ZAP, you're It!, tasering for fun and profit Options

[PalePhoenix]

Following so closely on the heels of the UCLA incident where a library patron without his student ID on him got all sorts of undue roughness, I was surprised to find an article at the Epilepsy Foundation's site about an even more unfortunate individual who somehow managed to get his neurons even more fried by asshats with "non-lethal weapons."

The guy was taken down, and then--insult to injury--committed to a psychiatric facility for violent offenders:

Arrested (and Tasered) while Seizing

Following yet another in a series of dangerous mishaps involving a police response to a person experiencing a seizure, the Epilepsy Foundation is once again calling for police, emergency medical personnel and other first responders to undergo training and implement protocols to ensure they properly respond in these kinds of situations. The most recent report involves a Michigan man with epilepsy, who, when experiencing a seizure, apparently was unjustifiably tasered, clubbed, arrested, jailed and committed to a psychiatric facility for violent offenders -- all based on non-threatening behaviors caused by a seizure. Fortunately, he was released from the psychiatric facility (after advocacy by the Foundation and its local affiliate) and is doing well at home. However, too many other people experiencing seizures have had encounters with police that have resulted in serious permanent injuries or even death.

The case in Michigan involved Daniel Beloungea, who was taking a daily walk in his neighborhood when he experienced a complex partial seizure, which left him in a state of semi-consciousness. Complex partial seizures are associated with repetitive involuntary movements, sometimes for up to 30 minutes, with post-seizure disorientation. Beloungea needs to walk daily as a form of rehabilitation to help restore functioning in his legs; this functioning was impaired following brain surgery to treat his seizures. A person passing by noticed Mr. Beloungea acting erratically and called police to report his behavior. When officers arrived on the scene, they apparently assumed that his failure to respond to their questions and his erratic involuntary movements amounted to resistance, and failed to recognize the obvious signs of a seizure. Furthermore, they failed to inspect the medical alert bracelet he was wearing, which indicates clearly that he has epilepsy.

According to police reports, when Mr. Beloungea was unresponsive to police direction, the bag he was carrying was kicked by police from his hand, and when he flailed his arms involuntarily, he was tasered, sending 50,000 volts of electricity through his body (risking serious injury or death); hit with a police baton; threatened at gunpoint; and handcuffed behind his back. (The handcuffing itself is dangerous for persons experiencing a seizure, as it can lead to further seizure-related agitation and struggling, possibly causing asphyxiation or even cardiac arrest.) He was then prosecuted for assaulting police officers and disorderly conduct, notwithstanding considerable evidence, including the state’s own mental health evaluation, confirming that his actions were involuntary and solely the product of a seizure.

Then, apparently because of a gap in Michigan law, Mr. Beloungea was forced to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, rather than being permitted to submit evidence that he lacked the mental and physical capacity to commit the crimes for which he was charged. Because state law requires that all persons who have been adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity be committed for a mental health evaluation, a man who posed no risk to anyone was forced to languish in a penal institution housing violent criminal offenders (where he experienced at least two subsequent seizures). He was discharged from the psychiatric facility, on September 28, 2006, after a stay of more than three weeks.

Yes, I suppose there's a dark sort of humor in this somewhere, but it's just not funny anymore. Should we be glad they don't still shoot first, ask questions later? In this particular event, they could have checked the poor fellow's Medic Alert bracelet while he was incapacitated. Better yet, that might have been something the admitting physician at the hospital could have noticed.

[ganymede]

Should we be glad they don't still shoot first, ask questions later?

Isn't that basically what they're doing, but with a "non-lethal" weapon? If someone's brain chemistry or neurological function is already outta whack, I don't really see how a few thousand extra volts coursing through their body is going to help matters any. This is the combination of two different things, inappropriate aggression from law enforcement and general, social ignorance of mental illness. Obviously, wherever the two meet, it isn't going to be pretty.

