Archive for the 'Down’s syndrome' Category

USA – Vermont State Police to make revisions to Taser policy [more attention to the disabled] (2011-10-22)

Posted on October 22 2011 by admin

[[SUMMARY /COMMENTS : Following the tasering of a man with Down’s syndrome, changes to Vermont state police policy regarding Tasers includes placing people with cognitive impairments in a category that requires special consideration before use of a Taser, and the devices will be used only if the person is armed and presents a risk of […]

USA – Family sues Cleveland police officers, claims teen son with Down syndrome was attacked(2011-07-25)

Posted on July 25 2011 by admin

[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS : Parent in Cleveland are accusing police of roughing up a teenager with Down syndrome: In a civil rights lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Ramon Ortiz and Alma Perez say Patrolman Brian Kazimer used excessive force on their son, Juan Ortiz, after mistaking him last summer for a neighborhood robber. […]

CANADA / QUEBEC – “Pistolet Taser :Un moratoire n’est plus suffisant: nous exigeons le retrait!” [“Taser pistol: a moratorium is not enough: We demand its withdrawal!”] (2009-10-21)

Posted on October 21 2009 by admin

[[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: In a press release, the Montreal coalition for a moratorium on taser use changes its title – to a coalition demanding its withdrawal. The follows TASER Inc.’s recent recognition that the taser may affect the heart and the use of the taser on a resident suffering from Down’s syndrome in an institution […]

CANADA / QUEBEC – Taser sur un trisomique: les propos du ministre Dupuis dénoncés [Taser used on a man with Down’s syndrome: Quebec Public Security Minister’s reaction is denounced] (2009-10-08)

Posted on October 18 2009 by admin

 [[SUMMARY / COMMENTS: The Quebec Minister of Justice has to recognise that tasering a man suffering from Downs syndrome living in a health-care residence is unacceptable, the opposition Parti Quebecois says. The minister had previously said “You don’t argue with a police officer or else you expose yourself to the consequences”. The parents of the […]

CANADA / QUEBEC – Le taser en institution: interdiction souhaitée [Taser in health-care institutions: demands for its withdrawal] (2009-10-10)

Posted on October 10 2009 by admin

[[SUMMARY /COMMENTS : The father of a girl with Down’s syndrome living in the same instiututionm as the 43-year-old man who was tasered by Quebec police is calling for a ban on its use in centres for patients suffering from mental deficiencies. The father says that police shouted “Calm down or I’ll taser you!” This […]

CANADA / QUEBEC – Taser sur un trisomique: «la meilleure option», dit la police [Tasering a man with Down’s syndrome: “the best option” according to the police] (2009-10-09)

Posted on October 9 2009 by admin

[[SUMMARY /COMMENTS: The police are maintaining that using the taser was the “best option” in handling a 46-year-old man in a residence, suffering from Down’s syndrome. Anything else, the pocie-chief says, and his officers might have been injured (“auraient pu être blessés”) . But isn’t that why we pay the police so well: they might […]

CANADA / QUEBEC – Utilisation du taser – “Cela ne devrait pas arriver, point final!” [Tasering a Downs Syndrome patient just should not happen – no ifs or buts!] (2009-10-04)

Posted on October 4 2009 by admin

[[SUMMARY /COMMENTS : A man suffering from Down’s syndrome is tasered in a residential units for the cognitively impaired in Quebec City. A group defending the rights of the mentally impaired population, along with other groups helping the psychiatrically-disturbed, says there is no place for tasers in such settings, especially for those targeted, but also […]