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Man shot with police Taser dies

news.bbc.co.uk — The deaths from Taser guns wielded by the police are starting to occur in the UK as well now. Will we end up with the same problem the US has?

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  • PaulPinfield, on 01/20/2008, -12/+22So, here we go again. How long before the Police minister appears in the media to reassure us that Tasers are safe, and by the way, under New Labour, we have been safer?
    • Double-Z, on 01/20/2008, -6/+9Quite right. They will roll out a video of a senior police officer being tased, and Gordon will assure us that it's the only way to make us safe from knives, and that things have never been better for the British public
    • SuperWinner, on 01/20/2008, -12/+32I say old chap, would you mind very much not tazing me? Jolly good.
      • DephexTwin, on 01/20/2008, -9/+7Smashing! Now there's a good lad.
    • whorunbartertwn, on 01/20/2008, -3/+12Being killed by taser remains near the bottom of my list of concerns, since I don't act like an ass with police. It ranks above shark bite and slightly below errant hockey puck.
      • Tarnum, on 01/20/2008, -7/+4Neither do I. The thing is... some policemen act as asses with the citizens.
        It's not that hard.
        1. Order the citizen to do something completely idiotic
        2. ??? (The citizen looks at the cop like he is crazy)
        3. Profit!!! (The Cop tazes the Citizen!)
      • jsmu, on 01/22/2008, -1/+0How is it possible that your cretinous and simpleminded comment is dugg up and the witty retort dugg down?????
    • ShnowDoggie, on 01/20/2008, -1/+15The title seems a bit misleading. It seems that the Taser was NOT what ended this mans life:

      He was then shot with the police Taser gun.
      "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.
      • richard2, on 01/20/2008, -7/+1That is only what the Police claim happened.
        • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -3/+5Cause of death was not determined yet. If he walked away, it's plainly obvious electricity was not what killed him, and thus, he wasn't killed by the Taser.

          God, I hate these stories because apparently there is a large chunk of diggers who have no clue how electricity kills you. Tasers don't kill people, period. They can be a secondary cause of death (i.e. initiating prior heart problems, falling and hitting you head, adding to what is already a meth/pcp overdose, etc), which could all be triggered by being hit with a baton too. But a normal healthy person WILL NOT DIE FROM TASERS.

          Christ, digg needs a Taser sections so I can block it.
          • timewarp424, on 01/20/2008, -2/+5You change your argument half way through. First you state that tasers don't kill people, but then you say that tasers don't kill normal persons. What you're failing to realize is that tasers do cause death. They can initiate irregularities in the heart that can lead to death. You're trying to be nitpicky with the separation of occurrences, but the primary incidence is the use of the taser which starts the whole chain reaction.

            People aren't crazy. The police use tasers way more often than necessary. And, just like you stated, tasers won't do anything to a normal healthy person, but how do the cops know who is healthy and who isn't? With the combination of these two factors, we get a dangerous situation for the person being unjustly tasered. I think that's why people are so upset.
          • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1No, the argument is, if you have heart problems, you know about them and should not be fighting with police, or you don't know about them, you fight with police and those heart problems still kill you because of being tackled, punched, wrestled to the ground, or being beaten with a baton, or shot with rubber bullets or bean bags. Mace is not an answer either as it doesn't make someone "safe" (they can still flail around with a knife, and it takes 5-10 seconds to fully take effect, long enough to charge at someone with your knife).
        • nazadus, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3If a cop tazes me and I fall and crack my head and die -- the tazer killed me as far as I am concerned.
          You can attempt to say that it was my falling that kills me but it falls in line with:
          It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop thusly if I push you off a building it wasn't *me* that killed you -- blame gravity and his failing to not stop (or stop in a sane manner).
    • moofer, on 01/20/2008, -2/+5Here we go again... how long do we have to wait for a "taser" section on digg?
      • nazadus, on 01/20/2008, -4/+2I'd much rather see a "authority abuse" section.
        This would be in line with a cop being a prick in general and allow for more things.
        But I suppose all of that might fall in to politics...
    • arcangelgabriel, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2I wonder how many people were killed due to medical malpractice today? Just a thought. Never see any posts on that. 65000 Deaths a year in the US is a conservative estimate. There are a good number of sites including NIH that provide such figures.

      Not that I'm railing against tasers or malpractice. Just when I see the anti taser flag shoot up I often wonder what else is slipping by because of folks yelling at the sky.

      Oh yea, I've been tasered too. Sucked.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3What? You've been tasered and didn't die? Digg has lied to me!!!!

        Yeah, I've been maced and tasered too for training purposes. I'd gladly take the taser any time. Mace ***** sucks and it lasts forever. Tasers are done in less than 5 seconds if you stop resisting.
      • nazadus, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2Because doctors get their asses sued BADLY for those events -- even if they don't cost a life.
        Cops tend to get away with it and thusly frustrate more people because of the fear of it happening to them.
      • arcangelgabriel, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Did I also mention that I have a heart condition?
    • Henwood, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1I didn't realise we had a "Police Minister"
      • ScannerMobs, on 01/22/2008, -0/+0he was recently introduced alongside the "Make People Better Minister" and the "Teach Kids How to Learn Minister"
    • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4""The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police."

      Way to not even read the ***** story you dumb ***** *****.
    • jdepp, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2I don't think the taser caused him to convulse while holding the knife and stab himself. It sounds like a suicide? very sad imho.
  • Nath4n, on 01/20/2008, -7/+32Keep in mind this man had existing injuries before he was tasered, so he may well have died from those. But if not, this is a bad road to be heading down for the UK.
    • PaulPinfield, on 01/20/2008, -4/+5No doubt it was a difficult situation being confronted by a man with a knife. I think we need to see how this unfolds. But, please, no politicians peddling the New Labour dogma.
      • GMorgan, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5I actually have no problem with police using tasers when confronted with an obviously dangerous person. They have some duty to take on risk rather than putting it on the public but it doesn't go that far.

        What it should be though is a warning sign that these things are to be treated with relative respect and not used as anything but a last resort. TBH I trust our police to do the right thing in this case. Our problems stem from government rather than the police, I mean we have chief constables suggesting that drugs be legalised, our police are hardly insane like some nations seem to have. They aren't accountable by any means but have a decent record wrt being more considerate.