In the police and security guards' defense (as if they need any, as they have better weapons and lawyers than I do), you have to deal with situations that can go very bad, very fast. Split second decisions could be better informed or trained, I suppose, but we're just now beginning to hear about the "psychological toll" of war on returning troops from the Middle East. These are kids who get big guns and get taught how to be snipers, but they're totally emotionally unprepared to be killing people, or dealing with the acts they done on behalf of their country (OK, one too many MSNBC documentaries for me, then, but the guy looked like a cross between Matt Damon and Elvis). Some complain that we've psychobabbled up our law enforcement agents, made them "too sensitive," but when I hear about things like this, we're obviously not doing enough or the right kind of it.

[Galahad]

Man bursts into flames after being shot by a taser gun

Police are investigating the firey death of a man who burst into flames after dousing himself in petrol and then being shot with a taser gun.

Officers used the gun after the man had poured gasoline over himself... (read more, also here)

OK, so am I the only one who finds this horrifying, yet inescapably, evilly funny? I mean, the guy covers himself in a flammable liquid and THEN the cops fire...hmm, let me think now...a device they've all been trained to understand shoots high voltage sparks everywhere? "We don't know what ignited the fire," police said.

It was that masked, superhuman Boy Scout with the sticks, who ran away after rubbing them together really fast.

[irishblessing]

After that school library incident, it's becoming obvious, despite what I'm sure is several hours of training in their careful use, taser guns are being used by the same guys we once would have said had "itchy trigger fingers."

Now picture a man, in a maternity ward, approaching an elevator, holding his newborn infant...

In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child crashing to the floor. Now William Lewis says his baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.

"I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at Florida State University. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall..." (read more)

Actually, I thought it was pretty cool that the infants were fitted with bracelets that deactivated the elevators. Right up until the high voltage part. Why didn't we think of lowjacking babies before?

[PalePhoenix]

Methinks thy Noble Law Enforcement representatives doth get too handsy with this device.

A university student with a history of taping his own practical jokes was Tasered by campus police and arrested after loudly and repeatedly trying to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry questions during a campus forum.

Andrew Meyer, 21, spent a night in jail before his release from jail Tuesday morning on his own recognizance. He had no comment when he left. His attorney, Robert Griscti, did not return messages seeking comment.

Videos of the Monday night incident, posted on several Web sites and played repeatedly on television news, show University of Florida police officers pulling Meyer away from the microphone after he asks Kerry about impeaching President Bush and whether he and Bush were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University... (read more, as if it isn't already everywhere)

I've already seen the damn video a dozen times, and I really don't think what the university cops did was necessary. It was difficult to tell, however, who was a school officer and who were the "real" police. Even if we know the kid has a history of "pranking" or otherwise filming stunts, I think this was--per usual--a total over-reaction to him. I hope he sues the fuck out of them (but please don't let him name Kerry, even though he could have stopped the tasering and appeared to choose not to).

[Galahad]

They acquitted the rent-a-cops who zapped him:

University of Florida police were justified when they used a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Senator John Kerry at a campus event, according to a state investigation released Wednesday.

A 17-page executive summary of the 300-page Florida Department of Law Enforcement report was released by the University of Florida after some questioned the use of force against student Andrew Meyer.

Meyer is, himself, still not charged with anything, though this sounds as if they're clearing the way to do so. Or is this another one of those taserings where nobody's in the wrong?

[PalePhoenix]

I just saw that on Cruel manqué High-Street. My response was:

He may have been a deliberate dickwad (as the rest of his 'performance art' will attest), but I think it sets a poor precedent for the use of force against students, many of whom are non-douchey and might think twice about a typically adolescent question as a result of this.

Because I've been rather ludicrously discouraged from going on for more than 25-30 words at a time by a few idjits at HS.org, I will complete the thought here.

It sets a bad example for university officers across the country, where some are actual police detachments and others are either untrained or unambitious mercenaries who couldn't get a security gig elsewhere. Which is not to say the "real" police don't occasionally require some field training with the weapon. And it is a weapon, regardless of its intended non-lethality. So is a baton, or pepper-spray...and then so is waterboarding.

