Witnesses report Bermuda Police threatened, "Shut up or I'll tase you!"

Four (!!) people approached The Royal Gazette this week to say they believed they witnessed Police putting the stun guns to use on a man they thought to be a vagrant. According to the eyewitnesses, the man began swearing loudly after the officers questioned him about a court appearance near the new Power House building on Par-la-Ville Road. "The Police officers then became more aggressive toward the man and asked him another question, which then led to a fight between the vagrant and the [male] Policeman," said a woman who didn't want to be identified. "At this point, the woman Police officer got involved and they managed to pin the guy down on the ground." The woman said the male officer threatened to use the taser on the man if he didn't keep quiet. "I believe the words were 'shut up or I'll tase you! Shut up or I'll tase you!'," the woman said. "The man did not be quiet and was still fighting back with the officers. This is the point that the Police officer put the taser up to him and he let out a yell. If the taser gun actually went off or not is unbeknown to me, but the man certainly reacted as though it did." [LINK]

"Shut up or I'll tase you!" is pain compliance pure and simple.

Be quiet or we will electro-torture you.

Why not use the glowing end of a lit cigarette to accomplish the exact same thing? 

Nobody, but nobody, has ever offered a solution to The 'glowing cigarette' taser challenge.

See [LINK].

Nobody...

Why no response? Because there are no legal, moral, and ethical differences between burning-cigarette torture and fancy-pants electro-torture. Nothing. Both are exactly the same in all respects.



According to a [Bermuda Police] spokesman ... Every time [the taser] is used tiny confetti-like identification numbers are deployed that can be recovered so as to identify the specific taser that was used. [ibid]

Not when it is used in Touch Torture (Drive Stun) mode. This non-dart mode is often used to make them shut up (inexplicably, causing them to scream out in pain exactly as if they were being electro-tortured... hmmm...).


Me thinks that the Bermuda Police Service might want to review their Taser Use Policies AND associated training to exclude taser deployments, ...threatened or actual..., so that they can't be accused of using tasers to torture people to make them shut up.

New RCMP Taser Use Policy

(CBC News) RCMP Taser policy praised by ex-watchdog head - ...Paul Kennedy [bless his heart], who chaired the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP until Dec. 31, praised the national police force's move this week to revise its policy on stun guns. ...  [LINK]


See also: (The Star) Belated RCMP stun gun rules [LINK]

Fred Bloom (Daily Titan Staff Writer) forgets lessons of history

Fan’s actions should teach a lesson - Anyone who is dumb enough to run onto the field at a professional sports event deserves to be punished. [LINK]

You're supposed to know that punishment is the strict domain of the courts (well, maybe your mom and dad too). Anyone that can recall their Grade 6 "Civics" lesson should understand that when police are permitted to inflict punishment, that's as good a definition as any of what is called a "police state".

If you want to speak about dangers to society, then not being aware of the basics of freedom (the role of police versus the role of the courts) is far worse than the impact of some idiot running around a baseball field.


Update: Mr. Bloom is not the only unwitting "enemy of freedom" (not quite...).

Martin Manley (Kansas City Star) wrote: ...He smacked me with a wooden paddle so hard I thought I had died. ... I never forgot that and it had nothing to do with public humiliation. It had to do with pain! Lesson? Don’t violate the rules! ... [LINK]


Remedial Grade 6 Civics lesson:
- Role of police: observation, apprehension of suspects
- Role of courts: trial, then doling out punishment

If the police are permitted to take on the role of issuing punishment, then what need for the courts?

Clear enough?

Chart of Taser-associated deaths in Canada - Interval vs. Date

The following chart plots the interval (in days) between taser-associated deaths in Canada versus the associated calendar dates of those tragic incidents. Essentially - it's a Time-versus-Time graph to make the patterns more clear. Raw data was obtained from the Truth...Not Tasers blog.

The clusters of data points near the top of the graph represent clusters of closely-spaced taser-associated deaths. Those several clusters of four and five are simply insane. The clusters and subsequent dips are no mystery; they are easily explicable as a direct result of the perverted tasers-R-safe mindset (or The Church of Taser), and the shock of seeing these faith-based beliefs shattered.

Today (6 May 2010) represents the first one full-year (365 day) interval since records began. The most recent taser-associated death in Canada was Grant William Prentice, 40, in Brooks, Alberta on 6 May 2009, one year ago.

The simplest explanation for this recent dramatic downturn in the rate of taser-associated deaths in Canada is that everyone in Canada (at least those that are both informed and honest) now understands that tasers are fully capable of causing or contributing to death.

Philly Fan Tasered - highly-edited image

I wonder if sales of Krispy Kreme doughnuts tracks the sales of tasers?

Fair Use Claimed.

Actual (unedited) image linked from [HERE].

Bernie Kerik, former member of Board of Taser International

Bernie's blog - corrected:

Bernard B. Bernie Kerik is was one of the most accomplished corrupt law enforcement executives in the United States. For more than thirty years, Mr. Kerik served his country himself and his several mistresses – most notably in an apartment intended for emergency workers near Ground Zero in as the 40th Police Commissioner of the City of  New York. ... (etc.)  [LINK]

On May 17th, disgraced NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik (a.k.a. 210717) will be off to prison to serve a four-year term for tax fraud and lying to the White House... [LINK]

See also [LINK], [LINK], [LINK] and [LINK] for some highlights of his illustrious career.

