Another City Council Unconvinced

Another report of a municipal council turning down a breathless request for taser toys. [LINK] & [LINK] (Previous instance was [LINK].)

La Cygne City Police Chief James Dean was asked how many people had died after being tasered, Dean’s response was two. "One had a heart attack, and the other fell backward striking his head on a table."

An utter bald-faced lie. Not even a good one.


Chief Dean, "There are several reasons to justify the request for the taser."

"One, it will help reduce our liability;"

$100M lawsuit [LINK]. Given the latest scientific studies [LINK], tasers will probably attract even more lawyers.

"Two, will possibly prevent injury to the officer [1] as well as potential injury to a suspect [2]."

Major study [LINK] casts doubt on these claims:

[1] We observed no significant change in the rate of serious Officer Injuries after Taser deployment.
[2] The rate of in-custody sudden death increased 6.4-fold ... and the rate of firearm death increased 2.3-fold ... in the in the first full year after Taser deployment compared with the average rate in the 5 years before deployment.

In Canada, police officer deaths rose in step with increased reliance on tasers. [LINK] Perhaps it was just a coincidence.