Another tazing...

[jks9199]

Saw this, thought it might be of interest.

UN Says Tasers Are a Form of Torture



Journal written by Jeremiah Cornelius (137) and posted by kdawson on Saturday November 24, @08:58PM
from the just-don't-bro dept.

The use of Tasers "causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture," the UN's Committee Against Torture said. "In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events." Three men — all in their early 20s — died from after tasering in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being tasered by Canadian police. There have been 17 deaths in Canada following the use of Tasers since they were approved for use, and 275 deaths in the US. "According to Amnesty International, coroners have listed the Taser jolt as a contributing factor in more than 30 of those deaths." http://slashdot.org/articles/07/11/24/2324212.shtml

But the UN practically says it's torture if I look at you mean...

I've "ridden the lightning" for the full five seconds. It ain't fun, it's not something I'm going to go out of my way to do again, but it's not torture.

OK, I take that back. I can think of ways to use it as torture. But, then, I can think of ways to use a 9 volt battery, or a phone line, or water, or even simple lights as torture. The way that police here in the US use the Taser is not torture; it's a response to behavior that places the officer, the public, or the suspect in danger. The Taser does less harm than a baton strike; I'd even suggest that it's less force than many pain-complaince holds.

 

[Sukerkin]

Good words all round above, gentlemen, altho' I have to say that the more I watch the initial video the more I'm wondering myself what the policeman thought he was up to. Maybe there's something we're no privy too?

There're a couple of lines of reasoning that spring to mind as I see the 'action' from the one point of view we have:

1) The driver is arguing the toss and the cop is getting aggrivated (doesn't matter why and I'm not going to attribute reasons). The officer goes back to his car thinking the chap isn't going to follow him, turns around, gets spooked, over-reacts to a threat he perceives that is not really there and the whole thing snowballs because he's embarassed he's over-reacted and the driver is still not taking him seriously.

2) The policeman has a reason to be wary of the driver that we don't know about (not likely considering the subsequent fallout but it's a possibility) and his reaction is in line with his suspicions when he suddenly finds the chap behind him.

The only thing that is sure is that the driver would've been better off just accepting that life is not fair sometimes and deal with the minor legal consequences of a speeding ticket.

However, the officer's actions still look awfully odd to me given the situation we know about - I know that if a copper over here were to do the same then serious internal questions would be being asked of him as the bottom line is that it's a minor traffic offence with an argumentative 'customer' that has brought forth a shedload of unwanted public attention and criticism for all officers (as one of the penalties of wearing a uniform is that one brush covers everyone ).

 

[Cruentus]

OK, I take that back. I can think of ways to use it as torture. But, then, I can think of ways to use a 9 volt battery, or a phone line, or water, or even simple lights as torture. The way that police here in the US use the Taser is not torture; it's a response to behavior that places the officer, the public, or the suspect in danger. The Taser does less harm than a baton strike; I'd even suggest that it's less force than many pain-complaince holds.

Exactly; and that is a huge sign that they are not being objective at all. Simply "using" something is not torture; it really depends on how it is used and under what circumstance.