He might as well have used a cigarette...

Some people might not have believed my previously-mentioned claim that tasers can cause minor burns.

And yet they do (see report below). Thereby raising the duh-obvious but critically-important question: Why not just use the glowing end of a lit cigarette? [LINK]


Sydney police officer shoots himself with taser [LINK]

February 22, 2009 (Australian Associated Press)

A police officer has been treated for burns after shooting himself with a taser stun gun. Police were called to a nightclub brawl on Elizabeth Street, near Martin Place in Sydney, at about 3.40am last night. They say a taser stun gun was used in an attempt to subdue a 27-year-old man after he resisted arrest. The officer tasered himself in the struggle, injuring his arm. The policeman was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital where he received treatment for minor burns...


So - as I have already asked [LINK] - what's the flipping difference (ethical? moral? legal?) between using a taser, and using the glowing end of a lit cigarette, for pain compliance?

No replies to date - because there's no difference.

If one is unethical, then so is the other.
If one is immoral, then so is the other.
If one is illegal, then so is the other.
If one is evil, then so is the other.


And could these flesh burns (!!!!!) have anything to do with the fact that the taser was designed to incapacitate, and the single-setting output has been designed for that purpose. Which makes it some 2000 times stronger than required to cause intense pain. [LINK]

Note - the output is not changed from one mode to the other (incapacitation mode vs. Touch Torture mode). If anything, skipping the long wires is likely to make the net output higher (but perhaps less lethal if and only if the electrical discharge is not directed into the victim's chest).

Personally, I would say that the 2000x over-strength output for the Touch Torture mode (when compared to what might actually be required for pain compliance) is a huge design flaw.

Especially when Satan's little toy starts to burn flesh.

Who authorized this insanity?