Are the Police abusing the use of the taser?

Question

I know that the majority of police are good. But do you feel that the the taser is being used too often now?

I'm pnly asking because I have seen Police use the taser in situtations that were not appropriate.

The situation(s) saw were that the person was not cooperating fast enough..Not resisting just asking for a explanation as to why they were being detained. The person who I saw tased was a 100 lb girl.

Another time was a 60 yr old business man who would not get out of his car that was going to be towed. He was taken away by ambulance , complaining of chest pains.

Answer 1

They have dangerous jobs - they deal with drunks, drug addicts, murderers, rapists - all people who would likely use force to escape capture.
tasers allow them to do their jobs with less fear of being injured or injuring someone else. more tasers = less guns I'm guessing, so it can't be all that bad.

Answer 2

I think that some cops have forgotten how to put their hands on people and use the taser instead.

The 100 lb girl that was asking for an explanation? Would I use the taser, no, I'd throw her in cuffs and move her. And a 60 year old man, not getting out of a car, could go either way, I'd probably use my taser. My father is 60 and he can still give me a pretty goood run for my money.

I think that some guys get the taser and forget about the rest of the ways we learn to gain compliance. One of the videos I laugh at is the University cops that kept tasering the guy that would show ID. Yeah, what they did was correct, BUT I kinda though they looked foolish by repeating, the ask then shock routine, so many times.....The guy wasnt a big guy or anything, if it didnt work the first 2 or 3 times and he just kept blah, blah, blahing about his rights, Then forget the taser, put the cuffs on and toss him out...charge him with discon or tresspass or whatever other charges there were and not look foolish, arguing with some brat about what he thinks his "rights" were.

So, abusing the taser, I wouldnt say that. But I do think that some guys should remember the ASP, Baton, Cuff Control techniques.....Those work as well, and sometimes even better.

And yes, being tased isnt the greatest feeling in the world, but its not that bad....We all have to get taser and pepper sprayed in the academy.

Answer 3

No I don't think that the Taser is being abused. I think that people complain about it being abused. I would rather go to my taser than my ASP anyday.

So, a 100 girl got tased. Why, because she did not comply? Fair enough. Did you think that the officer did not grab her or go hands on because he was bigger? I for instance what if I tased someone because they resisted and I was infact twice there size. Yes, twice there size. I'm 6'5" 270 it happens sometimes were little people want to fight. So? Resistance is resistance. Policy is policy. Does it look good for the media if a "giant" grabs some little guy and tosses him to the ground? You can thank the liberal media (all at once now!) or does it look better if he falls to the ground and says, "ok I'm done."

The elderly gentleman...He didn't comply either. How many times should he be told to step out of the car? 1, 2, 10, ?....An inaction is non-compliance.

Now, I personally only like to use my taser on foot chases. I have used it twice in the two years I have had it, and both were while people were running away. Well, they tried to. As long as I can get within 21 feet and get a red dot on them they're mine.

Answer 4

In my day the weapon of choice was a nightstick. By God I loved that tool! One good crack across the kneecap and it was down for the count with anyone who was a recipient of it.
However in this kinder and gentler world technolgy eliminated mace and gave us pepper spray. Placed the nightstick back on the shelf and gave us tasers, beanbag shotguns and flex cuffs.
I guess its all for the good but realize that no matter what happens there will always be someone in the general public whining about alleged cases of brutality and misuse of non-lethal weapons.
Plus the police today are more apt to use something along these lines versus having to actually get physical with people as was the case in my street days...which have been gone for these 3 or 4 years now. The injury claims from officers may have dropped because of this but the taser seems to be the best control device whereas pepper spray has a tendency to not always be effective and if applied to your target too close (forget a breezy day) than you also get the effect as well.
But...people who are tased did not follow the one, simple rule. When the police officer says "Stop, comply and submit to the arrest" do so. Ignoring, fighting, telling the cop to go f**k himself/herself will start the ball rolling so you can get lit up like the Christmas tree at Rockerfeller Center.
I think the real answer to your question is there are many more people ignoring/challenging police officers. Take your challenge to court...thats the forum for it. Not the streets.

Answer 5

To the guy who suggested that the police themselves be tased, trust me, they are. It's a part of their academy training.

I agree with the person who was talking about the six foot forever guy. Imagine this: a 115 pound female officer pulls over a 6'4", 350 lb. guy. He's drunk. That multiplies his strength by two, if not more. She tells him to put his hands behind his back, under arrest, and he picks her up and throws her down on the ground. Now, would you rather she shoot him, which she has every right to do, her life is in danger, or would you rather she pull out a taser and pop him with some electricity? It's not like she's gonna sit there and rapid fire the damn thing. Some men, when they're NOT drunk, have the strength of a mad bull, so add drugs, alcohol, or a severe hate for the police to that, and you need something a little stronger than, "Put your hands behind your back. I'm placing you under arrest for ...... You have the right to remain silent, etc."

