"...died of cardiac arrest..."

Now, testimony before former Supreme Court judge Thomas Braidwood is revealing that armed RCMP officers in bulletproof vests were so fearful of a guy with a stapler that, within 30 seconds of arriving on the scene, they tasered Dziekanski five times in 31 seconds. He died of cardiac arrest. [LINK]

"...died of cardiac arrest."


But 'cardiac arrest' is synonymous with 'clinical death'.

In other words, "He died of clinical death."

"...most physicians regard cardiac arrest a symptom of death, rather than a cause."


Your next question can take either of two approaches:


Why did his heart stop?

This might include a whole shopping list of factors going back into the history of the subject. Weak heart. Bad genes. Poor diet. Alcohol withdrawal. In a sense, it's the wrong question.


What caused his heart to stop?

We're asking for a cause that is also temporally-associated. Did anything happen just before the death? Anything short, sharp and easily identifiable? Starts with the letter 't'.


Don't forget - Common Law and common sense says that you take your victims as you find them. [LINK]


Sometimes when 'A' is followed by 'B' - it is because 'A' was a direct cause of 'B'.

You can apply all the Post hoc ergo propter hoc Latin-gobbledygook you want [LINK], but this cognitive bias exists because it is often extremely accurate. It's how we understand the world. If we abandon real world observations of apparent Cause-and-Effect because they're occasionally wrong, then you might as well unscrew your eyeballs and go hang yourself.

Especially when there are now more than 400 coincidences to try to explain away.

Using Post hoc ergo propter hoc as a defense is the first step to insanity.

And it's the last refuge of scoundrels.

John van Dongen's Joke of the Day

B. C.'s Solicitor General and Public Safety minister John van Dongen responded to criticism that the proposed changes to the province's police complaints process do not provide for enough civilian oversight. He said that putting civilians into investigative roles would be impracticable. "We have to have people who are skilled at investigations and who can conduct them properly." [LINK]

Wow, that's funny. I mean, obviously the present scheme of having the police investigate the police is just freaking perfect, right?


Seriously, the question was about the degree of civilian oversight, not having investigations performed by untrained civilians. Duh...


I would also suggest that there be huge sanctions imposed on any 'Internal Affairs' investigators that are later found to have been in any way involved with, or cooperate with, any understating the facts, white-washing, cover-ups, or anything similar.

Another 'smoking gun' is available

Previously, we've seen some evidence that Taser and their brain-trust might have forgotten about the work of Fourier [LINK].


Today, while reviewing some Taser-provided information, I found what appears to be another huge flaw in their understanding of basic science.


This one will not be published.

But it's potentially available upon request (only to whom I wish, and under conditions that I'll set, but zero cost of course).

The Excited-Delirium.com blog e-mail address is provided in the right-hand column.


This possible 'smoking gun' should be treated as an interesting observation, or a possibly-useful suggestion. As always, potential plaintiffs or inquiry staff should consult a highly-qualified, unassailable expert witness, and just use my suggestions as the basis of further analysis, before use in any legal proceedings.


ping
ping

X26 batteries: fully depleted in less than '2 seconds'

Do you remember when Smith4Brains testified at SECU that the X26 taser is powered by a couple of wee-little harmless [-looking] batteries of the same sort (CR123A) used in digital cameras?

He was trying to leave the impression that these little batteries wouldn't hurt a flea.

According to Taser's own information, the expected number of taser pulses before the batteries are completely dead is 18,525. These are the output waveform pulses that repeat at 19Hz.

According to Taser, those X26 pulses are only 100 microseconds (100 us) in duration. Let's go with that vast simplification for the time being...

18,525 * 100 microseconds = 1.8525 seconds


In other words, the entire life of those two (very powerful) CR123A batteries - everything they have, all of it - is compressed into less than 2 seconds of actual taser waveform current output (ignoring the claimed 'dead air' in between the pulses).


This casts the X26 battery situation in an entirely different light, doesn't it?

The YVR-4 (Sìrén bāng)

Will the YVR-4 eventually face charges?

Gary Mason - Globe and Mail (March 7, 2009):

Recent allegations of fraudulent statements and a planned cover-up are leading to loud calls for a new look at the December decision by the B.C. Crown counsel's office to clear the four RCMP officers involved in the tragic encounter with Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. ...

B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch based its decision... "At this juncture, the evidence of independent witnesses, police officers and digital video were materially consistent in relation to the events which followed." ...

The provincial government has been embarrassed by this matter, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Attorney-General did something about it once the Braidwood inquiry wraps up. [LINK]



The Chinese (historical) Gang of Four [LINK] written in pinyin is: Sìrén bāng. "Gang of Four" = "Siren Bang"
That sounds like an overly-hasty police action.

Even if you tried, you couldn't make this sh_t up.

RCMP confirms some tasers out of spec

In December, the RCMP said initial results of its own tests, carried out by an independent lab, showed all 30 tasers pulled randomly from service for scrutiny were within the manufacturer's specifications. This week the police force issued an update that said two of the stun guns tested "were found to be outside" Taser International's 2005 testing protocol standard for open circuit voltage. [LINK]

CBC's testing found 4 of 41 out of spec (~9.7%).

RCMP now admits 2 of 30 out of spec (~6.7%).

Pretty good agreement for a low number of samples. Smells like it is at least indicative.


Has Taser International achieved any of the fundamental Quality certifications that are so common in the world of manufacturing?

ISO9000?

6-sigma?

CMMI?

Anything? Anything at all?


Maybe the police procurement folks should cut-and-paste the usual QA requirements onto their next P.O. heading to Taser's distributor.

In fact, if they neglect to do so, and someone is killed by a defective taser, then some of the liability might very possibly land on their desk for failing to impose the the most basic procurement QA safeguards for what might be a potentially dangerous product.

Do want the plaintiff's lawyer asking you why you didn't impose the normal QA requirements?

Real world results - M26 versus X26

I have speculated (see previous post) that the X26 taser might be more unexpectedly-lethal than the older M26.

I read somewhere that, for example, the RCMP still had about as many older M26 tasers as they had newer X26 tasers. To be fair, they probably carry and use the newer and lighter X26 tasers more often. But, before 2003, it would have been exclusively the M26. Any taser-associated deaths in Canada before 2003?

