Police departments appear to be vying for who can claim responsibility for the most outrageous abuse of a taser.  This week’s winner: The Wichita Police Department.

The Wichita police first entered the home of Donnell Williams on a false report of a shooting. Williams is hearing impaired and was in the tub at the time. When he exited the bath in just a bath towel, he found himself facing drawn guns. He tried to point at his ears to show that he was deaf. Despite the fact that he was virtually naked and not acting violent, the police went ahead and tasered him anyway for good measure.

Amazingly, Deputy Chief Robert Lee of the Wichita Police Department could muster only the most lame response: “Police wish it never happened, but with the information they had at the time, their choices were limited.” Really? Their choices were limited in facing a naked man out of a bathtub? What were the choices a taser or a bullet? It is little surprise that officers would abuse such weapons when their Deputy Chief holds such a bizarre notion of proper police practices.

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