        Of course the police have been getting a rap recently because of Labours insane terrorism random search quotas, the police don't actually want to stop and search so many people because they recognise it for what it is, a waste of time.
    • Double-Z, on 01/20/2008, -3/+8I quite agree, his injuries must have contributed to the death. I hope the police are properly trained on when, and when not to use tasers. We do not want to get to the place the US is at where people are being tased for not reacting quick enough when pulled over for a speeding ticket, or for talking back to a policeman.
      • Pake, on 01/20/2008, -3/+6I see it this way, if you can't react in a calm manner and take the fight to court, then you can't expect the officer to act in a calm manner. Most of the traffic violations that result in tasings are from idiots who want to act like they're some big shot. All they needed to do was hand over their license and registration, sign the ticket and fight it in court.
        • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -2/+4Surely the idea of having trained police officers is that they can react in a calm manner in a stressful situation...

          Tasering someone for answering back is shockingly bad. Justifying it on the grounds that all the person had to do was "obey" the uniformed person is actually worse.
          • Pake, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2The officer is just trying to do his job as quickly and easily as possible. You should be happy they don't react like most people do at jobs where people interrupt them and they get pissy. Also, they aren't getting tased for talking back, they are getting tased for disobeying the officer after the officer told them to do something and by putting the officer in an unsafe position (such as the person reaching into their pocket).
          • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -2/+0Also, traffic citations add another level of danger to the cop's job that the citizen doesn't endure, they have to stand on the side of the road while cars fly by them. They want to end the situation as quickly as possible and acting like a jackass is not only rude, but inconsiderate of the officer's life too. A small confrontation on the side of the road could easily end in one or both parties being killed by oncoming traffic.

            In regards to traffic situations, you should just shut the fark up and obey. Record the situation on your phone, take pictures if needed and take it to court if you want to fight it. The side of the road is an inappropriate place.
    • TwineHornet, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1Police are told not to tase people who are injured, so this definitely was the police's fault
      • jhhol53, on 02/04/2008, -0/+0How narrow minded are you! So someone has an injury but is still armed and a threat not only to police but to the public, Oh no we can't taser him, he's already hurt. Yeah right.
        Prior to police having taser they would probably of had to revert to conventional firearms and then he would have died due to the police shooting him. I hope that you are never put in a position where the police have to save your life.
  • Uaedaien, on 01/20/2008, -5/+25The police are only allowed to use tasers when under threat in the UK. If you refuse to comply with an officers order but don't fight them they will just pull you down and cuff you. I still don't agree with taser use, they are defiantly not non lethal weapons like the makers would have you believe in their catalogs,
    • CiXeL, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2"However, there are a great many non lethal weapon systems in development that turn out to be quite lethal. Sometimes I watch your television programs that show SWAT teams using new non-lethal weapons. They usually start out with, In the future, the army and police will fight its enemies with new weapons systems. When they use the word enemy, they/re talking about YOU! You don't really think the Marines are going to jump out of helicopters overseas with sticky goop, pepper spray and seizure lights, do you?" - John Titor
    • Rikkochet, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1There is a growing number of support that taser deaths have little to do with electric jolts and everything to do with the cops tasing someone and then choking them and jumping on their backs trying to cuff them after the tasing... Considering every police office needs to be tased and tase someone before being allowed to carry it around and use it, I can kind of see that argument having some merit.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -1/+0Summed it up right there. I challenge anyone to find a well documented case of a Taser being the primary cause of death. It just doesn't happen, "taser deaths" are caused by drug overdoses, prior medical conditions and other injuries.
    • jdepp, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2It's sad that this person died, but he was threatening the police with a knife blade at the time. This will get investigated in the UK and if the cops were doing things improperly they'll be held to account, but I'm inclined to think the cop could have easily wound up dead if he'd not acted.
    • gcnaddict, on 01/21/2008, -1/+2"defiantly" might work there, but you might've intended to use the word "definitely."

      Just pointing it out...
  • VectraMan, on 01/20/2008, -21/+22Tasers should be banned, full stop. They don't discriminate, they know not if the person being fired at has a pre-existing condition, and neither do the police holding said taser.
    It's just another NWO oppression tool.
    • IAmLegend24, on 01/20/2008, -6/+21Yeah batons, and bullets are much safer.
      • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -4/+3Who suggested using either of them in place of tasers?
        • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3What other options are there? Tackling a person is just as likely to initiate those problems, and mace is wholley ineffective as it takes 5-10 seconds to take effect on a person (besides being a wildly inaccurate spray device anyways).
        • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Ok ***** Rambo, we can send you in unarmed against the knife wielding man next time. Good luck with that.
    • jcalhoon84, on 01/20/2008, -5/+14He was armed, would you rather they have instead gone straight to a lethal force option. Last time I checked bullets don't discriminate either. If the man was armed and the officers felt threatened they could have shot him dead.
      • GMorgan, on 01/20/2008, -1/+12Our police don't have indiscriminate access to lethal force. Only the most highly trained officers in Britain are licensed to use guns. As I said above, I think they acted appropriately in this case.
        • arcangelgabriel, on 01/21/2008, -0/+3In Britain the general population are not armed to the teeth with far more firepower that one can carry.
      • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -5/+1He had a knife. The police officers have batons and are (or at least were) trained on how to disarm someone with a knife using their baton.

        Has the world gone so bad now that the choices are automatically shoot the person or taser them?
        • arcangelgabriel, on 01/20/2008, -1/+7As a police officer for 18 years now and a Marine before that I can safely say that I have NEVER been trained on how to disarm a person armed with an edged weapon using a baton. Distance is your friend against Mr. knife. If you want to disarm someone with a knife and you have a wooden stick you have all the fun you want with that. See you in the ER or the morgue.
        • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3Disarming a person with a knife is stupid. Nobody worth a damn would even try it. Thats why they taser you, because you're going to drop the knife, or at least be safely immobilized so they can remove it from your possession. From what I've seen and heard as a dispatcher, I'd rather take on someone with a gun rather than a knife. Do a GIS for "knife wounds" if you want to see my point.

