Deaf Man Tasered By Cops For Pointing at His Ear, page 1
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Topic started on 5-12-2007 @ 02:00 PM by MegaCurious

Deaf Man Tasered By Cops For Pointing at His Ear


www.kwch.com
Donnell Williams had just gotten out of the bath tub, wearing only a towel around his waist, when he turned the corner to see guns pointing right at him.
Police forced entry into Williams home while responding to a shooting, but it turned out to be a false call.
Without his hearing aid he is basically deaf.
(visit the link for the full news article)


reply posted on 5-12-2007 @ 03:07 PM by Keyhole
Here is another video and article of a different incident.

VIDEO: Handcuffed Woman Tased in Police Station

The article has this to say about the way law enforcemet uses force.


“Tasers occupy a strange place in the police rulebook,” notes Peter Gorman, writing for the Fort Worth Weekly. “Law enforcement officers learn what is called a ‘use of force continuum’ to determine what means or weapons they may use in different situations. The ‘continuum’ begins with simple police presence, then moves up to issuing commands, then the use of open hands, and after that, pepper or other chemical sprays, closed hands (including elbows and knees and other takedown moves), the use of a hard baton, and finally, the use of lethal force.”

You might think Tasers would fit somewhere near the “lethal force” end of that list, right before a gun. Instead, however, many police agencies place Tasers immediately after the “issuing commands” force level — which suggests to officers that using a Taser is less serious even than a push or pepper spray. Which also means that if an officer asks you to produce your driver’s license and you ask “Why?” rather than immediately complying with the order, there’s a chance, in some jurisdictions, that you could, within their rules, be hit with a Taser for refusing the command. That’s in part how Tasers have begun to be used, not as serious, life-threatening weapons, but as a bully’s tool of compliance, something to get people in line — with sometimes egregious consequences.



That right there is the WHOLE problem with the way Tasers are now being used.



[edit on 5/12/07 by Keyhole]


reply posted on 5-1-2009 @ 07:18 AM by Raist
reply to post by leisuredrummer


That has got to be one of the most unbiased post I have seen on ATS in a very long time.

I think you are right to for the most part. I think another part might be that these officers were overly stressed to the point of jumping on the first movement they see. The old adage of shoot first asks later.

I mean when you are in the shower and leaving the bathroom much like me you might not be jumping out of the bathroom but also not leaving in a very slow manner of movement. In other words some of our normal movements might be seen as not cautious. I am not defending completely their actions but I would guess they came into the house and were stating they were there and asking for people to announce themselves. Not getting a response and then some guy walking out of the bathroom most likely freaked the cop out. I think the officer might have been a little jumpy, maybe he just needed a good vacation and this might not have happened.


Really though I cannot imagine why pointing at his ear/head would amount to a threat (unless someone is pointing a weapon at their head).

Raist

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