Last Words to Sheriffs, "Don't Kill Me, Man, Don't Kill Me"

I agree it doesnt matter the tool. With that being said, nothing has changed, police are human and humans abuse power.

At least with the taser they have a non-lethal option for subduing someone who is completely out of control.

In this particular case, as well as others, it has been used improperly, but that does not villify the device itself.

I believe that intense psychological testing needs to be mandated for all law enforcement officers. Once a year, every year. That should weed out clearmind's one percenters!

A lesson here is that cops will kill you if you struggle with them. They are taught how to exercize total control and feel strongly that it is their right.

How 5 attacks with a taser in less than a minute is supposed to "calm" a person down is beyond me.

I am an ardent supporter of law and order. To serve the public in the capacity of a police officer is in my opinion one of the highest callings. It takes a considerable man to do the job right.
I'm ashamed of these sheriffs and they should be prosecuted. They are a blot on a fine profession.

You people are wrong...Tasers are not "Non-Lethal"...They are described as "Less-Lethal"..Theres a huge difference.

But anyways...lets blame the cops, lets blame the tasers...Lets NOT blame the guy who wouldnt take his meds. Lets NOT blame the guy who fought the cops...Lets NOT blame the guy who wouldnt listen to any instructions form the cops....

Nowhere does it say he had a seizure, just that he wouldnt take his meds. To me, its another case of people not taking responsibility for their actions. This all could have been avoided. I'm sure it wasnt the cops intention to kill the guy. If it was, they would have done it differently. I suggest viewing the tape of this "poor innocent" man before passing judgement on the cops...

So, let me get this straight- we're supposed to believe this clearly anti-LEO site? Look at the this day in history sidebar. It basically demonizes police and world leaders.

I'm waiting on the tapes before I make a call. What I'm hearing is that this man assaulted his family, assaulted an officer, resisted arrest, resisted restraint, was basically doing everything he possibly could to escape. So, deputies move in and restrain him further. Of course, you can't have all the county's deputies just holding this guy until his court date. SO, they tazer him. He continues resisting, so repeat as necessary. He was told to stop resisting, but he continued. 5 shots of the taser in a minute is once every twelve seconds...and to me, twelve seconds is definitely enough time to comply to a request to stop resisting.

Who knows, maybe someone was holding his neck. He was epileptic, so perhaps the taser wasn't such a hot idea...but then again, what would be better? A vicious pummleing, perhaps? The Spray in an inclosed area?

Until I see the tapes, again, I will not pass judgement. I find it shocking- no, wait, I am totally unsurprised that everyone here leaps on the bandwagon to degrade LEOs after a single story from a fairly biased source.

DE

Spliff, a man in a restraining chair is not a serious threat to anyone.
Stay 1 metre away and the worst he can do is spit.
How is it the mans fault that the cops tazered him until he was unconcious?

Simple...he didnt stop...It was an accident, brought on by his OWN actions. Ive spent time in a cell, with an "unruley" inmate..They suck.

Again, show me the video, and I can make a real opinion. Right now, I'm leaning towards the cops side though.

Originally posted by devilwasp
Spliff, a man in a restraining chair is not a serious threat to anyone.
Stay 1 metre away and the worst he can do is spit.
How is it the mans fault that the cops tazered him until he was unconcious?

Maybe because he was trying to escape those restraints, despite repeated warnings to stop? Reread the article.

DE

Here is another link from an Atlanta TV station..

www.11alive.com...

His widow claims he wasn't taking his epilepsy Meds..

Thats JUST what an epileptic needs..A nice pulse of High Voltage, high frequency electricity..

Originally posted by DeusEx
Maybe because he was trying to escape those restraints, despite repeated warnings to stop? Reread the article.

DE

Could he have got out of them?
I dont know but frankly I think they would have built them so that wouldnt happen.

I have read the article, almosteveryperson will try to escape, if they can zab them....if not dont.

Originally posted by spliff4020
Simple...he didnt stop...It was an accident, brought on by his OWN actions. Ive spent time in a cell, with an "unruley" inmate..They suck.

How can you stop if you feel scared?
Do I have the same allowances when I go to save someone from drowning? Because I KNOW they will struggle and I KNOW they will kill me if they have to survive and that BTW is the same for everyone.

You may have spent time iwht an "unruley"inmate, did you spend it with someone who was panicing?

Again, show me the video, and I can make a real opinion. Right now, I'm leaning towards the cops side though.

They are hardly going to video tape zaping someone, right or wrong.


