National Post (18 June 2008) - ... Mr. Kennedy suggests RCMP officers with less than 5 years experience should not be allowed to use a taser stun gun. Ok ... then what should they be allowed to use? The answer? A gun. ... [LINK]
My Comment (published [LINK]):
One of the most commonly-held myths regarding tasers is that they're a replacement for a gun. Anyone holding this view is simply exposing the fact that they haven't paid the slightest attention to the taser issue.
Fact: Tasers are used about 100 times as often as guns ever were. This figure varies widely, but it is a good round number.
Would the RCMP have shot Mr. Dziekanski with a gun if they'd lacked the taser? Would the RCMP have shot 82-year old Mr. Lasser in his hospital bed if they'd lacked a taser. The examples are endless.
The statistics tell the same story, hundreds of taser deployments per year. If the police have been firing their pistols at this rate, then they'd be the biggest band of serial killers in history.
Tasers are not a replacement for the gun. Not even close.
Tasers have been way too far down the Force Scale. Kennedy is recommending that they be moved up the scale to where they should have been all along.
And allowing only mature officers to have a weapon that has been so widely abused, misused and over-used is a perfectly reasonable recommendation.
We've tried it one way and the results are absolutely unacceptable ('mysterious' deaths, and national embarrassment). It is time for a bunch of changes and Kennedy's recommendations are a very good first step. ...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment