According to Amnesty International’s count, 296 people have died in the United States since July 2001 after they were stunned with Tasers, an electroshock weapon designed to briefly incapacitate suspects.
By: Keith George
May 05, 2008
In the past, I have expressed my concerns over “Taser” and stun gun devices being used too frequently by the police and security officers, and also I have made known my serious doubts as to the safety of these weapons and have often wondered about their potential for serious harm and/or death resulting from their use.
From the Bismarck Tribune, Jan 09, 2008:
“It’s a weapon. Its degree of deadly force is a lot less than a handgun, granted. But even back in 2005, the Arizona Republic noted 140 deaths in the U.S. and Canada since 1999. Coroners attributed four to stun devices and called its use a factor along with others, including health conditions, in the other deaths.”
Another recent Taser-related death reported In the Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 6, 2008:
“Police officers wrestled with Briant Parks for more than three minutes on the floor of a Downtown hotel lobby, pressing Tasers against him as many as 10 times in an effort to subdue him.”
The Columbus Dispatch article also gave this statistic on Tasers:
“According to Amnesty International’s count, 296 people have died in the United States since July 2001 after they were stunned with Tasers, an electroshock weapon designed to briefly incapacitate suspects.”
It would appear that law enforcement personnel are initiating the use of stun devices on adult men, women, the elderly, and more frequently now, on children without hesitation or question when common sense might call for an alternate strategy.
Now I read that an Ohio judge is attempting to cover-up the fact that three inmate deaths may be related to the application of Tasers:
The news article makes mention of the legal clout exerted by Taser International, the manufacturer of the Model X26, which is the unit in question related to the recent Ohio deaths.
“Taser is quite a force to be reckoned with and does everything to protect their golden egg, which is the Model X26,” as stated by a prosecutor’s office attorney.
This account alone should raise some hard questions about the all too frequent use of these high-voltage shock devices, and of their danger.
With all the modern police training in hand-to-hand combat, MACE spray, and the use of well-trained dogs, WHY DO THEY EVEN NEED TASERS?
