problems recognized, improvements in policy made, etc.

it is definitely true that when tasers first came out, there was overuse. and like ALL uses of force, they can be abused.

responsible officers will use tasers responsibly, and irresponsible officers are given ANOTHER tool to use irresponsibly. in this respect, it's no different than any other force implement

i can say that MEDICALLY speaking they are INCREDIBLY safe and there is incredibly ignorant hysteria concerning their alleged danger.

people who cannot understand the whole "correlation =/= causation" aspect of science immediately assume that every time a guy dies some point after he was tased, it was CAUSED BY THE TASER.

i tried to explain why that's erroneous, in my previous post.

fwiw, i have seen a metric assload of injuries (to both officers and suspects) when people went hands on (iow tried to wrestle an aggressive suspect into cuffs). tasers are generally much safer.

broken wrists, torn muscles/tendons, sprains, boinking of head on pavement, etc etc. when cops try to wrestle guys into cuffs.

the nice thing about tasers is they have COMPLETE and accurate data recording. unlike a baton strike, knee strike, etc. every time a taser is used, the information is recorded on a chip in the taser and can be downloaded, and thus there is 100% accountability for it being used. it keeps officers honest.