Alumbrado -> RE: Officer on leave over stun gun (9/20/2007 3:41:16 PM)
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I think we all have enough experience with drunks and violence to be able to from an opinion. Really? How many people have you shot while arresting them? The reason that Tasers are called 'less lethal' or 'less than lethal' weapons is that they are intended to provide an option other than firearms in the use of force continuum...that is 'Why is it okay to use them on our citizens'. Now I love Chuck Norris as much as the next right thinking person[;)], but contrary to millions of hours of fictional entertainment fodder, in the real world our police are not selected, trained, or intended to win kickboxing matches with the citizenery. Prior to the advent of OC and Tazers, the police had limited authorized choices when confronted with the task of getting an extremely combative subject to jail... sticks, or bullets, when words and simple hand controls did not work. Now having said that, the Tazer is proving itself to be an extremely flawed substitute for deadly force... it has been linked to too many deaths in custody, and has been ineffectual in too many cases. It is one of thoe things that looks great on paper, but when it goes wrong, it has the potential for things to end badly. I'm not a fan of the Tazer, but I recognize it for what it is and isn't, and I don't buy into 'The cop shoulda just used the Vulcan Nerve Pinch, and they would have settled right down...' armchair quarterbacking.
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