Tazing Grannies

The video embedded in this story from MSNBC has been heavily edited but I think the screams of the granny speak for themselves.

I still find this incident disturbing, and the actions of the deputy immoral, even though there may be a reasonable person out there that could answer our standard question with a "yes." But that all depends on how you frame it, and whether the taser is supposed to be a less lethal substitute for the officer's pistol.

If you frame the question as whether the use of the taser saved lives in this incident, a reasonable person could answer in the affirmative. If you ask whether the deputy would have had to resort to use of his side arm or lethal force if he were without his taser, the moral calculus changes.

The Wisconsin Crazy: Dog Tazers Cops

The story provides precious little in actual details, so I think my headline falls just short of yellow journalism. After a man had finished his meal at McDonald's with his sleeping service dog the manager summoned police who then used pepper spray and a tazer on the seizure prone man.

I hope they didn't use the particular type of pepper spray that catches fire when combined with a tazer.

Again the article offers little in the way of details, we can only hope someone took a cell phone video so we can know more about the altercation. And can corroborate the story the cops gave. I am sure it is just as reasonable as all the other stories of the police using force on a disabled person.

Sunday News Roundup: We're Still Here

Tazers: The CBC's As It Happens, had a segment focusing on the judicial review of the RCMP's use of tazers and in particular their deployment of tazers and the resulting death of Robert Dziekanski.

Environment: Earth Hour was yesterday. Did you turn off and unplug?

Space: Shuttle Discovery landed safely yesterday after upgrading the International Space Station. NASA TV was incredibly boring. The peaceful and safe use of space in the spirit of international cooperation continues. Thank God that our forays into space display the very best our species has to offer.

War: Continued victories in Iraq. Perhaps even progress? Though the entire escapade is a huge distraction from real threats and future battlegrounds. Maybe I spoke prematurely regarding the peaceful use of space.

The BART killing

I have been trying to keep the start of the new year on this blog light with video game reviews and silly articles. I have avoided discussing the conflict in the middle east even though that is the most significant international news right now.

But the riots of last night and the, execution style, police killing of Oscar Grant III are too much to ignore. These are very much subjects which we at The Fringe Element are concerned with. I'll start with the widely viewed video.




I don't know much of the story but people attribute Officer Johannes Mehserle's apparent shock to his mistakenly using his firearm when he intended to use his tazer. I am not sure how this is much better. As you can probably guess from previous articles, we here at The Fringe Element don't approve of liberal use of tazers by police, considering them to be a substitute for lethal force only. Whereas countless news stories indicate that police around the country treat this otherwise useful device as a shortcut to incapacitate any person the officer finds inconvenient to deal with.

In this case the use of a tazer would have been substantially less likely to cause death. I suppose that difference in outcome is supposed to mitigate the severity of the actions of the officer in this case in the minds of some people. But again, I don't consider a tazer to be non-lethal force. Neither do its proponents who call such devices "less lethal." In the same category as rubber bullets. The idea is to incapacitate with sufficient force to be sure to incapacitate with a single use. In many cases, the requisite amount of force to do so with such certainty is enough to kill. Again, I am not arguing against the use of tazers, I am arguing that people at large, and particularly the police, need to stop thinking of using a tazer as less serious than using a firearm.

Another Fall After a Tazering

A Boston man was standing on a fire escape and shouting at people. The cops were summoned and he swung a light bulb at the cops. This article quickly frames the issue in the usual way, that tasers are a substitute for lethal force and so save lives. The obvious question in so many of these cases is whether lethal force was even called for. We weren't there so it is unlikely we will ever know. However, so many of these cases raise the question that they lead to the assumption that these useful devices are not being used exclusively as a substitute for lethal force, or are even diminishing the use of lethal force, but instead are being used as an excuse to use violence since it is more expedient than taking the time to deal with the mentally disturbed.

9/26/8 update: Another article with more information from the victim's mother and a second cell phone video. Also, this article has some details of the guidelines for taser use by NYPD.

