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.



Friday, March 25, 2011

Winnipeg Police taser 60+ a year and make BS claim that it "saves lives"...

Local police used their Tasers some 61 times last year, according to a record obtained by the Free Press. ... Police say stun guns help officers save lives... [LINK]

See a number? Do the math.

Winnipeg, with a population of under 700,000, comprises about 2% of the population of Canada.

One would expect that police there would use lethal force perhaps only once per several years. If they're killing citizens more than once per year, then it would be cause for alarm. I can only assume that somebody in Ottawa tracks the police killings across Canada and watches for evidence of trigger-happy departments.

As usual, the Winnipeg police are using their tasers approximately one hundred times as often as we would expect them to be using lethal force. This ~100X ratio is very common and reveals the truth about taser use.

The claim that tasers "save lives" is approximately 99% bullsh_t. It is basically a bald face lie and would only be believed by those that do not mentally filter out BS propaganda.

When police overuse tasers at this rate, then the risk of death CAUSED BY THE TASERS builds up to dangerous levels.

E.g.
#23 (Canada list) - Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks. [LINK]

Perhaps in some imaginary land, tasers there are a "less (often) lethal" alternative to gun fire. Back here on Planet Earth, tasers almost always replace LOWER forms of persuasion and thus INCREASE the risk of death on those that would not otherwise deserve it.

Not to mention that use of electric shock to "force" (verb, as opposed to lawful) someone to obey meets the legal definition of torture. It's exactly the same as using the glowing end of a lit cigarette, but with higher risk of death than that form of torture.

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