[ttruscott]

I can't answer about three times; I was not there.

It will be our preconceived bias that automatically sees this a another measure of police being out of control or whether it is seen as something that had to be done on the spot without a lot of contemplation about it.

Or somewhere in between.

I understand the desire to extrapolate from this to criminals but let's not cloud the issue yet...he was 80 and sick.

But he was 80 and sick and holding a deadly weapon and refusing to comply with a lawful order to release it.

It can be given that baton use in this case would physically injure the man. He would have sustained deep bruising at least, putting him in danger of blood clots, or broken bones which might never heal properly. No matter what his condition, he would be injured.


The taser on the other hand, once it is turned off, leaves no lasting effects at all except in the few whose prior but unknowable condition puts them at high risk for heart failure. Age alone carries no such risk.

The report is due soon about taser use. I suspect that the % of people adversely affected by being tasered so that they die will be much smaller than people currently guess.

This all being said, I repeat what I wrote in my first post: the taser was designed to handle a deadly threat and assault without having to go automatically to a deadly response, a shooting.

Using it to compel people who are not offering any threat (let alone a deadly threat), to become compliant, is wrong and against policy in most (all?) provinces.

Let's save our indignation for these breaches. I know that reading "80 yr old attacked in hospital by cops with tasers" has a great anti-cop ring to it but the presence of the knife in the hands of a delusional man with the ability to kill with one move anyone who came near him, changes everything.

Given these facts, this was a deadly threat and was handled without causing or likelihood of causing of death. Kudos.

[Thanos]

ttruscott ttruscott:

This all being said, I repeat what I wrote in my first post: the taser was designed to handle a deadly threat and assault without having to go automatically to a deadly response, a shooting.

Using it to compel people who are not offering any threat (let alone a deadly threat), to become compliant, is wrong and against policy in most (all?) provinces.

Let's save our indignation for these breaches. I know that reading "80 yr old attacked in hospital by cops with tasers" has a great anti-cop ring to it but the presence of the knife in the hands of a delusional man with the ability to kill with one move anyone who came near him, changes everything.

Given these facts, this was a deadly threat and was handled without causing or likelihood of causing of death. Kudos.

Well said. And I hope that other friends of the police keep these facts in mind the next time anti-police hysteria gets whipped into it's usual frenzy by lawsuit-happy lawyers and the irresponsible anti-police mainstream media machinery.

[QBall]

I have to admit I have mixed emotions after reading this story. On the one hand it's heartbreaking to read about an 82 year old being tasered, on the other hand WTF was he doing with a knife in the first place, let alone waving it around. The taser was made for this type of situation. and beside an unpleasant memory the man will have no other lasting effects. The same could not be said if a baton was used. Pepper spray was not an option due to the location. Even a tranquilizer gun could cause irreversible harm on a guy his age. I'm not sure why it took three jolts, but the tool did it's job quite commendably. What's the alternative? Have the police say, "Oooo, sorry, we don't have anything that can resolve this situation in the most PC fashion, so, we're going to have to pass on this one but good luck hospital staff taking care of this on your own."