Police Abuse and Tasers

Tasers can be very safe when used properly - they may also save innocent lives if the police officer knows what he is doing. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Even though Taser International, the most important Taser manufacturer in the World, argues that Tasers are very safe, many doctors and civilians believe otherwise. The main problem resides in police abuse - in other words, when police officers take their "new non-lethal toy" not very seriously and use it to subdue people for "not responding to an immediate police request" whilst the victim might have been distracted and not heard the "immediate request" for a diversity of reasons.

Some institutions call Tasers the "Legal Torture Device" - though this may seem a bit exaggerated, it is true that Tasers are very painful and humiliating to those who are subject to them. With the repeated push of a button, police officers can shock their victim two, three or more times "as they see fit".

In the United States alone, schools have restricted the use of Taser guns due to police brutality. In Miami, a police officer used a stun gun against a 6-year-old kid who was "waving a piece of broken glass". Numerous other incidents caused by U.S police officers against students are well-documented.

According to some sources, 105 civilians were directly or indirectly killed by a Taser in the first quarter of the year 2005 mostly by police officers versus civilians. However, Taser International states that no one has ever died because of a Taser shot. In reality, nobody knows an exact cipher of taser-related casualties, though it is believed that the number is rapidly increasing and it is, opposed to what Taser Internation claims, an important number. As Jack M. says, "Tasers are much more powerful than an electric chair - a hundred times more powerful - though the difference is that electric chairs sustain their current".

The reality is that not even Taser International knows the real long-term damage provoked by Tasers. Many suits have been filed against Taser International for "lack of information" and "false claims" to no avail.

Real Case:

In October 3, 2002; 15-year old female student Chiquita Hammonds had a very unfortunate event. When she was on her way to school, three police officers stopped the bus because some students were causing trouble and making offensive signals to other car drivers. Chiquita stepped off the bus and began "cursing" to the police officers who attempted to handcuff her. She resisted and one of the police officers sprayed her face with pepper spray to no avail - she resisted and knocked down the officer's glasses. Shortly afterwards, the police officer who had been previously aggraviated "got tired" of the situation, grabbed his Taser and shot at the girl's back - delivering a powerful shock. She fell to the ground while the officer continued to shock her two more times.

Real Case 2:

When kids do not behave properly - beware - they may be subject to a Taser shot by an impatient police officer. In the Spring of 2004, 12-year old Benjamin Diaz was "causing disturbance among his classmates" - unfortunately, he kept "abusing" smaller kids even out of school, when a police officer watched - asked Benjamin to stop - and before Benjamin could react, delivered a Taser shot onto his back.

Police Abuse

As the bottom note for this article, police officers should be more aware of the real threat that using a Taser presents. Those who have health problems may die and every police officer should examine the situation and not use a Taser unless somebody's life or well-being is at risk.