Tazer Follow Up

That guy that was tazered on his own couch by the cops that broke into his apartment and continued to tazer him after he identified himself, ya he just got a settlement of $100,000. Too bad that after paying his lawyer and the taxes on that shit he will only see $40,000.

The important thing to remember is the cost of justice. The officers that did this will not face justice for their actions but the taxpayers of this burrow will be the ones that have to pay for the actions of the persons that they have stuffed into uniform. This is why every individual in the community should care about the quality of the police officers on their streets.

Greatest Tazer Story Ever

"As the newlyweds struggled on the ground, a police officer used a Taser on Somora, 29, police said. Pastuszwska, 28, was holding her new husband tight, and was shocked as well, Skowron and authorities said"

He Fell Thirty Feet And Broke His Back! Quick Taze Him For His Own Good! Nineteen Times

The headline here is basically the whole story. The most darkly humorous part of the story is the way the cops change their story when pressed and claim that the psychologically traumatized kid with the broken back was threatening them. But really they tazed him for his own good. You know, to keep him from hurting himself. Or is it even more tragically laughable that the effects of the electrocution delayed the boy's surgery by two days?

Burning Down The House

A man was tazered after he drove around a police roadblock to get to his house that was on fire. The cops say he was resisting, uncomunicative, and reached for a weapon, and drove on the sidewalk endangering people. Except witnesses disagree. Witnesses say he identified himself as the resident, and that the police continued to tazer him after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground. Also the video on this article shows where he went off the road and that it had no sidewalk.

So I ask you our standard questions: Did use of a tazer save anyones life here? Did the tazer act as a substitute for lethal force where lethal force was called for in the course of the job of a peace officer?

Sure the guy behaved foolishly when he drove around a police roadblock, but he was never a threat to anyone. In a stressful situation where you are panicing from your house being on fire, wouldnt you prefer a bit more discression in your police?

Expert Testimony Powers, Activate!

I wish to preface what I am about to say by clarifying my position on Tasers and also preface that with this disclaimer, that the other contributers to this blog may not necessairly share my views.

I think the Tazer is a good and useful technology. I think it is a wonderful substitute for a gun or pepper spray for self defense, depending on your preference. If you feel threatened but don't want to kill anyone or are intimidated by a gun, then a less-lethal taser can give you a comprible amount of self defense in its ability to incapacitate. The Taser also has advantages over pepper spray because it is relatively contained and the effect is limited to the individual hit with the wires. With pepper spray you release a cloud of fine particles that can shift with the wind, cover your clothes, and should never be discharged indoors. I have accidentally pepper sprayed myself and being just as incapacitated as the person you are attempting to flee from is a ticket to disaster town. A taser is a weapon but is not a firearm and that legal distinction makes it far more practical as a person's self defense device since you can use them in more states and carry them across more state boundaries without fear of breaking the law. They are still subject to certain restrictions though.

My problem is not with the Taser devices. My problem is with the cops and thugs that use them as a weapon for torture.

Ohio is one of the few U.S. states where a judge may overrule the county coronor as to the cause of death on a death certificate. When the Summit county medical examiner ruled that three suspects had been murdered by police and that Tasers were partly responsible for the heart failure, Taser International sent is lawyers to Ohio to get a judge to change the record. yesterday they were successful.

I am not the least bit suprised that Taser International would use every means at their disposal to protect the reputation of their flagship product. Given the nature of how the devices tend to be used, I think they would appear to be better corporate citizens if they denounced misuse of their product by pointing out these are the actions of bad people and that their device does not have discretion as to who it electrocutes.

I see two odd clashes in the public statements of Taser International. They loudly proclaim their support for law enforcement. Cases like the one above lead to the assumption that this support of law enforcement goes beyond providing a useful tool to suport a necessary public institution, and actually extends to blind support of the individuals that wear the badge. Admititadly that is a bit of a strech. But it is hard to see this case as anything other than an interference with justice.

