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Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Wed Jul 13, 2005 at 07:41:33 PM EST
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Via Loretta at the U.S. Marijuana Party, the Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama has halted the practice of police using stun guns. The Birmingham News reports:

Birmingham Mayor Bernard Kincaid on Tuesday ordered Birmingham police officers to halt the use of Tasers, saying more studies are needed on the impact of the stun guns.

The mayor's order came days after a 41-year-old McCalla man died in the Birmingham City Jail, hours after he was hit by a Taser and sprayed with Mace. Rockey Bryson, a mechanic and father of two who was jailed on a DUI charge, was found dead in his cell about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, more than 12 hours after corrections officers used the electric stun gun to subdue him during a confrontation in his cell.

There are far too many of these taser deaths for the guns to be considered an acceptable law enforcement tool. The Mayor did the right thing.

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    Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers | 11 comments (11 topical)
    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:11 PM EST
    wait a minute... whats the real shocker of this story? (yes, pun intended) the taser issue or the fact we're celebrating Birmingham as progressive?

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#2)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:11 PM EST
    Having recently gone through the training, I'm convinced that these are the tool of the future. Brmngham will be back. No worries there.
    There are far too many of these taser deaths for the guns to be considered an acceptable law enforcement tool. The Mayor did the right thing.
    Actually there are none, but since when does the truth stand in the way.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:12 PM EST
    Geez Patrick, against increasing evidence you still support these "tools of the future"... Good for you. What happened? Did they offer you stock option in Taser Int'l? The problem I have with cops is their consistent insistance that they are right. In this, you are wrong. Tasers kill people. Tasers will kill people when they are hopped up on drugs, they will kill little old ladies, they will kill children... And before you start your typical "LEA all oer the country do not kill such people" remember that they DO kill such people. Good luck... A city decides that maybe tasers are not such a good idea, and you immediately retort with: "Oh but they will be back". Maybe, just maybe, the TASER Int'l corporate group is LYING to you Patrick. Weapons in the hands of those who do not understand their effects is stupid... And sorry, that explains 99% of Americans, cops included. Good for Birmingham.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#4)
    by SeeEmDee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:12 PM EST
    Patrick, are you saying there have been no deaths attributable to Tasers? Google Search String on Taser Deaths Given the statistical correlation of the rise in the use of Tasers and and the concomitant increase in fatalities associated in cases of their use, it would seem Occam's Razor is slicing to the bone, here: Tasers can kill. Anytime you increase the electical potential to a human body through electrocution (and that's in essence what is taking place, low level electrocution) the chance of neurological dysfunction increases dangerously. As in ventricular fibrulation. As in myocardial infarction. As in a plain and simple, old-fashioned heart attack. Back when I was in the military, I learned quite a bit about so-called 'non-lethal' weapons. There was a gas that could induce vomiting; it was called DM. The military stopped using it because people were choking to death on their vomit. They came up with something called Agent BZ, which was only supposed to 'disorient' people, but it made them certifiably psychotic. Someone exposed to it thougth he was just fine, but was liable to shoot a comrade as smile at him, completely unaware of his actual state of mind. All considered at the time as being humane solutions to the norm of outright killing. All this leads back to something that's been mentioned here before: that when the technology developed ostensibly to suppress civil disorder is used to suppress legitimate dissent, tyranny is not far behind.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#5)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:12 PM EST
    In Patrick land, things are true if he really, really, believes. There is no point to arguing with him.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#6)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:12 PM EST
    Keep clapping Patrick.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#7)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:13 PM EST
    SeeEm, Your google search does not prove tasers cause death. I challenge you to provide a link to one, a single, any, site which documents an uncontested death caused by a taser, or even a contested one. There are three contested ones that I'm aware of in the entire United States. The rest are deaths that were contemporaneous to the use of a taser, nothing more. Roger, Still smarting from that last thread I see. Don't worry, you'll get over it.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#8)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:14 PM EST
    There is no amount of proof that will convince pat that tasers cuase death. OTOH, if he is able to to 'go thru the training' for tasers he certainly qualifies as a soldier. And he certainly qualifies to go to iraq. put your a$$ where your mouth is cop. go to iraq and fight for your illegal war.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:14 PM EST
    My personal take is that pat is a tool of the future.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#10)
    by SeeEmDee on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:15 PM EST
    Patrick, I am well aware of the Taser company's claims. They remind me of the same claims made by tobacco companies for years that there were no connections between tobacco products and cancers, before definitive studies established such links. But the statistical correlations existed long before the definitive proof was proclaimed. The same kind of correlations that appear to exist with Tasers and deaths of arrestees 'exposed' to them. If a successful lawsuit which refutes Taser's position is the only thing that will sway your thinking, I can only counsel patience; you'll get what you think you want soon enough, as did the litigants in the tobacco lawsuits. Like I said, the statistical preponderance suggests a connection, which is just too 'coincidental' to be easily dismissed. It is not so much whether Tasers are the primary cause of death but whether they can be a contributing factor. In any case, as I mentioned, given the use of Tasers in these instances of deaths - and the fact that in other cases which have involved the factors mentioned (arrestee's drug usage, poor cardiovascular health, or neurological disorders such as seizures) but in which no Tasers were used, the number of deaths reported have been fewer. Clearly, a relationship exists...one which the Taser Corporation obviously feels threatened by due to their securing a legal spokesman to do their talking for them, instead of allowing tests conducted by neutral parties to settle the matter. The only tests done on Taser 'safety' (remember, I said Taser wielders were electrocuting someone; how do you do that 'safely'?) have (surprise, surprise) been conducted by Taser, itself. Hardly inspiring confidence in their objectivity. In any event, the Mayor of Birmingham may be exhibiting more foresight than Taser's own legal personnel are by banning their use to prevent possible future wrongful death lawsuits levelled against his city. I expect that other cities will follow suit shortly; they evidently are aware of that 'statistical correlation', too...and take it seriously.

    Re: Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers (none / 0) (#11)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:01:15 PM EST
    Sailor, Or more accurately, if I may speak for myself, I'm not convinced there has been a taser caused death, but I am convinced that the use of tasers has resulted in less police shootings and injuries from other uses of force. And, that those other uses of force would have probably resulted in more deaths. I believe the taser saves lives. Some people will use it improperly, and we appreciate the oversight most of you advocate. Keep up the good work. SeeEmDee, 70 deaths after the use of tasers how many thousands of times, seems pretty much unlike a a statistical correlation or preponderance. Comparing their use to smoking is a pretty funny analogy. Perhaps you know more about them than anyone else, or perhaps you'll be right in the end, but I'll take These people's words over the anonymous seeEmDee, every time. NAACP Leader takes on taser
    In Phoenix, the officer-involved shooting rate in 2002 was 2 1/2 times the rate in Los Angeles. Phoenix police shot 28 people; 13 died. After Tasers were deployed to all patrol officers in 2003, police shootings dropped by 54 percent, to 13, the lowest number since 1990. Nine were fatal.
    Link to above

    Ala. Mayor Bans Police From Using Tasers | 11 comments (11 topical)