A police officer in Kankakee has a curious method of applied learning for children. While visiting the Kankakee Junior High School, he called for volunteers and tasered students in a demonstration. One of the parents rushed her son to the hospital because he has a pre-existing heart murmur.
The parents say that the officer went into a class and promptly announced “Who wants a Taser?”
Fortunately, Alta Young’s son with the heart condition turned out fine.
This is not the first officer to have fun with high voltage, here and here and here and here.
For the full story, click here.
Deception, moi? You’re the one that started this with your (choose one) bald faced lie, or shocking display of ignorance:
“…every officer that undergoes taser training submits to being tased. I have never heard of any one of those officers suffering any injury from doing so.”
Your statement (quoted above) is demonstrably incorrect. Not just once either. I provided you with a explicit link that shows you how to find the facts, even court records with a few clicks.
But you’re simply not interested in the cold hard facts that (for example) tasers actually do cause injuries to police trainees, Taser International has been accused of covering it up, they’ve settled with a few injured trainees and then called the associated lawsuits “dismissed”. Some police forces have even banned training hits (revealing the first part of your quote to also be false).
Chief Gascon’s cute little study (assuming you read and actually comprehend it) indicates that there may be five “opportunities” to use tasers in the SFPD to save lives in a five year period. That’s once a year. But only two lives would actually be saved by tasers during the same five-year period, about 0.35 per year. Not taking into account who-knows-how-many would be killed by tasers during the same period (could easily be more than two).
That’s why the ACTUAL taser death rate (it’s not zero as claimed) is so critical. The death rate can still be so low that “it could be rounded to zero” (0.49% for example) and tasers would kill more than they’d save.
Google: Gascon’s Golden Gate Tasergate. Follow the links to the complete explanation.
The primary issue with tasers is the false claim that they are incapable of causing death and only indirectly injuries. Your first post to this thread made a statement (quoted above) that essentially repeated those false claims of safety. From this huge lie about taser safety stems most of the overuse, and much of the misuse and abuse. These are major problems.
You’re either part of the solution, or part of the problem.
“Morally and ethically, injuries are not even on the same page as death.”
What about the injuries to police officers? Do you consider that to be “part of the job”? You’re looking from one perspective, and completely ignoring all other perspectives.
“They try to turn the debate to “injuries” when we haven’t even finished the debate on taser-caused and taser-contributed deaths.”
The only thing that would make you happy, would be the elimination of tasers. You see no benefit. Steps to prevent abuse aren’t going to satisfy you, and every situation you see is considered to be over-use.
“A wash with no net benefit”
What does that study say about decreased injuries to police officers?
Why are you trying to act as though Chief Gascon didn’t find the benefit to outweigh the risk? From your earlier post we can all see that you will flat out lie to push your agenda. You like to stir the pot with deception and then want respect. When you stoop that low you are deserving of neither.
Deputy Dawg: “…use of tasers has led to a decrease in the number of injuries to officers and arrestees.”
That’s one of the despicable debating tricks used by Taser International. They try to turn the debate to “injuries” when we haven’t even finished the debate on taser-caused and taser-contributed deaths. Morally and ethically, injuries are not even on the same page as death. It’s disgusting that anyone would try to paper over the deaths with reports about injuries.
For example: SFPD Chief Gascon just issued a cute little study that concludes that if tasers were introduced into SFPD, they’d save perhaps two lives every five years. But they’d probably be deployed roughly every single day. And thus cause or contribute to several deaths during a five year period. A wash with no net benefit, and the only effect is redistributing the risk of death from the most violent to the least violent.
You watch, Chief Gascon’s telephone will ring with a call from Scottsdale, and by next week he will attempt to turn the debate towards rates of injuries.
The other thing you have to realize about these so-called studies on rates of taser injury.
1) Dart penetration injuries are typically not counted.
2) Any taser-caused burns are typically not counted.
3) Any taser-induced injuries are sometimes counted.
4) Any taser associated deaths are assigned to “excited delirium” and are not counted.
One major study (Wake Forest) seemed to be independent, but then the recent Maryland Attorney General’s report included a footnote that mentioned that Wake Forest’s Dr. Bozeman has received money from Taser International. Oops! Up to that point, that study was considered to be independent by most observers. Now, not so much. That’s how it goes.
If tasers only ever caused injuries, I wouldn’t have even bothered.