[BartSimpson]

Exactly, I swear, someone aims one of those things at me or mine and I will respond to them exactly as if they had a gun.

[uwish]

it said on the news the police confirmed the kid had a knife and was threatening officers with it.

Sounds like a taser was the right response when considering they could have used their sidearm.

Funny, come at a cop with a weapon and they have the means to defend themselves, yet a non-cop is not able to.

like I said, C-68 shafting Canadians for 10 years.

[EyeBrock]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Exactly, I swear, someone aims one of those things at me or mine and I will respond to them exactly as if they had a gun.

Someone? Who else besides a cop (in Canada) would be pointing a taser at you bart?

Plus if a taser was being pointed at you that would mean you were actively resisting arrest (as in fighting the cops) being assaultive ( I think you can suss that one out) or causing a threat of bodily harm, serious bodily harm or death.

Which behaviour will you be exhibiting to get a taser pointed at you?

[Public_Domain]

[Public_Domain]

[ziggy]

The cops should go back to useing their sidearms,safer for everyone.
Just put one through his kneecap and end of problem.

Dont know the stats but i wonder if more people are killed by tasers then sidearms.

[Zipperfish]

Can a Taser be used on a non-cooperative person, or do they have to be combative?

To my mind, it's clear the Taser results in death in a small number of cases. It's probably not just the Taser' there's probably other factors in play--is the suspect exhausted, was Taser use followed by pressure on the neck, etc. Becasue of this potnential, I think the Taser should only be authorized for use on combative suspects. Also, it should be kept in mind that before Tasers and pepper spray there were several in-custody deaths resulting from cops physically taking people down. Eliminating Tasers will not eliminate these kinds of "surprise" deaths.

I saw a video of a cop tasering a guy at a traffic stop just because the guy didn't immediately comply with his command. That's the kind of thing that has to stop.

[EyeBrock]

Zip,

The traffic stop tasering was another example of excessive force that our colleagues in the US seem to be overly fond of. We should remember that we live in Canada. Too often Canadian cops reap a backlash due to actions in the US. That would never happen in Ontario. If it did the cop would have been charged criminally.

I can only speak for Ontario regulations but a taser can only be deployed to a subject who is actively resisting (fighting) and up.
To address Ziggy’s point, thousand of lives have been saved in Canada because officers have used a taser instead of a firearm and your comment alludes to a lack of knowledge on the subject.
In the region I live there have been over 400 taser deployments since its inception and zero deaths.
I think a few hundred people are walking around today nursing taser prong cuts instead of 40 calibre holes in their bodies.

The RCMP have their own issues with their regs and I’ll leave that commenting to somebody who knows more about that than me.

Most of the deaths post taser deployment have involved persons who were high on cocaine/crack or were previous heavy users. I have some knowledge of this subject matter and I’m well aware of the detrimental effects cocaine has on the heart and the permanent damage to heart muscle that cocaine use inflicts, not to downplay these deaths in anyway but coke heads are more prone to heart attacks than the general populace. (Try weed instead guys….)

You could also check into ‘excited delirium’ and ‘positional asphyxia’, which have always been noted risk factors attributed to deaths of persons fighting/ resisting arrest.

That aside, there is growing concern in the law enforcement community at the amount of deaths post taser use. Did we get sold a bill of goods that hasn’t lived up to it’s advertised claims?

Royal Navy Admiral Jellicoe made an utterance after the disastrous sea battle with the Kaiser’s navy at Jutland:

"There's something wrong with our bloody ships"

Maybe there’s something wrong with our bloody tasers? Still, it trumps shooting people or beating them to a pulp.

Warning to coke users, comply with directions given by a cop with a taser.

[EyeBrock]

ziggy ziggy:

The cops should go back to useing their sidearms,safer for everyone.
Just put one through his kneecap and end of problem.

Dont know the stats but i wonder if more people are killed by tasers then sidearms.

Which kneecap ( huge target) of a moving subject should the cops aim at? Maybe it's the right cap, oh the guy is running at you...maybe with a knife. Left kneecap or right? Oerr , I dunno.....maybe I could shoot the knife outta his hand? Or the mosquito above his left ear?

Taser is a rather good plan 'B' on lethal force and shooting people in general, no matter how well justified, should be and is the final option.

Come on ziggy, talk about advertising the fact that you know nothing about pistols or any other firearms and illuminate the obvious that you have no clue what you are talking about.

Very silly comments indeed.

[ziggy]

$1:

Very silly comments indeed.

Not really,5 cops against a teen who had a knife and from what I am seeing on the news he wasnt being aggressive but just refusing to drop it.

So IMO 50,000 volts is a bit harsh. My bear spray is good for 4 meters.

Reminds me of the cop that shot the kid here in jail,the cop was about 6 foot 6 and the kid was 5 something and drunk,he got shot in the holding cells in so called self defence,once in the head and once in the back.
Too bad the ol boys club couldnt help him out but they tried,after many trials he was finally charged with manslaughter.

Maybe they should ban tasers untill some more training is given to the cops.

I have had a cop scanner for years Eyebrock so I have a pretty good idea on what go's on. Watch what you say on your radio,there's thousands of people listening.

I dont like the idea of the cops going around electrocuting people with what they now call an electronic device.

[snuggles61]

It's clear that an inquiry of a sort as well as further research must be done on tasers for the simple reason that they're designed NOT to be lethal and in a lot of cases cops have used them with sadistic fervor(particularly in the USA).But on that same token one guy died in Regina merely from being pepper-sprayed by police.If memory serves me correctly he had a heart condition(can't seem to find the story on it).

[ziggy]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

ziggy ziggy:

The cops should go back to useing their sidearms,safer for everyone.
Just put one through his kneecap and end of problem.

Dont know the stats but i wonder if more people are killed by tasers then sidearms.

Which kneecap ( huge target) of a moving subject should the cops aim at? Maybe it's the right cap, oh the guy is running at you...maybe with a knife. Left kneecap or right? Oerr , I dunno.....maybe I could shoot the knife outta his hand? Or the mosquito above his left ear?

Taser is a rather good plan 'B' on lethal force and shooting people in general, no matter how well justified, should be and is the final option.

Come on ziggy, talk about advertising the fact that you know nothing about pistols or any other firearms and illuminate the obvious that you have no clue what you are talking about.

Very silly comments indeed.

I have lots of rifles mon ami and were probably shooting them when you were just an idea in your daddys testes.

[ziggy]

In Alberta the govt. give's you a cooey bolt action single shot 22 when you turn 12.

[kenmore]

Tasers are a license to kill... they should be banned and there should be a public outcry to make this happen.. how long before they use tasers for crowd control and innocent people are killed by them.. enough is enough.. this guy was only 17.. people with heart problems or asthma or neurological problems are high risk as are those on certain medications.. how can the cops know who is at risk by looking at them?
this is abuse of power and its a replacement for a gun.. they have to justify killing someone with a gun but have a defense with a taser? wrong! email you MP I did..

[ridenrain]

Clearly another proven case of excited delirium.