Canada's new restrictions on Taser Use makes International Headlines

The Straights Times (Singapore) - May 5, 2010

Canada restricts use of Tasers

OTTAWA - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced on Tuesday restrictions on the use of tasers in reaction to the 2007 death of a Polish man who was zapped five times with a stun gun. Use of the devices should be limited to situations where a subject was or might cause bodily harm and targets should be warned beforehand when feasible, the federal police said. ... The RCMP advised on Tuesday that medical help should be sought prior to using tasers and said it would step up testing after some stun guns were found to give more powerful shocks than the manufacturer's specifications. [LINK]

See also UPI [LINK].

Keep in mind that, unlike Taser International, Canada is generally respected around the world. Influence...

Taser use acceptable, "...because it's a good deterrent."

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa offered his opinion that the use of a taser on the exuberant baseball fan was appropriate, "I just think it's acceptable, because it's a good deterrent." [LINK]


Yes siree Bob. That's exactly what we need. The police using human cattle-prods because they're "a good deterrent".

Maybe anyone caught exceeding the speed limit should be pistol-whipped by the officer right on the spot. A good deterrent.

How about an immediate 'Crown of Thorns' for anyone daring to back-talk to an authority figure? A good deterrent. Anyone object?

Yep, police-imposed deterrents would certainly eliminate the requirement for that pesky legal system with all them-there courts.

It only takes a smidgen of common sense to realize that this sort of highly ill-informed attitude is a huge danger to everyone's hard-won freedom. Not just those that run around the playing field at a professional sports event.

Geesh - they should really reinstate Grade 6 'Civics' classes ASAP.

More on Taser International's vexatious behaviour

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has roundly rejected attempts by Taser International to discredit a lawyer and a medical expert who participated in the Braidwood inquiry into the use of the controversial weapons in this province. In a written ruling released Monday, Justice Robert Sewell said allegations of bias and dishonesty against lawyer Art Vertlieb and Dr. Keith Chambers were "unnecessary, scandalous and vexatious," and ordered Taser International to pay their legal costs. [LINK]

I suppose that that with backing like that (the BC Supreme Court), lawyer Art Vertlieb and Dr. Keith Chambers could also pursue civil damages for slander / libel against Taser International and their Canadian mouthpiece.

The RCMP - bless their little hearts...

I've been patiently waiting for things to get this clear...


OTTAWA - The Mounties say that from now on they will fire stun guns only when people are hurting someone or clearly about to do so.

Accused of overusing Tasers, the RCMP introduced new policies Tuesday to restrict their use to nipping violent confrontations in the bud. The revamped operational manual says officers should limit Taser use to incidents in which a person is "causing bodily harm" or will "imminently" lash out.

The directive mirrors a recommendation from former judge Thomas Braidwood, head of a B.C. public inquiry on Taser use prompted by the death of airline passenger Robert Dziekanski.

The new RCMP policy says that when possible, Mounties should warn suspects they are about to be zapped.

The policy continues to advise that multiple firings of the Taser may be hazardous. It also reinstates direction that officers must not use the stun gun for more than five seconds on a person and should avoid multiple stuns unless truly necessary.

It also calls for better records on Taser use and more testing to make sure the devices are operating correctly.

The RCMP watchdog, which has sharply criticized the force's stun-gun policies, welcomed the announcement as a "significant improvement." ... [LINK]

The next step will be to actually enforce this policy when it is violated (as it almost certainly will be, sooner or later).


By the way, "imminently" is a perfectly reasonable word choice (considering all sides of the argument). But the officers need to be advised that pure non-violent frustration can be expressed by "clenched fists" and what might be mistaken for an "aggressive stance". Tell the officers when they see such tell-tale signs to take a step backwards and inform the client that their body language might be mistaken for violent intent and to immediately knock it off.

This new RCMP Taser Use Policy is good.

All other police force in Canada are now left in the awkward position of either adopting this sort of Taser Use Policy, or try to explain why they think that they know better.

The honest truth about tasers revealed in one image

Just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't figured it out for yourself, tasers are not used to "replace guns". They're not actually used to make the world a better place. Tasers are "less-lethal" (than guns), but because they're used to replace lower forms of force (such as, in this case, another minute or two of harmless running around) the "less-lethal" is a lie wrapped in a half-truth. Tasers are actually often used to inflict severe electro-torture to make people stop minor offenses that might justify nothing more than a ticket.

But we don't often see a defining picture quite as clear as this one:

Philadelphia... [Cue the Elton John song] ...Freedom? - A city police officer who used a Taser to subdue a teenager who ran onto the field during a Phillies game has the backing of his chief, but the department is reviewing whether officers should be involved in such on-field confrontations in the future. ... The teen leapt onto the field at the top of the eighth inning during Monday night's game against St. Louis. He ran around in circles in the outfield, waving a white towel, and dodged two security officers. The department is reviewing whether its officers should be on the field wrangling fans who aren't threatening anyone. "Should we be on the field at all? I think that's what's being looked at," Vanore said. "I'm not sure we should be chasing people around the field." ... [All over the news...]

Taser International may appeal Braidwood

Taser Quote of the Month: "...it seems to me that the report and recommendations of the study commission could have important commercial implications for [Taser International]", Judge Robert Sewell.

CBC News - Taser International can proceed with its legal challenge of a British Columbia public inquiry report that was prompted by the death of Robert Dziekanski, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Monday. The B.C. government wanted the challenge dismissed. But Judge Robert Sewell found the attorney general failed to prove that the Arizona-based company's petition asking the court to throw out the report and all of its recommendations would surely fail or that it had no right to judicial review.

