Mission Statement - De-Spinning the Pro-Taser Propaganda

Yeah right, 'Excited Delirium' my ass...

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The primary purpose of this blog is to provide an outlet for my observations and analysis about tasers, taser "associated" deaths, and the behaviour exhibited by the management, employees and minions of Taser International. In general, everything is linked back to external sources, often via previous posts on the same topic, so that readers can fact-check to their heart's content. This blog was started in late-2007 when Canadians were enraged by the taser death of Robert Dziekanski and four others in a short three month period. The cocky attitude exhibited by the Taser International spokespuppet, and his preposterous proposal that Mr. Dziekanski coincidentally died of "excited delirium" at the time of his taser-death, led me to choose the blog name I did and provides my motivation. I have zero financial ties to this issue.



Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Taser Use Policies (even bad ones) are ignored...

OTTAWA — The RCMP has repeatedly zapped people with Tasers in a steadily rising percentage of multiple-stun cases despite an internal policy that warns numerous jolts may be hazardous. A Canadian Press CBC-Radio-Canada investigation of more than 3,200 incidents in which Mounties fired the powerful stun guns in the last six years shows that officers used the Taser multiple times in almost 43 per cent of cases. In about one out of six incidents, the RCMP applied the stun gun three times. In 31 cases, the suspect was zapped seven or more times. ... [LINK]

See also CBC: [LINK]

43% is pretty high considering. Seven or more is simply ridiculous.

Here's what this really means:

Tasers, for some reason, tend to be misused, abused, and overused. And it doesn't seem to matter what the Taser Use Policies state. It goes back to the fatally-flawed training (which is traceable back to Taser).

This reality really moves the option of a moratorium back up towards the top of the list. Perhaps it isn't your first choice, but it you may be left with no other option if the use of these weapons is not brought under control.

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