The second clash of policy with reality I see within Taser International is what I percieve as a sympathy for the arguments of the anti-gun lobby. It is commendable that Taser International takes every step possible to insure the safety of each of their devices. The instruction manuals are concise and effective, the models for civilian use are locked with a security code so only the person who purchased them can activate the device, they even sell a camera that attaches to the device that starts recording as soon as the safety is switched to the fire position so that there is video evidence that it was necessary to fire. It is admirable that Taser Interantional has chosen to go the extra mile in providing for the safe and proper operation of their products. This intersects with reality because the company and its devices cannot control when they are used. just like a firearms company cannot control when their guns will be used or who will get their hands on them. Once an object is sold it is beyond the control of the manufacturer. So the problem here is that while Taser International is not responsible for misuse of their devices by wicked cops or juvinile thugs, they inject themselves into these instances, insisting that their inanimate device that is beyond their control is incapable of being misused. My main point here is that the Tazer is a good and useful less-lethal alternative for self defense and law enforcement but Taser International needs a more mature and consistant public relations policy.

"Liar Liar"

Pants on fire! Ok so now tazers light your ass on fire.

I would ask you our regular question but it seems like the cops are getting better at press control when they fry someone.

Pavlov Knew How to Educate Children

Granted, they never taze reasonable people. However, the argument Taser International makes is that these things save lives by incapacitating a violent criminal that the cops would have to kill otherwise. This argument is highly questionable in light of how tazers are actually used by law enforcement. They use it as a crutch whenever incapacitating someone would make their job easier, not as a replacement for lethal force. The point we have been trying to make all this time is that using tazers in this way increases the number of deaths that result from regular police work, because taers are more likely to cause death than the methods the peace officer would have had to use to resolve the situation. This is in turn compounded by some officers apparent inability to diffierentiate between a regular citizen and a genuine threat.

It's OK we killed him, he was a pervert.

Its been awhile since we linked to a tazer story but don't think that is because there have not been any. This little gem comes from one of our more violent states. The article has no indication about what happened making it difficult to ask our typical question. Consequently, I point out that this news outlet has chosen to make half of the short article about the crimes this man had previously committed. As if to say, don't worry, this only happens to bad people, he deserved to die, you are safer now, let your fear justify their violence.

What Would You Do?

They probably zapped this guy to stop the horror. Same question as usual; in this situation did the taser save lives or was it a crutch?

Bad Apples

In way similar to, but probably not as reprehensible as the torturers of Abu Ghraib prison, police officers, as we have tried to bring attention to, have been accused of torturing suspects in an effort to coerce compliance.

In one of the most brazen acts of political sabotage I have ever seen, even if it was a Hillary Clinton event, two Bibb County, Georgia, officers threatened attendees of the event to disperse or be tased. So, apparently, the event had almost 150% more people than had signed up for the event, and the crowd outside must have been pretty boisterous. Regardless of my objection to making people register to come to a political event, these two officers were not merely being "discourteous," but were actively engaged in violations of constitutional rights. I mean, we do still have the freedom of assembly, right? The two officers are apparently highly decorated, and in typical good ol' boys fashion, won't even receive a suspension with pay.

A similar incident happened in Vancouver, BC, last night with the Queen's representative in Canada, Governor-General Michelle Jean is being met with anger and protests as she tours the province. As the Governor-General was meeting with local leaders on ways to combat violence, police were outside tasering a protester who got too pushy.

Another alleged bad apple is Corporal Rudy Torres of Frederick County, Maryland. Demonstrating that statistical discrepencies are usually reflective of underlying trends, this particular police force has been disproportionately enthusiastic about using their taser devices, and Corp Torres has under his belt more than 10% of the total use of the department, out of a total of 218 times using 171 tasers in 2007. A more typical rate of use based on these numbers would be more like .6% of all taser uses. One can only hope that the litigation surrounding the death of 20-year old Jarrel Gray sees some justice done.

In an example of messy reality conflicting with a very controlled situation, and the resulting conflicting legality, an Orange County man, described as having a condition that impairs his thinking, is tasered in the course of being subdued (with video badness) by officers, and was later cited for battery on a law enforcement officer with violence. However, if the person can't be held responsible for their own actions, what legal responsibility does this place onto the officer to prevent harm? For instance, why aren't law enforcement officers trained in more mediation and jujitsu?

What is torture? In Toronto, Canada, the founder of Taser International, Thomas Smith, offers some clever spin on the nature of the Taser. “'We were taught electricity is bad,' said Smith. 'Don’t put your finger in the socket. But really, electricity is life.'” Regardless of how true the statement may or may not be, it is ultimately irrelevant. Later, out comes another particularly wonderful example of the straw man logical fallacy.

When one deputant said the UN has expressed concern that taser use is tantamount to torture, Smith objected. “We don’t want to see torturous devices used,” he said. “But if the UN is going to define torture as causing pain, then a baton is torture, stepping on a nail is torture.”

Except the standard for torture is far more robust than Mr. Smith is protraying it. The definition for torture in the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Degrading Treatment or Punishment is as follows, italics added for emphasis.

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

Wake Up Sir, Its Time For Your Tasing

This article describes a law suit resulting from a police tasing. The facts alleged in the suit are as follows. The police busted into his own home, found him sleeping on his own couch, and assuming he was armed, and an immidiate threat because he was snoring, they zaped him. This man managed to identify himself as the lawfull resident of the dwelling and the cops decided he needed to be tazed a couple more times to be sure. They then draged him down to the station locked him up and slandered him in public.

My favorite parts of the article are where its stuck in at the end that he was not charged with possession of pot by the cops who brutalized him. They had enough legal sense to determine it was discovered in an illegal search. My other favorite part is where the police chief explains to us that if the cops don't have tazers they would have to peperspray and beat us when they bust into homes and assault the peacefull, lawfull residents of the home. George Washington shot people over this kind of shit.

Taser Bar

Let Me Just Hug My KidzzzZZZZ

This story comes to you from the frozen north of Wisconsin. The names have been changed to protect us from liability.

Maude and Harold(married to each other) were drinking and Maude went to bed. Later, Harold wanted to know where the limes were and woke up Maude to ask her. Maude, being mentally unstable, freaked the fuck out, attacked Harold, ran screaming from the room and summoned the police. We all know from watching "Cops" that when the police respond to a domestic disturbance, they don't leave without one of the parties in handcuffs, and its usually the shirtless one. When they arrived, the police naturally inquired as to what has happened here, seeing a frantic woman, and a man with a ripped shirt, who also happens to have a criminal record. (but who doesn't?) Maude attempts to recount her half-drempt assault to the police and manages to fill an entire page of a written statement with the sentence; "I think he was choking me." The police dutifily begin slapping the cuffs on Harold as he attempted to deny the allegations. At which time the children of the couple begin to wake up and ask why the police are taking daddy away again, because mama was the one being scary. Harold asks the police if he can say "good by" to his kids and for some reason they allow it. Harold, who has recently had back surgery, lurched around the corner out of sight. Here is where the four peace officers spring into action. The other residents of the household heard, "3...2...1...AAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!" as the police deploy tazers on Harold. In his electricly induced spasam, Harold reached out and grasped one of the officers, effectively transfering the 50,000 volts of electricty to the officer. This is commonly referred to as, "spreading the love." He is now charged with resisting arrest since there are no witnesses who will agree there was an assault and Maude can no longer recall her drunken hallucination.

Multiple Personalities

If there are any regular readers of this blog they may have occasion for confusion. We frequently assert positions in different blog articles that are contradictory. As an answer to that confusion, I direct your attention to the list of contributors to this blog. There are a few of us and we don't all hold precicesly the same viewpoint and that leads to different coverage.

