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Oh really, now — how long have I been blogging about this “electrical shock device” and the deaths, maimings and abuse heaped upon the guilty and the innocent, the elderly, the mentally disabled, the bedridden and wheelchair bound, as well as humans minding their own business on bicycles and at a child's baptism party? Never mind the story of a Taser being used to sodomize a suspect.
Law enforcement officials around the country have been on a mission to prove that face-to-face negotiations are passe, and compliance should be achieved by physical assault, even in cases where there is no threat to the officer. Occasionally (well in too many cases), the Taser “negotiation” ended up with the Tasee DOA.
Now the company has decided to issue this hilarious-if-it-wasn't enraging advisory to police that there might be a bit of a problem if you unleash the 50K blast directly into someone's chest. Did someone need to consult Mr. Wizard to figure out this “problem?” (Raw Story):
Taser International stressed that suffering an “adverse cardiac event” after being zapped was “extremely unlikely,” but human rights groups say hundreds of people have been killed by the electroshock weapons.
In a bulletin dated October 12, the Arizona-based company issued new guidelines saying it had “lowered the recommended point of aim from center of mass to lower-center of mass for front shots.”
“When possible, avoiding chest shots with ECDs (Electronic Control Devices) avoids the controversy about whether ECDs do or do not affect the human heart,” it explained.
“Researchers have concluded that a close distance between the ECD dart and the heart is the primary factor in determining whether an ECD will affect the heart. The risk is judged to be extremely low in field use,” it said.
Read that carefully – Taser International still doesn't take responsibility for the danger and outcomes we've seen of its “non-lethal device.”
“We have not stated that the Taser causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic.”
Taser's training bulletin states that “the risk of an adverse cardiac event related to a Taser. .. discharge is deemed to be extremely low.” However, the bulletin says, it is impossible to predict human reactions when a combination of drug use or underlying cardiac or other medical conditions are involved.
“Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a Taser discharge to the chest area, it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer and Taser International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the Taser. .. could have played,” the bulletin says.
The bulletin recommends that when aiming at the front of a suspect, the best target for officers is the major muscles of the pelvic area or thigh region. “Back shots remain the preferred area when practical,” it says.
Meanwhile the devices are being handed out to guards at schools, and proliferating without any standardized training to law enforcement departments all over the world. And of course, this bit of business from Taser International shows a buff black brother getting it right in the target zone.
Related:
* Man dies from police taser after fleeing from arrest on marijuana warrant
* Taser abuse: how many have to die before something is done about it?
* NAACP steps forward to support federal standards for the use of Tasers
* Sunshine State sadism: 43 children tased during prison tour
* VA: The Tasing of the Hula Hoop Lady
4 Comments
Taser Ad in American Way magazineI had to travel last weekend for work, and picked up the inflight magazine on AA. One of the ads that stuck out in my mind was for Taser international, advertising their C2 Taser as a personal protection device. I was like, how can this be? where is it legal for individuals to own this type of lethal weapon? Well, there are several states that prohibit personal ownership and use, and the device has to be registered and activated, but sure enough, you can go get yourself some personal protection: http://www.taser.com/Pages/con…
Pepper spray tooThese should be controlled just like guns. We’ve had a lot of robberies by perps using tasers or pepper spray.
Taser FAILLiving in the HQ city for Taser, where the force here was slow in adoption except for the widely felt to be criminally run Sheriff’s office, when this news broke originally I turned to the gentleman sititng near me and noted that in training for use of such firearms, a basic core prinicple of said training — inclusive of all that officers recieve – is that you always aim for the center of mass — the largest part.
In firearms training — and this is a firearm — the nature of it is always that you shoot the largest area in order to be sure of getting at least a hit.
This training is done to make it reflexive, and it is unreasonable to expect someone trained to use a firearm in such a manner to suddenly take a moment and cease to use the very real training they’ve had.
In intense situations — and I had my share of them — where confrontation is involved, you do not want a responder hesitating — even in apparently non-lethal situations. This can actually work to intensify and shift one from nonlethal to lethal.
So this move by Taser is, effectively, saying that the gun’s use must be limited, in a manner that is not effective for the use to which its being applied.
This directive is in direct contrast to every policy on use of the weapons as well — and therefore requires significant revisions to the implementation and use of these weapons.
(in short — this is bullshit, anyone trained in weaponry can see it, it’s essentially Taser saying “don’t use them” even though no one wants to admit it to the average guy on the street.)
Why hasn’t a class action law suit been brought against Taser?Seriously, hundreds of people have died due to the use of this ‘less than leathal’ device. If they’re dying after this has been used on them and its billed as ‘less than leathal’ then it’s a defective product.
Has the FDA or the AMA ever tested this device? NO! Yet non-medical laymen are allowed to say that it won’t effect a normal healthy person’s heart rythum. That those that died were on ‘drugs’ or were ‘painicked’ or had a undiagonsed heart condition.
…and here I am a Intersexed/Transgender person who goes to public events where we stand for GLBTI rights. I’ve had a heart condition that is linked to my Intersexed condition. My heart condition is as visible as my screwy Gene’s to the passer-by. Cops don’t stop and ask “Do you have a heart condition?” They have an annoying habit of using a taser way too fast. Sometimes before they even say anything.
Lucky for me, my tachycardia is fixed for now. I don’t know what would happen if I got hit with 50,000 volts though…. maybe I should ask my Electro-Cardiologist.