...The judge also rapped Taser for "unnecessary, scandalous and vexatious" [*] allegations of bias against inquiry commission lawyer Art Vertlieb and Dr. Keith Chambers, a physician who helped the commissioner interpret much of the medical information submitted as evidence. Judge Sewell called the allegations against the two men "an abuse of process" and dismissed the company's petition for a declaration against them. "I conclude that the allegations here are motivated at least in part by a desire to embarrass Mr. Vertlieb and Dr. Chambers," the judge wrote. [LINK]

* Judges are not permitted to call the petitioners "slimeballs". That's all I'm saying; they're not allowed.


And so the endless legal battles continue...



One commenter (Mr_Wheely_Guy) on CBC wrote:

Taser International: Stop promoting your device as completely harmless.
Police: Stop using tasers in all situations other than those that would otherwise warrant use of deadly force.
There. Problem solved, and we can quit wasting the court's time.

That pretty much sums it up.

Orange County pays $750,000 to settle 'Taser Torture' lawsuit

"Taser Torture" are my words.

LA Times - The county made the payment in early March to Matthew Fleuret, who alleged he was Tasered while handcuffed and slammed to the floor by sheriff's deputies. The event was captured on video. ...The lawsuit stemmed from the March 2006 arrest of Matthew Fleuret on suspicion of obstructing a deputy after getting into a bar fight on St. Patrick's Day. He was never prosecuted. ... The videos, which became public after Fleuret filed a $47.5M lawsuit alleging excessive force, show him being placed in a holding cell at Orange County Jail and held on the floor by at least five deputies, one of whom pulls Fleuret's arms back while others repeatedly shock him with the Taser over a period of about 13 minutes. ... Fleuret's attorney said his client was shocked 11 times. ... [LINK]

Being electro-shocked eleven times meets any reasonable definition of the word "torture".

...A grand jury report in 2008 called the deaths of two inmates after being Tasered a "cause of alarm" and reported that jail staff used Tasers on 437 inmates from 2004 to 2007. ...

Tasering diabetics - it'll continue unless someone puts a stop to it

La Grange, IL - ...David Lassi was having a diabetic seizure. His room mate called 911; and told La Grange Park and Brookfield Police that Lassi was having a diabetic seizure when they arrived. ... The officers shocked him with a taser X26 eleven times. "The fact that there were seven other officers in the room who witnessed 56 seconds of shock being inflicted on a man who was not responsive and foaming from the mouth, I can't even begin to understand it," said Lassi's attorney Rachel Steinback, from the law firm Loevy & Loevy. [LINK]

Tasering those in medical distress.

It's evil. Pure evil. We're talking Burn-in-Hell amounts of pure evil.

Sue the stupid scum.

And don't settle without a crystal-clear admission of wrong-doing. Otherwise it'll just keep happening over and over and over again to other folks.

Child Labor Laws...

Taser International CEO du jour Patrick Smith-4-brains is probably stunned and shocked by his 88% pay cut in 2009 (compared to 2008). [LINK]

$265,000 salary for a "CEO"?

Overpaid in my opinion.

Taser Understatement of the Decade - "It's clearly not a magic bullet."

In response to reports of an incident where one or more tasers were completely ineffective, Taser International spokespuppet Steve Tuttle abandoned the Corporate lie that tasers are "...safe and effective", and was forced to let slip a brand new admission:

Mr. Tuttle stated that tasers are "...clearly not a magic bullet."

No sh_t Einstein.


...Donald Barry Minter of Martinsville... Another officer shot Minter with high-voltage stun gun darts, but he apparently wasn't fazed. ... An officer broke the car window and blasted Minter again with Taser darts. Again, he was unaffected. ...Police shot Minter twice more with Taser darts -- again without effect... [LINK]

Since the various tasers were ineffective, ineffective, ineffective, ineffective, police were forced to shoot the subject dead. According to the report, the killing was perfectly justifiable on all levels.

Tragic, unfortunate, sad. But I don't see any legal, ethical, nor moral issues associated with the police...

...Except focused on the obviously and repeatedly-ineffective tasers. That's simply loaded with legal, ethical and moral issues.

"Not a magic bullet..."

Street-level death lottery is a more accurate description.

Adil Jouamai - tasered, "difficulty breathing", "died"

Washington Post - ...An officer deployed a Taser...and shortly after, Adil Jouamai did not appear to be breathing... ...dead. [LINK]

It really strikes me that this is a fairly common pattern; tasered, virtually immediate medical distress, dead.

It was the second death in a police Taser incident in Arlington this year, coming after a January case in which a District man died shortly after a Taser was used on him at the Pentagon City Metro platform. [ibid]




See also the Truth...Not Tasers blog:

50% of people tasered in Arlington, Virginia die [LINK]

How about this? Mandatory CIT training if you want tasers.

EDITORIAL: Talk, not action (April 23, 2010) - Salt Lake Tribune [LINK] [via TNT]

Crisis Intervention Team training is considered the national standard for teaching law enforcement officers to deal effectively with the mentally ill. The program emphasizes an empathetic approach, scenario-based training, site visits to mental health facilities, interaction with mental health patients and instruction from mental health professionals. Officers are taught to identify characteristics of mental disorders and utilize de-escalation tactics and techniques to provide a safer intervention. ... ...proven effectiveness of the program -- injuries and deaths are reduced, clients are less likely to repeat offenses and more likely to see the inside of a treatment clinic than a jail cell...


