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Tony McNulty says British police can use Tasers on children · 353 days ago
From the Daily Mail
Until now, Tasers – which emit a 50,000-volt electric shock – have been used only by specialist officers as a “non lethal” alternative to firearms.
However, they can now be used against all potentially violent offenders even if they are unarmed.
It is the decision not to ban their use against minors that is likely to raise serious concerns.
Home Office Police Minister Tony McNulty said medical assessments had confirmed the risk of death or serious injury from Tasers was “low”.
But he failed to mention Government advisers had also warned of a potential risk to children.
— SWAT Team
Lorain, OH police arrest former Taser victim on new charges · 364 days ago
Fresh wounds for a Lorain, OH resident and former Taser victim. A judge issued a protective order that bars her from contact with her 6 year old daughter.
From The Chronicle-Telegram:
In November, Fretter was stunned with a Taser while in handcuffs in the Sheffield Police Department booking room after being picked up for drunken driving. The officer who fired the Taser, Edward Long, resigned, and charges were dropped against Fretter in exchange for her promise to not sue the village.
— SWAT Team
Lorain, Ohio police arrest 9, Taser 1 · 364 days ago
What was described by the local media as a “riot” resulted in the arrests of 9 bar patrons on the last day of July. When the first officers on the scene had to put up with an obnoxious crowd, they called for backup and 10 more officers arrived on the scene. A Taser assault against a bar patron took place during the ordeal that ended with 9 customers in handcuffs.
From Fight at Red Parrot nets 9 arrests:
Lorain police Sgt. James Wolford wrote in his report the Red Parrot Lounge has become a ‘‘nuisance’‘ to the downtown Lorain area.
— SWAT Team
Westerville, Ohio police officers use Taser on naked student prankster · 568 days ago
From Northwest Florida Daily News:
A high school lunch period was disrupted by a greased, naked student prankster who ran around screaming and flailing his arms until police twice used a stun gun on him, authorities said.Taylor Killian, 18, had rubbed his body with oil to keep from being caught, and got up after the first time he was shocked to continue running toward a group of frightened students huddled in a corner at Westerville North High School, Lt. Jeff Gaylor said Monday.
“That prank went a little farther than he intended, I guess,” Gaylor said.
— SWAT Team
Thor Shield fabric protects against Taser stun guns · 576 days ago
This is brilliant, but sadly G2 Consulting claims to only be selling their Thor Shield product to military and law enforcement customers. I really hope somebody can find a way to get this technology distributed to the masses. Every protester in the U.S. needs this technology in these dangerous times.
From CNet News:
Thor Shield is a polyester fabric bonded to a conducted material that effectively loops the electricity coming from a nonlethal electricity weapon back to the weapon.“If you are hit, the Taser gun won’t work,” said Greg Schultz, co-owner of G2 Consulting in Tucson, Ariz., which invented Thor Shield. “We return the voltage back to the gun.”
...
Still, G2 could spawn imitators, which could create headaches for stun gun manufacturers and police agencies, many of which have said that stun guns reduce the number of incidents in which police officers have to fire bullets.
— SWAT Team
Comment [2]
Houston mayor calls for indepedent review of Taser use · 603 days ago
Since December 2004, the Houston Police Department has used Tasers 1000 times. In this article, Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt mentions his staff has identified 39 instances in which officers used Tasers on armed suspects where they otherwise would have used a firearm. That’s all well and good, but what about the 961 other instances that they used Tasers on people, mostly minorities? What is the justification for that?
From The Washington Post:
Police data show that in almost 1,000 Taser deployments since December 2004, 63 percent of the suspects were black. Houston’s population of 1.95 million is 25 percent black.“If that brother was not a Texans football player, if that brother didn’t have the resources that he has, he would have been another big brother that was Tased, and that’s it,” said New Black Panther Nation’s Quanell X, who organized a community meeting with police officials earlier this month to discuss Taser policy and police treatment of blacks.
“Not until a high-profile African-American football player was Tased did the city sit up and notice,” he said. “We need a cease-and-desist order of those Tasers until there is a complete and independent study of their use.”
For a year, Houston City Council member Ada Edwards, who is black, has sought a medical study on the effects of the Taser and also a moratorium on its use because “we have such a preponderance of minorities being Tased,” she said.
Now Mayor Bill White has called for an independent review of Taser use.
