Weigh In on the Taser Controversy

[ArmorFanatic]

Can Tasers really kill people?
If they can, isn't it super rare and the media blows it way out of proportion?

Here is a list of scientific reports about Tasers, some are good and others are bad.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/11/scientists-tase.html

What do you think of all of this evidence or lack thereof?

[Gene L]

Tasers can not kill people. Drugs, heart problems, etc. can kill people.

There has never been a proven case that a Taser has ever killed anyone, and there have been plenty of lawsuites. Tasers give out 50,000 volts...those stun flashlights you see advertised everywhere give out 100,000, or advertised to do so.

It's not volts tha kill, it's amps. The very minimum amps it takes to kill someone is .07. Even then it MAY kill you, not necessarily will, but that's the lower limit for causing damage. A Taser puts out .007 amps.

Many people have died in polce custody before Tasers were common, from ODing , from fighting and having heart attacks, and other reasons. There will continue to be in-custody deaths, but not caused by Tasers. I remember lawsuites involving pepper spray, mace, etc.

And there may be some individual out there a Taser kills for some obscure reason, but so far he hasn't shown up.

In Chicago recently, the cops drew heat for Tasering an 82 year old woman who was apparently suffering from dementia and was fighting. Now, you can wrestle with a 82 year old woman and if you do you should expect to break brittle old bones. In this case, a Taser possibly prevented the woman from hurting herself.

[RR_Security]

I was already convinced that Tasers have saved a lot of lives, both officers' and the street lizards they could have (maybe should have) shot. When the Cleveland Clinic and Wake Forest University School of Medicine release studies showing that the use of a Taser is safe, that's good enough for me.
The people who want to tell the world that Tasing some mope is "potentially deadly" or "cruel and unusual" would be some of the same ones who would deny that Excited Delirium is real. "Oh, no, Mr. Mopeley's death couldn't have been because he was full of more crack than a carpenters and plumbers convention. It was because that mean old policeman Tased him." :rolleyes: Thbpthbpthbpt!
[Just One Reader's Opinion.]

[GCPD0171]

Does anyone know the official cause of death of the inmate in SC that died not long ago? The jailer tased him and held the trigger down and didn't let the Taser stop. He got a constant tase for a really long time (don't remember the exact time) and died. I wonder if the improper use of the Taser led to the death? No one at our agency even knew the Taser would do that until it happened. I found out the hard way trying to drive stun someone in a fight. I had such a tight grip on the Taser it went on for about 10 seconds.

[dogcop]

I'm pretty 'salty', my feeling is...Don't do anything to get Tased in the first place, and if you did and you die, well, you picked a bad day to be a dumbass.

[toasterlocker]

Hey, I was wondering if someone could provide a link to a site that talks about how much injury to officers AND perpetrators has dropped since TASERs started seeing widespread use. I thought it was pretty common knowledge, but this one guy I know just REFUSES to believe until I can show him a link.

[MRRBEST]

http://www.lvrj.com/news/11802036.html

[RR_Security]

DogCop summed it up pretty well, but I just had to comment on this:
Police also need policies to avoid shooting people with heart conditions or other medical problems that raise the risk of death in Taser shootings, (Peck) said.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/Doug_C_Maine/Smileycons/neener.gif"Yoooouu caaaan't TAAAASE meeeee, Iiiiii've gotta heart condition, neener, neener ne--AAIIIEEEE! SHUT IT OFF! I'LL BE GOOD! SHUT IT OFF!"http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/Doug_C_Maine/Smileycons/blob_fire.gif

How about if some of the ACLU's "clients" develop personal policies about abstaining from certain recreational pharmaceuticals that increase their risk of death with or without the Edison Medicine?

[Caspertoo]

I think I would be underestimating if I said tens of thousands of suspects have been taser'd since the m26 first came around.

To date there have been approximately 150 suddent in custody deaths that occured after taser useage. All of which have been proven through autopsy that the taser was not the cause of death, but drugs, heart condition, stroke etc.

I guarantee you, from my taser useage too, that a large percentage of those tens of thousands of criminals that have been on the receiving end of a taser, would have been shot with something far more damaging than a taser if that option hadn't been around.

I want to know......how many deaths in the last 30 years have been attributed to OC?

Bottom line, take away our less than lethal tools, that leaves us just lethal force. Nothing is perfect, people die from bee stings everyday, should we exterminate all the bees? People that whine about the tasers are usually people that have never stepped up to the plate as we do everyday.

[luckydog]

I wonder if the improper use of the Taser led to the death? No one at our agency even knew the Taser would do that until it happened. I found out the hard way trying to drive stun someone in a fight. I had such a tight grip on the Taser it went on for about 10 seconds.

do you guys go through the taser international training class? one pull = the longest 5 seconds of the bg's life. if you hold the button untill it hits 5 seconds it resets and goes another 5 seconds.

[toasterlocker]

The "taser controversy" is manufactured nonsense. For those paying attention you will notice something about all the reports about people dying after being tased.

Because the taser never actually kills anyone, the stories just IMPLY it, because it makes for good headlines. Good headlines = more readers/viewers/listeners = more money. And then the rumors get spread by morons that are too stupid to read between the lines and realize "Oh, the story never actually says, nor does it even gives any real support, to the idea that the TASER is responsible for death." All of them pretty much say, "Person gets tased, dies later," and then the idiots become outraged because they can't read.

It is ridiculous and misleading, but most people don't pay enough attention to see it for what it is, a money grab. It is as silly as a headline like "Person dies, was wearing shoes." It doesn't SAY that the shoes killed the person, but it implies it. Make sense?

[KenW.]

The controversy should be;

"Why does the media inflate taser incidents so?" or "How does this taser incident differ from 15 years ago when pepper spray or steel batons came out?" or how about "Without the taser, I'd have had to kill him with my pistol."

I know of several situations wherein a suspect was not tased, who should have been.