Wouldn't you know it? Tasing children falls under the guidelines for taser use by law enforcement. In fact it's probably safer for them (the cops AND the kids) - just ask law enforcement specialists. I wonder if parents tasing children would be child abuse; spanking is.
As we come into the age of advanced weaponry and surveillance used against citizens by law enforcement, the laws against abuses will take time to emerge and come into effect: perhaps years. Ironically the surveillance used on ordinary citizens has now captured police officers using the taser inappropriately in instances where such force was unnecessary. Officers Caught on Camera Increase Scrutiny
The internet (and this blog) is awash with horrifying videos of taser abuse. Anyone who hasn't watched at least some of these should have a look-see.
Such injustices and perversion of human rights will eventually draw heroes from the people themselves - who will demand that laws protect their rights against taser-happy cops who can explain away every taser incident as 'justified'. (Sounds a bit like the bankster rationale - after all, they weren't breaking any laws.)
The story below is of just such people, who have taken to the streets to bring about change to laws involving the use of tasers on citizens. I salute them for their courage.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Outrage over EPD's use of taser guns has spurred one man to try and change the policy.
Randy Prince wants a city ordinance that classifies tasers as deadly weapons. He brought the idea before the public at the Saturday Market, recruiting others to help him gather signatures. He's hoping to find enough names to put the proposal on the November ballot.
Though no one has died from being stunned by EPD, Prince says it has happened elsewhere, and therefore says it makes sense to place it under the same restrictions as a firearm.
He wants to limit taser use to the very serious cases, and says an ordinance will help decrease potential abuse of the weapon by officers.
"We think by carrying this petition that it's not enough to advise the police chief through some city council committees. We want the principal established that people shouldn't be killed over lesser offenses, and the problem is, is that the taser does kill," he said.
Prince needs more than 12,000 registered Eugene voters in the next three months to get this on the November ballot. Saturday, he recruited nearly 20 others to help him, and he plans to hit the campus area hard the next few weeks to gather signatures.
Prince said this measure could also regulate civilian use. While not putting a ban on tasers, he said new rules could change how residents use tasers for self defense.
Related: Taser International sued for product causing cardiac arrest
Cops are out of control with tasers. Again and again they are caught abusing this weapon. Perhaps the only way to stop them is by sueing the police departments until the policy on tasers is changed. Another way would be to make cops who improperly use a taser civilly liable to citizens.
Watch the videos below carefully because this could happen to you.
Cops in the USA are out of control with tasers. Citizens are not safe in their own homes anymore, from Harvard professors to senior citizens and pregnant women. If I hear there are good cops on the force, and the abusive ones are rogue cops, ONE MORE TIME, I may be nauseous. If there are good cops, where the hell are they? And why are the covering up for the bad ones and allowing the 'rogue cops' to paint all police with the same shameful brush.
Tasering cannot be a substitute for talking to people respectfully and responsible investigation of an incident. A police officers job is to de-escalate violence with professional training - not to play bully with taser guns.
Family: Cops Used Excessive Force at Baptism Party
29 Jul 2009 Roby Chavez Source MANASSAS, Va. - Prince William County Police responded to a noise complaint at a child's baptism party. By the time they left, a grandfather and a pregnant woman had been Tasered.
On Tuesday night, a Manassas family said cops went too far. The 55-year-old homeowner is a church family counselor and a bible study teacher. He says he was hosting a party for his new godchild.
However, he and the pregnant mother of the baptized boys face serious charges. Relatives are charging police used excessive force just to quiet down the backyard party.
Family members say it was supposed to be a happy day to celebrate the baptism of the two little boys. Home video captures the party moments before police arrive following a noise complaint. You can hear children's laughter above the sound of music.
Edgar Rodriguez says the backyard celebration came to an abrupt halt. After some confusion, his 55-year-old father, Edgar Rodriguez, Sr. says he was asked for an ID and handed it over. Then, he was Tasered three times.
The elder Rodriguez explains how he pulls out his wallet. Interpreting for his father, Edgar says, "He took out his wallet. He had the license in his hand and gave his wallet to his wife. When he lifted up his hands with his license, he started feeling the electric shock in his back."
"All of a sudden he got Tasered in the back and then this side, and then officer in the front of him Tasered him from the front. My dad was not under arrest. We never heard anyone say you're under arrest," said Edgar Rodriguez, Jr.
Prince William County Police issued a statement confirming two people were Tasered at the Baptism party.
A spokesperson says, "The officers contacted the homeowner, who was highly intoxicated. The officers explained the noise ordinance to the homeowner, who refused several requests to turn down the loud music. Rodriguez began to act disorderly and refused to identify himself to officers."
The family's home video tape captures some moments as Rodriguez was Tasered, and then charged with public intoxication in his own backyard.