But let's review The List of the Dead in Canada (from the Truth...Not Tasers blog, right side column) to see if we can spot any M26/X26 pattern of bias:

Deaths in Canada

[UPDATE: This X26/M26 data needs to be confirmed. Some X26 data points are suspicious with respect to when the X26 reportedly started to be used in Canada. Geesh, you'd think that they wouldn't hide such data...]

1. Terry Hanna, 51 – Burnaby, BC - April 19, 2003 - RCMP - X26
2. Clayton Willey, 33 – Prince George, BC - July 22, 2003 - RCMP - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose
3. Clark Whitehouse, 34 – Whitehorse, YK - September 2003 - RCMP - X26
4. Ronald Perry, 28 – Edmonton, AB - March 23, 2004 - X26
5. Roman Andreichikov, 25 – Vancouver, BC - May 1, 2004 - X26
6. Peter Lamonday, 33 – London, ON - May 13, 2004 - X26
7. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis
8. Jerry Knight, 29 – Mississauga, ON - July 17, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: “restraint asphyxia” with cocaine-related excited delirium
9. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose (Coroner Jim Cairns)
10. Kevin Geldart, 34 – Moncton, NB - May 5, 2005 - RCMP - Cause of death: excited delirium with contributing factors including repeated shocks with a taser and pepper spray
11. Gurmeet Sandhu, 41 – Surrey, BC - June 30, 2005 - RCMP
12. James Foldi, 39 – Beamsville, ON - July 1, 2005 - Niagara Regional Police, X26 - tasered 12 times
13. Paul Saulnier, 42 – Digby, NS - July 15, 2005 - RCMP - heart attack brought on by excited delirium, linked to his paranoid schizophrenia (Medical Examiner Dr. Matthew Bowes) (Ontario Coroner Jim Cairns reviewed the case and concluded that the taser played no role in Saulnier's death)
14. Alesandro Fiacco, 33 – Edmonton, AB - December 24, 2005 - tasered 3 times - Cause of death: "acute cocaine toxicity," and "a complete lack of evidence" the Taser contributed to his death (Coroner Dr. Graham Dowling)
15. Jason Doan, 28 – Red Deer, AB - August 30, 2006 - RCMP - Cause of death: excited delirium, heart failure and undetermined causes
?? James Barber, 25, Ottawa, ON - January 2007
16. Claudio Castagnetta, 32 - Quebec City, QC - September 20, 2007 - tasered 5 times - Cause of death: accidental severe cerebral edema (Coroner Dr. Jean Brochu)
17. Robert Dziekanski, 40 - Vancouver, BC - October 14, 2007 - RCMP - [X26?] taser was a contributing factor
18. Quilem Registre, 39 - Montreal, QC - October 17, 2007
19. Howard Hyde, 45 - Halifax, NS - November 22, 2007
20. Robert Knipstrom, 36 - Chilliwack, BC - November 24, 2007 - RCMP
21. Jeffrey Marreel, 36 - Norfolk, Ontario - June 23, 2008 - OPP
22. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008
23. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008
24. Frank Frachette, 49 - Langley, BC - September 30, 2008 - RCMP
25. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26
26. Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, Calgary, AB - November 2, 2008


Look at the data for cases 1 to 9 covering 2003 and 2004 where we have complete taser model data.

This is the period when the X26 was just being introduced. So presumably the older M26 was still in wide use since the X26 was just being put on the market at that time (doubtful that they were replaced overnight). But during this period, the taser-associated deaths are 9 for 9 to the X26. Coincidence?

Going on instinct, I'll bet that the X26 is more than carrying it's weight when it comes to taser-associated deaths. I would welcome a more scientific analysis of the "available data" - provided it was done by someone that isn't working for, or in bed with, Taser International.

The 50,000-to-1 Duration Discrepancy

Taser claims that "that the duration of the shock is only 100 microseconds, which is too short a period to stimulate the heart." [LINK]


The above claim (dating from 2006) may possibly be true for the older 1999-era M26 taser.

But I do not believe that it remains true for the newer X26 taser introduced in 2003.

I've already described the logic behind my position many times in this blog. [LINK]

The basic point is that Taser introduced a significant change to the waveform shape between the older 1999-era M26 and the newer 2003-era X26. See [LINK] [LINK] and [LINK].

The critical change is the addition of deceptively-small-looking monophasic (DC) pulse emitted after the arc phase at the 19Hz pulse repetition frequency (PRF). The effect of this DC-offset pulse is that it causes the output current waveform spectrum to contain possibly-significant amounts of more-dangerous low frequency energy at the PRF of 19Hz and all related harmonics (38Hz, 57Hz, 76Hz, etc.)


And here's the punchline: Those low frequency spectral components are continuous 100% duty cycle for the entire 5-second deployment cycle. See [LINK].

In other words, their duration is five seconds for a normal single deployment cycle.

It's only the high frequency components, at 100kHz, which are the very short 100 microseconds duration.

Guesstimated Spectrograms [LINK]

Five seconds is 50,000 times longer than 100 microseconds.

And that's assuming a single deployment cycle. Mr. Dziekanski suffered five cycles reportedly totalling about 31 seconds.

These low frequency spectral components with a duration some fifty-thousand times longer than has been acknowledged anywhere that I have seen.


It must be noted that Taser reduced the peak output current from 18 amps peak (18A!, not a typo) on the older M26 taser, to about 3 amps peak (3A!, not a typo) on the X26. So that's about a six-to-one ratio climb down of peak current. Small potatoes compared to 50,000.


Not to mention that low frequencies like 19Hz and related harmonics are the more dangerous low frequency (low frequency is considered to be somewhat less dangerous than high frequency).


Overall, I suspect that the X26 is more lethal than expected because it appears that Taser Forgot Fourier.

Forgetting Fourier are we ? [LINK]


Has anyone compared the actual street level death rates for the two models? With all the external variables normalized out to the extent possible?

The taser-associated death rate shows some evidence of a ramp-up step function starting in 2003.

Up to end-September 2008 [LINK] (*)

(* Note the steep rise in the monthly taser-associated North American death rate, almost a step function, from less than one/month to about seven/month, starting in mid-2003 - strangely coincidental with the introduction of the X26.)


Hello? Anyone out there?

RCMPinocchios

[Trademark usage - Fair Use / Fair Dealing claimed - see right side column.]

