Once again we hear about an innocent person being killed by 4 cops using tasers at the Vancouver airport. His only crime was not speaking English, and the taser use was unnecessary.
Should tasers be banned? Should cops that kill innocent, unarmed people with tasers be charged with murder?
2007-11-15 01:35:29 · 21 answers · asked by Tom S 7 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
no
2007-11-15 01:37:18 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Define "too many". Having been trained on the use of Tasers by the people who make and sell the units it's my understanding that perhaps 1-3 people per year might die after having been tased. This is a less that lethal devise that has saved many more lives of both LE and citizens that it will ever kill.
How do you know the victim's "only crime was not speaking English"? Were you there, do you have ALL the facts as to why the officers felt they needed to use their Tasers?
Should Tasers be banned ? That's up to your government I suppose but then it takes an option away from the police and would likely result in even more deaths when there are conflicts between LE and suspects. As for murder charges, if an investigation shows the tasing was unnecessary etc... I suspect charges my be brought against the officers.
2007-11-15 02:32:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Here is the problem. If you take away the use of non-lethal force the officer has one step - shoot.
Non-lethal force must remain and should become the standard method for immobilizing people.
officers carry guns and therefore really can't afford to be wrestling with people. If the person they are wrestling with gets their gun the officer is screwed.
I would agree that the officer in question was not able to react to the situation properly and should not be an officer any longer if it is proven that he used a taser without a need. So get rid of the bad cops and keep the taser and develop better non-lethal weapons.
2007-11-15 01:45:02 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Look at all of the research. Not one person has been killed solely by a taser.
The people that say tasers are killing people are using flawed logic. They believe if you do A and B happens then A was the cause of B. With that logic if I were to drink water before I go to bed and I die in my sleep that night the water is what killed me. So then should we ban the drinking of water before bed?
2007-11-15 09:49:43 · answer #4 · answered by Justin S 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yeah, I suppose a taser could kill someone if it was used too excessively and could cause a freaking heart attack! That would be awful.
YES, cops should be charged with MURDER if someone dies from being shot by a taser. If the cop used it the wrong way.
Should tasers be "banned"? No, because it's less lethal then a gun and they are sometimes needed to control a perp who is not cooperating.
Cheers
2007-11-15 01:39:54 · answer #5 · answered by Daft One 6 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Tasers rarely kill people. If you look at the mortality rate of the taser, and compare it to similar tools used in those situations (guns, batons, rubber-bullet guns) you will see that the taser is the safest one. If it killed someone, it's because it was set to. Turn them down low, and it's not lethal. I'm not familiar with the Vancouver incident so I can't comment, but something tells me it's a lot more than someone not being able to speak English (common sense anyone?).
2007-11-15 01:54:25 · answer #6 · answered by Pfo 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Tasers are an excuse for sloppy, lazy policework. If you crack a guy in the face with a baton, everyone knows it's serious, so the cop better have a good reason. Giving lazy cops an easy out by providing them with 'safe' tasers is a joke and diminishes the hard work that the real cops do out there everyday. Just look at what happened in Boston when the police shot that girl in the eye with the pepper spray canister. Not only was she an innocent bystander, but she died one of the most horrific deaths I could imagine. A leaking hot pepper spray can lodged in your skull through your eye socket. They were quick to shoot because it was a 'less-than-lethal' weapon. No danger there right?
2007-11-15 01:43:48 · answer #7 · answered by ryan c 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋
I Love cops.. But a cop that fights an American that is unarmed is a PIG.. A cop that kills an unarmed American is a terrorist... and to tell the truth MOST cops will draw their gun and kill an American teen but does not have what it takes to join the army to fight the real enemy...
I found that cops taser themselves to KNOW THE POWER of the taser AND YET are will to taser someone ten and twenty seconds longer than anything they themselves would want done to themselves
2007-11-15 01:57:32 · answer #8 · answered by dr.housecall 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
the officers would not have tasered someone unless they felt their life or other civilian lives were in danger. In this case, they police could have used deadly force (i.e. their service pistols) rather than the taser. Would anyone have argued that the police should be prosecuted for murder if they would have shot him? probably not. Police arent trigger happy people who look forward to killing people!
2007-11-15 03:48:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, the chances of killing someone with a tazer is incredibly small. Cops are more likely to kill someone just wrestling with them.
The nature of police work involves constant exposure to confrontational circumstances with complete strangers. In these circumstances, people are often injured and occasionally die, with or without the police. Charging cops with crimes for freak incidents would just criminalize a bunch of good citizens.
2007-11-15 02:45:15 · answer #10 · answered by Benjamin Gladstone 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Normally a Good method to subdue and assailant-However I think you'll find that a Cop in Vancouver Airport Used His Knee on this Guys Neck!(Maybe that had an over-riding affect on this Gentleman demise!)
2007-11-15 01:39:27 · answer #11 · answered by J. Charles 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