Taser International, if they were honestly interested in "saving lives everyday" (sic), would be screaming from the roof tops about this alternative approach to dealing with such incidents (Crisis Intervention Team training instead of just mindless tasering). The fact that they market the opposite, more lethal, more dangerous, less effective approach should make them liable. At the very least it reveals their true nature in a way that is obvious to anyone.

It's nice to see the obvious truth about de-escalation techniques being more widely accepted.


Political and law enforcement leaders should take note. It would be perfectly reasonable and rational to insist upon CIT training (as well as Use Of Force refresher training) before allowing tasers into circulation.

Taser International - a very poor grasp of the temporal axis

"Tasers with cameras attached to them to record what happens when the weapons are deployed have made their way to New Brunswick." [via TNT]

"...to record what happens when the weapons are deployed..."

The taser camera is mounted on the taser. If I understand it correctly, the camera is activated and starts recording when the taser's safety switch is flicked. And then the taser gun is aimed directly at the subject.

The ConOps (concept of operations) of this sequence is all screwy. By definition, it's not going to record what happened to cause the officer to draw his taser in the first place. By design (sic), it's late.

Furthermore, it muddles the Taser Use Policy regarding the point when the potentially-lethal weapon should be drawn, safety switched, and aimed directly at the citizen. What is it? A camcorder, or a weapon? How many incidents are escalated to active violence because the officer thinks it's a camcorder, and the subject thinks it's a weapon?

Besides, once the taser is fired, we know exactly what will happen:
~Maybe it's effective.
~Maybe it's ineffective.
~Maybe it's a cause or contributor to death.


There are also reports about how these taser cams are sometimes blocked by the officer's grip on the weapon. And other reports that the device sometimes is a victim of the electromagnetic interference from the high voltage, noisy waveform being generated just inches away.


Taser-mounted cameras are defective in concept.

TASR Quote of the Quarter

"I am tired of losing money, Oren Clark. [LINK]

Oren, you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till the taser-death lawsuits start to stick.

Taser ineffective (twice!), and gun doesn't kill

This post might look like a repost of a previous post titled "Taser doesn't work (twice), gun doesn't kill (twice)" [LINK].

But no, it's yet another example of the sort of real world incident where tasers are ineffective for various reasons. And the police revolver worked fine, its use appears to be perfectly justified (according to the report), the subject was stopped, the officer protected (no thanks to the ineffective taser), and the injured subject will reportedly recover to face charges.

...The man (Richard Anthony Malczewski Jr.) jumped to the pavement and ran toward the officer. ...the officer deployed a Taser, but the man pulled the prongs from his skin and continued to charge. ...[etc.]... The officer ordered the man to stop. When the man continued to assault the woman, the officer deployed a Taser for a second time. And again, the electrical charge from the Taser did not seem to affect the man. Police said he pulled the prongs from his body and picked up an unknown object. The man began waving the object over his head and ran toward theseveral times, the officer fired his gun several times, striking the man at least once. [LINK]

See also the AP story on the Washington Post [LINK].

Repeat after me: 'Unreliable and ineffective P.o.S.'

Putting the lives of our brave police officers in danger.

Report states that he pulled the prongs out. Prongs (plural). Implies a good two-dart hit.

Taser International (TASR) stock plummets 12.66% in one day

And in others news...

On April 23, 2010, Mr. Jasjit Dhillon voluntarily resigned from his position as Chief Strategy Officer of Taser International, Inc (TASR) and General Manager of Taser Virtual Systems, a division the Company.

This resignation was apparently a complete surprise to the (mis)management of Taser International. According to one report, this little tidbit of information wasn't mentioned in the recent conference call with the moronic investors and other amused listeners.

In a recent post [LINK] I had noted my observation that I can't find the word "Braidwood" in the recent Annual Report of Taser International. Given the potential worldwide impact [LINK] of the Canadian findings, it's something that perhaps should be highlighted under the heading, "We're screwed."

For some reason, the phrase "serial non-disclosers" pops into my mind.

UPDATE: Taser International is now just a $300M company ($306M at close to be exact). Golly - last time that they lost an important taser-death lawsuit, about $50M worth of market capitalization was wiped off their smug faces. IM (not so) HO, they're lined up to lose another important taser-death lawsuit, hopefully during this calender year (2010). I doubt that the Mkt Cap impact would be only $50M next time. Maybe $100M or so? Just a guess.

To be crystal clear. I have zero financial interest in this pathetic company or anything even remotely-related. I'm just a detached observer.

Taser International (TASR) reports "lower demand" (No sh_t Einstein...)

File under: Just Deserts

Taser International, Inc (TASR), maker of Electroshock Torture Weapons (ECW) that can sometimes kill, and serial under-reporter of such risks, posted a wider quarterly loss, hurt by lower margins, sending the stun-gun maker's shares down as much as 7.5 13% (at close). ... The decline was due to lower yields on new product lines and some product rework costs, the company said. ... Sales fell 3 percent.... [LINK]

Repost - The how and why of failure...

From Sunday, January 25, 2009

The how and why of failure...

(Vocus) January 23, 2009: "...the taser deliver a high-frequency, high-voltage current..." (emphasis added).

This is an ideal opportunity to remind blog readers that the latest taser model in wide use, the X26 introduced in 2003, unlike the other previous high power taser (the M26 from 1999), has an output current waveform that contains a significant 19 Hz (low frequency) component.

