What is Digg?257 Comments
- phnx0221, on 11/18/2007, -13/+114Really. Tasering is safe. Please, could you repeat that to these people? Let's start with him (warning- shock video that was popular a few days ago) http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=8080
and this guy http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/20/2062.asp
and this one http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/20 ...
and this one http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-196470718 ...
oh, and this one http://draves.org/blog/archives/000514.html
and this woman http://www.local6.com/news/14147512/detail.html
and this guy http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/08/05/m ...
These are all stories that were all previously made popular on Digg. Safe? No. Easily abused? Yes. Lethal? Yes. Even when non-lethal, does the pain feel like you are going to die? Yes. Do you think 50,000 volts might pose a risk to permanent injury, either external or internal? Yes. - frozenpxl, on 11/18/2007, -4/+68Of course they would say that, they're endorsing it.
"The fighting is over," says the Bush administration.
"I'm innocent," says O.J. Simpson.
"We're fair and balanced," says Fox News. - Observant1, on 11/18/2007, -8/+65over 300 deaths by tazers in the last 18 months, and thats just the ones they admit! yeah friggin right these things are safe.. I'd feel safer bathing in blood then going surfing with sharks.
- brownsound00, on 11/18/2007, -9/+62Tasers are safe... what else are they gonna say next, Fox is news?
- andrewcsayer, on 11/18/2007, -4/+47Cigarette is to health as what taser is to safe
- capiCrimm, on 11/18/2007, -4/+43but why would Taser Inc lie?
- EvanVolm, on 11/18/2007, -2/+36Tasers ARE safe, technically. It's when 8 police tackle a guy and suffocate him to death that does most of the harm....
- ZenMojo, on 11/18/2007, -2/+29Tasers are safe compared to guns, which is what tasers are designed to replace. Tasers are not safer than mace, batons, handcuffs (only one person killed by handcuffs, how many by tasers?), or even a punch to the face. It's retarded when your first resort is a semi-lethal measure.
- zappa717, on 11/18/2007, -12/+38This just makes me sick at my stomach. Tasers need to be banned! They are murdering people and getting away with it! Hail video!!!
- kanimara, on 11/18/2007, -2/+21they are safe!
except when they kill people.
but i mean really, 99.9999%... feel free to taser your friends and family when they annoy you. - pintomp3, on 11/18/2007, -5/+21tasers are safe, and water boarding is not torture. wtf. i guess water won't be wet for long.
- HappyScrappy, on 11/18/2007, -0/+16TASER CEO Tom Smith:
"I have been Tasered about probably between 10-15 times over the years intentionally."
http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/11/01 ...
(In response to the summary) - kahlessreborn, on 11/18/2007, -4/+20Tobacco is safe says Marlboro
- Takteek, on 11/18/2007, -2/+18Tasers are hazardous to your safe?
- Aspire36, on 11/18/2007, -4/+20Taser's are just as safe as any other weapon used to beat up innocent people.
- inactive, on 11/18/2007, -4/+19...excited delirium...rrrright......You mean they're excited after getting tased.....if I just got tased, I wouldn't play dead and wait for it again, I'd get into fight or flight mode.
- lazyfisherman, on 11/18/2007, -3/+18Tazers are ok but dealing with the police is unsafe.
- Jareth86, on 11/18/2007, -2/+17So tase him. Lets see him put his money where his mouth is.
- kwandar, on 11/18/2007, -4/+19Excited delerium? It isn't even a medical term (see Wikipedia definition), and is used to describe people under the influence of intoxicants (he had been in a secure area of the airport for 10 freakin hours - what intoxicants - the fumes of tasers?!) I can't believe these idiots have the audacity to say he shows signs of it, and I hope to hell his mother sues the crap out of them too!! No more tasers ANYWHERE if this is the type of attitude their manufacturer exhibits!
- DiogenesJr, on 11/18/2007, -0/+14Back in my former life of law enforcement, I was Taser certified. I have been tased and it is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt in my life. I have been pepper sprayed, shot with pepper ball launchers, hit with batons, picked up and thrown across the room by the defensive tactics instructor, you name any law enforcement device or method short of a gun and chances are I've taken a hit from it. I was always of the mind set that I'm not going to do something to another human being if I didn't know what it felt like first. It seemed only fair that way.
Being tased was so bad that I will never do it again voluntarily. A female officer that was attending the class with me said that she would rather give birth again than be hit with a taser. I know there are probably some smart kids out there that'll say that I'm a pu**y and that they eat tasers for breakfast, but that fact is, I would rather be pepper sprayed or kicked in the crotch that hit with that infernal thing again.