          You watch too many action movies.
      • jedikv, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2I thought Vince McMahon destroyed the nWo. For Life
    • skyfyre, on 01/20/2008, -1/+11So nobody can be allergic to pepper spray. Nobody can have an aneurysm after being restrained by police. Existing condition, my ass. That's impossible to predict with any use of force technique.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1People with existing conditions usually know about them too. If you have a heart condition, fighting with the police is your fault, not theirs. They have to assume someone resisting arrest is capable of dealing with the consequences, like a physical altercation.
    • moletimer, on 01/20/2008, -7/+4Get rid of police weaponry altogether, I say.
      • Gamer2k4, on 01/20/2008, -1/+8I hope that's sarcasm.
      • Mejogid, on 01/20/2008, -1/+8Right! And when gangs roam the streets we can... reason with them, I guess.
        • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2Yeah because it is a foregone conclusion. I notice how few street gangs there are in the US, given that all the police are armed...
        • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1How many gangs are in your neighborhood? Gangs exist, but they aren't exactly controlling the country. And if we disarmed the cops, the gangs would still be armed and would steamroll the police in any confrontation.
      • arcangelgabriel, on 01/20/2008, -0/+5Yes because armed hostile men often react well to harsh language and threats of STOP! or I'll say stop again.
      • moletimer, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1/sarc :P

        slightly late, but obviously the sarcasm wasn't very clear.
    • theright, on 01/20/2008, -0/+5If you have an existing health condition that could result in complications in the event a taser is used on you, could I recommend that you don't:

      a) Run after your mother with a nine-inch knife threatening to kill her, such that she has to flee to a neighbour's house and call the police
      b) Refuse to cooperate with the police, instead barricading yourself in your house
      c) Threaten police officers with the aforementioned knife
    • iticu, on 01/20/2008, -0/+5Because people threatening other people with knives really deserve to be treated with as much political correctness as we can muster!

      Seriously, if there was a guy threatening me with a knife, and a Policeman was there trying to save me, i'd be much more happy if he was armed with a tazer than with pepper spray and a badge.
    • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3I agree.

      The cops should have just shot the knife wielding man dead.
  • lhbaker, on 01/20/2008, -15/+84Don't tase me, bloke
    • digitallysick, on 01/20/2008, -17/+2haha
      • blinktude, on 01/20/2008, -5/+2buried just so I can follow the trend and fit in with the other diggers.
    • ruddy, on 01/20/2008, -17/+3omg you win you win
      • blinktude, on 01/20/2008, -4/+1buried just so I can follow the trend and fit in with the other diggers.
        • iticu, on 01/20/2008, -0/+4It's not funnier the second time you say it.
    • billbillbilly, on 01/20/2008, -8/+10dont tase me, chap
    • Emnsta, on 01/20/2008, -6/+32Don't taze me, mate
      • HenvY, on 01/20/2008, -1/+16The only correct example given so far. :)
        • Rheic, on 01/20/2008, -1/+8Yeah, finally one that a British person would actually say.
        • Akraz, on 01/20/2008, -7/+2Correct me if im wrong.. isnt that australian?
      • Ramble, on 01/20/2008, -0/+6Finally.
    • Jeffler, on 01/20/2008, -10/+2I tased your mum last night mate, if you know what I mean.
      • lhbaker, on 01/20/2008, -0/+4Like I always say, it's nice to have a shovel handy when the fire burns within.
      • Pilot85, on 01/20/2008, -0/+8She was no doubt stunned by how small it was.
  • Digitalicious, on 01/20/2008, -10/+22I suppose in an ideal country the police wouldn't be allowed to use tasers; however, in an ideal country the police would never have the reason to use a taser.

    For every death by taser, there are a hundred lives, both criminals and police, that are saved thanks to a weapon that is less "lethal" a gun. Unfortunately, there will always be bad cops, and bad people behind those cops; the problem isn't the taser.
    • moxley, on 01/20/2008, -4/+5Only true if they are using in a situation where such force is required. These are being used before a baton, when there is no cause for any force to be used. They are being used to stifle dissent and questioning of authority.
      • arcangelgabriel, on 01/20/2008, -2/+4Because no one had ever died of a baton blow.
        • shackleton1, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1"These are being used *before* a baton, when there is no cause for any force to be used"

          Reading ftw.
  • uncltim, on 01/20/2008, -13/+16Tazers are a non-issue. I have been tazered and its very unpleasant but It beats being shot or beaten. perhaps more time spent with the criminal element would help you see the compassion of the tazer. Grow up and stop being so pathetic
    • Spanktacular, on 01/20/2008, -13/+6Your brown shirt fits nice and snug, doesn't it?
      • Rheic, on 01/20/2008, -2/+9Comparing people to the nazis is the lowest form of internet debate.
        • Spanktacular, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2What else do you call those who rally around the police state in fits of righteous anger?

          Learning from history means you have to make comparisons. Godwin's law is a good way to ensure one repeats history.
      • Ramble, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6Godwin invoked, argument automatically null and void.
        • richard2, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Authoritarianism is relevant to the discussion, you complete idiot.
      • jsmu, on 01/22/2008, -0/+0Not as snug as those nice jackboots....
    • moxley, on 01/20/2008, -3/+4You're wrong - because these aren't being used in serious situations. They're being used well before even a baton would normally be used. They're being used to shut people up; not as a "less than lethal" alternative to other weapons.
    • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1You've made a false analogy. Being tazed certainly is less dangerous than being shot in the head. However, so what? It is more dangerous than having a properly trained police officer arrest you. The man had a knife and was tazed to death for waving it in front of the police. This is not a gang of criminal masterminds trying to detonate a suitcase nuke in the streets of London.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2He was not tasered to death. You're just lying for you own purposes.. He was tasered, then went inside and inflicted injury on himself (presumably with his knife). Cause of death has not been determined, and will not be "taser". Go ahead, look for a case where a taser is the primary cause of death. You won't find one. Also GIS "knife wounds". Nobody wants to engage a person armed with a knife.

        Quit being a reactionary shill.
      • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Hate to burst your bubble, but being tazed is in fact safer than having the cops wrestle you to the ground.
  • dukeeeey, on 01/20/2008, -9/+4http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-102520721 ...
    says it all.
    • lhbaker, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2I've never seen that. I didn't watch the whole thing, but the fact that they slow down the video of the guy's arm snapping, but don't slow down the audio of the woman screaming 'Oh my God, they just broke that guy's arm!', makes it seem fishy. That kind of stuff is just cheap journalism.
  • Qtip42, on 01/20/2008, -7/+16Once again, tasers are not being used in lieu of a gun. They're being used to control the backtalk and people who question what they're being pulled over for. If this was used in lieu of a gun, you would think a majority of people being tased would have some sort of weapon before the cop would consider pulling it out......but that's not the case. They use it at level 1.
    • wastedlife, on 01/20/2008, -1/+7Most officers in the UK don't have guns, so it's that or running at him with batons.
    • Mejogid, on 01/20/2008, -1/+5Did you even read the article? He was armed with a knife and threatened police. To me, that sounds pretty like 'in leu of a gun'.
      • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1Knives and guns are very different things. The maximum range of a tazer is about 6m. The telescopic baton will strike the opponent at about 2.5m. Two police officers with batons can subdue a person with a knife.

