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Tasers face ban after findings they can kill
THE controversial Taser stun guns may be scrapped in Queensland after a review warned that the weapons could kill and could not be modified to prevent a repeat of the death of a man this year when he was shot 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.
The review, to be released today and obtained exclusively by The Australian, marks the first time an Australian authority has recognised the possibility the stun guns can injure or kill, especially when fired repeatedly at a person.
“The possibility of Taser use causing or contributing to death is possible and cannot be ruled out,” the review warns.
The Arizona-based manufacturers have repeatedly denied the weapons can kill.
It was initially claimed the stun gun might have malfunctioned or that there was a glitch with the built-in computer system recording the number and duration of shots from the weapon.
But investigators will allege the policeman repeatedly Tasered Galeano, who dropped the metal bar after the first few shots, while he lay unarmed and writhing on the floor.
He died minutes later while still in handcuffs.
Civil liberties lawyers called for a criminal investigation into the death of Galeano in June, when The Australian revealed he had been shot 28 times.
Until then, police had claimed he had been shot only two or three times.
Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by KSPigpen
If you strike somebody once or twice with a police baton you're not likely to kill them. However if you repeatedly strike them while handcuffed 28 times, death is a much bigger possibility. I'm not a big fan of the tazer but lets keep it in the proper perspective here.
They misused the tazer plain as day...
[edit on 8-9-2009 by SLAYER69]
Originally posted by KSPigpen
I agree. But what we have is a weapon being touted as non-lethal, that clearly IS lethal. As you dutifully pointed out, the weapon does not matter nearly as much as the officer's training, disposition or actions. The man could have just as easily been killed by a slipper, had it been used with such grossly excessive force.
Originally posted by SLAYER69
Originally posted by KSPigpen
I agree. But what we have is a weapon being touted as non-lethal, that clearly IS lethal. As you dutifully pointed out, the weapon does not matter nearly as much as the officer's training, disposition or actions. The man could have just as easily been killed by a slipper, had it been used with such grossly excessive force.
I highly doubt that in the instruction manual from the manufacturer it states.
For best results repeat process 28 times!
Non-lethal weapons (NLWs) are defined in DoD Policy Directive 3000.3, Policy for Non-Lethal Weapons, dated July 9, 1996, as: “… weapons … explicitly designed and primarily employed … to incapacitate personnel or materiel, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property and the environment.”
Originally posted by KSPigpen
In the history at taser.com, they go into the founders goals for making a non-lethal device, but apparently shy away from any mention of the terms on their website proper.
As far as DoD is concerned, 'less-lethal' and 'Non-Lethal' are really the same thing.