It seems that everyone on both sides of the taser issue continues to assume that tasers are strictly (the safer) high frequency - but it is not true in the case of the X26 due to an often-overlooked DC-offset pulse after the arc phase.

This also has huge implications for the duty cycle - the low frequency component at 19 Hz and all related harmonics are 100% continuous duty cycle for the entire 5-second cycle.

So the X26 is both low frequency and 100% continuous duty cycle - both of which reduce safety independently (double effect) as compared to the older M26 (invalidating many older studies, as well as invalidating many of Taser's previous explanations for the root of their product's claimed safety).

Based on Taser's and Kroll's continued reliance on the "short duty cycle" (sic) and "chronaxie" (ditto) for their safety assumptions, and that they've apparently never admitted that the duty cycle of the X26 at 19 Hz is 100% continuous, it really seems like they forgot about the basics of Fourier transforms and the significant impact of that little DC pulse that they added to the X26 in 2003.

If they really do fail to understand why their 'harmless little taser' (sic) might be more dangerous than they previously calculated, then perhaps ignorance of Fourier is the reason why.

Even Kroll's late-2007 IEEE Spectrum article was still talking about "chronaxie" which depends on short pulses. This indicates that he failed to grasp that important detail.

It's another smoking gun (we've found others).

This important technical detail has, as far as I know, not been highlighted anywhere except on this blog.

See para 2 of this post 2008 - a year in review... [LINK] for an overview and links to the earlier posts where this technical details were first noted.

Then see the following three key posts:

Forgetting Fourier are we ? [LINK]

Guesstimated Spectrograms [LINK]

Up to end-September 2008 [LINK] (*)

(* Note the steep rise in the monthly taser-associated North American death rate, almost a step function, from less than one/month to about seven/month, starting in mid-2003 - strangely coincidental with the introduction of the X26.)

My conclusions about the spectrum and duty cycle implications of the little DC pulse added to the X26 taser can be reviewed and confirmed by any electrical engineer.


UPDATE:

As if this needed any further support, but consider this... The M26 has a peak current of about 15 to 18 amps. The newer X26 is only about 3 amps. But even Taser International's own analysis indicates that the M26 is safer (wider margin). What could explain this? Why is seemingly-less actually more? Hey, I've explained it above.

Weebles wobble but they don't fall down...

Estimation of TASER Current Flow and Effects on Human Body

Available here [LINK] (833KB .pdf)



This human body model (bought and paid-for by Taser International) was intended to show that the distribution of taser current in the "worst case" could not possibly affect the heart.

But notice also that the calculated taser current (in this case) is tightly confined to the very small area on the chest.

Let that sink in for a second...  ...ready?

When someone is struck in the chest with a taser, a direct hit to the chest over the heart as shown in this model, does the subject simply stand there blinking, with one pectoral chest muscle twitching, and no other affect?

That seems to be what this model is indicating.

The current is so tightly confined in the model, to protect the heart (and to attempt to protect Taser International's bottom line) that there's nothing left to knock the subject over.

The only muscle affected by the direct taser hit is one pectoral muscle.

So this Weeble wobbles, but he doesn't fall down.

But the computer model analysis collapses under its own weight.

Repost - Presentation to Braidwood Inquiry by Dorin Panescu

From Thursday, April 30, 2009

Presentation by Dorin Panescu

Estimation of TASER Current Flow and Effects on Human Body

Available here [LINK] (833KB .pdf)

This report is an example of why many well-run high-tech companies avoid hiring too many PhDs.


The modeling of the human body presented in this report is primitive to the extreme. The ratio of the complexity of a real human body to this model must be at least 100,000-to-1. Medical school would last an hour if the human body was as trivially simple as this crude model.

At best, this sort of crude model might be good for some rough order of magnitude approximations. Providing two-digit results implies approximately 1% accuracy ('significant figures') which is completely laughable.

And where the hell is the tolerance analysis? You know? ...where you use actual population Bell Curves to calculate the actual population risk ratios? Remember your first year statistics? Monte Carlo analysis? Oh Hellllloooo?


Even given all of the above, on Slide 23, it appears to indicate that the safety margin for 'capture' can be as low as 1.7 times. I assume that 'capture' means roughly the same thing as 'affecting the heart'.

And this is with a very crude model that is really only good for rough estimating. When I see a safety margin for affecting the heart of just 1.7x, given the utter crudeness of the modeling effort, then this causes alarms bells to go off. I'll bet that the tolerance of the accuracy of this crude model firmly overlaps with the real-world population Bell Curve. Quote me: "Low end single digits."

In my opinion, this counts as a huge I Told You So.


PS: Slide 23: "**TASER CEW M26 margins are wider..."  

I Told You So on that as well.



Posted by Excited-Delirium.com at 30.4.09

Bermudas Big Blunder

Bermuda Police Commissioner - "...We have examined significant research conducted in the US, Canada and the UK before taking the decision to introduce TASER. The BPS is satisfied, based on all the research, that the TASER device is safe. ..." [LINK]

The first step on the road to Hell is to believe the fairly tales that tasers-R-safe.

It is slowly dawning on those that are paying attention that tasers can sometimes kill. In other words, they are Less-Than-OR-EQUAL-TO-Lethal.

If tasers only replaced more lethal forms of force (guns), then there would be nothing to complain about. But the cold hard fact is that tasers have been used at a rate that is roughly ONE HUNDRED times as often as police have used gunfire.