        For the best part of the last hundred years the British police have been doing that with remarkably few casualties on either side of the law.
        • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Yes, lets make cops risk their lives getting close to a guy with a knife.

          Are you up for it? Ya, didnt think so mr digg warrior.
        • jedikv, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2Take two magic markers and give one to a buddy and both wear clean white shirts. Now both of you start 'attacking' and preventing your shirt from getting 'stabbed'.

          Not so easy is it??
      • jedikv, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1 wrong reply
  • OffPiste, on 01/20/2008, -17/+12Good, more scum off of our streets.
    • Spanktacular, on 01/20/2008, -18/+5Lookin' sharp in that brown shirt there, buddy. Lookin' sharp.
  • unusualbob, on 01/20/2008, -4/+20RTFA he inflicted a serious injury on himself! Cause of death has yet to be determined but he went back inside the building after being shot with the taser so he was obviously still ok.
    • Spanktacular, on 01/20/2008, -14/+2Like many weapons, a taser isn't an instant-kill weapon. People walk after getting shot with bullets, it doesn't mean they're okay, brown shirt.
      • dudefather, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1arent brown shirts Firefly fans are something?
        • Spanktacular, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1Your knowledge of history is pathetic, and not at all surprising.
          • jedikv, on 01/21/2008, -0/+2Your constant references to Nazism is pathetic. You have an admiration for them or something? F**king grow up and get a clue.

            I bet you have very little knowledge of history yourself.
      • iticu, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3You're such a dumbass, repeating the same thing instead of using real arguments and at the same time trying to implie that the people you're replieing to are somehow supporting a Nazi republic.
        The irony and idiocy are strong in this one.
      • msgyrd, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Because obviously bullets and electricity kill you the same way.
      • ShnowDoggie, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1This is true. The taser may have aggravated a heart condition. But so may have an argument. In this case the person caused MORE injury to himself after the fact. (At least that is how the story reads) Change Tased to shot in the foot and the outcome is the same. The tase may be a factor is this persons death but it CAN NOT be the blame. Saying this person was killed by a taser really detracts from those who have died directly from a taser.
  • lirem, on 01/20/2008, -4/+19Maybe the idiot shouldn't have brandished a knife at police officers. Don't be a fanny and you won't get tasered. Quite simple.
    • jsmu, on 01/22/2008, -0/+0This DRIVELLING idiocy is being dugg up?!?!??!?!?! GAWD. Yeah, just be a good little drone and MAYBE the fascist cops won't bother ya. If they don't feel inclined to mess someone up...
  • userperson, on 01/20/2008, -3/+12Where's the guy who always says Digg needs a tazer section / category?
  • jessestorm, on 01/20/2008, -9/+3Someone should write a book compiling short biographies of all the people killed by tasers. I'd buy it. It'd be actually really interesting.
    • lirem, on 01/20/2008, -2/+10Not really. Most people who get killed by tasers are scummy bastards.
      • iticu, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Which atleast would enlighten most of the people on Digg.
    • Gamer2k4, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4It would be a pretty short book.
  • jpwhitmore, on 01/20/2008, -5/+12One more taser story on Digg and I'll tase myself to death
    • msgyrd, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2Good luck with that, seeing as how they've never been documented as a primary cause of death.
  • secondreality, on 01/20/2008, -3/+12I am more concerned about the wording in the title

    Man shot with police Taser dies

    I read it was "Man shot with police, Taser dies"
  • shadowmoose, on 01/20/2008, -5/+11Hmmmm. Would I rather get tasered, or shot... You people make me wonder if guns are the better option.
    • yetimonster, on 01/20/2008, -4/+1the problem is that the police are under the false impression that tasers are safer than guns, and are therefore more willing to use them.
      • theright, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Tasers *are* safer than guns, eedjit
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Seeing as how all cops have to be tasered before they can carry them, but they don't have to be shot to carry a gun directly implies they are safer.
      • mike17032, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1Ok *****, I am gonna shot you with one or the other. Your pick.
  • Joeymx, on 01/20/2008, -2/+11The man was holding his own mother up and if he'd killed her he'd have no doubt just slit his own throat. Tell me, Paul, what would you have done?

  • sidneylopsides, on 01/20/2008, -2/+17Erm,
    "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.
    I don't think the Taser killed him...
  • schmiggyjk, on 01/20/2008, -10/+5I was at CES and it was absolutely disgusting watching their booth. Raving about the safety, how it will save lives, showing new models with nice tiger prints/covers on them, etc.

    Oh yes, our product is great you can now kill people while rocking a leopard print.
    • jedikv, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1"How do you reason with a man who has barricaded himself in his home, with a nine-inch knife, threatened to kill his mother (who fled to a neighbour's house in fear of her life) and brandished the knife at police officers?
      I'd love to see how you would deal with such a situation. And to think, these police officers put their lives on the line everyday for us. You ungrateful bastard..." - theright

      AMEN to that.