[edit on 26/02/2005 by devilwasp]

Originally posted by devilwasp
Could he have got out of them?
I dont know but frankly I think they would have built them so that wouldnt happen.

The restraints in question are meant to be temporary. Like most kinds of restraint, if you go about trying to escape long enough, eventually you will.

DE

I think that the manufacture of the Taser product should be shut down. The officers who used the gun in their quest to "calm the affected party down" have actually no idea of how little electricity it takes to kill a human being. I aslo feel that many of the users of the gun have very little regard for life in general. You cannot stand there and hit a man or woman with 25,000 volts repeatedly and expect them to remain alive and that is on the low side. Now when you put this to use on someone who has heart problems or even high blood pressure, you create a very crude but effective method of killing someone. I have not seen the tape of this new form of execution, but I guess that living in a post 9/11 world it may just be open season for your local police officers.

Originally posted by DeusEx
The restraints in question are meant to be temporary. Like most kinds of restraint, if you go about trying to escape long enough, eventually you will.

DE

Temporary can mean any time, 3 minutes to 3 days.
Until we know if the restraints could hold then and only then will this be resolved.
If you try long enough, thats only if you dont tire yourself out.

Obviously this guy had a mental-physical condition and the only question in my mind is whether the cops knew this. Because if the cops knew about this guys condition and proceeded to shock him while he was in restraints, the fault lies on them. Because, I'll tell you what, if the adult restraint chair designed for combative inmates cannot hold an adult, the chair is worthless. The chair is a temporary restraint as much as a jail or handcuffs are temporary restraints. It is perfectly logical to assume that in most cases these will restrain a person for indefinate amount of time. As well, there is no justification is shocking a sick man, who is in restraints, 5 times under a minute.

I understand your bias here Deus, but I ask you to think about this from an objective perspective.

Not to "cross-thread", but couldn't "Waco-type events" be excessive use of force by authorities? Watch the news. I live in Houston, TX and I see this stuff on the news about once every week or two. As a matter of fact, I saw a case like that this morning on our local news. The police chopper video showed two police officers holding the guy face-down on the ground and another was pummulling the guy with his bare fist. They got him up and to the patrol car and the same cop gave him an extra one right in the chops for good measure. Anyways, "excessive force", "police brutallity", whatever you want ot call it, is getting more and more common.

Mind your Ps and Qs folks the noose is tightening...

It is again laws which are for some people, being us, but others can avoid it, being a police officer or not, if I did that to someone in my house, I would be waiting for the execution right now, if it is police they just go free.
In this case we realy have to ask ourselves where are we going?
Murder is a murder. God will judge it if law system can't.

I think a very real issue is that police officers aren't held to the same standards as citizens.

They should be held to a higher standard!

It just makes sense, given the power we freely bestow upon them. If you give a man power, and reduce his accountability, what do you expect will happen?

And to those who ceaselessly defend the police in all their actions, I ask you this: When it's your head on the block, who will defend you?

Originally posted by Jamuhn
I understand your bias here Deus, but I ask you to think about this from an objective perspective.

MY bias? What about your bias, mate? Picking up a story off an anarchistic site doesn't exactly make for objective.

Temporary restraints- you might have noticed, it's not all that hard to get out of cuffs. temporary restraints are meant as a way to cool people off or transport them to a cell. The restraint in question seems to be similiar to The Wrap, which means it'll secure someone for about an hour, and after that you're running on borrowed time. Either the suspect will find a way out, or you've got him in a cell.

Wyrd, the idea is to not get into a position where you're ON the chopping block. You ever get to the point where a cop has a tazer drawn on you, you do what he says. Common sense- don't break the law, do what the officer says.

DE

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
I think a very real issue is that police officers aren't held to the same standards as citizens.

They should be held to a higher standard!

It just makes sense, given the power we freely bestow upon them. If you give a man power, and reduce his accountability, what do you expect will happen?

And to those who ceaselessly defend the police in all their actions, I ask you this: When it's your head on the block, who will defend you?

This is so true, I Agree 100%!!!
Police should be held to a higher standard and pay more for thier negative actions becasue they know better.....yes we all know better, but when you're in the public eye it's different.

We empower, rely on and give our police alot of responsibity. They deserve our respect, admiration and cooperation.

With great power comes great responibility, If you accept the power(becoming a cop)...the responsibility comes with.....if use abuse the power the other should be stripped.

These cops in the article are clearly not fit for duty beacuse they are (refer to the above)