Should police officers be allowed to put 50,000 volts of electricity through a person using a taser?

Question

More and more often, police officers are using tasers on citizens for minor reasons.

Here is 1 videoclip of a citizen getting tasered for a minor reason.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/video/taser_video3a.html

Answer 1

No not unless there intent is to KILL just as when they shoot off the sidearm. Tasers are known to cause heart attacks and other life threatening problems.

The thing I find interesting about thing 'need for new technology' against criminals, is that criminals today are a lot less violent than they were back during prohibition and yet cops made do with their billy club and their revolver...

BTW, I don't know of any law that states that anyone must cooperate with the police... it is up to the police to charge the person if there has been an offense made then if the person refuses to follow the direction of the police THEN AND ONLY THEN can the officer legally use force to obtain said 'cooperation'.

And as far as this a$$hole cop in the video goes, he tells the tased VICTIM to put her "hands behind your back or I am going tase you again," the idiot is so stupid as to not know that once 'tased' that the victims muscles will not cooperate with her will and she is likely either frozen or in convolutions... This poor woman was guilty of "Driving While Black" and then used her constitutional rights to seek advise from the person she was speaking with on her phone...

Answer 2

I have to fully agree with Kenora. For several months I have been monitoring taser use (or better put abuse) and the consequences of being tasered and have found that being tased is as dangerous as a shot from a police issued sidearm for those at risk.

Anyone with a neurological or heart condition should not be struck with a taser. Anyone on a number of prescription medications or high on many of the available street/recreational drugs should not be tasered. Pregnant women, anyone under 19 y/o or over 60 should not be tasered. So why with so many people that are at risk from being tasered should an offices have such a weapon?

With so many exclusions to who can be tasered (only about 20% of the population can 'safely' be tasered), how can an adrenaline high officer determine if taser use is appropriate??? I don't know about the police with the taser in their hands, but I can't see a heart condition, neurological condition, 1st term pregnancy, or know what prescription drugs a person is on.... Perhaps they are implanted with some sort of detection system at the academy?!?!?

For some reason many police officers do not understand that they are not the law; the court is. Many police seem to think they are judge and jury and like the video showed if one doesn't do as the 'judge' orders then you will be assaulted prior to arrest.... and prior to a real trial with a real judge...

Answer 3

The Voltage has nothing to do with it, it's the current that is dangerous. You can put a million volts through someone if their body has enough resistance on it. So find out how many milliamps you're working with and then you can decide if it's too much.

Personally I'm all for it. Put yourself in a cops shoes, there are so many people that when they get pulled over they do something stupid like get out of their car or put their hand in the pocket quickly. Cops have a split second to decide what to do. It could be nothing or he could be reaching for a gun....you just don't know. Personally, if I had to choose whether to have a cop shoot me or use non lethal force like a tazer, i'll take the tazer any day. Of course there are cops who go over the top and do too much, but I feel they get all the news coverage and they're few and far between.

Answer 4

The answer is "NO"...they should NOT be allowed to use them. The thing that is dangerous about tasers, is that if used upon someone who has a bad heart it could kill them, and if killed by a taser, there's a good chance that they may not be able to resuscitate the person they put down by using the taser. The problem today is that the police are given too much authority already...and our civil goverments have already given the police too much authority. But I already know that it will never be reversed; the police will only be given greater authority in the near future. But the Taser should be outlawed by the governments because a taser can "kill" a person with a bad or murmmering heart condition.

Answer 5

Yes, if the STUPID people dont stop like they were asked, why not?
Way too many officers have been gunned down, their own guns taken from them by these idiots,for what? To protect you and every other whinny butt person who calls when they need help.And if you think that cops dont need to use this type of force, then dont do things your not suppose to do. I went through the police academy, and let me tell you all this. Every person who goes through these type of training does get tasers, pepper spray, the club used on us. The reason behind all of this, is in case we are in the middle and we end up getting pepper sprayed, tasered, hit, we know how to handle ourselves in this type of situation. If this woman would of done what the officer said the first time, she wouldn't be laying on the ground crying now would she?

Answer 6

Yes. The police are faced with violent criminals on a near daily basis. Any tool that saves their lives and the lives of suspects is a good thing. I believe tasers are a good alternative to deadly force.

There may be some misuse, but the misuse of a firearm has much more severe consequences.

Answer 7

Postal Workers

Answer 8

YES, YES, YES....if people want to be criminals and they have no regard for the basic laws of the land they have to also be willing to accept the consequences and whatever methods law enforcement deems necessary to subdue them. I sleep better knowing that they have these tools at their disposal for the idoits who can't or better yet, won't hold down a real job.

Answer 9

First she caused herself to be tazzed.
Second, the officer acted in accordance to his training.
Third, the woman should have cooperated with the officer instead of being a drama queen.

Answer 10

Well...

i still have to say that its better than a citizen getting shot and, in some cases, killed for a minor reason. Which they still seem to do a lot of in chicago.