Of all of the things I've been certified on, Taser was my favorite. Unlike most devices or methods, the Taser training material consisted of a power point presentation produced by Taser Inc. It was mostly videos of people being tased. It was the one time I felt dirty in a training class; the whole thing was a taser commercial.
Having said that, though, I don't believe that they more harmful than anything else when employed properly. You don't want to tase a ninety year old woman in a wheel chair or someone hooked up to a dialysis machine, but I've met people who've been tased numerous times in a night and they recovered. The issue is training law enforcement to use this tool appropriately. - Asianwaste, on 11/18/2007, -0/+12Tasers go down smooth, and make you look cool in a bar. I for one am a menthol taser person.
- bromac, on 11/18/2007, -4/+15Current kills, not volts.
While you have some valid points. please stop using the voltage rating as an indication of potential harm. It's the fact that tasers are low amperage that they don't barbecue people @ 50kv. It's also a valid argument the risk of death from even those 50kv is low.
But excuse me if basic electrical safety isn't welcome on the Ban Tasers train. - benplaut, on 11/18/2007, -1/+11Step 3: ???
- ZachSka87, on 11/18/2007, -3/+13300 huh? Where'd you get that number? Back it up with facts and stop pulling ***** out of your ass.
- Pobotrol, on 11/18/2007, -1/+11Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.
- HappyScrappy, on 11/18/2007, -4/+14Voltage isn't a good measure of danger. Touching a doorknob on a dry day can deliver 15,000 volts and that's not considered dangerous.
- Asianwaste, on 11/18/2007, -0/+9I would say the taser, the pressure of being tackled by the police, and the fact that he had his airway obstructed, all contributed to the cardiac arrest.
- inactive, on 11/18/2007, -0/+9by technically do you mean when they are not used on humans and just randomly shot at inanimate objects?
- draculthemad, on 11/18/2007, -1/+10Tasers are relatively safe, and are a lot less likely to cause any permanent harm than chemical agents or blunt-force trauma.
Thats what they are designed to replace. The idea is you taser someone instead of having to punch them in the face.
The problem is that a some officers are regarding them as a magic wand and abuse them. A fireplace poker is a device, but some people have been killed when it was used as a improvised weapon, or used it as an implement of torture.
They are "safe", not "harmless", as they do cause excruciating temporary pain. The problem is the few asshat cops that think safe gives them an excuse to use them carelessly. - trogdoor, on 11/18/2007, -1/+10Specifically, it seemed that one officer had his knee on the man's neck .
- silentdragoon, on 11/18/2007, -1/+9or what about the times it has been lethal to people without drugs in their system, as linked to above?
- ydt89, on 11/18/2007, -0/+8It's not like a company is going to come out and say there product isn't safe...
- scecilio, on 11/18/2007, -6/+14I prefer a tasering to being shot or having the crap beaten out of me with blunt instruments.
- ta10n, on 11/18/2007, -1/+8I'm not sure I understand how that wikipedia entry explains how ED leads to a person dying when you taser them. Would you mind explaining it a bit further? The wiki entry seems to suggest that it's a very loosely accepted term used for really angry people who die in police custody. Even if someobody, is really delirious to the point of halucinations, uncontrollable anger, etc... they usually don't just die without some sort of catalyst right? If all these people who died post-taser weren't tasered, they'd still be alive no?
- mikesbaker, on 11/18/2007, -1/+8thats right its all about amps
- cjschmidt, on 11/18/2007, -3/+10Good lord. Nothing on this planet is f'ing safe. A toaster can kill you if I beat you with it. Peanut butter can kill if you're allergic to it.
The REAL problem is that Police officers are not being trained properly on how and when taser use is appropriate. Tasers are a GOOD thing. Even the really good, well-trained good cops can't defend themselves with sunshine and lollipops. Luckily, when your retarded cousin gets tanked on cold medicine and attacks a cop with a baseball bat, that officer has an option other than his shotgun.
Maybe if a video showing some asshat beating up an old lady with a toaster makes it to the front page you can all take your whiney bleeding-heart outrage to congress to get those damn toasters banned once and for all. We could even start an online petition! - HerrEisenheim, on 11/18/2007, -4/+11Safe? No. Safer than 155gr JHP .40 S&W? Yes.
- fatesdefiance, on 11/18/2007, -1/+8And a taser pulse delivers around 2 milliamps.
- testcase, on 11/18/2007, -0/+7So many people are unfortunately missing the point here - the Taser is just a tool.
The REAL problem is what is going on in the minds of the police officers when they confront a situation armed with Tasers.
By believing Tasers to be perfectly safe, police are using Tasers FIRST, before talking, before attempting to reason with suspects, as used to occur. Police have even been caught Tasering sleeping and unconscious people on initial contact. This is insane.