      schmiggyjk, you sir are a moron.
      • ScannerMobs, on 01/22/2008, -0/+0I think schmiggyjk took a taser to the head
  • madk, on 01/20/2008, -8/+20Buried as inaccurate...despite what Digg may have you believe the USA has no problem with tasers.
    • Randrayla, on 01/20/2008, -4/+9Indeed. No one dies 99.99% of the time a taser is deployed. 99.99% of the time a taser is deployed someones life is saved. Of course they kill people occasionally, its called LESS THAN LETHAL for a reason. Beanbag rounds kill people from time to time, as does pepper spray by making people have asthma attacks. If you don't want to risk having force used on you, OBEY THE LAW.
      • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -5/+2"No one dies 99.99% of the time..."
        That is NOT the same as "someone's life is saved 99.99% of the time."
        Dumb and illogical. Just because the police used a taser (or security guards) does not mean a person would have died otherwise.
        First, tasers are electrocution. The does is usually sublethal, but it's electrocution. We used to execute people this way.
        Secondly, police seem to delight in using them over and over. The article suggests but does not explicitly say that he was only electrocuted once. If so, that is unusual.
        Third, police are under the misapprehension these are SAFE. They are not. 99.99% means one in 10,000 dies. better than bullets, but still not a great statistic. Somehow I'm guessing you made up that 99.99%. Would you give police carte blanche to use a device with the slightest provocation, if it gives a 1:10,000 chance of killing you?
        Fourth, there's a peculiar mentality with some policemen. They are NOT civil servants, they seem to think they can throw their weight around and the rest of the force will cover up for them. They aren't allowed to punch you in the face, but they are allowed to taser you for the least backtalk, and make excuses later.
        We hear reports of incidents like a lady tasered for refusing to hang up her cellphone and get out of the car during a traffic stop. We hear of police tasering a man getting into an argument in a family restaurant. The guy at the John Kerry function ("Don't tase me bro!") was electrocuted multiple times, for pulling away from the security guards and not handing over the microphone.
        Fifth, tasers don't work. They call them "stun guns", but many reports seem to suggest that frequently they have little effect. Perhaps their sole purpose is to inflict strong pain? The fellow in the article "ran into the house, and inflicted more wounds on himself" after being tasered at least once. Most of the reports of tasering deaths involve multiple shots. One didn't do it? Give him 5!Effective stun gun, eh? If he didn't drop with 1, why try the second time? If 3 didn't do it, why would you think 5 would?

        • Randrayla, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Of course I made that statistic up but I am willing to bet its close to that number. My department alone has over 500 taser deployments and no one has died. I wonder how many lives were saved? More than 500 I'm sure. Its unusual to only be tased once? ***** you. Why don't you come out here on the street and deal with the ***** I deal with on a day to day basis. How the ***** would you know how many times someone is typically tased? You must be a professional in law enforcement because you have watched youtube videos. Your little rant just seems to be directed at a hate for law enforcement. Why don't you goto your local department and ride out with an officer a few Saturday nights. Maybe you could see the ***** we deal with with.

          Because your not a police officer you fail to see the risks in police citizen interaction. What you see is "man tased for not signing speeding ticket". What I see is "man tased while walking back to his vehicle after becoming belligerent". How the ***** do I know what he is going back to his vehicle for? Is he going to simply try to drive away? Or is he going to retrieve a ***** rifle from the car and blow me away?

          Have a look at this video http://www.filecabi.net/video/officervsguy.html

          If that cop had tased that man for dancing around in the street and walking back to his vehicle like he should have he will still be alive today. Instead Deputy Dinkheller was afraid of being sued and did not deploy his taser. Had he deployed it and this man happened to of died from it everyone on digg would be freaking out and screaming to ban tasers. Walk back to your vehicle when I tell you not to, you get tased. Thats how it works with me. I am not going to get blown away like this poor deputy. I come home to my family at the end of the night.

          We don't live in some happy ***** bunny land where nothing goes wrong. Your not trained to see threats like a police officer is so of course you take objections to nearly every taser video you watch. Spend a day in the uniform and your opinion would change. Have you ever had anyone try to kill you? I imagine not.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1And those people who do die, don't die from the taser, they die from their heart being stressed, be it a medical condition or a drug overdose, or falling and hitting their heads. They've never been documented as a primary cause of death.
  • tufftugg, on 01/20/2008, -10/+5Now listen to what your told. Your leaders say it's safe and good, so it's safe and good. Darn Herd getting all uppity, and trying to think for themselves.
    • Rheic, on 01/20/2008, -2/+7I know! These damn sheeples just won't agree with you no matter how many times you tell them they're brainwashed morons. Obviously it cant be that they've just reached a different conclusion than you have, that would be unthinkable. OPEN YOUR EYES SHEEPLE! UNPLUG YOURSELF FROM THE MATRIX! 9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB etc.

      /sarcasm
    • arcangelgabriel, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2How's freshman year in college?
  • Mandeponium, on 01/20/2008, -4/+10Is there some way I can customize my front page to not show taser stories?
  • r3bol, on 01/20/2008, -5/+15IMO the police didn't do anything wrong in this situation. If it was the US and the guy was threatening the officer with a knife, he would have been shot.
    • boingspring, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2That doesn't make it right.
      • burrgrinder, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1How so? There is no "nice" way to disarm someone with a knife. Talking only gets you so far, and since the guy threatening the cops with it, threatened to kill his mother, and was injuring himself with the knife, I'd say they were totally in the right.

        I guess you don't realize how dangerous a 9in knife blade is. Properly used, you can basically disable people for life (or kill them) with a single slash. 9 inches is also enough to penetrate any organ in your body from just about any angle. Oh, and he won't run out of ammunition with a knife either. This guy should have been shot.
  • sidneylopsides, on 01/20/2008, -0/+6Actually, it's possible the Taser could have saved him, but actually wasn't used right. If he was shot, then went into the house and injured himself (probably with the knife) the Taser didn't do what they wanted it to, which was to stop him causing a more serious injury to himself. Maybe this is the first case of a Taser actually not being used enough on a person, if he was truly incapacitated by it he wouldn't have been able to injure himself further. I'm not making an argument for using Tasers here, just the conclusion I come to after reading the article.
  • mceggy, on 01/20/2008, -5/+6I don't see the Taser 'problem' getting to the extent of that in the US, saying as British police officers aren't pussified idiots.
    • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2True, all those deliberate convictions of innocent Irish were an abberation in an otherwise marvellous system. It took what, 12 years for the Birmingham 6 to get free? And the others?
      Cops are cops all over the world. The dirty ones do what they want. The others are too scared to speak up, or don't want to besmirch the reputations of all policemen. The prosecutors don't care what happened as long as they get a conviction. Justice is just a vague concept off on the horizon. Once a mistake has been made, for heavens' sake don't admit it, or the public will question everything.
  • OJdidntdoIT, on 01/20/2008, -3/+8I'd rather get Tasered than Shot any day.
    • SillyDigger, on 01/20/2008, -6/+2I'd rather get a lobotomy than go to prison... any day ....hands down ...bob's your uncle ....you bet your bippy and the other tired cliches.

