by TChris

As TalkLeft has noted, the proliferation of Tasers in police departments holds the potential for abuse. While it's certainly preferable for an officer to incapacitate a suspect with a Taser instead of a gun, police departments must guard against the risk that officers will use Tasers when a less extreme response would suffice.

Experience in San Jose demonstrates that those fears are valid.

San Jose police zapped three separate suspects with 50,000-volt Tasers this past weekend, bringing the total of such incidents to at least 37 since every patrol officer was equipped with the less lethal weapons in April.

On Sunday, The Mercury News reported that the San Jose police had used their Tasers 34 times between April and June 12 -- a rate of about once every two days. The increase prompted one community activist to schedule a meeting with Police Chief Rob Davis to discuss what he called the department's "out-of-control" use of the weapons.