Stating the Obvious: Tasers are Dangerous

Proponents of the Taser like to remind people that it’s not a lethal device, Taser itself markets it’s products as being “less-lethal.”  They’re right to a certain extent, getting hit with a jolt of electricity is a lot less likely to kill you than getting hit with several .40 caliber bullets.  But despite Taser’s claims, there’s been plenty of people who have ended up dead after being on the wrong end of a Big Man With A Badge (BMWAB) and his trusty attitude adjuster.

All this changed today, when Taser issued a warning, telling all the BMWAB’s out there not to shoot people in the chest, since “it could post an extremely low risk of an ‘adverse cardiac event.’”  Imagine that, shooting someone in the chest with 50,000 volts might be bad for them.  Who would have thunk it?  The company does not actually say that getting hit with the Taser will cause a heat attack, just that there’s a teeny, tiny chance that it could.

This reeks of CYA.  Assuming the list in the first link is accurate, that’s a lot of dead people of a less-lethal device.  Dead people mean potential lawsuits.  Costly lawsuits.  The type of lawsuits that stockholders don’t like.  If a loved one is killed in a Taser related incident, you would generally have two choices for potential lawsuit defendants.  Taser or the police.  The police have governmental immunity and legions of supporters.  Taser certainly has their supporters (police and police supporters) but they have deep pockets and don’t have any kind of immunity.

The solution?  Blame it on the cops.  When a BMWAB doesn’t like some punk’s attitude and gives him a 50,000 volt correction killing him, it’s convenient to have someone else to take the heat.  Now Taser can say, it wasn’t our fault, we told the police not to shoot them in the chest.  Sue the cops, not us.  Taser’s warning to the police basically says as much.

Taser officials said Tuesday the bulletin does not state that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

If you can’t read between the lines, controversy = lawsuits.  Will this make the police think twice before Tasering a grandmother who doesn’t give them the proper respect?  Who knows.  I’m just shocked (pun intended) that it’s taken this long for Taser to say, you know what, maybe our products could be dangerous.

You Know You’re Famous When…

You remember Kathryn Winkfein, right?  That 72 year-old great-grandmother who had the audacity to stand up to Travis County Deputy Constable Chris Bieze, your typical Big Man With A Badge (BMWAB).  I blogged about it here and here, complete with my own parody of The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.  Sure, she made YouTube and some of the local stations, but now she’s going to get the Colbert Bump.

I can’t get the video to embed, here’s the link.  I tried, WordPress doesn’t like to embed videos that aren’t YouTube or Google.

Yes, Stephen Colbert, the voice of reason in America takes on the Taser.

When You Can’t Run, Use The Taser

Let’s say you’re the chief of police in a small town in…I don’t know…eastern New Mexico.  Just for fun, we’ll say the name of the town is Tucumcari.  What a funny name, sounds a lot like turmeric.  And let’s say that a local mother comes to the police station with her daughter because they are fighting over a cell phone.  After the mother has been at the station, presumably being chastised for her (apparent) lack of parenting ability, you discover the girl has run off.

Pop quiz, hot shot.  What do you do?

1. Tell the mom to go back home and work everything out.
2. Try to sit down with the girl and her mother, and see if they can be reasoned with.
3. Chase the girl down and shoot her in the face with a taser

If you answered “3″, congratulations!  You have what it takes to Chief of Police in Tucumcari, New Mexico; because that’s exactly what Chief of Police Roger Hatcher did in that very same situation.

Naturally, Chief Hatcher says he didn’t have a choice.

Hatcher said he returned to department headquarters and talked to Aikin, who had a bloodied lip and scratches from a fight.

Hatcher said he found the girl at George Molinas Park.

Hatcher said he got out of his vehicle, called to her and she ran in front of his patrol car across Monroe Street without looking for traffic.

Both were in a dead run when the Taser was fired, Hatcher said.

Hatcher said if he’d been able to grab her and put her on the ground, he would have done it instead of firing the Taser.

What kind of phyiscal fitness standards does the Tucumcari Police Department have?  It would appear that Chief Hatcher didn’t pass the “be able to outrun a 14 year old girl” requirement.

And what were the effects of the Less-Lethal® Taser on the 14 year old girl?

Akin said the dart entered her daughter’s skull, and she remains in pediatric intensive care after undergoing surgery Friday morning at University of New Mexico Hospital.

Hatcher reportedly tased Kailee once in the back and once in the head. She needed 18 staples and six stitches to close the wound.

I’m sure this will just be written off as a flesh wound.  Afterall, the girl made the mistake of running, she didn’t listen to The Big Man With The Badge (who couldn’t catch her).  She needed a little attitude adjustment, the 50,000 volt kind.  Sure, Chief Hatcher only did it because he was worried about her safety.  There’s nothing more safe than shooting electricity through someones head when they’re running.  It’s almost as safe as you can get.

Another example of the taser being used as an attitude adjuster.  Funny how Taser doesn’t mention this incident on their blog.