Man dies after police Taser incident

Man dies after police Taser incident

m.guardian.co.uk

Man in Plymouth was doused in a flammable liquid when police were called out to investigate a domestic disturbance

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Another teaser death. I do worry about the intelligence of some of the police officers in this country.

Did they have no sense of smell?

Or were they just that stupid?

Surely they are trained to a standard where they know electricity and flammable liquids don't mix

Makes me mad.



m.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Another police incident showing both a low intelligence and a lack of training.
Sad.......

Ask any gun collector if a taser is non lethal and he or her will
Say it only non lethal vs a lethal handgun or shotgun

reply to post by kingears


Wasn't there a mythbusters episode about this? They could not get the taser to make an adequate spark to ignite anything....

Originally posted by Hijinx
reply to post by kingears

 

Wasn't there a mythbusters episode about this? They could not get the taser to make an adequate spark to ignite anything....

Mythbusters.... I love that show, but sometimes they're just clueless twats. I've had dozens of butane lighters explode from lying in the sun on the dash of a vehicle. They tried all sorts of things, and finally concluded it couldn't happen. I don't know how many episodes I've seen where they conclude "busted," and it's things I know damn well, from firsthand experience, to be true.

So....

reply to post by Ex_CT2


It sounds like a completely logical scenario! Taser's run on high voltages, Flammable liquids are well, flammable. The issue is If the taser hits you it's likely to stick into you, making a complete circuit, where no sparking would occur.

If one of the two darts does not penetrate you, the human body is not a good enough conductor for the failed dart to jump a gap between you and the dart, so again no spark to cause ignition.

The wires attached to the darts are insulated, so it would not be a matter of sparking between the wires.

The only logical solution is the neither dart penetrated, but were close enough to spark between those two darts. Now go look at the gap in a spark plug, that's pretty much how close those darts would have to be in order to create a spark.

The same gap would be required between two conductive surfaces either the dart or your body.

If the dart were stuck in your closes and not you, again the gap between that dart and your flesh is 20/1000s of an inch or less for a spark to occur, that's also not enough air circulation to ignite the flammable liquid.

It's not a matter of if the mythbusters got it right or wrong, it served a point in showing how infinitely small the possibility of anything like this ever happening is.

Until I can read some more sources, I'm not sure I believe the taser was the source of ignition, or even if this event occurred.

reply to post by Hijinx


You're quite incorrect. A taser will put out enough voltage to arc to your skin if the dart isn't embedded. It'll jump at least half an inch. You are more than conductive enough.

reply to post by Bedlam


Then why didn't it in all the scenarios put forth with various flammable materials when the mythbusters did it?

I know it's a TV show, but it serves them absolutely no more or less fame to prove or disprove something. It's just odd that years ago they disproved the scenario put forth by a tv show called CSI, then this event happens in real life?

This is a very unlikely situation.

reply to post by Hijinx


Never saw the episode, as I don't watch TV much. However, I have set naptha on fire with a spark from a 12V power supply, so it doesn't seem so much of a stretch.

ETA: if you take CSI as a serious source, then this might make sense to you.