If you've been following the reports and editorials (see Truth...Not Tasers [LINK]) regarding the testimony of the RCMP officers at the Briadwood Inquiry [LINK] into Mr. Dziekanski's taser-associated death, then you'll understand the following pictorial summary of my personal opinion on the subject:



Link to this image: http://tinyurl.com/cwaygr [LINK]

The Macahonic files

Back in the news... (Related previous post [LINK])


Background: A very familiar pattern. Taser overuse, misuse, or abuse; or perhaps it's not a problem (you decide). Nothing much happens until a video surfaces.

See CTV News on YouTube: [LINK]

Reportedly, someone wielding a taser said, "this will teach you" (this statement is unproven in court and won't be since the one making the claim, Dempsey, was later killed in an unrelated traffic accident).


And in other news...

Similkameen Spotlight: ...Tracy Carrell said she was inexplicably attacked by Macahonic... Pictures admitted to the Kamloops Court case clearly showed burn marks on the back of Carrell’s head similar to what would result from a taser discharge. Litigation is pending. ...the best way to exploit the talents of Sgt. Macahonic so as to permit him to serve with distinction and the respect he deserves. [LINK]

I think I have to clean the sarcasm off my shoes after reading that last line. Good one.

Keremeos Review: ...Internal RCMP investigations were performed in each of three taser use incidents, including one involving a handcuffed, disabled man, and the internal investigations exonerated Sergeant Macahonic in all instances. [LINK]

Well that's nice. Obviously he's a model officer. A shining example of the RCMP Finest. And everyone knows that there is no stricter standards than those used during the cases where the RCMP investigate their brothers-in-arms.


So, is Macahonic still employed by, and on active-duty with, the RCMP?

Hey, I'm just asking...

[ht:k]

Is that an actual dismissal, or yet another 'fake'?

Taser is working their way through the backlog of taser-associated death lawsuits. Only a few days ago they were dismissed from [or settled with?] the lawsuit Wells, et al. [LINK]

The Wells case is probably (?) related to taser-associated death #291 at The List of the Dead [LINK]


Today, Taser proudly announced that they've been dismissed from [or settled with?] Wilson et al. [LINK]


Wells, Wilson - I guess that they're starting at the back of the alphabet.


...Wilson, et al. v. Taser, et al. which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division... [ibid]


Thing is - honestly, right now - I don't know which of the FIVE Wilson taser-associated deaths listed at at The List of The Dead [LINK] that they're referring to. Look for South Carolina in this Wilson-only extract from The List:

#114 - May 6, 2005: Stanley Wilson, 44, Miami, Florida
#208 - August 4, 2006: Ryan Michael Wilson, 22, Lafayette, Colorado
#345 - May 6, 2008: James S. Wilson, 22, Alton, Missouri
#359 - July 14, 2008: Marion Wilson Jr., 52, Houston, Texas
#373 - September 11, 2008: Roney Wilson, 46, Hillsborough, Florida


Yeah, listen for the sound of the penny dropping as some people read that Wilson-only extract from The List of The Dead.

To wit - taser-associated deaths have become so numerous that we now have FIVE people with the surname Wilson that have died in a taser-associated death incident within the past four years. Perhaps this cold hard fact (the number of Wilsons on The List) will clarify a few muddle thoughts about the magnitude of The Problem.


Now why exactly would plaintiffs decide to settle, or voluntarily agree to dismiss, Taser from the lawsuit? Were they overcome by the sheer logic of Taser's legal position? Perhaps.

Or are either of these cases simply out-of-court financial settlements by another name? Given Taser's reported track record (*) of exactly this sort of misdirection, we cannot be certain until further details are provided.

(* See [LINK] and [LINK] for previous posts regarding the subtle misdirection of calling what are actually out-of-court settlements by the misleading term dismissal. )

If anyone can provide links to further information about Wells and Wilson, and the true reason for these so-called dismissals, I would happily accept it.


Five Wilsons !!!!

PS: I'll try to figure out which of these Wilsons is Wilson et al.


UPDATE:
(7 March 2009)

It's none of the above five Wilsons.

The Post and Courier (Saturday, March 7, 2009)

Kip Darrell Black, a mentally impaired man, died in October 2006 after police used up to 10 jolts from their taser stun weapons to subdue him. ... Charleston attorney J. David Murrell, who represents Black's wife, Rhonda Wilson, said the suit was voluntarily withdrawn so she could work with the victim's mother who, unknown to her, filed her own complaint against police. [LINK]

#224 - October 1, 2006: Kip Darrell Black, 38, North Charleston, South Carolina



Five - it's still a lot of Wilsons...

Crazy - to the 18th power

HOUSTON - A jury in Texas has awarded $3 million to the mother of a mentally ill man who died after he was shocked 18 times with a stun gun and hogtied during an arrest. Shirley Nagel sued four deputies from the Precinct One Constable's Office after they detained her son, Joel Don Casey, in 2005. Casey's death was later ruled a homicide. Jurors on Monday found three of the four deputies used unreasonable and excessive force. [LINK]

I've read elsewhere that Mr. Casey's death was not directly linked to the taser. His death was attributed to other factors.

In other words, Mr. Casey was tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, tasered, and...

...then hogtied (which, of course, killed him).

Video - a prerequisite for justice?

From the Truth...Not Taser blog regarding the RCMP testimony at the Dziekanski Inquiry.


This is like deja vu all over again. Only the names have changed. Change "RCMP" to the "Vancouver Police Department" and change "Robert Dziekanski" to "Robert Bagnell" (my brother) and you get the same collaborated, fabricated and misleading Cover Your Asses testimony that my family was forced to swallow at a coroner's inquest. Unfortunately, we did NOT have the benefit of video to help the Vancouver police refresh their memories. It sickens me to see this happening again. The lying bastards! There is no justice in Canada when someone dies in police custody. [LINK]

Unless there happens to be a camera rolling, and even then the justice may be only a small fraction of what it should be, by any normal standards.


Lawyers in Canada should conduct their cross examination of RCMP witlesses (sorry, witnesses) while subtly fondling a little memory card of the sort used in cell phones to record video. Ask the yellow-striped member, "Are you really sure that's exactly what happened?", while tapping the little memory card against the edge of the witness box.


Another issue worthy of further consideration:

There have been reports of police harassing or threatening members of the public that dare to take pictures or record video of a police action (such as an arrest).