When we open the door for mishandling of law enforcement equipment--especially in a college setting--we tacitly encourage its use in situations where it is not merited and/or can cause unnecessary harm. If, before this occurred, someone had asked you whether you thought obstreperous students should be kept from asking questions of lecturers and other guests/authorities by tasering, gagging, or beating, what would you have said?

[Semperfidel]

I really, really hate misleading titles in "news" articles:

Student taser victim spared electric chair

Florida prosecutors have decided not to pursue Andrew "don't tase me, bro" Meyer through the courts if he keeps his nose clean during 18 months probation.

Meyer caused a farcical kerfuffle at a University of Florida speech by John Kerry last month. He scored 50,000 volts and internet infamy for his trouble.

He'll soon be allowed to resume his studies. Campus cops had recommended he be sent to the big house for resisting arrest with violence... (read more, with MC Hammer parody)

Let's get one thing straight: He was never going to be sentenced to execution, in any way, shape, or form. He may be a complete dick, but absolutely no interpretation of his "crime" would have warranted jail time, let alone the electric chair. I'm not just talking about SCOTUS' temporary moratorium on the death penalty.

Halloween. The day when bad journalists come out to play.

[Galahad]

Chicago's Police Department is investigating an officer's use of a Taser last month on an 82-year-old woman who police say was swinging a hammer when they arrived. Lillian Fletcher was rushed to the hospital after being jolted by the Taser last week but has been released, police said Tuesday.

Officials with the city's Department on Aging went to her home Oct. 29 to make a welfare check and called police when they saw Fletcher in a window swinging a hammer, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said Tuesday.

Officers arrived and in an attempt to subdue Fletcher, one of them used a Taser, Bond said. The department is trying to determine whether the officer violated department policy on the use of stun guns.

Fletcher said Tuesday that officers pushed their way into her home. ''They shocked me,'' she said.

Fletcher at times sounded confused during the telephone interview. Her granddaughter Traci Taylor told the Chicago Sun-Times that her grandmother has schizophrenia and dementia.

''My grandmother is easily confused,'' Taylor told the newspaper, adding that the woman can be belligerent but is about 5 feet 1 and weighs no more than 160 pounds.

''I just don't think they should be Tasing 82-year-old women. That's ridiculous,'' Taylor said... (read more)

I think cops are getting a little trigger happy with those things. God only knows how often they "misuse" pepper spray, or batons, or fists, etc. Tasers are the "sexy" thing for the news media to pick up on. Everybody's jolting everyone else. Do the police (and other law enforcement equipped with the device) think it's okay to tase someone just because they're acting unruly, and it's a "non-lethal" weapon? It's still a weapon. It still causes bodily harm, and someone who's shocked with one can get any number of "collateral injuries" as they fall and spasm, or if they have heart conditions.

Since when can't three or four police officers contain and disarm a five-foot-one woman in her eighties?

[PalePhoenix]

This is what happens when you pull out your Taser and accidentally zap the school janitor: You get punished and reassigned.

That’s what happened last week to the Brown County Sheriff’s Department’s resource officer at Bay View Middle School, 1217 Cardinal Lane.

After school on Nov. 6, the officer “inadvertently and unintentionally discharged” the Taser, an electronic device used to subdue unruly suspects, striking the janitor, according to a press release issued by the department. (source)

And here I am thinking that I can't come up with a single reason why the security force overseeing a bunch of 12-15 year-olds needs to be armed in any way whatsoever. Aren't I silly?

[ganymede]

This one was a toss-up between here and the Sex Offenders Registry thread. The death by electrocution (actually a cause contributing to his death from other medical conditions, supposedly) won out:

Accused sex offender A. Paul Carlock, who performed for children as Klutzo the Clown, died this morning at St. John's Hospital following a struggle with Sangamon County jailers. Officials this morning had described the death as the result of an undetermined medical problem.

However, Sangamon County Chief Deputy Tony Sacco said this afternoon that Carlock began experiencing problems after a struggle with correctional officers in which he was subdued with a Taser.

