Something to consider in the wake of the use of a Taser on a Wichita North High School student this month: More than 150 people in the country have died in the past five years after being shocked by the weapons, according to Amnesty International, which seeks a moratorium on their use by police. Let it also be said that the manufacturer’s Web site offers lots of anecdotal evidence about the Taser’s ability to save lives. Clearly, the nation is still deciding what to make of this new high-tech weaponry.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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17 Comments
Is the editorial staff now on a crusade against TASER’s?
Fine, the poilice will just shoot the people instead…
The fact that someone is high on drugs, is a violant person, and gets tazed 19 times in an attempt to control him says something about the person being tazed. Should the police risks bodily injury to themselves instead of doing what they did?
I am sure there are many instances of abuse by police using tasers, and those individuals should be fired for doing so, but by and large, the taser has proven to be an effective control tool in many instances.
150 people have died in the last 5 years? Is this an insignificant statistic or what? Out of how many total that have been tazed? If it was out of a total of 200, then yes, there is a problem.
But, if it is out of a total group of tens of thousands, then it is meaningless–except for the do gooders that expect the police to be defenseless.
By the same token, the CDC published a study that if everyone in the country was injected with distilled, pure water, a certain percentage would have a reaction and some would actually die. Does that mean we need to ban water?
It is a meaningless number, promoted by people who have no clue what happens on the streets of this country. Amnesty Intl. needs to do a few ride alongs with police and see the reality that people do not obey the cops. People fight, resist, and put cops lives at risk.
Amnesty needs to look for real issues, cuz this certainly is not one.
I think the police have demonstrated they are more than willing to use their guns already Nathan. No problem they, with pulling the triggger.
No doubt they are just as eager to flip the switch.
Just go back to lead-filled nightsticks.
A classic example of “damned if you do damned if you don’t”. If they don’t have tasers how do they subdue someone hopped up on crack, PCP, etc? But, if they do have them AND USE THEM IMPROPERLY then they are also in trouble.
I think the key here is going to be (a) good training and (b) good screening in hiring of officers. Unfortunately we have some hothead ‘cowboys’ on the WPD. A minority I am sure but they hurt the department well in excess of their numbers.
Better to be tasered than shot, but I don’t think they belong in the schools, keep them on the streets to use on real criminals, not kids who act up at school. There are better ways to get out of control kid behavior under control.
What are those ways, Damoon? IMHO, if you don’t want to get tazed, don’t behave in such a way where that chance is presented. The way some of the media makes this out you would think the officers are walking down the school hallways randomly tazing kids. Here’s a thought:
STOP TAZING! ACT LIKE A CIVILIZED HUMAN BEING OR FACSIMILE OF ONE!
Damoon,
Like what? What are better methods. How many of you have had to step into a fight in a high school hallway. A few are very violent. Better the kid gets tasered than he and maybe others get hurt. I don’t want any kid to get hurt, but if I or a security guard or police officer have to physically restrain the kid they stand a better chance of some type of injury than if they are just tasered or stunned.
You want to solve the problem hold the parents accountable for their childrens poor behavior, because thats where the problem lies. Not with teh school or police
I agree, Hawkeye. Parents need to be more accountable for their kids. If you look at the homes that a lot of kids are raised in, it doesn’t take much to see why things are so out of control in the schools. It starts at home.There ARE better way to get kids under control. Lots of discipline, holding kids accountable for their behaviors, teaching responsibility, behavior modification programs, the list goes on and on. I used to work with the worst kids you could possibly imagine, and we never had to taser anyone to get them under control. It just took trained staff and a good time out room with padded walls. I’ve tackled some pretty big kids without having to hurt them or getting hurt myself. It can be done. But the real issue is that we don’t focus enough on the problems that allow kids to get so out of control in the first place, and that’s where the parents have to be held responsible for their lifestyle and poor parenting choices.I’ve said many times before, we need to teach sex education, parenting, self responsibility, and relationship skills throughout a child’s school career, not just in a class or two in high school. The only way to solve a problem is to work on the underlying causes.
your last sentence says it both socially and morally.
I can also guarantee you that we try all those methods, except the padded wall room ( i can just imagine the outcry about having a room like that in school )
I don’t know the perfect answer except I don’t like the school or the officers being villified for doing what was asked of them. to control the situation with whatever tools are available to them at the time
Damoon:I can’t agree with your idea of sex education, but you’ve made pretty good points otherwise.
Last April I heard a story on NPR where the claim was made that Taser International had tased about 100,000 volunteers at shows. This is the only figure I’ve ever heard of that gives an idea how often it’s been used. Even so, it might help to give a perspective. Tasers, in my opinion, are a better weapon than regular firearms. But use them with a lot of caution!http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4571973
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4571976
Damoon I would have perhaps agreed with you a few years back before we had the trouble with kids the way we do now… there really weren’t shooting when I was in school..
I had to file a police report just a month ago on a 5th grader who informed his classmates “he wanted to rape my 12 year old daughter” where do kids get this from?? The school could do nothing because it was hearsay, even though this child gets into trouble on a daily basis. He has siblings in the school who are nothing like him..So is his parent’s fault?? Possibly but what if he is just a bad kid, because he wants to be?? I don’t know but I feel like though it may seem silly to others we did the right thing to protect our daughter, and if something bad did happen we have something in writing.
“Where do kids get this get from”? Take your pick: violent video games, R rated movies, TV violence, rap music, internet porn, listening to his parents, the possibilities are endless. We’re raising our kids in an X rated world and then we’re shocked when they mirror it back at us? The problems of kids today are mutifaceted, but it’s a problem we’ve created in our culture with, unfortunately with no easy solutions.
Don’t discount the padded room, Hawkeye. Taking a kid away from his audience and giving him time alone to think about his behavior could work wonders. When we put a kid in there, they were under constant observation and they couldn’t get out unless they completed assignments that made them think about their behavior and the advantage of making better choices, plus they got one to one time with staff to help them explore positive ways to deal with frustration. I know that’s extreme, but I think it’s better than getting tasered anyday.
Daniel, sex education should start as young as possible, it can be age appropriate and should include every aspect of reproductive health. Countries that do this have a much lower pregnancy rate than the US. Education is NEVER a bad thing, but too little knowledge can be.
You know, if we banned things by the number of people who were killed during that particular incident or episode, then absolutely nothing would be allowed. Zap the little brats when they need it.