It even happens in Canada...

See the Bank Street Bully. [LINK]


It is clear and obvious that such public video recording of police actions which may occur in public locations must be an explicitly protected (and encouraged) activity.

Apparently such video recordings are a critical factor in ensuring that the actual truth, as distinct from the official truth, is revealed.

Given the crazy discrepancies between the statements, the sworn testimony, and the video, as revealed during the Dziekanski Inquiry - it should be completely intolerable for the police to attempt to stop a video recording.


I'll give the RCMP full credit for at least one thing related to this video. At least they didn't destroy the Dziekanski video evidence in the way that the CIA, as recently admitted, destroyed the 92 video tapes of their various torture sessions.

Is that an actual dismissal, or another 'fake'?

Taser has issued a press release trumpeting that they've been dismissed with prejudice from yet another taser-associated death lawsuit [Wells v. Taser et al].

I wonder if this is an actual sorry-to-have-bothered-you and no-money-changed-hands legal-argument based dismissal, or if it was yet another example of an out of court settlement by another name.

See [LINK] and [LINK] for a previous post regarding this subtle Taser trademark misdirection.

(Aren't most companies more open about these sorts of details? I mean, most companies that settle a lawsuit will admit that they've "settled a damn lawsuit." I don't know why these guys would take a less-forthcoming approach. It just makes them appears to be deceptive scuzbags. I'm not saying that they are actually deceptive scuzbags, I just saying that referring to what are actually settlements as 'dimissals' makes them look like deceptive scuzbags.)


In this case [Wells v. Taser et al], I have no idea.

There's no further information available that I can find on-line.


Now - if Taser is concerned about the possibility of confusion, then they can certainly issue a clarifying statement. But if they don't, and no further details are released, then you can read this claim of a dismissal from them which ever way you want.

Perhaps the information will be forthcoming at some point.

Curt Petrovich on the Dziekanski inquiry

CBC's taser Q&A [LINK]

CBC's reporter, Curt Petrovich, answers the public's questions in an incredibly unbiased and overtly-balanced manner.

Some technical observations summarized

I've been following the taser issue since late-2007 when we had five taser-associated deaths in Canada in three months. Here are highlights of some technical observations I've made along the way.


The X26 taser actually emits about 150mA when measured using industry-standard RMS measurement techniques. This RMS value was mentioned on early revisions of the X26 taser specification sheet. But they subsequently and curiously expunged the RMS values from their specification sheets, and replaced it with the 2 mA "average" value. Obviously "2mA" sounds a lot safer than "150mA". But applying averages to complex electrical waveforms is widely considered to be misleading in the electrical engineering world.


Another detail that I found during my review of the technical information is that the X26 taser waveform, unlike the older M26 taser, contains a possibly-significant low frequency spectral component at the low frequency 19 Hz pulse repetition frequency. The low frequency spectral component is caused by unipolar (DC) pulse right after the arc phase. This spectral component is also 100% continuous duty cycle. It's new to the X26 taser introduced in 2003.

This finding is very intriguing because Taser International had previously claimed that the older (1999) M26 taser was safe "because" the output was high frequency and very low duty cycle. And then they walked away from these two "safety features" with the newer X26 introduced in 2003.

Coincidentally, 2003 is about the same time that the 'taser-associated' death issue started. Taser-associated deaths ramped up from well under one per month to about seven per month.


Dr. Mark Kroll, one of Taser's leading lights, wrote an article in IEEE Spectrum (Dec 07) where he submitted that the taser's very low duty cycle (he used the word 'chronaxie') was a key safety factor. He appears not to realize the implications of the X26 waveform. The duty cycle of the more-dangerous low frequency 19 Hz (and harmonics) spectral components are 100% continuous duty cycle for the entire 5+ second duration of each deployment cycle.


Also, I've received information that indicates that Kroll & Taser consider the shared anatomical features of all humans to be an additional safety factor. They appear not to realize that the safety standards are already designed around humans. They appear to be double-dipping.


Based on my review of the technical information, it sure seems that much of the real world safety factor is based on external factors (such as random dart placement). Perhaps this explains the strange observation about taser training sessions and demonstrations - they ALWAYS taser the trainees in the BACK, and they essentially NEVER taser them in the CHEST.

If they're so confident of the inherent safety of the taser, then they must have all the trainees henceforth turn around to be tasered directly in the chest. They can use clips instead of darts if they wish.


In my opinion, their claims of safety are, over time, obviously self-contradictory. It also really seems that they've made some strange design decisions that appear to reduce the real-world safety margins.


The studies they refer to typically only provide evidence that there is not a "high risk" of death. Well duh, we're talking about a low to moderate risk of death. So these studies are trumped by the real world results. Adjust for when X26 darts actually hit chest, and the risk numbers are many orders of magnitude higher than they claim.


And all this is related to just one aspect (electrical safety) of the larger taser issue that I've explored.

Adding words to gain back lost territory

"They" have added some exclusionary words to gain back some lost geographical scope. Perhaps prompted by my posts on the same subject.


Julian Fantino Commissioner Ontario Provincial Police wrote:

"...the use of a taser by a police officers in the lawful execution of their duty has [never] been found to have been the direct cause of a fatality." [LINK]


Notes (my interpretation):

The red text has been recently added to eliminate the unlawful murder-by-taser of Mr. Pikes and any similar incidents where Taser can claim that the action was illegal (clever tactic).

The blue text has been recently added to eliminate all the many partially-caused ("contributed to") taser deaths.

Eventually their claim statement will be about twenty-four thousand words long...

Did they really think that we wouldn't carefully parse the entire sentence?

Did they think we wouldn't notice the recent additions? LOL.


What is personally aggravating to me, and MUST BE INVESTIGATED, is why the OPP Commish is acting exactly the same as would a spokespuppet for Taser International?

Quack quack quack = duck.


Do you really think that Fantino actually (himself) created this cleverly-worded statement that bears all the hallmarks of having been carefully drafted by a Taser International's on-staff lawyers? It sure smells like just the latest in a long line of ever-evolving claims by Taser International.

My guess: No way that Fantino made this up all by himself. Not in a million years. He's reading the Taser-provided script. It's Taser's trademarked Lawyer-Speak.

And these claims are always technically correct at most points in time (although they're quite slow to react - seems to take weeks).

