CANADA – Vancouver cops credit ‘clear guidelines’ with Taser use drop (2012-05-18)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : A healthy trend: substantial decline in taser use: Vancouver police dept officers used Tasers 93 times in 2006, 74 times in 2007, 27 times in 2008 – with fewe officers being trained and carrying the Taser. Only 7 incidents – with two of them involving discharges – in first 4 months of 2012. “And those who do carry it are under ...
USA – Did Taser maker do proper study? [two major problems] (2012-05-17)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: This article is most interesting for confirming two elements (1) A review of the Taser by the Department of Defense in 2002 said "Development of the Taser appears to be based on serendipitous findings and trial and error, as opposed to well-defined scientific investigation." The reviewers gave "a limited but favorable endorsement" for military use. (2) Three years later in 2005, a ...
UK – Lincolnshire Police taser Alzheimer’s patient (2012-05-17)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : Alzheimer's sufferer, Peter Russel From Epworth, Lincolnshire UK, was shot with a Taser weapon several times because he refused to go into care. He ripped the barbed darts out and three officers restrained him until three more officers arrived. An Alzheimer's Society spokesperson said "The Alzheimer's Society is very alarmed at the use of a taser gun on a vulnerable person ...
SOUTH AFRICA – Taser attacker a former police patroller (2012-05-16)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: A member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) opposition party is attacked by a bodyguard (ex- police office) of the Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) - close to the governing ANC - with a taser. She says: “… The guy with the Taser first tried to push it into my face, but didn’t succeed. I turned around and he shoved it ...
UK – Give all police Taser guns to quell riots, Police Federation says (2012-05-16)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : All English police officers should have access to Taser stun guns to quell future riots, a senior police officer union’s spokesman has said, as part of a £111 million shopping list of weaponry and armour including water cannon, which he said was needed to maintain public order and avoid a repeat of last summer's looting and arson. He said that "most ...
USA – Washington DC – [Supreme Court] Justices to consider police use of Tasers (2012-05-04)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: The Supreme Court is being asked to consider whether taser disharges against non –violent individuals should be considered unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court is being asked to consider for the first time police use of Tasers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confronted the complicated Taser questions last year. The majority's conclusion that stunning a nonviolent individual could be considered excessive ...
USA – Mobile, Alabama – Gregory Rachel, dead after being tased by Mobile police, once hailed as hometown hero (2012-05-01)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT Gr4gory Rachel, a home town hero resisted arrest following a domestic dispute, was tasered and died late in the hospital. He “was displaying delusional behavior during the assault,” the woman he was with reported. Rachel was tased with little or no effect. “It took four officers to restrain him in the front yard,” Levy said. It was unclear Tuesday afternoon how many ...
USA – Louisiana State Police probe death of man stunned by city police after escaping custody (2103-05-13)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : Another tasered-then-died incident. Why did a man die following the use of the taser after reportedly escaping custody? A brief initial report provides no ready explanation (except the taser … )]]
Associated Press, Sunday, May 13
BALDWIN, La. — Louisiana State Police are investigating the death of a 33-year-old man who was shot with a stun gun by a city police officer after ...
USA – Tasers now legal in Michigan for Concealed pistol license (CPL) holders (2012-05-12)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : It is legal to carry tasers in much of the United States … : Michigan joins 44 other states that have made Tasers legal to carry. Concealed pistol license (CPL) holders can now carry a Taser as a nonlethal form of self-protection.]]
Concealed pistol license (CPL) holders can now carry a Taser as a nonlethal form of self-protection.
Tasers are used to administer ...
AUSTRALIA – Final moments of Brazilian student – Roberto Laudisio Curti – caught on CCTV before his death (2011-05-11)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : New video shows a shirtless, unarmed man – almost certainly Roberto Laudisio Curti - with up to six officers in pursuit, before he was hit with capsicum spray and stunned with a Taser. CCTV footage taken from a shop near to where Mr Laudisio Curti died shows one officer failing to halt the Brazilian in a tackle, before another officer draws ...
