Kaye downplayed any conclusion that Tasers kill people.

Looking for one of the root problems with tasers? It's insiders like Kaye that are much of the problem.

Owen Sound Police Chief Tom Kaye said he looks forward to the day when all frontline officers carry a Taser. [LINK]

Here's some background on Kaye:

26 September 2008: Utter and complete bull-crap [LINK]

21 February 2009: Look what we have to try to deal with... [LINK]

24 February 24 2009 "Combative behaviour" [LINK]

27 February 2009: Wishful thinking by Owen Sound Police Chief Tom Kaye [LINK]

1 March 2009: Use of Force = tasers 53% of the time? [LINK]

See also:
Cults - Part 1 - painful rites of passage [LINK]
Cults - Part 2 - The CSIS Cult Checklist [LINK]


It's a cold hard fact that tasers can cause or contribute to death.

Kaye denies this. And that's a big problem.

It's a problem that needs to be addressed.

Multiple degrees of insanity

Jail time sought for RCMP officer convicted of assault [LINK]

An Alberta RCMP officer ... Const. Desmond Sandboe admitted in November to beating Andrew Clyburn, 33, at the RCMP detachment in Lac La Biche on Sept. 13, 2009.

Clyburn told CBC News the attack started after he corrected Sandboe when he mispronounced his name.

Think about this 'trigger' very carefully. It's a very revealing insight into what's pre-programmed into the twisted mind of the officer.

Two other officers visible in screen capture show no signs of stopping the assault. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. They were in the area, and Clyburn was still criminally assaulted. Think about this very carefully. It reveals that The Problem is more widespread than you might otherwise assume.

Note that the criminal (!) assault happened in spite of video surveillance. Think about this very carefully. It's a very revealing insight into the default mindset. They honestly don't believe that they're doing anything wrong. They also are perfectly familiar with the law, they've studied it. So there's a mental fuse that's blown. There's a neuron that's simply not doing its assigned function.

This post has nothing to do with tasers.
This post has EVERYTHING to do with tasers.

Excited Vertebra Syndrome: macho-man taser training and damaged backs

Taser International has been formally invited (sued) to work towards a di$$mi$$al (settlement) with yet-another officer whose back was fractured during taser "training".

Dallas officer is among several suing Taser, alleging injuries during training [LINK]

I've heard rumors that Taser International really really wants to avoid court in cases where police trainees are damaged by exposure to the taser. Should be worth a hefty multiplication factor of 'times several'. LOL.

--

Has anyone heard from Pam Schreiner lately? [LINK] & [LINK] There were news reports, years ago, that she might have mentioned something about the alleged shredding of early supposed reports of police trainee injuries...

Supposedly. Allegedly. Maybe. Perhaps.

If you're involved in a similar taser training injury incident, and you've never heard of this before, then perhaps it might be worth a simple click [HERE].

A huge opportunity for Veterinary Pathologists

Taser International is reportedly introducing a taser intended to be used by animal control officers (and by extension, they will also be used in the dark recesses of unknown dog pounds in the World's trouble spots).

This presents an opportunity for some Veterinary Pathologists to get in on the ground floor. Sign up early, get wined and dined. Get paid "expenses" to attend conferences and meetings on the emerging field of fatal "excited delirium" in escaped elephants and rampaging rhinos.

Lowly Animal Control Officers can get in on the action too. All they'd have to do is demonstrate the ability to sell tasers to their employer on behalf of Taser International, without being distracted by all those pesky Conflict of Interest rules. Who knows? Maybe they'll be awarded a lucrative contract to "design a taser holster."

Michael Valpy eloquently explains The Social Contract

CBC Viewpoint: Honouring police is a two-way street [LINK]

Mandatory reading material for those that were asleep in Grade 6 'Civics' class.

Quote of the Century - How long will it take?

This news story has nothing to do with tasers.
This news story has everything to do with tasers.

Mounties in Kelowna, B.C., are attempting damage control after an officer was videotaped kicking a co-operative suspect in the face. [LINK]

UPDATED: News report on YouTube: [YouTube].

Comment on CBC: "How long will it take the R.C.M.P. to understand the new reality of citizen witnesses with cell phone cameras? This is the 21st century."

Honestly? Probably about ten more years; maybe twelve. Seriously.


See previous post [LINK]:

And all caught on video! I swear to God that there will one day be an example of such feral cop abuse caught on fricken Imax 70mm 3D film with 7.1 channel surround sound. The first question in court will be, "Officer, at what point did you and your collegues notice the 300-strong film crew from NHK Japan and the Discovery Channel USA filming your activities?"

If you stop and think deeply about what happened in this incident, there's only one rational [?] explanation. It's exactly the same thing as revealed by the Ottawa-Bonds incident and many others (including Mr. Dziekanski's death-by-taser). The explanation reveals an ingrained attitude deeply embedded within the law enforcement community.

In their warped minds, they honestly don't think that they're doing anything wrong.

Seriously. It's not that they're foreground evil (although their actions clearly are), it's that their minds are warped by a serious intellectual malfunction. They simply don't get it.

It's actually much worse than simple, intentional, abuse. It's more endemic than that.


Homework: Have a quiet period of contemplation and try to figure out why an RCMP officer would kick a cooperative subject in the face. Try to explain it in your own mind. When it get's scary, then you've got it all figured it out.


Any normal human wouldn't kick a cooperative subject in the face.

You need to have a form of embedded insanity for it to even be possible.

These are not simply isolated incidents. They're far worse than that.


That's why this post has everything to do with tasers.

Taser International "...has salted the pockets of politicians across the country." ...