The other logical error made by the Bermuda Police Commissioner is to muddle the data between injury and death. This muddle is to the benefit of Taser International because they know that baton strikes can be controlled by the officer to fit the circumstances. But the taser brings a risk of death that is emitted in crude five-second chunks. Braidwood concluded that tasers are more lethal than other options. Even the US 9th Circuit Court called tasers the most intrusive form of force. It's stupid and naive to place tasers below batons.

I strongly suggest that the Bemuda Police Commissioner clarify the official position to match the findings in Canada (Braidwood, RCMP watchdog, and RCMP themselves) to define the taser as a potentially lethal weapon to be used only in the sort of circumstances as recommended by Braidwood et al.

And the Bermuda Police Commissioner should go back to his sources and demand to know why he wasn't informed about the Canadian Braidwood Inquiry. Has he been intentionally misled by Taser's moles?

Taser International's recent 'Sheep Study' is fatally flawed

The recycle bin awaits...

Ref. Dawes, D., Ho, J., Cole, J., Reardon, R., Lundin, E., Terwey, K., Falvey, D., & Miner, J. (2010). Effect of an Electronic Control Device Exposure on a Methamphetamine-intoxicated Animal Model, Academic Emergency Medicine, 17 (4), 436-443 DOI: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2010.00708.x


If You're Going to Taser a Sheep, at Least Do It Right!

...in this experiment the authors have failed profoundly in their anesthesia choice. ...in a study designed to look at the incidence of cardiac arrythmia, these folks used an anesthesia well-documented to have effects on the L-type calcium channel and calcium in the heart... You can't study cardiac and vascular regulation when you use an agent that directly affects them. So, we don't use it. ...So, it's unclear how the effects of methamphetamine and exposure of the TASER are supposed to be teased apart from the influence of isoflurane on cardiac contractile function. It's also unclear how to interpret the dosages of methamphetamine and electrical current from a risk management standpoint. If you're going to do a study, it's great to use anesthesia, but you have to be very certain that you know how that anesthesia works and its potential to confound your work. Otherwise, your data are really not useful. [LINK]

LOL.

Poor sheep.

Hundreds of faulty RCMP Tasers destroyed or pulled

Ottawa (18 April 2010, CP) - The RCMP has destroyed or retired hundreds of Tasers after laboratory tests found some Mountie stun guns were not performing properly. ...15 per cent of the older M26 model Tasers and one per cent of the newer X26 models did not test within technical tolerances. ...as of December, 149 M26s and 60 X26s from across the country had not performed within specifications. ...In some of the test firings the police weapons delivered 50 per cent more current. ...As of mid-March there were 1,114 M26 Tasers in use by the RCMP, down from 1,623 when testing began, and 2,262 X26 Tasers in the Mountie inventory, up from 1,561. ... [LINK]

Some really poor math in the above. If  60  X26 tasers failed, and the total inventory is 2262 (or 1561) X26 tasers, then that's not "one per cent"; it's THREE (or FOUR) percent.


There's some evidence that the X26 taser, with its low frequency waveform and continuous duty cycle, is more lethal per deployment than the older M26 taser. This is supported by the previous safety claims made by Taser International for the older M26, and by their own sponsored research.

This suspicion is supported by the taser-associated deaths being strongly coincident with X26 taser usage, even during periods when the M26 taser was being used more often by the RCMP. But this observation is of overlapping data sets and needs further information.

This suspicion is also supported by the month-by-month plot of taser-associated deaths that shows a clear ramping-up function starting in 2003, coincident with the introduction of the X26.

All of these issues and questions have been addressed repeatedly in this blog. If I have time, I'll add some links to this post later (for those that require spoon-feeding).

The Men Who Stare at Goats, and believe in tasers

Oh... My... Gawd...

We just watched the movie The Men Who Stare At Goats [IMDB]. It's a subtly-hilarious movie about some new-age loons with some insane (unreal, non-scientific) ideas. The bonus features on the DVD include a short video about the actual history behind the movie...

...And one of the folks interviewed is a certain John Alexander.


It took me a minute or two to realize and to make the connection.

We've met this Mr. Alexander before:

See  [LINK]  [LINK]  [LINK] and [LINK].



Mr. Alexander is a firm believer (in the religious sense) in "non-lethal" weapons, such as - according to him - tasers (sic).

But judging by some of the other things that he is, or has been, willing to believe in (you have to see the movie, including the interview)...  ...cue the theremin music... LOL.


[WIKI] Currently he is a member of the (Canadian) National Research Council Committee for Assessment of Non-Lethal Weapons Science and Technology.

Uh, excuse me. WHY? I hope that we're not paying him any actual real money.


PS: The same movie also contains the following dialog: "Well, different Jedi had different techniques. Mel Landau used to visualize packing all his troubles into a little suitcase to clear his mind, and Steve Tuttle would recite Bible verse, which was..."

A different (?) Steve Tuttle is the spokespuppet [LINK] for Taser International.

Letter to Pres. Obama: "21st Century Electronic Lynching"

The President of The United States has been sent a letter intended to draw his attention to the many civil rights violations inherent with, even encouraged by, tasers.

See copy of letter on the Truth...Not Tasers blog. [LINK]

The letter pulls no punches. It accuses Taser International and its associates of serious corporate and personal malfeasance.