ISRAEL – PALESTINE – Israeli police brutally arrest hunger strike demonstrators, threaten them with rape [and with taser] (2102-05-11)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Protesters near Ramle prison, formed a picket line opposing Israeli Police; the police violently attacked the group, beating them and using tasers, even after the people were handcuffed.” Eight were arrested at the site. The protest was over the arrest of 17 activists. Sixteen-year-old Ward Kayal, sentenced to house arrest, recalled the Israeli police’s use of force at the protest. “They put ...
UK – Lincolnshire Police taser a terrified Alzheimer’s sufferer – Retired farm worker, 58, shot ‘several times’ in his living room (2012-05-09)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Outrage as police repeatedly TASER terrified Alzheimer's sufferer in front of his wife because he didn't want to go into care - then tie him up in his living room. Police shot Peter Russell with several Taser stun rounds, before manhandling him to the living room floor. His arms and legs were tied together and he was carried outside ‘like a bag ...
UK – Taser which transmits 50,000 electric volts to guard the Queen during her Jubilee walkabouts (2012-05-07)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Police officers protecting the Queen have been issued with controversial Taser stun guns in the run up to the Diamond Jubilee. Scotland Yard welcomed the adoption, arguing ‘The history of attacks on the Royal Family show that most are committed by what we call fixated persons using non-lethal weapons,’ – not terrorist attacks. Despite the apparent risks, Tasers have now been issued ...
TASER Inc. – Critique of Dr Zipes’ research (2012-05-07)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: TASER Inc. denies the validity of Indiana University School of Medicine professor Douglas Zipes’ research: (1) the small number of cases in Zipes' study are not enough to draw broad conclusions – but its very hard to obtain data on tasers victims; (2) "There have been 3 million uses of Taser devices worldwide, with this case series reporting eight of concern," – ...
USA – Connecticut: ‘This isn’t right,’ say kin of man killed by Meriden police (2012-05-06)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: An all-too-frequent case of tasered-then-shot, the taser failing to subdue the suspect … The family of Angel Cajigas is still trying to understand his death after he was reported that he was behaving erratically, clutching rosary beads and preaching about religion outside the house at 2.30 am. Hew had a long history of psychiatric problems. Police say he threatened them with scissors. ...
NEW ZEALAND – Sheep shearer criticises use of Taser (2012-05-06)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : A case of taser-creep in New Zealand as tasers become increasingly available to police … An unarmed sheep shearer tasered this week has joined critics saying police use the devices far too quickly and often, as even more are set to be rolled out on the frontline. Peter Papa ran when four cops had showed up at his Paihiatua home to ...
USA – Tasers can kill, U.S. study says (2012-05-01)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Canadian report of the US research by Douglas Zipes: a peer-reviewed study with 8 cases (7 deaths) showing definitively that being shocked with a Taser can cause death through cardiac arrest. "Law enforcement, anybody who uses Tasers, needs to be aware that cardiac arrest may occur," he said. "Try to avoid a chest shot. . . . Know that after you've delivered ...
Tasers Pose Risks to Heart, a Study Warns (2012-04-30)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Medical experts said on Monday that the new report, published online on Monday in the journal Circulation, makes clear that electrical shocks from Tasers, which shoot barbs into the clothes and skin, can in some cases set off irregular heart rhythms, leading to cardiac arrest. The author of the study, Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, a cardiologist and professor emeritus at Indiana University, ...
JERSEY – Human rights group objections to Tasers (2012-04-30)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : The Jersey (Channel Islands) Human Right Group fears the ‘militarisation’ of the police after the police chief, the police officers’ ‘union’ and honorary officers all backed the introduction of Tasers. The police say it is just another "tactical weapon" to protect the public. ]]
FEARS have been expressed about the ‘militarisation’ of the police after the police chief, the police officers’ ‘union’ ...
CANADA – Edmonton: Witness says prisoner was handcuffed before Edmonton police used Taser (2012-04-26)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Fellow inmate Mitch Cutknife told reporters Thursday that Jeff Oatway was handcuffed and restrained on the floor when police zapped him at their downtown Edmonton headquarters on April 11. Mr Oatway, 34, was in a coma on life support and died two days later. Cutknife said he decided to go public when he found out about the death. He also filed a ...