Sacco said he didn't receive a report on the incident from the jail until this afternoon, and neither did the U.S. Marshals Service. Carlock was being held on federal charges. The report indicates corrections officers were in the midst of trying to get Carlock ready to go to St. John's Hospital to be checked because of recent erratic behavior.

Carlock resisted, Sacco said, when jailers tried to get him into a restraint chair. Carlock was wrestled to the ground, but continued to fight. When he wouldn't cooperate, he was Tasered on the leg, Sacco said... (read more)

That High-Street place is veritable dumping ground for the foul tempered and socially awkward. Is there some reason they're calling you "Penix?"

[PalePhoenix]

Is there some reason they're calling you "Penix?"

Perhaps, spelling is not one of their fortes?

[Galahad]

You know you love it when people who can't spell say they hate you, Pale. Stop pretending.

Moving right along...

U.N. Torture Panel Singles Out Tasers

(an image of one of the advertisements running on the web site of Taser International)

All news reports about deaths that follow Taser shocks seem to come with two accompaniments: outrage over police brutality on the one hand, and a lack of definitive proof that the weapon was to blame on the other. A man's death in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday was no different. But it happened to come a day after a United Nations panel appeared to take a stand against Tasers.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture singled out Tasers at the end of a conference in Geneva, expressing concern that the most popular model caused so much pain that use of it "constituted a form of torture... (read more)

Given some of the uses described in this thread, should I wonder how the tasers are being employed by law enforcement and "security teams" worldwide? Waterboarding is supposed to be "non-lethal" too. Did we turn into a nation of poorly respected torturers overnight, or have we always seemed this way to other countries and are just now finding out about it?

[JBlueEyes]

TASER Seeks to Zap Safety Concerns

The recent deaths of three men in Canada after police stopped them in their tracks with TASER guns have resurrected the debate over use of the weapons, which utilize electric pulses and strong muscle contractions to incapacitate people considered to be a threat to officers and the public.

The three separate cases are still under investigation, but the association between them and the technology has led to misconceptions about the way these weapons affect the body, law enforcement and TASER International say.

TASERs, which represent the lion's share of all electronic-control devices used by law enforcement, work by shooting two metal probes that release electricity into the body, causing neuromuscular incapacitation. Generally, the victim feels as though "he is in a full-body charley horse," but does not lose consciousness, says Steven Ashley, a former deputy sheriff in Livingston County, Mich., who retired from the force in 1989 and is now a law enforcement consultant. "They short-circuit the electrical signals in the body."

The deaths in Canada, however, have some local politicians calling for a review of how the weapons are used, and some health care officials say these weapons are not nearly as benign as portrayed. A report released earlier this year by the Heart Rhythm Society, a Washington, D.C., organization of cardiac arrhythmia doctors and patients, found that electronic-control devices like the TASER may trigger "significant arrhythmias" in patients with pacemakers... (read more)

This "new tech" of theirs is freakin' scary. It looks like a killer badminton birdie and works over a distance of 20 meters. This effectively makes it a "crowd control" weapon, and not just stopping power for individual suspects. I give it less than a year before the device is lobbed into a group of protesters with no regard for who it hits. You can bet police and other law enforcement officials will make the argument that they were looking to "incapacitate members of an unruly mob for later questioning."

"The next generation of TASER—the eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP)—is being designed to fire wireless probes as far as 65 feet from a half-ounce (14–gram) cartridge":

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[ganymede]

What's holiday shopping in a mall if you can't get your ass zapped in the food court? Bonus points for hitting the wife at the same time. A couple that tases together...

A Wisconsin man is reportedly planning to take legal action after he and his wife were blasted by a police Taser as they were finishing their holiday shopping Christmas Eve at a mall in Madison.

Major Lemon, 44, and his wife, Marissa, were at the crowded West Towne Mall during lunchtime Monday when approached by officers responding to an anonymous 9-1-1 call about someone in the mall with a gun.

