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, July 23, 2010

Taser deployment triggers off violent assault on officer

Middletown, OH Police Officer Jason Deaton is facing surgery to repair serious facial injuries after his use of his taser against Eric German, 45, goes badly wrong.

... Deaton deployed his Taser, hitting German in the lower back. That seems to set off German into a raging attack, and he lunges toward the officer, hitting him several times in the face and wrestling him on the police cruiser and the sidewalk. ... Officer Deaton was taken to the hospital, but was released later that day. He will have to have surgery for serious facial injuries.
[LINK]

A second officer shows up, decides to roll the dice again, deploys his taser and is able to assist in completing the arrest.

UPDATE: Another report [LINK] mentions that the subject, Eric German, is much larger than Officer Deaton. Reading between the lines, it seems likely that Deaton was under the false impression that tasers are reliable and would allow him to proceed with the arrest even before backup arrives. I guess that nobody told him that tasers are ineffective somewhere between 13 and 33% of the time. Given those odds, provided that such critical information wasn't being intentionally withheld, would certainly indicate that it might be best to wait for backup rather than relying on the relatively unreliable taser. Deaton should sue the company that makes the unreliable product AND controls the training that (I assume) fails to provide complete disclosure (?).

Deaton is lucky that his name isn't going to be painted on the Taser Foundation's Hummer truck that they sometimes drive around.

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