Australia police say 13 Taser shocks were too much

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: AP

Police say a graphic video of an unarmed man who was zapped with a Taser 13 times shows an unacceptable misuse of stun guns, as questions are raised about how much the devices are used in Australia.

Western Australia state police said the 2008 case was not typical of Taser use by the force, and state Premier Colin Barnett demanded a review of Taser guidelines.

A day after the video was released, a man died in Sydney after police stunned him in the chest with a Taser.
...
In the video, an unarmed, dark-skinned man who refused to undergo a strip search in a Perth detention facility is shown screaming in apparent agony after being zapped with a stun gun eight times while surrounded by nine police officers. He was stunned another five times off-camera.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g64rDajMM58BqnTtYqWi5s122-aAD9ILIR1O0?docId=D9ILIR1O0

---

Video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11474164

And:

Second stun gun attack on Aborigine revealed

WEST Australian prison guards tasered an Aboriginal man 11 times while trying to remove him from a Perth watch-house cell.

This was just one week after police were caught on closed-circuit TV firing their stun guns into the mentally disturbed prisoner on 13 occasions.

In another embarrassing revelation that puts the spotlight on the use of the weapons, it has emerged that officers from the Department of Corrective Services -- unlike WA police -- are permitted to use the weapons as a compliance tool.

A department spokesman yesterday told The Australian that during a "cell extraction" in which the 39-year-old man was being transferred from the East Perth watch-house to a prison, two officers fired their Tasers 11 times into the man. The officers were part of a group of six from the specialised Emergency Support Group.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/second-stun-gun-attack-on-aborigine-revealed/story-e6frg6nf-1225934584766

[bemildred]

1. Never more than ten times, five for people with money. nt

[frontrange]

2. Tasers = Torture

Tasers are being used to torture people (and animals) worldwide. Their use as "compliance" devices can not be justified.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/05/3030220.htm

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/taser-shocks-meth-intoxicated-sheep-dont-harm-heart-taser-study-says

http://www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/taser-abuse/page.do?id=1021202

[greiner3]

3. Everyone should own a gun;

Taser that is.

[Matariki]

4. Fucking toys for sadists. Or perhaps a toy that creates sadists?

[Socal31]

5. Ban them for use by police forces.

If it is a deadly threat, shoot/kill it.

If it is a less than deadly threat, tackle it, beat it with a baton, or pepper spray it. Tasers are bullshit.

[Downwinder]

6. Cattle prods. n/t