According to the police report, officers arrived dressed in full military-style police uniform and observed a man matching the suspect description in the middle of the food court... (source)

In other news of Xmas Mayhem, they're probably luckier that they didn't make it home that night.

[JBlueEyes]

Sinking to a new low, even for the taser-happy:

Officer fired, 4 others disciplined after pregnant woman Tasered

TROTWOOD, Ohio (AP) -- A probationary police officer who shocked a pregnant woman with a stun gun has been fired, and four others have been disciplined following a departmental investigation, the safety director in this Dayton suburb said Friday.

Officer Michael Wilmer, who joined the police department in December 2006, had already been terminated for unrelated reasons, which included driving city-owned vehicles at excessive speeds and posting unauthorized pictures on his MySpace.com account, said Safety Director Michael Etter.

The investigative report prepared by Trotwood Police Maj. Quincy Pope said Wilmer was justified in using a Taser stun gun to subdue the woman but committed an error in judgment and violated department policy by administering the device to the woman's neck, an area reserved for the most violent subjects.

Wilmer also failed to summon medical help or ensure that photographs were taken and documented inaccurate information, all in violation of policy, the report said... (read more)

I see we get a bonus MySpace haha with this one. I wish they'd just stop capitalizing "taser" already. Yeah, I know it's a brand, like Kleenex or Dumpster, but what else could they be referring to? It's like the company wants to keep it uppercase so they don't get confused (or sued) by someone using a "knock-off electrocution device."

[PalePhoenix]

Haven't you heard? Tupperware is out, out, out. You're all invited to my kick-ass TASER PARTY!

GILBERT, Ariz. — Before she lets them shoot her little pink stun gun, Dana Shafman ushers her new friends to the living room sofa for a serious chat about the fears she believes they all share.

"The worst nightmare for me is, while I'm sleeping, someone coming in my home," Shafman says, drawing a few solemn nods from the gathered women.

Shafman, 34, of Phoenix, says she knows how they feel. She says she used to stash knives under her pillow for protection.

Welcome, she says, to the Taser party.

On the coffee table, Shafman spreads out Taser's C2 "personal protector" weapons that the company is marketing to the public. It doesn't take long before the women are lined up in the hallway, whooping as they take turns blasting at a metallic target. (read more, my apologies for it being Fox Noise)

You simply must view the full article, if only for the priceless photos:

Yes, indeed, open-plan living rooms in the bedroom communities of Phoenix DO look that sad. They even leave the crappy, meaningless art on the walls that they saw in the model, because they can't think of anything better to do with such a large, blank space. Like their heads. And their lives.

The only reason middle-aged women in this area keep knives under their pillows (or buy pink tasers) is because they're afraid of the crap they see on the local news here (Fox, natch), night after night. It's made to sound as if Mexican rapists are crossing the border like a swarm of army ants and heading directly for their homes. They will end up rushing their 2.2 children to the hospital to treat electrocution burns, inside six months.

[Galahad]

Yes, indeed, open-plan living rooms in the bedroom communities of Phoenix DO look that sad.

The fuckin' place looks like a cheap set from a high school production of some Agatha Christie play. I bet the murderer was the fat Asian lady in green. She looks suspicious to me.

You just know her Taser has an MP3 player in it.

[JBlueEyes]

I'm a Taser. You're a Taser. He's a Taser. She's a Taser. Wouldn't you like to be a Taser...MOO!?

Policeman Allegedly Tasers Cow

I've heard of cow-tipping, but cow-tasering? A Rogers, Arkansas police lieutenant is under investigation after allegedly using his taser to shock a cow. He also allegedly shared a videotape of the incident with other police employees.

Police Chief Steve Helms received a letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Feb. 11th. The letter accused Rogers Police Department Lt. David Mitchell of using his Taser on a cow and video taping the incident.

