Soccer Player Dies After Being Tasered

a reply to: samkent

Extendable batons are crap though to be fair to lone UK cops if someone is violent.
I managed to take one from a particularly 'jumpy' cop who hit me a few years ago, when I'd done nothing wrong and he thought I was someone else. I threw it into someones back garden then he crapped himself as the tables were turned. We had a short stand-off but I then let him cuff me and 'complied' because I didn't want to get Tasered when his back-up arrived.

I was chuckling and taking the piss that he had lost his baton, and even his back-up officers had to disguise their laughter.
Arrested but released with no action a few hours later, partly because I mocked him in the interview for over-reacting and they didn't really want the embarrassing story going to court.

I bet his mates ripped him for ages about that incident lol

Yeah, baton every time for me, screw being Tasered, I'll comply immediately I see one being drawn.

a reply to: grainofsand


The extendable batons are a bit crap. Here we see them tested on a target calibrated to match the hardness of a striking miner.
A quick look at this subject suggests they avoided introducing leg-breaking batons so the comparative ineffectiveness of extendables along with less back-up would lead to excessive use of tasers that can now be used as another barb in the media/government war against the constables.
www.independent.co.uk...

In May last year, in one of his first moves after being made Home Secretary, Mr Clarke stopped planned operational trials of the long baton, deeming it unsuitable for the British police. The decision was largely based on the Rodney King case in Los Angeles, where the officers accused of beating Mr King, a motorist, had used batons.

a reply to: Kester

The old truncheons were much worse to be hit by in my opinion, I've experienced them as well.
I do feel mixed emotions because I want our cops to be able to defend themselves, especially the lone beat walkers, but if Tasers were issued to all of them there will always be some jumpy or aggressive constables who will be too quick to draw them.

Only about 1 in 10 have a Taser in my area, rare to see a cop here to be honest but that is another story.
It's always a pity if someone with mental health issues get's done with a Taser though.
Sympathy for the family in the OP.

I just don’t understand why they are allowed to use them if the suspect is heavily bleeding because there is a much-increased chance of fatality. Even if a truncheon was used it could still hit his kidney (not liver as a I previously said) and seriously mess him up. Surely the police knew he had a medical condition, I mean it’s not as if they wouldn’t have knew who he was. They screwed up, again, and quite frankly nothing surprises me any more with West Mercia - they’re useless, not as useless as West Midlands but still.

originally posted by: IllegalName
quite frankly nothing surprises me any more with West Mercia - they’re useless, not as useless as West Midlands but still.

Devon and Cornwall police are generally just grateful when people don't fight back.
The most underfunded and understaffed constabulary in England, and also the biggest geographical area.
I feel sorry for them, especially as funding budgets are decided by winter population, not counting the millions of tourists here each summer. They need us.

*Edit*
If I was Scottish I would probably whine about it, but I quite like our police fearing us, it makes for a strong community.

a reply to: samkent

Works for me.
I'd like to see a 'net gun'