I say, bring on the taser. I want one of those kind that shoot the fire balls at you. Won't ever get one, but I want one!

Answer 6

I don't think that they are using it enough.

You said that the girl was just asking for an explanation. Why didn't she do what the cop told her to do, and then when the ordeal was over, ask for an explanation. The cop MAY have been looking for someone who looked like your friend. The person the cop may have been looking for may have just committed a violent crime. WE DON'T KNOW.

Here's a fact, law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every minute that they are at work, and sometimes when they are off. They do NOT have time to explain things to everyone who asks, nor do they have time to wait for someone to pull something out of their pocket, which could be a knife, gun, or a condom.

I'll be the first to admit that there are some bad cops out there. There are cops that get a kick out of hurting people and being a bully, but which ones are they? Just do what they say, when they say, and nobody gets tazed. Nobody gets hurt.

Answer 7

On a very small percentage, some cops might get out of hand , but for the most part, many people do not obey police and many times question their actions. When police arrive to a scene, they do not know automaticaly what is going on and need to secure the situation and anyone not following the orders of police, or are being defiant, need to be controlled in order to safely secure the situation and then find out what is going on. Many people under the infulence want to challenge police, and in order to get cooperation, someone might get tazed, and if you ask me, I think that everyone one will agreee with me 100%, that you rather have me taze you to control you, than to let my 4 legged land shark, put you in your place???? Its a tough call, and until your in that officers shoes you have to make split second deceisions, than aftetr the fact, try and break down the situation and then come up with, "what if's"..?????

Answer 8

My department was just issued the taser and I think this brings up a really good question.

I have noticed, especially in the newer officers, that there seems to be a mental dependence on the taser. There's this new feeling that "well, if things get rough, I'll just tase them". Now, every one of us was tased (some of us twice) in the course of our training, so we know what that thing feels like and it ain't pretty. So, it's definitely not a matter of wanting to see how it works or what it does. It seems to me to be a matter of knowing that there's another tool we can use to do our job. However, I do worry that my fellow officers will put themselves in riskier situations than before because they think that the taser will back them up if they get in trouble, whereas before they didn't have that luxury - and I think that's a real problem.

On the flipside, there really were a lot of issues that we were inadequately equipped to deal with until the issue of the taser. For example, someone is seriously resisting arrest. He's 6-foot-forever, weighs more than your average 18-wheeler, and is just giving you outright hell. What were our options?
Well, we had the pepper spray. But pepper spray could blow in the wind and end up getting all over you and any of your partners, making you suffer damn-near as much as they were. That's no good.
There was the billy club. But some people are just absolutely immune to that thing - I mean, this guy is so huge it'll probably break if we hit him hard enough. And it can also cause some serious damage. What if our detainee isn't that big? What if they're 100 pounds soaking wet, but they're so hopped up on drugs that they could take on King Kong? I don't want to be hitting they're rail-thin arms and legs with a stick...
And then the gun. Yeah... because that makes a hell of a lot of sense -- I can't get the cuffs on him so let's just shoot the guy. Uh...no.

So, in comes the taser. It delivers a 50,000 volt shock that affects both the nerves and the motor system to not only deliver pain, but to incapacitate movement. So long as I get it in my detainee, it affects him and only him... not my other officers. And the effects are short-lived. One standard engagement is 5 seconds long. Once the 5 seconds is over, you can literally pop right back up again -- which can actually be dangerous to us in some cases. But once it's over, it's over. To me, it's probably one of the best-damn things they could issue us.

So, do I think that some officers have the potential to seriously misuse this device? Absolutely. No doubt about it. And it honestly concerns me - it really does. But, overall, I think that the extensive number of situations where the taser can be used wasn't anticipated by the public and now that officers realize what a useful tool it can be, it's up to the public to understand and accept the growing capabilities of this generation's law enforcement officer.

Answer 9

Yes I think they are ! The police in the town I live in are very taser happy. I myself think that any police officer that is using a taser should have to experience being tased them self so that they know how the body reacts to being tased so that they don't just keep taseing someone when they don't open their mouth or hand ...etc not that they are refusing to do so it is that you can't ,Being tased causes the muscles to contract and you have no say in the matter. So getting tased before you get to tase someone should be a must

Answer 10

What town do you live in, that allows you to think the majority of police are good? Sure is not my town. Here they are just criminals with badges. And yes they think tasing people is a funny thing to do. But keep in mind most police are on a power trip anyway, do to the fact that they are powerless in the real world.


And for all of you whining @ss people who are saying how cops lives are on the line every minute they are on duty. I say to you that in the history of the two towns that I have lived in over the course of my 40 something years of life, not one police officer has ever been killed in the line of duty except for traffic accidents.