What's amusing is the trajectory of these claims over time. À la "cintelligent designism" for those that know that somewhat-similar story of way-too-obvious editing...


We need to mandate a more arms-length relationship from suppliers to policing organizations.

This performance by Fantino stinks.

Herding cats... Part Deux

The [Dziekanski] inquiry ... heard previously that the taser was fired five times and for a total of 31 seconds. The three final activations were in “push-stun” mode, the device’s pain-compliance setting. [LINK]


The X26 taser does not have a pain-compliance 'setting'.

The single-level output is designed to incapacitate, and was set to achieve that goal with a wide (un-)safety margin of +46%. [LINK]

When used in the so-called drive-stun pain compliance mode (which should be called 'Touch Torture' mode) without shooting the darts and wires, its output is unchanged.

[The specification sheet lists only one output level for both modes of deployment.]

It is simply pressed into the flesh where it causes burns. [LINK]

That electrical output is approximately 2000 times that which would be required to cause intense pain. [LINK]

So, the design concept is flawed from the outset.

The pain caused, by design, is vastly excessive (for "pain compliance").


PS: It is also indistinguishable from using the glowing end of a lit cigarette from the practical effects, or the ethical, moral, and legal view points. [LINK] [LINK]

Something to be aware of...

This story does not actually involve tasers, but it's very much indirectly germane to the taser issue.


The It all goes here blog pointed me to a story [LINK] about a crazy police officer in Washington state beating up a 15-year-old girl.

From what I can see in the video (see link above), he probably asked her to remove her shoes, so she (being a teenager) kicked off her shoe in the direction of the officer. That should have provoked a good laugh, but instead the officer goes completely insane and puts a severe pounding on the little girl. Even after she was "properly restrained".



Decision makers need to keep this sort of incident in mind when they listen to the reassuring words from police officials.

I expect that most police would not do such a thing. But obviously some would.

NSW Australia - 2-year moratorium recommended

The use of Taser weapons by New South Wales Police Force

Report dated 19 November 2008 - [LINK] to .pdf file, about 800KB.

The Ombudsman called for a 2-year halt (a moratorium of a sort) to taser roll-out:

Recommendation # 28. - The NSW Police Force refrain from further extending Taser use by officers, for a period of at least two years.

It's a very good report, but the ombudsman hasn't even touched the back-stories about who, why, what, when and how.

Cults - Part 2 - The CSIS Cult Checklist

A Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report contain a check-list to help determine if you have a cult on your hands. [LINK] Let's see how the Taser Fan-boy club stacks up against this list.

(Extracts, see complete list at [LINK])


Characteristics of Cults:

Apocalyptic Beliefs - Without tasers, we would have to shoot to kill many more people.

Dualism - "good versus evil" Black and white - no shades of gray. They claim that Tasers are (essentially) perfectly safe. In their minds, there is no room for any doubt whatsoever.

The persecuted chosen - The recent Kaye & Momy Show [LINK] had overtones that they thought they were being unfairly persecuted. [LINK]

Imminence - The end of the world is nigh.

Salvation through conflict - Must... taser... anyone...

Charismatic Leadership - the High Priests of the taser world. Nifty black turtlenecks and cool sunglasses. Weilding nifty taser toys; pointing them at the camera. Looking a bit like Satan's foot soldiers (oh, that part is arguably true). [LINK] [Goofy twits.]


Threats:

Weapons Acquisition - Must have more tasers. "All officers need tasers." [LINK]

Institutional Infiltration - Do I even need to provide examples? CPRC tried to put out a pro-taser report sans peer review. [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] Toronto Police holding hands with Taser. [LINK] Pro-taser studies packed with pro-Taser insiders like Dr. J. Ho [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] and many others [LINK]. The NIJ panel has unmitigated pro-Taser fan-boy, Billo the blogger [LINK], sitting on the panel (!) who exaggerates and twists the NIJ findings. Coroners and police officers [LINK] [LINK] in apparent conflicts of interest. Strange links from Taser to the IPICD. [LINK] It goes on and on and on and on and on...

Criminal Activity - Bernie Kerik, former Taser High Priest (Board of Directors), made $6M from Taser, now facing 142 years on unrelated charges [update: now facing only 28 years]. Taser's distributor in France arrested. Other very serious accusations (not proven).


Early warning signs:

Humiliating circumstances - LOL. See [LINK] and many others...



It's obvious that The Church of The Taser shares some characteristics of a cult.


"Cult" - it's just a label.

But it sort-of helps to explain some of the otherwise-inexplicable behaviour by some of the more rabid pro-taser fan-boys.

It also helps to justify the requirement for some serious intervention and deprogramming of the cult members.

In other words, a taser moratorium.


At least long enough to press the reset button and start all over again from the opposite premise - that tasers are potentially lethal. Then build up from that new starting point.

Cults - Part 1 - painful rites of passage

I have often wondered why some police officers and officials are so inexplicably loyal to Taser International. They seem to cling to the Taser belief system and articles of faith, even after it all goes badly wrong.

It's such a strong effect that the officers will actually display indications of mental confusion when asked by emergency medical staff to remove handcuffs from a recently-tasered person who may already be dead.

So, what's going on?


One psychological trick used by some cults is to mandate a painful rite of passage.

Having passed through this painful event, the subject has made an investment in the cult, and he would obviously be extremely disappointed if certain aspects of the belief structure were subsequently proven to be untrue.

"The longest and most painful 5 seconds of my life", is a common sort of statement made by those police taser trainees after they've been tasered (in their back) as part of their brainwashing regime (a.k.a. "Taser Training"). I think it's perfectly clear that this type of event is a perfect example of a (very) painful rite of passage.


What other characteristics of cults are exhibited by this pro-taser group?


Let's review the Cult Checklist on Wiki [LINK]...

Oh... My... Gawd...

This is going to take another post...

Taser's cheap stage trick

Headline:
"Tasers offer police additional nonlethal options"
- by The Republican Newsroom [LINK]



Several points need to be made here:

1) Note that the misleading word "nonlethal" is back (as opposed to less-lethal).
2) Many cults use painful rites of passage as part of their brainwashing.
3) Note the continuing use of FAKE demos into the trainee's (cardiac safer) back.


