The last blog I posted was one I had been mulling over for a while. I have had enormous concerns about Tasers for years, and most of those I didn't even include in my blog (but it was getting too damn long, so I had to wrap it up). I believed that were a tool that, like many others, has been abused by law enforcement agents since its introduction.
We have all heard at least some of the horror stories involving the use of a Taser in really questionable circumstances - on the guy in a diabetic coma on the bus in Great Britain; on the blind old lady who thought the police were intruders in her home; on the 16 year old kid (19 times!) on the ground already with a broken back after a fall; on the 18 year old man in Florida who was tied to a hospital bed at the time. And there are many more.
Tragically, the most recent Taser death has affected more than the family members and friends of the mentally ill Brooklyn man who fell after being Tased by police while he stood on a ledge. Yesterday the lieutenant who gave the order to use the Taser committed suicide. No one can truly know what his thoughts were in the days before his suicide, but I suspect they centered around profound guilt and remorse. Yet Lieutenant Pigott's order was simply a reflection of the pervasive casual attitude that has permeated police forces around the world. Tasers have become the easy way out for officers, replacing the verbal means that used to be employed to safely resolve some dangerous situations. They are fast, effective, and simple to use. And they allow the user to be utterly detached from the person they are targeting, both physically and, more significantly, emotionally. That is the most profound danger of Tasers. And it was only a matter of time before someone who uses Tasers, or directs others to do so, was forced to try to reconcile their integrity and morality with that detachment and its consequences.
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