"Representatives of the company that manufacturers electronic torture devices lied to Police Officials when they told them that the devices had been tested and were found to be non-lethal. They bragged instead about the excruciating agony and terror caused by their use. ... They scammed an all-too-willing law enforcement community with half truths and outright lies." [emphasis added]

This open letter puts Taser International and its associates into an awkward quandary. Do they just let it pass, thereby passively acknowledging the accuracy of the accusations? Or do they want to take it to court, thereby opening themselves to a detailed judicial review of their past and present corporate behaviour (including all their up-to-now private communications)?

Their best option is to issue a pseudo-indignant press release, then file a formal civil complaint as late as is reasonably possible, and then ever-so-slowly drag it through the courts for years and years and years.

Eventually, when they might be forced to open their Corporate kimono (potentially very embarrassing and legally-lethal for them), they'll just quietly drop the whole matter.

More evidence of dangerously-defective taser training

British police taser epileptic man [LINK] (via [TNT])

Taser insiders reportedly involved with barnyard animals (a "study")

Taser International's very own "Medical Director" (sic) and others reportedly involved in the restraining, drugging, taser-torturing and killing of sheep at the Hennepin County Medical Center.

See [LINK] (via [TNT]).

The legality of this "animal study" is being questioned by PETA on several key points.

There's little question on the morality.

Given the taser's "Curious Temporal Asymmetry" [LINK], electro-torturing and killing helpless animals seems a bit redundant and cruel at this point in the slow implosion of Taser International.

BART yanks tasers

The BART (SF Bay Area Rapid Transit) Police Department has stripped its officers of tasers on Thursday, after a veteran sergeant in a moving patrol car fired his taser several days ago at the 13-year-old boy, who was fleeing from an altercation at BART's Richmond station on a bicycle. ... BART officials, who said officers would be retrained to use the [potentially-deadly, much-abused, propaganda-laced] devices. ... [LINK]


Repeat after me:

So-called "training" (traceable to the manufacturer) that is so bad that the only word to describe it is DEFECTIVE.

It's so bad that BART has to yank tasers (effectively a self-imposed moratorium) to gain the full attention of the taser-happy officers.

Is there anyone out there still in denial that there are major problems with tasers?

Collier County deputy Wilmer Arencibia's 'horseplay' is evidence of much worse

Collier Co, FL - NBC2 has obtain a video from the Collier County Sheriff's Office that shows a Collier County deputy tasing his female colleague in her rear end! ...What seemed like a regular morning inside the Collier County Jail, suddenly took a stunning twist when a deputy walked over to Corporal Wilmer Arencibia and showed him something on her iPod. That seemed to set him off. The video shows him pull out his taser, chase her down and shock her with it from behind. The entire situation played out in front of at least three other deputies. "It wasn't done as a malicious act, but it was horseplay utilizing a Taser," said Lieutenant Rich Gibbons with the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

Full story and video available here: [LINK]


This couldn't happen if tasers were respected as serious weapons. This can only happen if they're considered toys. And that couldn't happen unless the taser training is defective (is it "training", or just a big joke? ha ha ha...)

If this happened to a fellow deputy, then imagine how quick they'll be to taser-torture an inmate for anything - or nothing.

Tip of the iceberg, folks. Tip of the iceberg.

Taser International might have forgotten to mention something...

TASER INTERNATIONAL INC, Form: 10-K, Filing Date: 3/15/2010 [LINK]

I searched their 119-page Annual Report for any mention of "Braidwood", "Inquiry", "British Columbia", or "Canada". I didn't find any explicit mention of the Braidwood Inquiry. Did I miss it?

Taser International's endless legal woes...

TASER INTERNATIONAL INC, Form: 10-K, Filing Date: 3/15/2010 [LINK]

With respect to each of the pending 42 lawsuits, the following table lists the name of plaintiff, the date the Company was served with process, the jurisdiction in which the case is pending, the type of claim and the status of the matter.

In my opinion, they've shaken off too many many lawsuits. But some of their legal tricks, such as Daubert motions, have gone all stale on them. Their bag of such tricks isn't endless. In fact, it's probably empty.

Potential customers should note their treatment of "training injuries".

Repost - Smoking Gun Number Three (X26 vs. M26)

Repost from about a year ago...

Smoking Gun Number Three [LINK] (6 April 2009)


CPC has released a report with a wealth of information.

Please continue reading this post before wandering off to review the report.


One thing caught my eye:

Table 15: CEW Deployment Characteristics...
2002-2007 (%)
X26 Model 26000 24.3%
M26 Model 44000 75.7%

In other words, during the period 2002 to 2007, the older M26 taser was used (actually deployed) about three times as often as the newer X26 taser.


But when you look at the taser-associated deaths [in Canada] covering this same period, in every case where I have access to information indicating the model of taser used, it is X26 in all cases. Nine out of nine. [LINK]

(The following data needs to be further checked. See [LINK].)

Deaths in Canada (2002 to 2005 only)
1. Terry Hanna, 51 – Burnaby, BC - April 19, 2003 - RCMP - X26 [?? before 30 May 2003 ??]
2. Clayton Willey, 33 – Prince George, BC - July 22, 2003 - RCMP - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose
3. Clark Whitehouse, 34 – Whitehorse, YK - September 2003 - RCMP - X26
4. Ronald Perry, 28 – Edmonton, AB - March 23, 2004 - X26
5. Roman Andreichikov, 25 – Vancouver, BC - May 1, 2004 - X26
6. Peter Lamonday, 33 – London, ON - May 13, 2004 - X26
7. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: "restraint-associated cardiac arrest" due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis
8. Jerry Knight, 29 – Mississauga, ON - July 17, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: “restraint asphyxia” with cocaine-related excited delirium
9. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - Cause of death: drug overdose (Coroner Jim Cairns)
10. Kevin Geldart, 34 – Moncton, NB - May 5, 2005 - RCMP - Cause of death: excited delirium with contributing factors including repeated shocks with a taser and pepper spray
11. Gurmeet Sandhu, 41 – Surrey, BC - June 30, 2005 - RCMP
12. James Foldi, 39 – Beamsville, ON - July 1, 2005 - Niagara Regional Police, X26 - tasered 12 times
...