USA – Louisiana: Ascension coroner rules out stun gun in suspect’s death: [Excited delirium and cocaine blamed] (2012-04-26)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Cocaine kills, not the taser. The February death of a Donaldsonville man, Charmin Bennett, 30, whom Ascension Parish sheriff’s deputies shot twice with stun guns was cocaine related, the parish coroner said Wednesday: “excited delirium due to acute cocaine toxicity,” was on his death certificate. The coroner said the pathologist said he did not think being shot with a stun gun caused ...
USA – Illinois Family Suing Calumet City Cops Who Fatally Shot Autistic [ - Asperger' disease - ] Son [after tasering him](2012-04-25)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: A case of “tasered-then-shot” - of a 15-year-olf boy suffering Asperger’s disease: 15-year-old Stephon E. Watts was shot and killed Feb. 1 after the boy’s father called police for help. Stephon, who suffered from Asperger’ disease, was well known to the police as violent. One officer Tasered him with negative results, but another officer deployed his Taser, striking Watts and causing him ...
USA – Alabama : Former jail supervisor sentenced to five years in prison (2012-04-25)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : A former Tuscaloosa County Jail supervisor, Althea Mallisham, who used a Taser on three inmates was sentenced Wednesday to serve more than five years in federal prison. Her attorney Tommy Spina that she struggled to be accepted in the male-dominated field, and felt that she had to prove herself to her co-workers. Among other instances, on June 9, 2008, Ms Mallisham ...
USA – Connecticut : ‘Police brutality’ video shows cop punch and taser man already subdued on the ground (2012-04-25)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: A Connecticut police officer has been captured on video throwing several punches at a subdued man on the floor and then proceeding to Taser him while another officer holds him. (See pĥotos at the URL at the end of this post.) Despite the video evidence, the Internal Affairs investigator at Meriden police ruled that Cossette had not violated any police procedures.]]
By Daily ...
USA – Illinois Family Suing Calumet City Cops Who Fatally Shot 15-yr-old Autistic Son [after tasering him] (2012-04-25)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: 15-year-old Stephon E. Watts was shot and killed Feb. 1 after the boy’s father called police for help. Stephon, who suffered from Asperger’ disease, was well known to the police as violent. One officer Tasered him with negative results, but another officer deployed his Taser, striking Watts and causing him to drop the knife, the release said. He was then shot. A ...
USA – North Chicago: Man dies after being assaulted by cops; officers placed on paid leave (2012-04-25)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: A case of clear abusive use of tasers and false reporting by police: Police were dispatched to investigate a domestic abuse complaint last year. According to the officers that responded to the call, Hanna, unarmed, rushed them with clenched fists, they responded with batons and Tasers. Although the cops claim that their stun guns were only used two or three times, an ...
USA – Missouri: Patrol Finishes Investigation into Deadly Camden Co. Tasing [no criminal charges will be filed] (2012-04-24)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: Missouri State Highway Patrol says no criminal charges will be filed in the case of Glenn D. Norman's death on October 2011 after deputies used a taser on him when he resisted arrest. he started to have trouble breathing and deputies performed CPR but Mr Norman died. The family admits Norman may have been taking prescription pain medication and possibly too much ...
USA – Illinois: Parents object to Wonder Lake police treatment of disabled man (2012-04-24)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : Family members of a 28-yr-old disabled man, Travis N. Tillman, involved in an altercation –making too much noise - with Wonder Lake police say they believe officers overreacted when they arrested and shocked him with a Taser sev4ral times. In September 2010, Tillman suffered a traumatic brain injury after crashing his motorcycle,he was in a coma for months and doctors did ...
USA – California: Grass Valley police use Taser on man; man dies day later (2012-04-23)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT: another “tasered-then-died” scenario. Police in Grass Valley saw a man standing in the middle of the street with his pants down, yelling at people. He pulled up his trousers and ran up to a stopped car, and punched the driver. "He assaulted the driver in an apparent attempt to take the vehicle," District attorney Newell said. "The officer deployed the Taser and ...
FRANCE – A brain penetration after Taser injury: Controversies regarding Taser gun safety (2012-04-21)
[[SUMMARY / COMMENT : Can the taser dart cause brain injury? Here is a French report of the case of a 27 year old man who was injured by a Taser gun device which penetrated the frontal part of the skull and damaged the underlying frontal lobe. “We also observed the length of a Taser dart is sufficient to allow brain penetration.” This case study ...