Alone and Unobserved

This will be the last Taser post for at least a few days, I promise. But you should watch this clip from MSNBC Countdown.

The Taser abuses are coming thick and fast. What is wrong with the cops in this country, that they think they can just zap anyone they want with a stun-gun? At this point, I think national legislation may be the only answer to a nation-wide problem.

Sun Sentinel: “Don’t Tase me, bro!” Tasering Prompts Protest

University of Florida Student Tased

New York Daily News: Cops Beat, Tasered Teen

CBS: Police Brutality Claim

Previous posts on Tasers:
A Sickening Display, 6 August 2007
Let’s Be Honest, 22 May 2007
Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle, 19 November 2006

The Amnesty International TASER Abuse Page

Merrick Bobb, an independent expert of on police misconduct engaged by UCLA to investigate the computer-lab Tasering incident, has released his team’s report. Interesting highlights:

• The student involved in the incident, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, was leaving the library when he was accosted by police officers and told . . . to leave the library.
• One of the officers unholstered his Taser and held it against Tabatabainejad’s abdomen as they were escorting him out of the computer lab, before the student had offered any resistance.
• Tabatabainejad was lying on the floor all three times the Taser was applied; for at least one of the shocks, he was in handcuffs. At no time did he do more than shout and try to lie down on the floor.
• The officers claim a hostile, vocal crowd of students had gathered around them, adding to the urgency of the situation and prompting them to administer the shocks. Video from surveillance cameras and a handheld phone indicate that this was not that case.
• In all three instances, the Taser was used in close-range “drive stun” mode, which causes a great deal of pain but is less effective than the usual, longer-distance “cartridge” mode. Drive stun mode also increases the risk of second-degree burns and other medical complications.
• One female bystander was apparently threatened with a Taser when she asked an officer for his badge number.
• Despite the fact that the UCLAPD’s Taser guidelines are much too permissive, it is the opinion of the investigative team that the officers still managed to break policy by using a Taser on an unarmed, already restrained individual without trying other alternatives first.

Delightful, delightful stuff. As Merrick notes, these are police officers whose primary duty is to deal with recalcitrant, uncooperative students. They ought to be trained to use Tasers as a last resort, if at all. Go watch the video of the incident again, just for laughs.

[Via Towleroad]

According to an Associated Press article published online today, a homeless woman in Oklahoma died after being stunned with a Taser, which was used on her even after she was on the ground and in handcuffs. Go to the Guardian website to read the article.

Amnesty International (AI) has been speaking out against the abuse of Tasers by U.S. police officers for years. In 2006, AI issued a press release, available on the organization’s website, accusing U.S. police forces of over-using Tasers and pointing to the mounting number of Taser-related deaths in America (now over 200 since 2001, according to AI!) and reports much like the one above, in which officers have turned Tasers against young, elderly, already restrained or otherwise vulnerable or non-threatening individuals.

Also of interest:

• The original—and very detailed—2004 AI press release examining the abuse of Tasers by U.S. law enforcement professionals
• The Amnesty International USA “Suspend Use of TASERs” news page
• My earlier post on the subject

As I’ve said before, I think it is unconscionable that TASER International continues to manufacture these weapons, and that the various law enforcement bodies continue to allow their almost indiscriminate use, while evidence of potential problems continues to mount.

What should happen, in my opinion:

1. Use of Tasers should be suspended until proper investigations and research can be carried out by independent organizations.
2. Laws should be passed severely limiting the use of Tasers in cases where the individual is young, elderly, of reduced mental or physical capacity, or has already been restrained or subdued.
3. There should also be limits on the maximum number of shocks law enforcement officers are allowed to administer to any one individual.
4. The government and/or individual agencies should impose several penalties on law enforcement officials who transgress these boundaries, just as there are for the misuse of firearms.

I repeat: it is simply unconscionable that these suggestions have not already been implemented. Add your voice to that of Amnesty International, and help them make it happen.

[Note: An earlier draft called the company that manufactures Tasers "TASER, Inc." The correct name is "TASER International, Inc." and has been corrected in the text.]

The more I hear about Taser International, Inc. and their product, the angrier I become. For those of you who haven’t heard about the UCLA computer lab Taser incident, you can read about it here and watch a real-life video of it here. Now get the real dirt on the cigarette-company-like antics of Taser International in this article. I don’t deny that weapons are necessary in certain situations, and I’m not arguing that there is no responsible way to use a Taser. But the fact that Taser International refuses to admit that there is an irresponsible way to use their product, or that abuses have occurred, or that their own deceptive advertising makes them partially responsible, is just stunning and infuriating. Let’s generate some negative publicity, people, and show this company what’s up.