***UPDATED as more X26 statistical 'hits' are recorded (mid-2005  to 2007)***

13. Paul Saulnier, 42 – Digby, NS - July 15, 2005 - RCMP - tasered 1 time with dart, multiple times with touch stun - "Official" cause of death: heart attack brought on by excited delirium, linked to his paranoid schizophrenia (Medical Examiner Dr. Matthew Bowes) (Ontario Chief Coroner Jim Cairns reviewed the case and "concluded that the taser played no role in Saulnier's death")

14. Alesandro Fiacco, 33 – Edmonton, AB - December 24, 2005 - tasered 3 times - "Official" cause of death: "acute cocaine toxicity," and "a complete lack of evidence" the Taser contributed to his death (Medical Examiner Dr. Graham Dowling)

15. Jason Doan, 28 – Red Deer, AB - August 30, 2006 - RCMP - tasered 3 times in 38 seconds - "Official" cause of death: undeterminable

# ?? James Barber, 25, Ottawa, ON - January 2007

16. Claudio Castagnetta, 32 - Quebec City, QC - September 20, 2007 - tasered 5 times - "Official" cause of death: accidental severe cerebral edema (Coroner Dr. Jean Brochu)

17. Robert Dziekanski, 40 - Vancouver, BC - October 14, 2007 - X26 - RCMP - tasered 5 times - "Official" cause of death: Cardiac arrest

18. Quilem Registre, 39 - Montreal, QC - October 17, 2007 - X26 - tasered 6 times - "Official" cause of death: Necrosis of the liver, small intenstine and colon with contributing factors of 60mg/100 ml blood alcohol level and non quantified level of metabolite cocaine

19. Howard Hyde, 45 - Halifax, NS - November 22, 2007 - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: "Excited delirium" due to paranoid schizophrenia, with contributing factors of Coronary artery disease, obesity and restraint

20. Robert Knipstrom, 36 - Chilliwack, BC - November 24, 2007 - RCMP - tasered at least 6 times - "Official" cause of death: acute ecstasy intoxication and excited delirium

[2008 and on..., no overlapping data about M26/X26 usage]

21. Jeffrey Marreel, 36 - Norfolk, Ontario - June 23, 2008 - OPP - # of times tasered: "no comment" from SIU

22. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time

23. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - X26 - tasered 2 times

24. Frank Frachette, 49 - Langley, BC - September 30, 2008 - RCMP - # of times tasered: "no comment" from RCMP

25. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - tasered 3 times - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

26. Gordon Walker Bowe, 30, Calgary, AB - November 2, 2008 - tasered 1 time - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium due to cocaine

27. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

...

Why do the taser-associated deaths actually seem to be the X26-taser-associated deaths?


This observation raises some very interesting questions doesn't it?

It casts doubt on many of the blame-the-victim excuses, doesn't it?


CPC Report [LINK]
Table 15 [LINK]

Note - these two data sets intersect, but one is for the RCMP (usage) and the other is for all Canadian police (taser-associated deaths). I don't have access to complete data. 

And those that do have access to the data are not talking...

See also [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK].

"...bias and even dishonesty on the part of some witnesses..."

"...the Arizona-based weapons manufacturer alleges bias and even dishonesty on the part of some witnesses..." at the Braidwood Inquiry. [LINK]

I agree.

But I suspect that we may disagree about which witnesses are the ones being completely honest and forthright, and which less so.

Hmmm... See [LINK].

Eugene, OR - closing the gap between the justification and the ugly reality

Eugene, OR - Eugene residents are collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to restrict the use of tasers by police officers. Randy Prince, a teacher, says the initiative would allow police to use tasers only in situations where deadly force is justified. Critics say the effort to classify tasers as a deadly weapon would hamstring police. ... A new report from the Eugene police department says officers are now using tasers more frequently than pepper spray when confronting resistant people. [LINK]

If tasers were pure-good, then there wouldn't be any controversy surrounding them. These sorts of initiatives to restrict the use of tasers are simply trying to force the Taser Use Policies into some reasonable alignment with the purportedly pure-as-the-driven-snow justification for tasers.

The pro-taser forces make wild claims that "tasers save lives" (as an alternative to police gun fire), and then squeal when someone tries to hold them to this purpose.

The facts are plain. Tasers are used about 100 times as often as the police have historically used their guns. This figure varies with location and with time. After a few taser-deaths, the rate of taser overuse tends to drop a bit as the more switched-on officers figure it out on their own.

But this 100-to-1 overuse ratio is a good round number. So the argument that "tasers save lives" ignores about 99% of the taser debate.

The tasers themselves are not really the issue. It's the damn lies about their safety, the defective training, and the propaganda-based Taser Use Policies cut-and-paste from Taser International - those are the problems.


I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't care if the police have fricken' Flame Throwers. So long as the burnt citizens are not blamed on Spontaneous Human Combustion.