— SWAT Team
Being nude and hostile in public leads to death sentence without a trial · 609 days ago
I’m not sure I understand why it’s department policy in Lafayette, LA for an aggressive, unarmed nude man to be considered enough of a danger to officers that they could have used a gun on him. Whether this man was mentally ill or under the influence of drugs, I think a more reasonable department policy would be for police officers to restrain unarmed suspects without the use of firearms or Tasers. Would these officers have seriously shot the man 20 years ago, prior to the introduction of Tasers? How can four officers be unable to restrain a man without the use of a weapon?
From The Daily Advertiser:
Four officers were called to the Waffle House, and when the male employee freed Enard, he once again became combative toward officers, who unsuccessfully attempted to restrain him.Francis said the officers then opted to use the Taser, but it appeared to have no effect on him despite officers using it more than once.
“That’s the state this guy was in,” he said.
Officers finally were able to subdue Enard, and he was taken to a local hospital where he was listed in critical condition. He died at 9 p.m. Sunday.
It still is unclear why Enard’s condition had deteriorated to critical by the time he reached the hospital.
Enard’s apprehension and subsequent death is reminiscent of an October 2004 incident in which police used a Taser to subdue Dwayne Anthony Dunn, whose death was attributed to a cocaine overdose.
In August 2004, police allegedly tasered a suspect upwards of 17 times while trying to force him to cough up drugs they believed he swallowed. That incident ended in an out-of-court settlement worth more than $80,000.
— SWAT Team
Comment [1]
Lorain, Ohio police use Taser on 12 year old child · 612 days ago
I’m digging around for old news about police brutality where officers used Tasers on children, elderly, handicapped, or other defenseless people. Amnesty International has researched and concluded that police are using Tasers routinely to shock people who are mentally disturbed or who simply refuse to obey commands – officers of the law are not using the stun gun as an alternative to drawing a firearm but instead are using it primarily to shock unarmed people involved in petty crimes. They have called for a nationwide ban on the use of these weapons by police, and we here at Police Download Report join them in wishing it were not legal for cops to wield these cruel devices. Over 200 deaths have been attributed to Taser use, with a lot more deaths unreported and undiscovered due to bad autopsy results. We’ll continue to bring you as much coverage of Taser abuse by police officers as we can find.
A 12 year old riding the schoolbus was a victim in 2005:
Police departments use the x26 Taser to shock unruly suspects into submission, but Lorain residents are stunned that an officer used one on a school bus to subdue to 12-year-old boy, reported NewsChannel5.According to the police report, police were called to remove the boy from the bus after he tried to steal another boy’s CD case.
Police Capt. Russ Cambarare said the boy cussed at the officers and then threatened her.
“Then he made a threat that he was going to kill her, he bucked his head backwards and hit her on the chin and broke one of his arms free,” said Cambarare.
Outside, at the corner of East 30th and Vine, what police are calling an angry mob was pounding on the bus, demanding the officer let the boy go.
In 2004, a lot of opposition to Taser use sprung up from this incident, where police shocked a 6 year old boy:
Police in Miami Dade County say they did the right thing when the used a Taser to subdue a six year-old at school.The school’s principal called 911 after the child broke a picture frame in her office and waved a piece of glass to keep people away from him.
When two Miami-Dade officers arrived the scene the boy had already cut himself under his eye and cut a large gash in his hand.
The officers tried to reason with the boy, but when he started cutting his own leg, they shocked him with a Taser. They then grabbed him to prevent him from hurting himself when he hit the floor and called an ambulance.
Miami Police say the Taser was necessary to prevent the boy from seriously harming himself with the glass.
Today Governor Jeb Bush told the Associated Press he doesn’t know the circumstances of why adults couldn’t control a six-year-old.
When Jeb Bush is shocked by this kind of abuse, you know it’s serious abuse and not liberal whining.
And here’s a rare case where the cop was actually punished for his abusive use of a Taser. It was so blatant that it couldn’t be ignored:
While the deputy checked her driver’s license, Bledsoe called the Sheriff’s Office back to complain about the deputy’s rude treatment, and the dispatcher said she would send a sergeant.While Bledsoe was speaking to the dispatcher, Dix attempted to take her cell phone.
Suddenly, according to the suit, Dix let Bledsoe go. She took one step away, and he shot her in the back with the Taser.
According to the computerized log in Dix’s Taser, Bledsoe was hit five times.
