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.



Monday, December 7, 2009

Taser QotW part 2: "...deployment instructions are unrealistic..."

CBC News - Police hedge on Taser use after new rules [LINK]

Police officers are rethinking their use of stun guns, after Taser International advised them to stop aiming at the chest because of a slight [please define "slight". Is it about 3%?] risk of cardiac arrest when the electrified darts hit there. The company has advised the police to instead aim for the belly or the back of the legs.

[What happens when the subject falls down and rolls around on the wires?]

Taser International has always assured police officers that the stun gun can never [utter BS] cause problems with the heart, no matter how many times it is used on someone. Now the company says, just to be safe — from a liability point of view — police should avoid firing at the chest.

"The entire playing field has been altered," said Tony Simioni, president of the Edmonton Police Association. He said that even before this recent policy, some police officers had begun leaving their Taser in their locker "based on the level of scrutiny, just the overall perception that this Taser may be more trouble than it is worth."

"Now there's an increasing tendency not to use the Taser at all because the deployment instructions are unrealistic, in their view," Simioni said.

Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said the directive now puts his members at risk if they fire the stun gun and it hits the chest. "I think there's a possibility that we may see an increase — especially given the controversy surrounding the Taser — that our members dragged into court cases where liability will become an issue," Sutherland said.
[The taser is a "LAWSUIT MAGNET". Pass it on.]


So Taser International is pissing off their own customers.

Excellent.

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