For example, my collegue has a good point about the sponsorship of womens tazer parties could easily be construed as mysoganism.

Personally I wholeheartedly support this kind of thing as long as this is the kind of thing that happens organicly and is not some crass attempt to profit off of fearmongering.

You may also be confused to read that I am not against tazers. After all they are simply tools and have no moral value apart from how they are used. When a cop zaps the fuck out of a guy having a diabetic seisure, that is evil. When a law abiding person tazers a violent criminal, that would be a good use of the weapon. Under these circumstances the average person would be more likely to use a tazer in the way Taser International describes their purpose; they save lives by giving people an alternative to using lethal force. The average person is just walking around out there minding their own business, while the cops are roaming the streets looking for trouble.

This argument holds true for firearms as well. Take a gander at this article from Detroit of all places, describing the effect of increasing access to firearms to law abiding citizens over the last six years. Big suprise? Gun crime went down.

Tomorrow's Taser

Behold! The future of Tasers! Just in case you need a stylish leopard-print taser to go with your leopard-print purse or shoes, the developers at Taser International are ready to help.

Also, in the event that wearing your Taser holster has ever kept you from bringing your iPod, or better yet your Creative Labs Zen with you, Taser has you covered with a new holster that features a 1GB mp3 player built-in.

Here is the press release for all of the products the folks down at Taser International have released at the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

"These new product (sic) are a result of listening to our customers. Personal protection can be both fashionable and functionable," said Rick Smith, CEO and founder of TASER International. "The TASER C2 leopard print design provides a personal protection option for women who want fashion with a bite."

In a continuing rash of stories about women having Taser parties, the question must be asked, who is encouraging this? This first article is about independent Taser dealer Dana Shafman. (Shieldher, Inc., note the victimized woman in the logo)

"The worst nightmare for me is, while I'm sleeping, someone coming in my home," Shafman tells the group, drawing a few solemn nods from the gathered women. Shafman, 34, of Phoenix, says she knows how they feel. She used to stash knives under her pillow for protection.

This second, more colorful article describes the problem from what can only be called a Texan mindset. The author feels that tasers are the liberal alternative to the more effective personal firearm.

Ladies, make 2008 the year you cease to be a helpless victim. Whether you’re in your car, classroom, store, your own house or in church, you must get packed, stacked and ready to whack because the fools today are bold and multitudinous. Yes you, girlfriend, must help society send a message to these evolutionary holdovers that we will rock them with a club, a kick, a gun (my favorite) or a taser for attempting to do us harm.

How much is Taser International promoting this? Considering how we have seen them behave in the past, witness the story of the Canadian policeman who worked with Taser to promote the use of their products by Canadian police departments, one must begin to wonder how ethical these parties are. Considering how dangerous these devices are in the hands of trained professionals, their promotion among the general public seems morally bankrupt. Marketing them directly to women, though, is almost misogynistic fear-mongering.

As far as the practical implementation of Tasers go, there have been a couple of more Taser-related injures. One in Jacksonville, after a man didn't stop for a stop sign. Cocaine doesn't exactly enhance one's decision-making faculties, though. In what appears to be an otherwise textbook example of the use of Tasers, a suspect in Nevada died after being restrained by an officer with a taser.

Here is a look at excited delirium, allegedly an acute psychotic episode that is seem in those with mental illness and drug abuse, and what it meant in the death of Briant Parks in Columbus, Ohio. Even though the police had him out numbered three to one and were using a technique known as "drive stunning," which must mean a continuous electrical discharge into someone, the officers in question were cleared of any wrong-doing. I'm not sure what kind of regulations there are in how many times a Taser can be used on an individual subject, but I think up to ten times is kind of excessive. The fact that the police don't appear to have given Mr. Parks adequate medical care after the incident further reinforces in my mind the need for legislation requiring police provide medical attention to everyone who is tased.

As of publication, Taser International, Inc.'s stock is up slightly in mixed trading.