When the police use the Taser-first approach, citizens learn that they will probably be Tasered automatically if there is the slightest sign of trouble. Ironically, just knowing you are going to be Tasered actually causes you to act in a manner likely to cause the police to Tase you. This cannot be helped, because these are natural human reactions. And so your chances of getting Tasered in a routine incident are high and getting higher.
This vicious psychological cycle renders the Taser less effective - whereas people used to be Tasered once, now police Tase people multiple times, and even still, they are forced to subdue suspects bodily, which then frequently causes death and injury.
This trend can only continue. As police learn that they must Tase people multiple times, they instinctively use even more violent means of restraint, out of fear. In response, citizens learn that police do not listen, that they will shoot first and ask questions later, and that police cannot be trusted to act in a safe manner.
When police *only* had guns, they tended to try to think of other ways to resolve situations so that they did not escalate and so that shooting was not necessary. This was not so much because police didn't want to hurt anyone, but because when police are gun-happy, criminals respond by shooting police on sight. Unfortunately, now that police have Tasers, they feel free to Tase away to their heart's content, without fear of consequences. This is a very grave error.
The police themselves contribute to the situation where they must fear the very people they are supposed to be protecting and serving. Police must not devise strategies predicated on their own fears and paranoia, because by doing so, they are inadvertently projecting these emotions on the public at large.
Tasers will be banned eventually, and it will not be because Tasers kill directly. It will be because the very existence of non-lethal weapons causes an increase in police brutality and abuse of power, both real and imagined. - HeresyInc, on 11/18/2007, -7/+14How many people here are Taser certified? I am. How many have been tasered? I have twice.
In the two training sessions I attended I've seen at least 30 people tasered of various ages and physical conditions. Not a single person was injured or hurt. The pain level is much lower than that of pepper spray, pepper foam, and pepper ball never mind a hit from a baton. I have experienced all of these and I would much rather be tased than any of the other less than lethal weapons carried by my fellow law enforcement officers. - anachronaut, on 11/18/2007, -2/+9And if I stick a knife in your jugular, it's not the knife killing you -- it'll be the loss of blood. What the heck was your point?
- bromac, on 11/18/2007, -0/+7Not really.
Coconuts kill more people than sharks. - mikesbaker, on 11/18/2007, -0/+6you didn't read the links that guy put out did you - one of them died of bullets and not a taser
- spyd3rweb, on 11/18/2007, -2/+8What about people on legal stimulants or other drugs?
- Asianwaste, on 11/18/2007, -0/+6Pepper spray. The pain lasts a hulluva lot longer.. the only problem is if you spray a guy enough times, he's going to develop some sort of resistance.
- benitojuarez, on 11/18/2007, -1/+7mythbusters showed it take 6 milliamps across the heart to die from electrocution. 6 milliamps qualifies as low amperage doesnt it?
- HappyScrappy, on 11/18/2007, -4/+10Tasers are a relatively safe option thats main issue is it is usually used in what is already a dangerous situation. Sometimes people are injured or die when being subdued, taser or no.
What we can ask is that cops only use tasers when the danger (to the cop or civilian) would be higher if the taser is not used. If that holds, then the relative safety of tasering will allow us to minimize the harm caused to civilians and cops in these situations.
But what we don't need is a bunch of people watching grainy videos on the internet and passing judgment that a particular tool should not be used.
Also, in response to the question in the summary, I would be willing to make a bet that the head of Taser International Inc. has submitted to being tasered before. - stklaw, on 11/18/2007, -5/+11$$$
- anachronaut, on 11/18/2007, -2/+8Read the article...? You mean the propaganda provided by the manufacturer? That article? No one in their right mind should EVER take at face value the propaganda produced by corporations. Even if the words presented there are 100% factual -- and they almost certainly are, as they were probably vetted by their legal team -- they are only going to be "half truths" which have been carefully cherry-picked for their benefit.
You're not really that gullible, are you? I could probably find some facts which would make cigarette smoking appear to be a healthy lifestyle choice if I tried hard enough. That doesn't necessarily make it "true" in an objective sense. - bromac, on 11/18/2007, -1/+6Close quarters confrontations can escalate the need to use force.
Just sayin'. Yes, tasers can kill. Any electric shock can kill, but at this current the risk is low.
The same could be said about dying from a solid punch that concusses you. Or the instances where officers are shot with their own weapons from engaging in close quarters.
Videos like this though do stir up emotion. High-voltage, low-current shocks in reality are not likely to kill you. They hurt like hell though, and make you lose muscle control, and flop like a fish for the camera. But you will never, ever find a totally safe way of incapacitating someone once they're beyond reasoning with. -
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