The fact that essentially all taser training hits and demos are into the back (never the chest) is clear and compelling evidence that Taser International (who influences the training standards to the point of control) understands the risks of chest-side taser hits. They want to build up the number of deployments without taking the risk of killing some of their customers.

Face shields and personal cups would be perfectly acceptable, as would use of manually-applied alligator clips. Just put the current into the chest across the heart and let's see if Taser's confident claims of cardiac safety really hold water. If you really believe Taser's claims of cardiac safety, then there is no reason not to start clipping the taser wires across the chest so that the current vector passes through the area of the trainee's heart. It needs to become the standard training method - not just some small sample. Across the heart hits need to be S.O.P.

The current situation is clear and compelling evidence that Taser International understands the risk of the cardiac effects of taser hits to the chest.

If they disagree, then they only need to change their training standards as described above (chest, clips, across heart) and let it run for a year or so.

"Tasers save lives" - So how many?

In Canada, police have historically shot-dead relatively few people each year. Some reports indicates it's about 12 people killed per year. Others reports indicates it might even be about 20 people killed per year. Perhaps it's a bit higher these days.

Other news reports have mentioned that they're not even tracking this data. I've not yet found a database or list (if you have a link, please send it in).

But it's clear that the police in Canada have never been encumbered with a reputation for being trigger-happy with guns.


So when police officials claim that tasers save lives, then we need to ask a series of perfectly logical questions:

1) How many per year are you claiming?
2) What are your criteria for claiming a 'save'?
3) How many supposed "gun-replacement" 'saves' are you claiming?
4) Does this number exceed the historical rate of lethal police gun-play in Canada?
5) Has the rate of lethal police gun-play gone down correspondingly?
6) What about the taser-associated deaths - do they count against?
7) What about the cases where the taser "contributed to death"?

I can't see any combination of the raw data available to me that would support the claim that "tasers save lives" in Canada, let alone in Chief Kaye's little city of Owen Sound.


At best, depending on the particular shade of rose-coloured lenses in their glasses and the thickness of the smoke curling off the stuff that they must be smoking, they'd be just barely breaking into the plural.

Even then you'd be left with the totally-unresolved Karma issue [LINK].


'Tasers save lives'? Puh! Show me the numbers.

See also [LINK]

Use of Force = tasers 53% of the time?

Chief Tom Kaye, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the public is being led to believe that [tasers] are used on a regular basis. [LINK]

Well perhaps because it is TRUE?

Kaye: According to 2007 statistics, there were 3.3 million police service calls in Canada, with 800,000 that involved a "criminal occurrence," he said. Of those, 98.5 per cent of the individuals were taken into custody with no force being used, he said. Of the remaining cases, 0.8 per cent involved the use of a taser, said Kaye, although he did not know how many of those situations involved drawing or deploying the weapon. "You get some idea of how rare it is that police officers actually have to use any of the use-of-force options that they carry," he said. [ibid]


Do the math. Always do the math.

About "800,000 criminal occurrences" in 2007. He says that "0.8%" of these involved use of a taser. "0.8%" seems like such a small number. He calls it "rare".

But 800,000 times 0.8% equals 6400 taser incidents during 2007.

That means that, in Canada during 2007, tasers were being used pretty darn close to every hour of every day (actually about 18 times per day). Hardly "rare".

Kaye's use of the word "rare" must mean that his data is slightly undercooked.


Here is another very interesting figure derived from Kaye's own numbers:

He said that 98.5% of the time, no force is used - therefore 1.5% of the time, force is used. But Kaye also stated that 0.8% of the time, the force used includes the taser. In other words, in 2007, when police in Canada used force of any description, just over half the time (0.8/1.5 = ~53%) it included use of a taser.

This is an amazing finding!

When police in Canada during 2007 used any 'force' of any description, then they're using the taser in more than half of those incidents (~53%).


53% !!!! "Rare" my ass.


These numbers provided by Chief Kaye are clear-cut evidence of the degree to which tasers are (were?) being misused, overused and abused in Canada.

Even Chief Kaye had to sheepishly admit that this sort of use pattern was often "not correct". [LINK]


So - what are the appropriate sanctions (at all levels) for this massive "not correct" street-level torturing of Canadians over the past few years? And who gets blamed when a bunch of twits swagger into Canada and corrupt impressionable minds with their propaganda and differing views on fundamental civil rights?

Much of the blame needs to fall at the Police Leadership level. They're supposed to know what is correct and what is "not correct" without having to be reminded of the basics by others.

When all the inquiries are done - heads must roll.


Lawyers in Canada should take advantage of Chief Kaye's admission that past use of tasers has been "not correct". It's well past time to launch some American-style lawsuits in answer to some of this American-style policing.

Herding cats...

Canadian newspaper editorials have swung - for the most part - strongly against tasers and/or the abuse of tasers. That's a very good thing. But even with that, they're still getting their facts wrong.


Time for Fantino to start new career, By Michael Den Tandt [LINK]

Proponents of the weapons, Fantino and Kaye among them, cite numerous studies -- 150 is the number they posited this week -- that prove the device has never directly caused anyone to die. There is no reason to disbelieve this. The voltage and amperage of these devices are not sufficient to kill a person.


First of all - many of these studies (based on the abstracts I've seen) arguably provide some evidence that there is not a high risk of death. The studies, even overlooking all their experimental flaws (small sample size) and associated conflicts of interest (Ho), do not prove that the taser has never "directly" killed anyone. If you pay attention then you'll see that they don't even make this claim themselves. Only the less-educated fan-boys extrapolate from the "150 studies" and make hyperventilated claims that are absolutely not supportable. Taser International remains quiet while the idiot fan-boys mindlessly exaggerate the state of the science.

So there is a very good reason to disbelieve this - First, because Mr. Den Tandt has mixed-up the various claims; and second, because the relationship from these studies to the fundamental argument is tenuous at best. This has all be discussed in great detail in various previous posts. [LINK] [LINK]

Finally, the taser output voltage is 50,000 volts peak (and, yes, I'm perfectly familiar with the reason why high voltage by itself need not be necessarily dangerous, depending upon the current). And the X26 output current is 151 mA RMS. Note that Taser has expunged this RMS information from the later specification sheets. They now highlight the misleading "average" value of just 2mA.

Is this sufficient to kill a person (internal factors)?

Taser says "NEVER". Critics say SOMETIMES. So who's right?

Most people are now coming around to the obvious truth.