"It is our understanding that the alleged incident occurred while Lt. Mitchell was off duty, that the Taser's darts were not removed from the cow's flesh afterward, and that Lt. Mitchell apparently found the incident so amusing that it was recently set to music and distributed as a joke among his friends and colleagues," wrote PETA representative Stephanie Bell.

However, since the alleged incident occurred 2 1/2 years ago, it would be past the statute of limitations for a misdemeanor. (read more)

The more important question is "Did he bring enough barbecue sauce?"

It was my understanding that the cattle industry regularly uses this thing called a "prod," on which the concept of the taser is based, so this is pretty much an account of the technology coming full circle, at last. Leave it to PETA to tell you when, where, and how you can make your beef jerky. Little do they know...

[Semperfidel]

About two months went by after Jared Massey was tasered by a highway cop in Utah before he turned to YouTube. The video, footage filmed from within the police car, was an instant hit, rocketing up the charts and making him the latest internet celebrity. It’s been played more than 1.7 million times.

Like other YouTube tasings, waves of outrage over excessive force followed — fire the cop, ban Tasers — and the police started an investigation a week and a half later. But the initial results were discouraging for the critics: The cop was cleared of wrongdoing; Mr. Massey paid the speeding ticket that he protested before being shocked twice.

But a civil suit filed after has resulted in a settlement that will more than cover the ticket, and Mr. Massey’s lawyer suggested it covered everything else as well. ‘’They made what we consider to be a very fair offer of a significant amount of money,'’ Bob Sykes told The Associated Press.

To be exact: he was awarded $40,000, including attorney’s fees. (read more)

You know the drill, guys. If you see this man, don't tase him, bro. Those "non-lethal" weapons can be very costly.

[PalePhoenix]

"Don't Tase Me, Bro" already won some prize for Phrase of the Year 2007. Who collects that, I wonder? My invitation to the ceremonies must have gotten lost in the mail, as I was sure I'd be nominated for something catchy I wrote while drunk. Oh, well.

Now the amateur video from which the line arose is up for a YouTube Award. I'm not sure that I recall any prior awards of this nature. "Viral" popularity isn't something you can stoke for revenue, though many have tried. I suppose it's a different thing altogether to Monday-morning quarterback it. You will find LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE in the 'Commentary' section, and thereby utterly devoid of irony. I thought it belonged in 'Comedy,' or even 'Series,' as Mizz Crocker has had several self-promotional clips before and since (tho no one's really paid attention, much to her increasingly voluble chagrin).

What also disturbs me is the preponderance of pro-Obama vids in the 'Politics' section, with the anti-Hillary/fake Apple '1984' clip situated right at the top of the candidates so it stays in the random rotation of the categories (they alter position when the page is refreshed, but her Orwellian image remains visible). Whether you are for or against her--or for or against tasering everyone on the planet, as this thread begins to suggest--you would have to agree that it's at least a little bit unfair.

[5trych9]

I've highlighted the fun parts:

AG Investigates Use Of Taser Gun During Bachelor Party

Maine's attorney general is investigating an incident in which a Knox County deputy was shocked with a Taser gun before being hogtied and paraded around town in the back of a pickup truck. Knox County Sheriff Donna Dennison said last week that she'd be asking for an independent investigation after a video of the Taser gun incident surfaced.

On the video, the groom-to-be at a bachelor party held last summer drops to the ground after being shot with the Taser gun. Then the other men bind him and cover him with oil and feathers.

According to Dennison, the Knox County Sheriff's Department doesn't use them, so it's unclear where the Taser gun came from. Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett has launched an internal investigation to determine whether sheriff’s office equipment or personnel were involved in the video.

Brackett said the incident could damage “the public trust in law enforcement.” It's against the law in Maine to use a Taser gun except for defense. (source/video)

Yeah, you read that right.

All in good fun, they first tasered a groom during his bachelor party, to incapacitate him, then TARRED AND FEATHERED him before hanging him off the back of the truck and driving him around town. Must be some sort of local ritual. I can't wait to hear what they did to the bride.

