Use of Tazers by the Police

[BushyFromOz]

well said

[Dustdevil]

LMAO@preventative maintenance!

That's beauty!

[BushyFromOz]

nice signature line dust

[NREMT-Basic]

Having been tazed, maced, sprayed with pepperspray, shot with bean bag rounds rubber bullets, etc all in the name of training as a private security office in my past career, I agree that tazers are a viable, less-lethal option on the force contiuum. The problem with them is, that there arent any real viable studies about what long term effects 50k volts of 5 seconds may have. There have been instances where the muscle contractions are so severe as to break bone. Maybe that was necessary at the time. But I can also say, from having lived in Albuquerque, NM, that the police who regularly carry tazers tend to become desensitized to the effects that this weapon (yes kids it is a weapon) may have. When we first started to see these things employed on a rather wide spread basis, it made sense and when it made the news people thought, ok, the cop took down the bad guy and didnt have to shoot him. But now, police across the country (ie New Jersey, specifically Jersey City and also Virginia Beach, VA) are getting so blaise about using them that barely a day goes by where somebody does get to ride the lightening. Someone who doesnt want to hand the cop their drivers license, someone who turns the wrong way when teh police officer tells them to move left and they go right, officers who are involved in short pursuits and then walk up to the window, order it rolled down and taze the driver. These arent the little no damage toys that they look like. While the amperage may be different, and the length of time over which the voltage is applied may be shorter, a tazer deploys 50k volts over 5 seconds and can continue to do so (I just learned this) indefinately as long as the probes remain in place. This is more voltage than in used in an electric chair. That voltage is 7500 over 15 seconds, the again for 15 seconds if the person is still alive.

There is a reason why the police in the State of IL that carry tazers are required to call EMS to remove the probes and examine the tazee before that person can be taken into custody. Better than bullets? Hell yes! The perfect answer to ever use of force situation NO!. And that student that everyone is so blithley referring who was tazed multiple times by multiple offices did not meet anything close to the criterion for that amount of force on the continuum. If you have ever seen a tazer wound, you know that they leave two marks where the flesh is burned down to the sub q layer. And having had a tazer deployed against me during a training exercise, I can tell you that it not a matter of as soon as the officer lets off the juice the hurt is over. The weapon leaves people confused, often unable to comply with further commands which usually gets them tazed again. It affects short term memory and can cause the loss of bladder and bowel control. I went on a call during my clinicals and found a man who had lost ALL bodily function control. And yes, despite what the literature may say, these weapons can be lethal. So if the officer is using it as a lesser step on the force continuum, and it does end up killing the subject, then what? Tazers are not the "magic bullet" as it were.

[JPINFV]

^

I think you're missing the part about the use of drive stun setting. No darts were used in the situation in question.

Is it not better to use a weapon that protects the officer and public that has a possibility of death instead of a moderate to high probability of death?

[ks_emt]

i don't agree with police officers having tazers. now if their supervisors only had them i could see that being a little better, but with the way some officers are they are very tazer happy. it used to be mace or pepper spray but since they incorporated tazers in their protocols, I have seen people that should not have gotten tazered and have. just look all over the internet for videos of people getting tazed and its amazing how tazer happy cops are. but oh well cant change things now until someone dies from the misuse of one.

[BushyFromOz]

i don't agree with police officers having tazers

I guess they should just smack them with a batton or a 9mm instead?

[ks_emt]

I guess they should just smack them with a batton or a 9mm instead?

read the whole thing. i said not all officers should have them. officer discretion is really poor.

[BushyFromOz]

i don't agree with police officers having tazers

Now thats the argument of a pacifist. I guess they should just smack them with a batton or a 9mm instead? I think you will find mace/pepper spray has potential to cause more problems than a tazer....maybe we should just take everything of the cops and give them some whistle so they can try and scare assailants off? What a joke.....

[BushyFromOz]

whoops..double post

If each officer does not have them then whats the point...somone will still have to resort to a firaem or an extendable wonder stick?