      /disgusted
    • neocr0n, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4but really are either of those necessary when we are talking about unarmed people? I realize the taser was brought about to combat people with bats/knives etc from a safe distance but they are such a convenience police are using them on anyone these days.
  • wastedlife, on 01/20/2008, -3/+8I'm not a fan of tasers coming to the UK, but burried as inaccurate

    "He was then shot with the police Taser gun.
    "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.
    "When officers found him, he was in urgent need of medical attention." "
    • Double-Z, on 01/20/2008, -3/+2Quite right. The facts seem now to be different to the original, breaking news story. Thanks for clearing it up. Although my feelings on Tasers have not changed, it seems less likely that the Taser was what caused the death.
    • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -2/+1They cops pointedly don't explain why he was in need of attention. Slashes or electroshock convulsions? The omssion tells us a lot. If they were sure he was dying from knife wounds, they would have said so.
  • ciaran036, on 01/20/2008, -3/+1of course!
  • skyfyre, on 01/20/2008, -2/+15Buried as inaccurate Taser trolling. The guy got tased, yeah, but he also inflicted injuries to himself, possibly with the knife he was threatening the cops and his mother with.
  • HappyScrappy, on 01/20/2008, -5/+1
    Last Updated: Sunday, 20 January 2008, 16:35 GMT
    E-mail this to a friend Printable version
    Man dies after police called out
    Scenes of crime officer
    The man had inflicted a serious injury on himself, police said
    A man has died following a confrontation with police in Bedford.

    He was shot with a police stun gun after threatening officers with a knife before he "inflicted a more serious injury on himself", said police.

    The incident happened at a house in The Spinney after reports of a domestic dispute between a mother and her son.

    The man, aged in his 30s, went into the house after being shot and was found in "urgent need of medical attention", police said. He died in hospital later.

    The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been informed.

    A post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death is due on Monday.

    See how a Taser works

    Terry Banthorpe, a neighbour, said the man who died had been threatening his own mother with a knife.

    He said: "We had our door open and heard the quiet, muffled voice of an old lady saying that her son was trying to kill her.

    "I've taken my dog outside the front at which point I've seen her son sort of like approaching me with a large knife, he's seen the dog and decided to back off and go back into the house which is when I've decided to call the police."

    Graphic of how a Taser gun works

    When officers arrived at the house at about 1900 GMT on Saturday they were confronted by the armed man, police said.

    He was then shot with the police Taser gun.

    "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.

    "When officers found him, he was in urgent need of medical attention."

    Stop blaming tasers for stuff they aren't responsible for.
    • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2He was then shot with the police Taser gun.
      "The man went into the house..."

      Let's blame tasers for what they don't do - they don't work. It's not a stun gun, it's a pain gun. Suffciently irrational people can ignore the pain of electrocution.
    • HappyScrappy, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1I apologize for pasting that much in there. I thought I only put in two sentences, this part.

      'When officers arrived at the house at about 1900 GMT on Saturday they were confronted by the armed man, police said.

      He was then shot with the police Taser gun.

      "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.

      "When officers found him, he was in urgent need of medical attention." '
  • Caeili, on 01/20/2008, -5/+5If you do not run from the cop, he/she will not tazer you.

    Fact
    • moxley, on 01/20/2008, -3/+5ummm ........*****.

      There are good uses for these and plenty of good cops, but there are also bad cops and I have seen plenty of video where people were not running or acting threatening and were tasered.
    • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2They are SUPPOSED to limit taser use to threatening situations. Running away is not threatening (excet maybe career-limiting for the cop).
      Try shooting someone in the back and claiming self-defense. Only works for the police.
  • lenninct, on 01/20/2008, -2/+6one less SOB on this world.
  • jellygraph, on 01/20/2008, -8/+2"He was shot with a police stun gun after threatening officers with a knife before he "inflicted a more serious injury on himself", said police."

    seriously... can you explain what these injuries are? no? oh... you mean things like burn marks caused by electrocution? ah I see... clearly he did this to himself, you know, for whatever reason
    • wastedlife, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3More like he used the knife to cut himself pretty deeply.
    • mike17032, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1Are you really that stupid?
    • jellygraph, on 02/06/2008, -0/+1have you never heard of sarcasm?
  • letherial, on 01/20/2008, -0/+6now i have heard of people being tased for not signing ticked, for getting loud, for stupid reason.....but this guy had a knife, now im no cop or anything but he was a danger AND he was threating to kill somone, it seems to me this is a point where a taser should be used instead of a gun. its the guys own fault, he was a danger to the officer and other people around.
  • Ostizzle, on 01/20/2008, -2/+9The threat of a knife is universally accepted throughout law enforcement as an automatic qualifier for the use of deadly force.
    The Tueller Drill is a well known training exercise that demonstrates why this is so. For anybody that cares to actually understand why the threat of a knife is so deadly rather than jump on the knee-jerk *****-the-police-bandwagon, I would highly recommend you read the following:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill

    To summarize, an armed attacker can close a distance of 21 feet in 1.5 seconds. A determined attacked can fight through being shot unless it is a disabling shot to his central nervous system or he dies from blood loss. It takes one slash to the carotid of the police officer to turn this into a fatal encounter. The officers would have been justified in emptying their magazines into the guy had he made any sort of approach after they no doubt ordered him to drop the knife several times. Instead, they attempted to subdue the man using less-lethal force, leaving the possibility for him to survive the encounter although he could have justifiably caught a bullet to the brain. He died. Do we know why? No, but that certainly won't keep the pussy, liberal, monday-morning-quarterbacks from their rabid anti-police speculation.

    Apparently some people missed this part in the article:
    "The man went into the house where he inflicted a more serious injury on himself," said Bedfordshire Police.

    "When officers found him, he was in urgent need of medical attention."

    • moxley, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Good reply.

      I don't know enough about this particular case to know how justifiable the use was; if the guy had a weapon he was refusing to drop after clear orders then that is justification pretty much. However, in the US we have seen a lot of abusive use of tasers lately in situations where there hasn't been a weapon or threat to the officer. the taser has been used to shut people up, or to deal with people who were questioning the police about why they were stopped. That is not appropriate use.
      • Ostizzle, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1This is a cut and dry example of justifiable force. There really is no discussion to be had about whether the Taser was warranted in this situation, it absolutely and unequivocally was.

