What is Digg?10 Comments
- dankoleary, on 09/27/2008, -0/+3They are less lethal, not non-lethal. Cops need to learn to treat these just like a real gun, then these issues don't occur.
- jodimcmullen, on 09/27/2008, -0/+2This story made me sick at my stomach. That man was ill and obviously not getting needed medical care, so instead he gets the old cattle prod, my god what kind of society have we become.
We can afford tasers by the tens of thousands but not help for folks like him. - tubariceroni, on 09/27/2008, -0/+2Why would they taze a man standing on a ledge!? God that's stupid. They should not be used as frequently in the stead of standard batons and good ol' fashioned beat downs. Just because you have a new toy does not mean you have to use it. So sad
- FairDinkumMate, on 09/27/2008, -2/+4Difficult issue. I think the problem is that when arguing FOR Tasers. law enforcement discuss them as an alternative to using firearms, but once issued, they are used as a perceived(by the officers involved) "safe" weapon.
There are no figures possible, but you can be certain that more people have been killed with Tasers by honest law enforcement officers trying to do the right thing than by batons in the same situations. I think that this is a major issue. Tasers are classed BELOW a baton strike in use of force measures, but an honest officer doing the right thing is highly unlikely to kill anyone with a baton because the results of its use are far more predictable to them.
Maybe if Tasers are elevated to one step below the use of firearms, their use would be more limited & their effects more positive for law enforcement & the community that they are charged with protecting. - Oxygen, on 09/27/2008, -1/+2He also would have hurt or killed someone if not restrained.
- pipskweek, on 09/27/2008, -0/+1Animals are treated with more compassion than our own fellow human. That is the sorry world we are living in today.
- NotYourProdigy, on 09/27/2008, -0/+1You can't kill someone with a florecent light bulb, and the guy was clearly 'poking' one of the cops in the ass. So if I had a bag of groceries I was swinging around, the cops have the 'right' to electrocute me? Cops are not above the law, and the officer who issued the attack was stripped of his badge because of it.
This man was only a danger to himself, and that's HIS choice. - johndi, on 09/27/2008, -1/+1They had him surrounded and he really had nowhere to go. NYPD knew the risks and were bringing an air bag to cushion his fall. The lieutenant who prematurely ordered the tasering has been placed on desk duty and has been stripped of his badge and gun. The cop who followed the order was allowed to keep his, but is also on desk duty. It looks like NYPD is taking this seriously. He wasn't in a position to hurt anyone but himself when it happened.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/09/2 ...
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/09/2 ... - Bukowsky, on 09/27/2008, -5/+2It's sad that this man died... but I don't understand why so many people are upset about his death. He was swinging a light bulb at cops. That's a weapon. ANY time you threaten police with a weapon, they have every right to taser you.... it's just unfortunate that he fell the way he did, but the police had no control over that.
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