We have another death associated with a taser. Darryl Bain, 43, was tasered twice and died in the Long Island home of his mother in Coram, New York.
His brother called police to report that Bain was high on cocaine and had barricaded himself in the house with his 78-year-old mother. She had an existing order of protection against her son.
The police say that Bain fought with three officers and died after two taser shots.
The police may have been justified in the use of force, but this death (once again) raises questions over the risks associated with this “non-lethal” weapon.
We have seen other such fatal taserings, here, here, here, here , here, here, here and here.
For the full story, click here.
In this instance I believe the police acted professionally. The problem is not the police per se, although we’ve had many stories were the taser was used by a LEO feeling disrespected, but the fact that it is promoted as a “non-lethal” method of controlling people. It is obviously lethal in far too many instances and so the police training in its’ use, and the promotion by its manufacturers has led to an over usage with fatal consequences.
Not that it’s possible to prove anything via the Internet, I can assure you that I am NOT a professional blogger. I have ZERO financial ties to the taser issue. My profession is in an unrelated field. My motivation is that I believe that Taser International has been getting away with quite a bit because most people lack the technical knowledge and skills with logic to figure out the truth.
Also, if I’m being paid, who the hell would be paying me?
Attacking me (questioning my motivation) instead of addressing the arguments is perhaps evidence that my arguments are correct.
Nice FZ shout-out, Dredd.
Tasered only twice, but for how many seconds in total?
If the cumulative taser time turns out to be near 30 seconds or even higher, his death is not surprising. Antonio Galeano in Brandon, North Queensland Australia died after being tasered 28 times. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/tasering-of-mental-patients-shocks-qld-health-experts-20090626-czo8.html
We can assume that each jolt would have been of at least one second.
Robert Dziekanski died in Vancouver airport after being tasered 5 times for a cumulative total of 30 seconds.
http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2009/05/raphael-alexander-rcmp-on-dziekanski-we.html.
dailylarma.
“Also watch out for profession BLOGGERS posting here
Some people have an AGENDA and it’s not for the TRUE and ACCURATE FACTS”.
Excited Delirium is a blog full of facts about tasers and their suspicious associations with death. Of course the author has an agenda but he backs his arguments up with facts. I get the impression that he is a reliable source. When reading blogs turn your crap detector on, it is up to the reader to work out whether a particular blog is reliable, sometimes reliable or unreliable.
The other good taser related blog is TNT…Truth Not Tasers which reports exhaustively on the British Columbia airport tasercution of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski.
http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/.
“What you need is … motherly love
..c’mon and get it now …
motherly love …
forget about you brotherly otherly love …
What you need is … motherly love …”
When will tasers be deemed illegal? There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by without someone being killed. It seems many cops can’t wait to use them and they dont need much of a reason. I believe 99% of these cases could have been prevented using a plain old non-new weapon – a night stick. And guess what – people didn’t die.
Please note the following about this case
Police have been called 70 times on this man
Bain’s mother, Phyllis Hawkins, told the Daily News that her son’s breath smelled of alcohol at the time of his death and that he had long struggled with drugs and booze. “Alcohol did not agree with him,” said Hawkins, who noted that police had been called on her son at least 70 times since 2000 due to his behavior when he drank and used drugs. That said, she didn’t think that police needed to use a Taser her son. “[The police] know that when he gets like that, he calms himself down,” she told the paper. “He seemed to be getting himself together from what he did.”
Also watch out for profession BLOGGERS posting here
Some people have an AGENDA and it’s not for the TRUE and ACCURATE FACTS
Based on these facts the officers actions were justified.
Darryl Bain was an adult with what appears to be multiple substance abuse issues. This was not the first time Mrs. Bain’s home tranquility was violated by Darryl, but it will be the last.
Will there be a civil suit?
The “justification” is certainly an important aspect. But the justification needs to include consideration of the actual safety. If the claims of taser safety are not accurate, then preference for use of the taser (replacing other approaches) may itself be unjustified.
In cases where the subject is a drug addict, and is high on drugs, one needs to be very careful with the logic.
An addict probably takes drugs on a regular basis. Then one day the police arrive and taser him, and he dies. Obviously there will be cases where the subject coincidentally took a lethal overdose, and the taser hit just happened to coincide with a death already in progress.
But that’s ‘unlikely squared’. Unlikely that this day was the day that he happened to take a lethal overdose, and unlikely that the timing would line up so exactly.
So – keeping a close eye on the time axis – it seems that the restraint (including, perhaps, the taser) was a contributor, if not a cause, of death.
And if that is true, then perhaps they should not have assumed it was safe in these circumstances. Perhaps other approaches might be safer. Making such decisions is difficult when Taser International will not admit that the taser can cause or contribute to death, “directly or indirectly” (to quote the AMA).
Here is a post I made on the subject of drug addicts and taser “associated” deaths.
http://excited-delirium.blogspot.com/2009/08/repost-on-drug-addicts-2008-april-9.html
Cheers.
After reading the article, I do not know if this was an unjustified use of a taser. It would appear it was under these circumstances.
As much as I initially wanted to jump down the officers throat.