        The problem in the US is that people don't understand where the Taser falls in the use of force continuum. Contrary to popular belief, the Taser is not intended to be an alternative to deadly force. An officer's life does not need to be threatened in order for the Taser to be used. There are very few absolutes when it comes to the use of force so it is impossible for me to try and describe appropriate use of a Taser as every situation is different and the totality of the circumstances always come into play (age/size/disposition/location/number of people/drug use/past history/skill level of the subjects involved). I will say that the only video I have seen on Digg where I believed the level of force used to be inappropriate was the video of the Austin, TX officer that tased the driver within 45 seconds of initiating the stop. While I may have PERSONALLY handled other situations differently in some of the other videos I've seen, the officers were justified in their actions and could no doubt articulate why they felt the Taser to be necessary.

        What people don't seem to understand is that when a police officer directs someone to do something (I'm assuming a perfect situation where everyone agrees that the officer is giving a lawful order) and that person refuses, they have just escalated the situation on their own behalf. The officer asks you, tells you, and then makes you if reasoning has failed up to that point. If someone has demonstrated that they are going to be non-compliant then they have chosen the path they are heading down. The "making" part is what people seem to be up in arms about, specifically the use of the Taser.

        I see people talk about how police are "pussies" because they resort to the use of the Taser rather than physical force. Firstly, many police departments place the Taser lower on the force continuum than physical force as the chances of injury are much lower. Regardless of what diggtards believe, and according to a recent independent study conducted by medical professionals (I'll search for it if you'd really like), only around 1% of all Taser deployments have resulted in serious injury, usually from falling to the ground. Secondly, the moment a confrontation turns physical, the possibility of it becoming lethal increase ten-fold as a lethal weapon has just entered the situation: Rolling around with someone opens up the opportunity for the officer's gun to be grabbed and used against him. Police officers are not psychic and do not know the disposition or intentions of the person they are dealing with. If that person has already demonstrated that they are non-compliant the officer needs to be prepared for the worst and this means keeping a distance. Being in close can easily turn deadly.

        Police are not UFC fighters or martial arts experts. They are not paid to fight fair and dance around exchanging blows. They are taught to keep in control of a situation, always staying one step ahead in the encounter to lessen the chances of it getting out of control.
    • richard2, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3In the UK, Police officers do not carry firearms, except in rare and special circumstances.

      Perhaps you should try ascertaining which country, and even which continent an article concerns before attempting to make an argument.
      • Ostizzle, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1My point was that people are complaining of excessive force by Taser when the use of deadly force, a firearm, would have been justified.

        Excellent reading comprehension on your part though.
    • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1Good reply but -
      If the person makes no indication he is moving toward you - or threatening a nearby person - then the 21-foot rule is moot. You have plenty of time to draw and prepare before he begins to move. What's the distance once you have your weapon drawn and pointed? (which I presume happens at the first report or sighting of a knife or wounded 3rd-parties?).

      I saw that bit in the paper - it said urgent need of medical attention.. was he suffering from knife wounds or from convulsions brought on by tasering? Oddly enough the news ( so presumably the police) failed to mention that detail - for a reason, I'm forced to assume.

      The paper also said he was threatening others. Why did they let him run inside if they could not be sure there were not hostages in there? Answer, because they couldn't stop him, THE TASER WAS USELESS!
      News reports continue to indicate, the more agitated and irrational the perp, the less likely a taser will subdue him. But those are the very people a taser should be reserved for. (Shock him often enough and he will collapse, sometimes permanently).
      • Ostizzle, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1I'm not completely sure what your argument is. Not to be rude, you just seem to jump all over the place.

        I used the 21 foot rule as an explanation for why the mere presence of a knife in the hands of the subject automatically escalated the situation to a deadly force scenario, especially considering the fact that he had already threatened to injure others.

        What is the distance of what once you have your weapon drawn and pointed? There is no solid distance that automatically rules a shooting as justified or unjustified. The 21 foot rule merely demonstrates the potential for lethality when a subject with a knife is involved. Regardless of whether or not you have your weapon drawn, the situation is still dangerous because, as I explained, a determined attacked can fight through being shot unless it disables his central nervous system or he bleeds out.

        "the more agitated and irrational the perp, the less likely a taser will subdue him"

        You're making an assumption without all the facts. We don't know why the Taser failed in this situation. Maybe both probes didn't make contact or they did and he was wearing thick clothes which prevented the circuit from being made. It doesn't make any difference how agitated someone is, the Taser doesn't work on pain compliance. The Taser disrupts the nervous system, one cannot fight their way through it because the nerve impulses their brain is giving their muscles are drowned out by the Taser.
        • ScannerMobs, on 01/22/2008, -0/+0I agree, the 21 foot rule is a good example of knowledge leading to proper use of weapons to cover a range of circumstances. If a weapon works, use it. Even better if it can minimise risk of injury against an assailant.

          Its as if people actually expect whatever method gets used to have a perfectly squeeky clean track record - we are talking about criminals an violence here, stuff will go wrong, these situations by definition are unpredictable and police need to have the right knowledge and tools to be able to deal with them correctly. Tasers may not work in some situations (would be terrible in a riot) but when it comes to taking down someone in close range I think they are much more suitable than people give them credit.