Even the RCMP...

Safety vs. Risk

It's very important to put some approximate numbers to the two sides of the taser risk of death issue so that we don't get wrapped around the axle with misleading nonsense.

This post will also shred the subtle '1/N' debating trick being used by Taser et al.

To be crystal clear, we're talking about internal risk factors (such as cardiac effects, for example). We're not talking about "falling down and banging heads", nor about "drowning in puddles."

Also, we're talking about inherent risks when the X26 darts hit the chest; not diluted by all the possible external safety factors (such as misses, or fake demos).

Taser et al claim that the risk of death is "one in millions", or even "one in ten millions", of deployments. [LINK] In other words, they claim that a taser-caused death is only a theoretic risk, but that it has never happened to date. Not once. Therefore they're not liable for any deaths so far. None. Ka-ching.

Informed critics look at the available data, adjust out the intentional dilution factors - such as the many FAKE demos and training sessions, where the darts are shot or placed on the volunteers back (NEVER on the chest). Curious little detail that observation is... [LINK] [LINK]

The raw data suggests that when X26 taser darts hit the subject's chest on the street, there is a moderate risk of strangely temporally-associated death at the low end of single digits. Maybe 2%, maybe 5%. Something in that range. [LINK][LINK][LINK]

These are the taser-associated deaths that Taser et al spend so much effort trying to explain away.

But there have been more and more examples where there are no reasonable alternate explanations for a given death, and the coroner is backed into a corner with Taser lawyers on one side, and the "Excited Delirium" excuse on the other.

Many of the Taser-R-Safe studies (such as the US NIJ study - another story in itself [LINK]) have only provided evidence that there is "not a high risk of death". Not a high risk.

Well duh. We're not talking about a high risk of death. [LINK] We're worried about those occasional people that are being killed and they did not deserve to die.

At least one expert in statistics has commented that many of Taser's studies were not designed to find low to moderate risks. Their sample size was simply too small to provide any evidence whatsoever about low to moderate risks. These studies should be lining the cages of parrots somewhere. [LINK]

Now - looking at these now-hopefully clarified claims, and examining the available information, it becomes perfectly clear that Taser's safety claims are off the mark by many orders of magnitude.

Their entire justification, training, sales, policies, everything - it is all based upon these claims of essentially-perfect safety.

If the claims are wrong - then the entire basis for the taser is fatally flawed.

The distinctions in the arguments are subtle, and many of the more rabid pro-taser fan-boys may lack the intellectual capacity to comprehend.


But it is critically important to understand that the real argument is not about the various ~97% versus 100.00000...% claims of "safety".

It's about the inverse...

It is about the huge, monstrous, incredibly large difference between a claimed "0.0000001%" risk of death, and the real world facts that seem to indicate a risk of death (when totally undiluted) of about 3% (roughly).

It's a huge gap. Six or seven orders of magnitude...


[This post derived from comment posted here LINK]

It's back...

Serial Taser 1st-poster David E. Zuskin is back. [LINK]

Look at the list of studies posted at the above link by 'Dave Z.' and count the number of "J. Ho" - I see SIX of the seven studies listed!! Jeffrey Ho, M.D. is considered to be a Taser insider (he's a pro-taser "consultant").

This is exactly why the supposed "150 studies" should be treated with contempt. Many of these studies have been essentially manufactured by groups that include Taser insiders.

And Dr. Ho's been caught being less than forthcoming about his so-called science at a public hearing about taser safety. It's documented on YouTube [LINK]. Reportedly there was an attempt to have this video taken down, but the attempt to muzzle it failed.

There's certainly a pattern...

Spot the critical difference...

Sometimes you need to put things side-by-side to see them add-up:


Charles Momy, Canadian Police Ass. said: It is important for the public to understand that there is a risk associated with any 'use of force' by a police officer. A baton for example can cause bruising, contusions, and - in fact - even fractures. Pepper spray will cause irritation to the eyes and throat. These are both considered Intermediate Weapons - as is the, ah, Conducted Energy Weapon, also referred to, ah, as the taser. [transcribed from video of recent press conference / pro-taser propaganda session]

Charles Momy, with Tom Kaye standing at far left.

RCMP Commissioner said: "The RCMP's revised [Taser] policy underscores that there are risks associated with the deployment of the device and emphasizes that those risks include the risk of death, particularly for acutely agitated individuals." [LINK]


Summary of Intermediate Weapons - and their risks:
(Everything here is based on the exact quotes - copied above - from those police or policing organizations.)

• Baton - bruising, contusions, fractures
• Pepper spray - throat and eye irritation
• Taser - skin puncturing wounds, burns, and, ah, oh yeah... ...death

One of these thing is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong...


Risk of relatively minor injuries or irritation are not even on the same page as the risk of death. It's totally disgusting that some brainwashed idiots would lump them together in the same class of weapon.

There are three distinct classes of bad outcomes.

• Injuries
• Permanent Injuries
• Death

If your loved-one is injured, that's bad. But hey - they'll heal.
If your loved-one is permanently injured, that's extremely bad.
If your loved-one is killed, that's infinitely worse than bad.


There's clearly enough evidence documented in these various police statements to move tasers out of the Intermediate Weapon class immediately and permanently.

This is a logical immediate first step.

And it follows directly from the exact statements quoted above.

Public Safety Minister Van Loan earns his badge

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan [27 Feb 2009] rejected calls for a moratorium on taser stun guns.

He actually said the original taser lie, "I believe that obviously shooting someone with a gun is going to be far more lethal than the use of a taser and as an alternative I think it's something that should be available to the police." [LINK]


Okay Minister Van Loan - here's yer badge: [LINK]


How can we make this point any more clear?

CBC.ca - December 17, 2007: The RCMP, whose members have fired tasers more than 3,000 times since 2001, said it doesn't keep track of how often firearms are used across the country. [LINK]

3000 taser deployments in seven years (2001-2007) works out to at least 428 per year.

So if, in your imaginary la-la-land world where tasers replace guns, then this imaginary 'RCMP Without Tasers' would have been the biggest band of mass murderers in Canadian history. The RCMP would have single handedly doubled the total murder rate in Canada. Extend this idiot logic to the many other police forces in Canada and it would be a damn war zone.

IT SIMPLY DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Not to mention that CBC found that tasers don't actually reduce those very few police (gun) shootings in any case. [ibid] Your argument is double-dead.

