There is another controversy over police tasers leading to a death. Robert Mitchell, 16, died after being hit with a 50,000 volt taser shock after he ran from a traffic stop and allegedly resisted arrest. Mitchell had a learning disability and according to his family was merely scared.
Mitchell was killed on April 10th. His cousin, Chris Davis, was pulled over over an expired license plate when Mitchell ran into an abandoned house a couple blocks away. The police have cleared the officers and said that it was an appropriate use of the taser.
His family is pursuing a lawsuit against the police department.
We have seen a slew of such injurious or fatal uses of tasers recently, here and here and here.
Mike,
Thank you for the kind words. My point is that the guy was breaking the law. Where in the article does it say the taser wasn’t used correctly? If the cop had gone into the house and walked around a corner and got shot, you probably never would have heard about it. We ask law enforcement to do a very difficult job in which they are forced to make split second decisions which effect not only their own lives but the lives of those around them. It’s a lot easier to sit here and ridicule the man a month after it happens, then it is to actually make those decisions. The young man ran from the police which would give anyone reason to believe he was desperate.
While Amnesty International fabricates comments, at least they didn’t say that Taser has killed over 350 people in the US. John King did. While some have died AFTER being hit by the Taser, none have died because of it. Note that three quarter of a million people have been subjected to Taser in training and by volunteering. ZERO have died. If Taser were even a contributary cause, one would expect some small number of deaths in this massive control group.
“My finance and I were robbed at gun point less than a month ago in our own home and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. So forgive me if my sympathy is absent.”
Chris,
I feel sympathy for you and your fiance having to go through such a terrible experience. It must have been quite frightening, humiliating and filled you with great anger. If it was me I would have felt that. I have been in similar circumstances in my life and to be honest with you I might have personally killed the perpetrator if I could have. However, one thing is not related to the other and we pay our Police to enforce the law, as they obey the law. Nobody is drafted into being a policeman and part of their job is to behave lawfully and with respect for everyone’s rights. This is important for us as citizens because no matter the color of our skin, or how lofty a position we hold, we too can become victims of that small percentage of Police who don’t properly uphold their oaths of office.
“Why didnt you volunteer to “deal humanly” with these psychotic individuals? Lets be truthful. You hid behind the police and criticized them, while they did your dangerous work.”
DirtPimp,
Actually I was the one in front of the police and a good part of the reason I complemented them was that they were smart enough to let me do the work. By the way I’m not talking about one incident, but perhaps somewhere over twenty. Also too while I’m at it, I worked directly with the police for many years not only with psychiatric patients but also supervising a unit that took only the worst cases of child abuse. We always got along very well, I liked them and they liked me. Often enough to go out for drinks together. I also worked for many years in the most dangerous neighborhoods of NYC, at all hours, alone and weaponless. Many were places where police wouldn’t go into alone and they had guns, so your assumptions are way out of line. However, what is to be expected from someone who could choose any screen name he wants and chooses: DirtPimp? That I think says it all.
I think some people here have a fundamental misunderstanding on when the use of force is justified. People will continue to die (unnecessarily) from tazers until the establishment finally acknowledges that they are deadly force and should only be used in situations warranting the use of deadly force.
Mike Spindell
“It is apparent that police training re: taser use is totally deficient and that clearly they are being overused. In general police are now trained to move quickly against any perceived resistance to authority. I have been with NYC PO’s many times on pickups of psychotic individuals of all racial backgrounds.
Generally I’ve found that many on the NYPD get it and tried to deal as humanely as they could. I’m not sure that is true for other venues, or whether it is still true in NY since I retired five years ago.”
Why didnt you volunteer to “deal humanly” with these psychotic individuals? Lets be truthful. You hid behind the police and criticized them, while they did your dangerous work.
How would the police know that he was unarmed? Should they let anyone run from them? If so, criminals will never be caught. Tasers have saved many more lives than they have taken. Without these devices, officers will be much more likely to use their guns, and this will certainly lead to more shootings. Expecting police officers to engage in dangerous hand to hand combat with fleeing people is asking too much of an already hazardous profession.
We have something similar to this in the California Dept. of Corrections where the state is thinking about removing a less than lethal weapon which shoots blocks at inmates when they refuse to stop fighting. A few inmates have been killed because of their refusal to stop fighting which has put other inmates and COs in danger and now the weapon is at risk to be removed from the institutions. Im curious to know what the state will do when inmates start getting shot by the mini 14 because the COs no longer have the block gun.
Mike,
My finance and I were robbed at gun point less than a month ago in our own home and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. So forgive me if my sympathy is absent. How do you know what was going through the head of this police officer?
Dawne and Chris,
Do you really think it is as simple as “don’t break the law” and have you no compassion for those who are grievously harmed when a minority of police act irresponsibly? If you don’t then I would suggest a closer inspection of your own consciences to discover if they are there.
It is apparent that police training re: taser use is totally deficient and that clearly they are being overused. In general police are now trained to move quickly against any perceived resistance to authority. I have been with NYC PO’s many times on pickups of psychotic individuals of all racial backgrounds.
Generally I’ve found that many on the NYPD get it and tried to deal as humanely as they could. I’m not sure that is true for other venues, or whether it is still true in NY since I retired five years ago.
Does the name Malice Green bring any thoughts to mind? The mind set of the Police in Detroit? Black kid Detroit? Humm, damn straight I’d run.
maybe his parents should have taught him that the police are good and not to be scared by them….also why didn’t his cousin get his plates renewed? Maybe his mother should have paid more attention to who her son was with.
Chris:
“Don’t break the law and you wont get tased.”
This guy was in diabetic shock, unresponsive to the officers commands didn’t break any laws and still got tased.
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/12/10/man-goes-into-diabetic-shock-police-taser-him/#more-6209
Chris:
Mitchell was ‘special ed’, and according to his cousin ‘terrified’
(the article I read) when the police pulled them over. What recourse do police dept.’s have, how about more training. That’s the best tool they’ll ever have. IMHO
Chris,
Why on earth do you think that the Taser isn’t a weapon?
Thats a good idea. Take the taser away and then what recourse do police officers have besides their weapon. The bottom line is dont break the law and you wont get tased.
I wonder how many people will die or be tased unnecessarily before we can get some changes. It’s as though law enforcement has been provided a serious tool to use without rules and too often with no logic or common sense.
Why do you need to tase someone who is running away? That seems like absolutely not a threat to the officers.
Where is Ralph Nader when you need him the most, Corvair anyone?