MetaFilter posts tagged with taser

Niagara County Judge: tasing a suspect into compliance with DNA test = okay

R_Nebblesworth — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:01:29 -0800

A new twist in the controversy over the (ab)use of tasers. A judge in Niagara County, NY has decided that tasing a suspect who refused to submit to DNA testing was a reasonable use of force. Ryan Smith, accused of robbery and kidnapping, already submitted one sample, which was contaminated when the government sent it to the wrong laboratory, and refused to give one a second time. The police asked a prosecutor what to do. His response: they could use force to get the sample, but as little as possible. So they tased Smith, who then submitted to the buccal swab. The police told Smith, who had a history of violence, that if he did not let them take a buccal swab he would be tased on "drive stun" mode (the government claimed he said he'd "have to be tased" for them to get it). He persisted in his refusal, so they let him have it for 2 seconds, rendering him unconscious (which the police dispute), after which he submitted. Smith's lawyer moved to suppress the DNA evidence. The police argued that they considered the alternatives of holding Smith down and prying his mouth open, but this would have been dangerous for all parties concerned and could have left Smith with lasting injuries. However, testimony showed that at the time Smith was tased he was handcuffed and sitting on the floor, surrounded by five police officers. The court thought that the order effectively acted as a search warrant. Reasonable force can be used to carry out search warrants, and the officers' actions were reasonable given Smith's violent history. Smith's attempt to suppress the DNA evidence as improperly obtained was therefore denied. Was this torture? Some (like Smith's lawyer) think so. Others find the 4th Amendment questions more interesting - for instance, if an order to submit to DNA testing is now a de facto search warrant in Niagara county. The results of the test link Smith to a robbery and a shooting.

"Police, stop or you will be hit with 50,000 volts of electricity!"

Shepherd — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:11:13 -0800

Taser use in law enforcement has been under increased scrutiny in recent years, especially following the death of Robert Dziekanski in a Vancouver airport last year after being Tasered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (previously). Now the CBC and Canadian Press have sifted through over 5,000 incident reports to create a RCMP Taser use database, tracking use of tasers by Canada's federal law enforcement by province, incident, year or stuns used. This, for instance, shows the 116 times a Taser was used in relation to an impaired driving incident in 2006 through 2007. You can even click through for details on each specific incident, including officers present, whether the subject was aware of the Taser, and whether the subject him/herself was armed. Also according to the CBC, Taser use by the RCMP has declined sharply in the last year. You can download the RCMP Operational Manual on Conducted Energy Weapons in either its newly amended (February '09) form or a original pre-amended flavour.

Unto the combat, gauntlet or gospel, here I defy thee

Smedleyman — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:14:03 -0800

You can't tase me bro, no, seriously, you can't. The Thor Shield is handy for all your not getting electrocuted needs.

Tase Me Bro...err Sis?

ericb — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:36:00 -0800

Today at CES, Taser International unveiled a "handy new holster that holds not only your stun gun but a music player too." "The TASER MPH (Music Player Holster) is a combination MP3 player and TASER C2 holster."^* The C2 Personal Protector is available to consumers "in four designer colors," including leopard print, red-hot red and fashion pink. It's what they call "Fashion with a Bite."

Tase! or "Youtube Justice"

mecran01 — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:21:05 -0800

"Officer, I don't know why you're doing what you're doing."
Refusing to sign a speeding citation in Vernal, Utah? That's a tasing. Requesting an investigation of the incident? That sounds like a job for YouTube. And if you sit through the entire thing, you can hear the officer creatively describe the encounter to a fellow officer--"I told him to turn around or I'd tase him." In other news, the tasee has asked those making death threats against the officer on youtube (which are being investigated by the FBI) to please stop. I was also struck by the bizarre levels of politeness demonstrated by both parties during the incident.

Double parking? Double taser.

weapons-grade pandemonium — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:11:57 -0800

A 68 year old. 145 lb. man with a neurological condition was tasered by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers following a dispute over double parking. The man was picking up his wife, who was delivering newspapers. This happened less than a month after the RCMP tasered a Polish man who had spent 10 frustrating hours trying to find his mother in the Vancouver International Airport following 15 hours of travel. He died on the scene. When the first man's wife told the RCMP officers of her husband's neurological condition, the officer told her, "We don’t have to know about people’s medical conditions." The Polish man who died was tasered 24 seconds after meeting the RCMP officers. He did not speak English.

Tasered Open Mic Veterans for Truth

Mach3avelli — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:40:40 -0800

Tasers are the new black. University of Florida student gets tasered while police try to restrain him for "disrupting a public event" at an open mic when he brazenly began dogging John Kerry about the state of the 2004 election, Bush's potential impeachment, and Kerry's affiliation with the Skull & Bones Society. Video of the incident here and here. Echoes from this incident a little less than year ago.

UCLAPD taser investigation

grouse — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:53:59 -0800

UCLA releases the results of an independent investigation into an incident where a UCLAPD officer repeatedly tasered a passively resisting student (previously on MetaFilter). The investigation found that the officer violated UCLA's use of force policies. Furthermore, it found that these policies are "unduly permissive" and that "the UCLAPD policy stands alone in its legitimization of the Taser as a pain compliance device against passive resisters." An internal investigation by UCLAPD previously determined that there was no violation.

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" "Sure!!!"

The Deej — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:38:41 -0800

Personal safety? Or accidents waiting to happen? (Warning, last link has immediate audio.)

Greased Up Deaf Guy, we Barely Knew Thee.

tehloki — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:12:11 -0800

Police Officer Tasers a High School Streaker, twice. This actually looks to be more funny than outraging. It looks like he was actually breaking some sort of outdated law about "public nudity", or something.

Muslim UCLA student tasered for not having ID

cgs — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:28:54 -0800

Muslim UCLA student tasered for not having ID
"It was beyond grotesque," said UCLA graduate David Remesnitsky of Los Angeles, who witnessed the incident. "By the end they took him over the stairs, lifted him up and Tasered him on his rear end. It seemed like it was inappropriately placed. The Tasering was so unnecessary and they just kept doing it."

Some additional coverage. Patriot act craziness or simple police overreaction?

Zzzt.

Smedleyman — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:22:23 -0800

Shocknife!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap!

crunchland — Thu, 21 Nov 2002 10:34:57 -0800

Need a quick pick-me-up? Electroshock therapy, police-style! Video of an abusive prisoner being incapacitated with a non-lethal, handheld, electrical device. Instant mood transformation is achieved. (1.5m of quicktime) More videos available here. There's also a video (13m of mpeg) of volunteers being zapped, not available on the page above. (Much laughter on that last one, because, you know... pain is funny.) Probably not for the squeamish. via mister pants

rdr — Thu, 31 May 2001 23:47:06 -0800

Shock the prisoner It's the details of this story that horrify me. This guy is a repeat offender. Still, it's seems extreme to send him to jail to die for stealing painkillers. Oh and by the way, while the judge is doing that she doesn't want him to talk back.

radio_mookie — Thu, 05 Apr 2001 08:34:49 -0800

Stun-Gun Kid Zaps Schoolmates - A Queens, NY junior-high student swiped a stun gun from a neighbor's apartment and zapped his schoolmates during horseplay that sent a dozen youngsters to the hospital yesterday - "Nobody thought it was dangerous. Everybody thought it was fun."