The pregnant mother of the baptized boys was Tasered, too. The family says the woman tried to help Rodriguez, who was on the ground. She was charged with assaulting a police officer.
"They Tasered her in the back. She didn't assault the officer. She was assaulted by officer," said Edgar, Jr. who was just steps away from his father.
The family calls it excessive force, and they say all of it happened in front of a yard full of children.
"When they came in they were in a defensive mode like we were criminals. Everyone felt that is how we got treated like criminals for celebrating a child's baptism," said Rodriguez.
The 25-year-old pregnant woman remains in custody tonight--separated from her family. After her arrest she was detained by immigration and customs enforcement.
The family says after hearing about the incident, the police chief has ordered an internal affairs investigation.
I had wondered how long it would take to compile a relatively complete list of all the incidences. Luckily I found that someone has done this already and presented it neatly in an interactive map.
I spent hours examining incidences from the map - it was horrifying and enlightening to see how widespread abuse of civil rights is in the USA - and how many innocent people have been killed or irreparably damaged.
Tasering folks must be the new public relations campaign for American police officers. And apparently has been going on for several years coming to light in theRodney King video.
If this 72 yr old woman had a pace maker or a heart attack, might she be dead for not signing a traffic ticket? Refusing to sign a ticket means nothing as it can be mailed to you (think speed cams here folks).
In Pennsylvania, the FBI’s civil rights office has opened an investigation into the death of an African American man tasered by police in town of Swissvale. Police say thirty-seven-year-old Andre Thomas was arrested after he was found disturbing a residential block. But witnesses dispute the police account and say they saw police taser Thomas before brutally kicking him in the head as he lay on the ground.
La. Officer Indicted in Tasing Death
And in Louisiana, a white police officer has been indicted for the tasing death of a young African American man in the town of Winnfield. Baron Pikes died on January 17 from electrocution after the police officer, Scott Nugent, shot him nine times with a taser. Pikes was already in handcuffs at the time. Last month, his death was ruled a homicide. Pikes was the first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena Six case. Nugent could face up to forty-five years in prison.
Study: Police in Houston Use Tasers Mostly on Blacks
A new study has revealed that police in Houston, Texas have used Taser stun guns far more on African Americans than any other group. Between December 2004 and June 2007, the police used tasers 1,400 times. Nearly 67 percent were used on blacks, even though only about 25 percent of Houston’s population is black.
Mentally Handicapped Man Falls to Death After Police Tasering
And here in New York, police are admitting at least partial fault in the death of a mentally handicapped man who fell from a building after he was tasered. Thirty-five-year-old Inman Morales was standing naked on a ledge when police confronted him to try to bring him down. Police say they had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales’s fall. But it had not arrived before an officer struck him with the taser weapon, sending him plunging to his death. Police say the incident violated some departmental guidelines but are not disciplining the officers.
Officer Who Ordered Fatal Tasering Takes Own Life
Here in New York, an officer involved in the tasering that sent a mentally handicapped man plunging to his death has committed suicide. Lieutenant Michael Pigott had been stripped of his badge and gun for ordering an officer to taser Inman Morales as he stood on a second-story building ledge. Morales fell headfirst to the ground below, dying instantly. Police say they had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales’s fall. But it had not arrived before the officer fired the taser.
Another unarmed teen has died after being Tased by police.
Brett Elder, 15, from Bay City, Michigan died after police used Tasers to break up a fight between him and another teenager.
Disturbingly, Brett is already the second teenager to die after being Tased this year. In January, an unarmed 17-year-old boy in Virginia died after police responding to a minor street incident shocked him in his apartment. As of today, the total number of deaths after the use of Taser guns in the U.S. has surpassed 334 since June 2001 and it keeps rising. Perhaps what’s most unsettling is that in over 90% of those cases, the person shocked didn’t even have a weapon.
The news of these teen deaths comes soon after the unveiling of a new Taser weapon, the Taser Shockwave, capable of shocking entire crowds at once. Clearly, this money could have been better spent conducting rigorous safety testing and research into why so many have died after being shocked with a Taser. Amnesty International has called on U.S. law enforcement departments to cease using the weapons, pending further safety studies, or to strictly limit their use to a weapon of last resort.
All blogs are really just small snapshots of a person's mind, heart and soul as they evolve together through life....
Small bits of the thread of life we weave together into the fabric of ourselves, in the hope we will make sense of our existence, individual and collective.
On this page, is the cloak I have fashioned from my fabric to warm myself in a universe which often makes little sense.
Inside my cloak, it is warm enough to face the blistering cold winds of the insane world in which I find myself.
If you find some a bit of 'the good stuff' here, it has been my pleasure.
This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
