Man dies after Taser arrest (San Jose)

Man dies after Taser arrest (San Jose)

www.news.com.au

A MAN in the northern California city of San Jose has died after being jolted with a Taser stun gun, police said today.

The man, who police said appeared to be in his 20s, got into a struggle with two officers when they tried to arrest him in the backyard of a home yesterday.

"The struggle was very, very violent to get him into custody," police spokesman Mike Sullivan said.

"Some time during the struggle, the officers did deploy a Taser."

(visit the link for the full news article)

Another one bites the dust...

These Taser deaths are happening all too frequently. What's going to be done?

Does a person deserve to die because they are resisting arrest? I don't think so. There's got to be a better way. Better police training, perhaps?

Obviously, we would rather police pull out a Taser instead of a gun but for some people the result is the same - death.

www.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by tezzajw


The deadly myth of the non-lethal weapon...

That tasers are being falsely marketed and described as a non-lethal weapon, is the root cause of the more than 400 deaths that have occurred as a result of this so-called non-lethal weapon.

Both the manufacturer of tasers and any law enforcement agency that causes a death from use of this lethal weapon are culpable for those deaths and should be held accountable.

Congress needs to investigate the false claims relating to this weapon as they did with false claims made by the tobacco medical and auto industries.

Who knows what was going on with this guy. He could have been all whacked on meth or something and the jolt sent his heart over the edge. There really is no telling with situations like this... Poor guy.

[edit on 13-2-2009 by etombo]

He was probably on crack or PCP and had a heart attack.

What should the police have done? Tackled and beat him until he cooperated? Offered him a cookie and a smile? Tasers are the safest most effective form of disabling a combative criminal.

Originally posted by stevegmu
Tasers are the safest most effective form of disabling a combative criminal.

What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'?

I believe that there should be the word 'alleged' inserted in your sentence before the word 'criminal'.

reply to post by tezzajw


As one member pointed out, what are the cops to do when faced with a combative suspect....smile and hand out invitations to the next police dinner banquet?

Your jumping to conclusions without taking into account the reasons why those cops had to taser the guy. The rule of "innocent until proven guilty" does not mean that anyone can be combative or un-cooperative towards police.



Cheers!!!!

reply to post by tezzajw


Being a martial artist with 20 years experience I could show these cops how to take down and hold a suspect with ease, and without having to resort to breaking anything. It doesn't take that much. I teach 100 pound girls how to drop a 200 pound guy with a nerve pinch and hold him there I can teach rough tough cops.

The only time I recommend using a Taser(I carry a variant that is more powerful than a police Taser) is when the suspect is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Otherwise, martial techniques can and will work.

Originally posted by RFBurns
As one member pointed out, what are the cops to do when faced with a combative suspect....

How about resign?

If a cop thinks that every suspect will not resist arrest, then they're in the wrong line of work. Aren't cops supposed to be trained in some type of unarmed combat? Don't they carry truncheons to use as a weapon against an unarmed opponent? A few broken bones from truncheons would be better than a Taser death.