          Hopefully the odd person suffering misfortune and ending up with critical injuries through their use will at least serve as a deterrent for the next madman.
  • Elderon, on 01/20/2008, -2/+5I wasn't there so I can't say yea or nay to this story, but if it's true than this is one time that I've read of that the cops were appropriate in their use of the taser. The man was armed with a knife. This wasn't a "talk him down bit" this was a "this guy is gonna attack us with a knife" moment. I'm curious what sort of wounds this guy did to himself, stabbing? slit wrists? ... what did he do? Though one thing I don't understand. From everything I've ever seen of tasers, it is impossible to move or do pretty much anything when you are being tased so how did this guy manage to not only stay standing, but also flee from them into the house to hurt himself? Only thing I can think of is this was one of those guns that you have to touch someone with the prongs. Maybe the batteries didn't work? just seems a bit strange.
  • drakia, on 01/20/2008, -2/+5I'm not reading all the comments, from the first bunch nobody actually read the article. The man was tazered cause he had a knife, and was threatening people. He then went inside and cut HIMSELF with the knife, he didn't die from the tazer, he killed himself.
    ***** people, learn how to RTFA
    • Double-Z, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3Well, you are almost correct. At the time of the headline breaking, the facts were not presented in this order. Since this page on the BBC website has been updated, the facts appear to be quite different. So, in essence, RTFA isn't applicable, because the 'A' has changed. Thanks for the comment though.
  • DaviDaviDaviD, on 01/20/2008, -2/+4Let's just hope that our police here in the UK get better training than those in the USA. Otherwise, the police were perfectly in their rights to use the taser.
  • Akraz, on 01/20/2008, -3/+3Im getting ***** sick of the same old ***** on this ***** website. ***** tasers. ***** you. ***** guns. ***** rapists, killers and punk *****
  • keepinithamsta, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4CHARGIN MAH TAZOR! PEWPEWPEW!
  • tacklebox, on 01/20/2008, -5/+2You know what they used to do before tasers? They'd shoot them. I vote we go back to shooting people who resist arrest.
    • richard2, on 01/20/2008, -0/+3No, they would have tried to calm him verbally or hit him with a baton.
    • sigg14, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1maybe we should go back to when the cops could not use deadly force except in defense of their own lives or the lives of a citizen. ***** pepper spray would have worked fine. these tazers got to go, especially since any ***** with a ghd can be a cop
      • mrremy, on 01/21/2008, -0/+0your pepper spray against me with a knife.
        I would bet my life on me winning.
  • paramed1c, on 01/20/2008, -2/+2I was 'required' to attend a 3 day 'Custody Paramedic' course a while back because the NHS Ambulance Trust I work for has a private contract with a county police service to provide paramedics instead of doctors to evaluate 'detained persons' (we're not allowed to call them patients). It's not popular with boys and girls on the NHS's front-line.
    Saves the home office a shed-load of cash at the expense of the NHS and the (hypothetical) asthmatic child dying in her mother's arms because the nearest paramedic is in the local nick giving a paracetamol to a piss-head with a headache. Anyway, that's a whole other rant and I digress...
    During the course a firearms officer gives a demonstration of the taser and repeatedly tells us how safe it is and how much it's been tested blah, blah. He tells us that it must be fired at the victims torso and never the head. He then proceeds to shoot the thing at a human shaped target covered with a metallic mesh.
    He hits the target on the neck just below the ear. This guy is a firearms training officer and is 2 meters from the target in a windless room for ***** sake!
    Boy how we laughed...
  • JoaoPe, on 01/20/2008, -0/+1At some point all Humanity will die with tasers and the last cop alive will taser himself as we've already seen!
  • mastermagician, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2How do you shoot someone with police? And my prayers go out to the family of the deceased taser.
  • nightwing2000, on 01/20/2008, -5/+1Tasers are dangerous and useless.
    First, tasers are electrocution. The dose is usually sublethal, but it's electrocution. We used to execute people this way.
    Secondly, police seem to delight in using them over and over. The article suggests but does not explicitly say that he was only electrocuted once. If so, that is unusual. Most reported deaths involve several shots. The Polish guy in Vancouver was electrocuted 5 times for throwing a chair and computer terminal as 3 or 4 police came at him. Like they really needed to kill him to subdue him... in fact they already had him on the ground at that point and kept zapping, what was the point?
    Third, police are under the misapprehension these are SAFE. They are not. 99.99% means one in 10,000 dies. better than bullets, but still not a great statistic. Somehow I'm 99.99% is made up. Would you give police carte blanche to use a device with the slightest provocation, if it gives a 1:10,000 chance of killing you?
    Fourth, there's a peculiar mentality with some policemen. They are NOT civil servants, they seem to think they can throw their weight around and the rest of the force will cover up for them. They aren't allowed to punch you in the face, but they are allowed to taser you for the least backtalk, and make excuses later.
    We hear reports of incidents like a lady tasered for refusing to hang up her cellphone and get out of the car during a traffic stop. We hear of police tasering a man getting into an argument in a family restaurant. The guy at the John Kerry function ("Don't tase me bro!") was electrocuted multiple times, for pulling away from the security guards and not handing over the microphone. All real threats to others...
    Fifth, tasers don't work. They call them "stun guns", but many reports seem to suggest that frequently they have little effect. Perhaps their sole purpose is to inflict strong pain? The fellow in the article "ran into the house, and inflicted more wounds on himself" after being tasered at least once. Most of the reports of tasering deaths involve multiple shots. One didn't do it? Give him 5! Effective stun gun, eh? If he didn't drop with 1, why try the second time? If 3 didn't do it, why would you think 5 would? Would you work with a gun that gives you only a chance of demobilzing a dangerous attacker? The most dangerous irrational and unbalanced ones seem to be the ones least affected by this electrocution treatment.

    • Ostizzle, on 01/20/2008, -1/+2Wow. So many logical fallacies, misinformation, and errors in reasoning in one post. I'm not even going to touch this.
  • HolmWrecker, on 01/20/2008, -1/+3It's simple cause and effect. Don't want to be tazed? Do what the cop tells you to do. If not, the zappin' begins. The tazings I've witnessed are actually hilarious to me...the baddest, toughest dude will be reduced to a slobbering, blubbering, wet his pants blob of shaking jello. Good times.
    Too bad dude died. I feel more sorry for the cop who has to be griefing over this badly.
    • sigg14, on 01/21/2008, -1/+1why should the cops be able to use deadly force to subdue someone who is no threat to the police or any other citizen? what ever happened to the cops actually having to subdue someone themselves? are they all too pussy to risk getting a scraped knee or black eye that it is just easier to use a potentially deadly weapon on them? I feel sorry for you you are a servant to the police when it is supposed to be the other way around. go watch some more TV you ***** cop loving sheep
      • mrremy, on 01/21/2008, -0/+1I don't even know where to begin with this one.

        Did you even read the article? The man had a ***** knife. He threatened to kill his mother. Even the most skilled persons in the art of disarming have been lethally injured as a result of trying to "disarm" a knife wielding suspect.

        Too pussy for getting a scraped knee? Try getting stabbed. They don't get paid to fight fair, they get paid to maintain order. A crazy man wielding a knife does NOT constitute order.

        Your stupidity amazes me.
  • Henwood, on 01/20/2008, -1/+4Digg needs to get over it's obsession with Tasers, I'd much rather be shot with a Taser than a real gun like the Brazillian electrician who was shot by mistake after the failed 21/7 bombings.
  • poppacherry, on 01/20/2008, -1/+1BRO, WHATS UP WITH THAT?!
  • markgl, on 01/20/2008, -0/+2well i guess they'll go back to handguns and shotguns instead. they'll just put 3 someone's chest instead of tazing them!
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