...So says Fort Worth Representative, Lon Burnham. [LINK]

Effective police tool or torture device: Texas lawmakers to debate the taser

DALLAS, TX - It is hard for Marcus Hardin to even talk about what happened to his grandson outside a Fort Worth bar almost three years ago, when Marcus Swiat was taken into custody by officers, who deployed a taser. "Tasers are torture," Hardin said.

Swiat was tased at least eight times while being arrested for public intoxication. Hardin says what happened to his family member was extreme and shouldn't be allowed.

There is a growing chorus of critics who claim the taser and it's 50,000 volts of electric shock, has left a string of deaths and injuries in its wake. "They kill, steal and destroy families," says Rev. Kyev Tatum, Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Fort Worth.

Tatum points to the death of Michael Jacobs, who died after being tased for 54 seconds by a Fort Worth police officer. He is calling on state lawmakers to outlaw tasers. "We believe we are on the right side of moral law and eventually the legal system will catch up."

But, some lawmakers say it will be an uphill climb to ban or even restrict taser use. Fort Worth Representative, Lon Burnham says he has tried for years to pass legislation to improve taser training, but has been unsuccessful because of the deep pockets of Taser International. "This company in Arizona has salted the pockets of politicians across the country."

While a legislative fix many be difficult, some believe police departments could make a difference by standardizing the use of tasers. "There are not uniform standards as to where the taser fits in when it comes to force," Fort Worth attorney, mark Haney, said.

Haney represents a Dallas police officer who is suing the taser maker. The officer claims he was injured during a training exercise after he was shot with a taser. Haney says without rules there is the potential for abuse. "It is a potentially explosive situation if you have a taser in the wrong hands, with the wrong motive."

Taser seems to admit that X26 was more-risky than necessary

Taser International CEO Dick/Rick Smith-for-brains says the new [X3] taser model has "a better safety margin... precisely dialing in dosing." [LINK]

Another way of saying the same thing is that the previous X26 has a worse safety margin.

In other words, he must be referring to the risk of potentially DEADLY consequences with the X26.


Hey Dick!
Come out and say it straight up.
You guys forgot Fourier [LINK], didn't you?
Right?

Derek Jones, 17, tasered_and_died of "acute cardiac dysrhythmia" - $10M lawsuit

Martinsville, Virginia - The mother of a 17-year-old boy who died after being hit by a police taser in 2009, is suing the city of Martinsville, the officer who fired the taser, and the taser company. Filed last Friday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, the lawsuit blames the taser company, Taser International of Scottsdale, Arizona, with failing to train Martinsville Police on the potential lethal consequences of a direct hit to the chest. The lawsuit states Derek Jones died at his home on the night of January 8, 2009, after Martinsville Police Officer Ronnie Wray tased him in the chest. Jones' mother, Sharlene English, is suing the three parties for more than $10 million. ... [LINK]


Sunday, August 30, 2009: Derek Jones, 17, cause of death... [LINK]

"...Derek Jones, 17, died Jan. 8 of “acute cardiac dysrhythmia of uncertain etiology (cause),” Branscom said the autopsy determined. That means “basically, his heart quit,” he said, and “the report leaves it to someone else to draw a conclusion” on why. The autopsy stated that the Taser cannot be “definitively excluded as a causative or contributive factor” in Jones’ death, Branscom said. The teen “died suddenly about the same time” the Taser was used...

2009.

By late-2007, I - a layman - knew beyond any doubt whatsoever that tasers could kill.

It was *obvious*.

Julian Fantino is off-the-rails himself

File under: politics, Canadian.
Cross-file under: "off the rails"

Former shopping mall security guard, wiretap enthusiast, turned OPP Commish, apparently-uncritical taser fanboy [LINK], turned Conservative Party Member of Parliament  Julian 'Off-The-Rails' Fantino  has put his leather clad foot into his over-sized mouth within days of being appointed as Minister of the Elderly [perhaps excluding elderly liberals]:

“Barely four days after squeaking into office, Julian Fantino crossed the line by using an offensive analogy that compared a democratic political party in Canada to the Nazi regime.” [LINK]

Added: See also Newt Gingrich on Obama for an unflattering yet illuminating parallel [LINK] .

The E-D blog will be returning to full operation shortly

Happy New Year.

Tasers can kill. Directly or indirectly. Even healthy adults.

It's worth keeping these facts in mind when setting policy.

Traffic stop turns deadly

40 years old.

A simple traffic stop.

One thing leads to another, a taser is used, and the man suffers what appears to be a cardiac arrest.

[LINK][LINK]

There are many possible explanations for the man's death.

On the list, perhaps at the very top, is the taser.

Rockford, IL police - no tasers, LESS police injuries

No Tasers, no rise in Rockford police injuries

It's not magic. It's not difficult to explain. It's perfectly simple.

...Tasers were taken away in October 2009 after the manufacturer issued a nationwide warning advising against shooting someone in the chest. The bulletin said it opens the officer, the agency and TASER International to liability if heart damage, such as sudden cardiac arrest, or death occurs. Critics predicted a spike in the number of injuries to officers as offenders, without the threat of a Taser, resisted arrest.

Fourteen months later, that has not been the case for Rockford officers.

Deputy Chief Lori Sweeney also said every officer in the department this year has undergone at least eight hours of crisis intervention training. "Good communication skills are key," she said. "The first resource should be communications, and you work your way up the levels of use of force until you get the compliance that you need." Sweeney said basic CIT training entails teaching officers verbal skills and techniques to gain compliance, and how to be aware of a person’s behavior and any signs that may suggest mental illness and homelessness. ... [LINK]