Are police a little too willing to use a TASER?

I wish you would stop saying, "electrocuting". The Taser does not electrocute anyone. It simply immobilizes the voluntary skeletal muscles. It does not affect the involuntary muscles like the heart or lungs. Lots of scientific documentation on that.

Now to your question, " Are police a little too willing to use a TASER?" There are times when that is true. If it continues to go in that direction then the police will lose the ability to use a Taser.

The Taser is another tool on the belt of the officer. It is there to be used when the person the officer is dealing with does not comply, and all other non-lethal options are exhausted. The same as pepper-spray. When to apply these options are different from department to department based on "protocol" which comprises, training, rules, regulations, general orders, court decisions, etc.

In this situation that you cite, the officers over-reacted and went to the Taser faster than they should have. There were other options open, such as backing out of reach of the cane while continuing to talk with the woman.

Force options start with
1) Officer Presence - that means the simple fact that the officer is there and people can tell he/she is a police officer.

2) Verbal Commands - that means the words the officer uses to control the situation. This is where the officers involved should have used more time. "Verbal Judo" is a wonderful style of communication that would have allowed the officers to take control of the situation verbally.

3) Soft or Empty Hand Control - this means actually touching someone, not fighting. This is when you grab someone by the arm while asking him or her to come with you, or leave.

4) Artificial Incapacitators - Taser, Pepper-spray, things that can help control the situation without physical harm to either the suspect or the officer.

5) Hard Hand Control - this is fighting, or impact weapons like the nightstick, ASP baton, beanbag rounds, etc. This is where the suspect or the officer can be injured, sometimes seriously.

6) Lethal Force - this is when the firearm, pistol, shotgun, rifle, are deployed.

Aaron

The "Police" isn't one individual.

Are some some police officers more willing to use the taser in uncalled for situations? Of course. Are some police officers less willing to use the taser in unnessicary situations? Of course.

Brando

In this case it was more then likely the police abused their taser. The two key details are this '...since she was disguised by dark glasses, ...white cane.'

Alright, a white cane for starters; that's a give a way. White cane's show that the person is visually impaired, and the dark glasses can show that as well. But seriously, even for a healthy senior citizen it may be near impossible to take down three officers, so why do they feel threatened? A simple handcuffing would've done it, and help escort her out.

Usually I'll defend the police, but a eye for detail would've prevented such an incident, hopefully never happens again.

loreupnorth

It doesn't take much to set a cop off, they just get worse and there's more of the bad ones as time goes on,

Read about it here, the stuff that is censored on the 6:00 news, Rapists, child molesters, drugs, thieves, beatings, murders, you name it they have done it,

Thousands of pages if someone had the time to go through them all...

http://www.badcopnews.com/

EDIT
After watching the entire video I have to ask how the hell could those cops feel threatened......even if she wasn't blind she can hardly move...

2 steps back and you are safe from the swinging blind persons cane, are pigs really that f***ing stupid, easy answer after seeing that.....YES

Good lord what kind of pansies are the pigs today when "they feel threatened" by her......And if they are not pansies then they surely did it for cheap thrills.....

For christs sake I have grabbed heavier things that were swinging in my highschool days.......All by myself....

Right up there with the "big strong police officers", 2 of them that felt the need to handcuff a 6 year old I guess......

seeking

Yes I believe that many police are quick to action, with taser and lethal weapons. I believe that the police have become so hardened in their work that there moto may be protect and serve, but their nature is to address anyone not a part of the long gray line as the enemy. The police has evolved into a self-serving self protecting force with little regard to due process and rights. When the police say it is going to be a good night tonight, they are not expecting or wanting a quiet night..

Mizz

Well, if tasers were "excessive" no department would issue them. I believe they are effective tools just like everything else officers are given. There are no real, legit cases of people dying from being tased. The only lethal weapon police carry are guns. (And batons if you hit the person in the right place.)

Unfortunately, there are good and bad police officers. But there are good and bad teachers, doctors, etc. Rarely do those people have their job performance rated by the public. I'm not saying don't question the police (that'd be outrageous) but you should realized they're highly trained in what they do and, more often than not, I bet they're doing the right thing.

You can't punish all officers by taking away an effective tool because SOME of them are entirely too excited to use excessive force.

LRN2SPELL

its true there some bad apples. you have them in every profession. it does not accurately reflect the behaviors and decisions of every law enforcement officer. if you do not want tased, sprayed or subjected to other pegs on the ladder of force, comply with the police, whether or not you agree with the situation at hand. i have no sympathies with anyone who would threaten police, regardless of their situation. i myself have been tased and though it was the most incredible pain ive ever felt, five minutes later i couldnt even tell it had happened. wrestle with a mentally ill person you do not know is armed, or find out after they are booked that they have hepatitis and you have to go get tested. experience these things firsthand and you tell me what lengths you would got o to not taser someone. im going home at the end of my shift, regardless of what i have to do to anyone else to ensure it. any LEO will tell you the same. stop telling half the story.

firefighter211400

Take the taser away from Police and watch the shootings rise. The taser is a great intermediate use of force option, which has saved countless criminals from getting shot and potentially dying. They are not lethal devices. if the person dies it is as a result of another condition (ie. drug overdose). People should Research the taser and then comment, as people generally have No idea what they are talking about in regards to these devices.

dizzyme124

Would you rather be tased or shot?

Not To Serious

Yes cops are to fast to use brutality on people. And as you can see from these answers cops will all ways try to justify and lie fof each other.Why they are cops so out of control.

coachpisco@verizon.net

Better to use a taser then to shoot you in the heart with a gun. Sometimes mistakes are made. Police are only human. It's too bad the lady was tazed. It's ashame that she has to be afraid to go to her door because of previous experiences. I don't know what the answer is in this case. However, I'll say this again. If the police truly didn't know she was blind, and tazed her when she struck one of the policemen, they would had shot her, if they didn't have a taser. THAT would have been a disaster.

RobNasty

police always abuse their power like maseing and taseing kids for fighting at school

personally i've been tased once mased twice and almost beat down

Mud Killer

A cane in anybody's hands can be a lethal weapon. According to the officers, she tried striking one of them. You are right, she wasn't a suspect in a crime. So why would they have used the taser? I don't believe that Dayton P.D. is in the habit of randomly knocking on people's doors and shooting them with the taser. That's just a little too far-fetched to believe. And it doesn't matter if the woman is blind or not, she swung at them. Would you have felt better if they had used O.C. or a baton? What would be your protocol when confronting a subject trying to hit you? Would it be something like this?

Suspect= " I'm going to kill you, cop"
Officer= " Ok, now Sir/Ma'am. Before I defend myself I need
to ask are you currently suffering from any physical
disabilities that may cause you to not be fully
capable of killing me? Have you injested any
drugs that could cause your heart to beat at an
accelerated rate and lead to heart failure, which
of course will be blamed on my use of a taser?
Which ironically is designed to keep me from
having to go hands on with you, thus reducing
the likelihood of you suffering any prolonged
periods of pain."

Would that be your protocol? Would it?

chilebreath

Would you rather have them use a gun? using a Taser id a step between taking a thug down alive or using deadly force. You decide.

Vindicaire

I would rather use a taser than have to fight someone and get hurt. The nice thing about the taser is that even though it hurts very badly, it is over in five seconds unless you keep fighting or not complying, unlike injuries from fighting/getting shot/maced, etc.

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