In fact, another study found that police shootings were (in some cases) INCREASED immediately after the officers had been given their so-called Taser Training (brainwashing) as designed by Taser International. Which, by the way, strongly indicates that there is something seriously wrong with the training.


If the Minister of Public Safety is going to make this claim that tasers are somehow useful because they replace guns, then he needs to demonstrate exactly how he proposes to reduce their usage from more than a thousand times a year, to perhaps 12 or 20.

And then he needs to show us a simple chart that tracks the police shooting death rate going down coincident with the introduction of tasers into Canada.


Ball is in your court Mr. Minister. Show us the chart.

Evidence of the world's worst training?

This is incredible...


...Const. Bentley said Mr. Dziekanski's screaming and the look on his face suggested he was "fighting through it."

Mr. Rosenbloom suggested the look on Mr. Dziekanski face and his screaming could have been caused by the [2000x over-strength] extreme pain of the taser.

"It could be both. It depends how you interpret it," Const. Bentley replied. ...


Read more of the story here: [LINK]


The above exchange is simply amazing.

Taser Training is this? (written in 'TASER BASIC' - sarcasm!):

05: REM Tasering Algorithm - by Taser International
10: TASER the_subject
20: IF face_contorted THEN GOTO 10
30: INTERRUPT IF face_blue
40: PRINT "ERROR - impossible condition, no solution. ";
50: GOTO 40


No wonder people get tasered five times in a row.

The 'thinking' here is exactly the same as the world's stupidest algorithm: Moth+Light.


Root causes - false claims of safety, defective training, general stupidity all around.


Sometimes things are so bad that they simply have to get better.

In this case, the pendulum has been pushed so far and so hard into the insane world of taser-craziness, that when it inevitably springs back towards the normal world - it may do so in a manner that disappoints taser fan-boys everywhere.

Let's hope so.

Taser - Chest - Heart stopped - CPR

AKRON, Ohio (February 24, 2009) — Jail officials in Ohio say they used a stun gun on an inmate who attacked them, stopping his heart. A medical team performed CPR on 21-year-old Gregory Dillard and revived him Saturday night. He remains in critical condition at an Akron hospital. Officials say Dillard was shocked with a stun gun to the chest as he was being released from jail in Summit County. He had been arrested on drug [marijuana possession] and assault charges and posted bond. Sheriff Drew Alexander says he has stopped using the devices until the stun gun is inspected for defects. [LINK]

See also [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK]


The Taser Emergency Explain-Away Team is probably rushing to the scene laden with brochures and pamphlets explaining all about Excited Delirium and the little-known Spontaneous Death Syndrome. And don't forget the Purely-Coincidental Heart Stoppage Near-Death Syndrome.

Seriously, I'll betcha that the Taser PR machine goes all silent on us regarding this one...

Wishful thinking by Owen Sound Police Chief Tom Kaye

Chief Kaye makes some claims that fail to stand-up to a trivial degree of skeptical scrutiny:


Owen Sound Police Chief Tom Kaye, who also serves as Vice-President of the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, [and has been loudly all pro-taser fan-boy recently, which is the reason that we're taking on his statements and claims] ...says the report on taser use by the Owen Sound Police Services shows that there is a role for these devices by officers. He says the report is an example that tasers reduce the number of injuries and save lives. [LINK]


Owen Sound police actually used their tasers twice in 2008. They had a field-failure rate of 50% - one taser dart missed - which they amusingly blamed on the World's Fastest Suspect...

...the suspect managed to partially dodge one of the two taser barbs, rendering the strike incomplete. [LINK]

Do the math: taser dart velocity is supposedly 55 meters per second, maximum range is 10.6 meters, this works out to a required reaction time of less than one-fifth of a second (193ms), and that's maximum - assuming maximum range. More realistically (at mid-range) - it implies a reaction time of about 0.1 seconds, including the time for the subject to move his body mass sideways. What next - subjects dodging bullets a la The Matrix?

Beep beep beep beep beep
Excuse me a second - I have to reset my BS Detector...
...Okay.


So tasers save lives in Owen Sound, eh?

Beep beep beep beep beep
Damn, my BS Detector has gone off - again!
...Okay.


Kaye is using the plural version of the claim - which could be interpreted as him claiming that the taser has saved multiple lives in Owen Sound during 2008. I'll be very generous and we'll just say that it's maybe one, or maybe two, okay? Puh!

Okay then - let's do the math.

The population of the 'city' of Owen Sound is something like 25,000 [LINK]. I have nothing against small towns - love 'em. But this small-town population is about 0.08% of the population of Canada. So if police in Canada - hopefully lawfully, reasonably and justifiably - kill about 12 people per year with their guns, then the 'expected share' for Owen Sound, in proportion to their minuscule population, is about one person every 100 years.

Expect about one fatal police shooting every century in Owen Sound. Roughly.


In other words, if the police in Owen Sound were shooting to kill even as few as two people in a single year, or perhaps about three (*) within a period of several years, then Statistics 101 would recommend an investigation into What the hell is going on in Owen Sound?

(* Once is Happenstance, twice is Coincidence, three times is Enemy Action.)


Thankfully, there is no evidence that the police in Owen Sound are on this sort of murderous rampage.

Which means the taser is a "solution" to a "problem" ("saving lives") that exists only in the minds of those that have been brainwashed by Taser International.


Read that again: the taser is a "solution" to a "problem" ("saving lives") that exists only in the minds of those that have been brainwashed by Taser International.


So it's not really a 'solution' after all.


Which leaves only the very real taser problems which we have so carefully documented below.

Such as - after using tasers in Owen Sound several times per year for one hundred years, then you'll almost certainly be looking at some "taser-associated" deaths.

Not to mention the issue of them often being used for torture (a.k.a. excessive 'pain compliance' as described so clearly in CC 269.1, a.k.a. Touch Torture mode, a.k.a. "Drive Stun" mode, a.k.a. 'replacing the glowing end of a lit cigarette' mode).


Is anyone out there paying any attention to our publicly-paid police chiefs spouting off this sort of misleading pro-taser propaganda?

And why are the news outlets soaking it up without even engaging a brain cell to think about it for a few seconds to see if it computes?


So tasers save lives?

Yeah - but only in your dreams sunshine.