Dix then took her to the Escambia County Jail, where she was charged with resisting arrest without violence and disorderly conduct. The State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges on March 15, 2004.
An internal affairs investigation found that Dix had no reason to arrest Bledsoe, which made any use of force against her unnecessary.
The investigation also found that the entire episode likely was recorded on Dix’s in-car video system, but he either lost or destroyed the tape.
— SWAT Team
Comment [4]
WSB-TV survey shows many Americans think Tasers belong in middle schools · 616 days ago
I really don’t think people comprehend how violent and dehumanizing the Taser is. It’s a ‘less lethal weapon’, not a restraint device or a license to demand complete complacency among citizenry.
From WSB-TV, within an article about an 11 year old middle school student being Tasered by police in Jonesboro, GA:
Do you think tasers should be used by school resource officers?
Choice Votes Percentage of 1418 Votes Yes 775 55% No 577 41% I’m not sure 66 5%
— SWAT Team
UCLA "oficial del año" tiene quejas anteriores de la utilizar-de-fuerza · 622 days ago
Hah, cómo sorprende. El oficial de policía del campus de UCLA que tasered a estudiante de UCLA en los tiempos múltiples de la biblioteca el 14 de noviembre (vídeo de ese incidente de YouTube), Terrence Duren, tenía dos quejas anteriores de la utilizar-de-fuerza.
Del Los Angeles Times:
Scott demandó la universidad, y según los expedientes de corte, funcionarios de UCLA movidos para tener Duren despedidos de la fuerza del policía. Pero después de una audiencia administrativa independiente, los funcionarios volcaron el despido, suspendiéndolo por 90 días.Duren el lunes disputó las alegaciones hechas por Scott.
En octubre de 2003, Duren tirado y herido un hombre sin hogar que él encontró en Kerckhoff Pasillo. Duren persiguió a hombre en un cuarto de baño, en donde lucharon y él encendió dos tiros.
Condenaron al hombre sin hogar, Willie Davis Frazier, más adelante por asaltar a un oficial. Duren dijo que Frasier había intentado asir su arma durante la lucha. Pero el abogado de Frazier, Juan Raphling, dijo que su cliente era mentalmente enfermedad y que no hizo cualquier cosa provocar tirar.
— SWAT Team
Columbus police claim Taser didn't kill dead suspect · 624 days ago
He refuses to leave a hotel bar, they taser him, claim the taser never worked, then he dies of a heart attack…
From The Columbus Dispatch:
Tonight, the Columbus City Council heard legislation to buy 110 more Tasers for Columbus police to add to the 205 already on the street. The City Council could vote next Monday on whether to buy the X-26 Tasers, including training cartridges and street-use cartridges, for $140,975, from Vance’s Outdoors.
Parks died after police fired a Taser at him and wrestled with him inside The Columbus, a Renaissance Hotel, on Sunday night.
Parks resisted when police tried to arrest him after he swung a cane at a security guard, police said.
An officer fired Taser probes, which are connected to the gun by wires. One of the probes hit the man’s coat and the other probe missed entirely, police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Corcoran said. Both probes have to hit the body, creating a circuit, for 50,000 volts of electricity to fully stun the person, Columbus Public Safety Director Mitchell J. Brown explained.
Police said Parks went into cardiac arrest in the hotel lobby and died at Grant Medical Center.
He had refused to leave Bar 41, which is in the lobby of the hotel at 50 N. 3rd St.
— SWAT Team
UCLA "Officer of the Year" has prior use-of-force complaints · 625 days ago
Hah, how surprising. The UCLA campus police officer who tasered a UCLA student in the library multiple times on November 14th (video of that incident from YouTube), Terrence Duren, had two prior use-of-force complaints.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Scott sued the university, and according to court records, UCLA officials moved to have Duren dismissed from the police force. But after an independent administrative hearing, officials overturned the dismissal, suspending him for 90 days.Duren on Monday disputed the allegations made by Scott.
In October 2003, Duren shot and wounded a homeless man he encountered in Kerckhoff Hall. Duren chased the man into a bathroom, where they struggled and he fired two shots.
The homeless man, Willie Davis Frazier, was later convicted of assaulting an officer. Duren said Frasier had tried to grab his gun during the struggle. But Frazier’s attorney, John Raphling, said his client was mentally ill and didn’t do anything to provoke the shooting.
— SWAT Team
Comment [1]
