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 19, 2010

Taser ignoramus of the week

Common sense, and the 9th Circuit Court (USA), make it clear that tasers are the "most intrusive" form of force.

Obviously, applying an electric shock into someone's central nervous system, so strong that it occasionally overlaps with the bell curve of lethality, is extremely painful (computed to be about 2000 times more than intense pain). It is also effectively indistinguishable from electro-torture applied with booster cable and damp sponges.

Use of tasers is obviously at, or very near, the top of the list of possible forms of  'force' (lawful or otherwise...).

This self-evident conclusion has been reached time and time again by any thoughtful reviewers.

Compare to this:

Police Association of Ontario president Larry Molyneaux, who sits on the police standards advisory committee... "They save lives," said Molyneaux on Thursday. "It’s another option they will have on their tool belt to use rather than force."
[LINK]

"...rather than force."

Read that again. He's somehow got into his little head that using a taser is another option somehow different than using force.

This is one of the most revealing statements showing how The Church of Taser has infiltrated the law enforcement community. And this from the President (!) of the Police Association of Ontario. He thinks that tasers are somehow different than other forms of (police officer) 'force'.

His statement, and the attitude it reveals, is indefensible.

This attitude demands corrective action from our elected political leaders.

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