[ganymede]

Apparently, the folks at Taser are a bunch of bullies. They've been running around the country and strong-arming medical examiners and prosecutors in cases where their product may have contributed to the injury or death of someone it was used on.

Taser International has fired a warning shot at medical examiners across the country.

The Scottsdale-based stun gun manufacturer increasingly is targeting state and county medical examiners with lawsuits and lobbying efforts to reverse and prevent medical rulings that Tasers contributed to someone's death.

That effort on Friday helped lead an Ohio judge's order to remove Taser's name from three Summit County Medical Examiner autopsies that had ruled the stun gun contributed to three men's deaths.

"We will hold people accountable and responsible for untrue statements," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said earlier this week. "If that includes medical examiners, it includes medical examiners."Many medical examiners, who are charged with determining the official causes of death, view the Scottsdale-based company's efforts as disturbing, the spokesman for the National Association of Medical Examiners says.

"It is dangerously close to intimidation," says Jeff Jentzen, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners. "At this point, we adamantly reject the fact that people can be sued for medical opinions that they make..." (read more)

[Semperfidel]

The RCMPs are telling theirs to curb taser usage. This comes after a "loss" in CA and a "win" in NY. You'd really think there was some science behind all this that would let everyone be on the same page about the weapon. Oh, duh, there is. It's called "Reasons Why 50K Volts Might Not Be Good for the Human Body." Must've been funded by those defibrillator people.

[PalePhoenix]

A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called safety bracelet that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®. According to this promotional video found at the Lamperd Less Lethal website, the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers.

This bracelet would:

• take the place of an airline boarding pass

• contain personal information about the traveler

• be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to as, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.” Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and that it would shock the customer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line? (read more)

Charmless bracelet

[irishblessing]

The Michigan wedding of Durango newlyweds Andy and Ania Somora came to an abrupt end last weekend after the bride and groom were tasered by local police and spent their wedding night in jail.

According to a news release from the Chikaming Township (Mich.) Police Department, Officer Jeff Enders responded Saturday to the Burnison Art Gallery in Lakeside, Mich., after gallery owner Judi Burnison asked for assistance with unruly guests at the Somoras' wedding reception... (read more)

Zap, you're both it.

[JBlueEyes]

Y SO SERIOUS? Cuz I'm emu.

[Bryan9000]

A New York City police lieutenant who gave the order to fire a Taser stun gun at an emotionally disturbed man who then fell to his death in Brooklyn committed suicide early on Thursday, law enforcement officials said.

Lt. Michael W. Pigott, a 21-year veteran of the force, was found in a police locker room at a former airfield in Brooklyn, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Paul Browne, the police department’s deputy commissioner for public information. In a note found near the body, the lieutenant said he was concerned about his children seeing him charged with professional misconduct and did not want to disgrace his family, a police source said. Lieutenant Pigott had been placed on modified assignment without his gun and badge after he gave the order to a sergeant to fire the Taser at a Bedford-Stuyvesant man, Iman Morales, on Sept. 24.

“The lieutenant was deeply distraught and extremely remorseful over the death of Iman Morales in Brooklyn last week,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a press conference. “Sadly, his death just compounds the tragedy of the loss of Mr. Morales.”

Mr. Morales, naked and with apparent signs of emotional disturbance, tumbled to his death from a second-story building ledge after an officer shot him with the Taser at the instruction of Lieutenant Pigott. Mr. Morales, 35, had been yelling at passers-by and swinging a long fluorescent light bulb at officers before he fell.

No one can stop the insanity!

[Bryan9000]

Thank you sir, may I have another? Yes you may.

[PalePhoenix]

A middle-school student with autism was Tased twice by a Carmel police officer, according to a lawsuit filed by the boy's parents against the Police Department, one of its officers and a local school district.

According to the suit, the electrical bursts temporarily knocked the 90-pound boy unconscious during a confrontation at Creekside Middle School. The boy, who was 14 at the time, was taken to a local hospital before being released to his mother... (read more)

They care enough to capitalize taser. They do NOT care about their autistic children. Think of the children.