www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla17nov17,0,3038756.story?track=mostviewed-homepage (Might have to copy and paste that, for some reason the link isn't work correctly)
This one too.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cellcamera16nov16,0,4794591.story?coll=la-home-headlines (Copy and paste this one too)
I hope some of you read it the story before jumping to conclusions.
I think this will cause some sort of debate, the kid should have just showed them his ID and left and everything would have been fine instead he accused them of racial profiling and then immediately sat down like a whiny kid not getting his way.
On the other hand the excessive use of the tazer (or even use of the taser at all) was more then uneccesary. They should have just dragged him out, a taser is not to be used unless the person is threatening the officer, themselves, or someone else with a weapon or brute force. The kid was already handcuffed. I also noticed one of the officers threatened a student with a taser when he confronted him towards the end. It just got out of hand, plain and simple. Both parties were in the wrong here.
And just in case there is a debate on the after effects of tasers, i just wiki'd the thing; yes i understand how wikipedia works so this can still be cause for debate, but at least you won't ask as many questions.
Now...if you feel like reading:
Controversies
Deaths & Injury associated with stun-gun useSupporters say that stun guns are a safer alternative to devices such as firearms. Taser brand of stun guns were originally marketed as "non-lethal" devices. However, based on the judgements of the SEC, this has had to be amended as "less-lethal" devices.
Between September 1999 and October 2004, there were 73 cases of deaths of subjects soon after having been shocked using Tasers. Of these cases:
* In 8 cases, medical examiners said Tasers were a cause or a contributing factor or could not be ruled out as a cause of death.
* In 18 cases coroners and other officials stated that Tasers were not a factor.
* In most of the 73 cases, drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, and PCP were concluded to be the major factor leading to death.
* In many cases pre-existing cardiovascular conditions or other medical conditions were stated to be a factor.
* Several deaths occurred as a result of injuries sustained in struggles. In a few of these cases head injury due to falling after being shocked contributed to later death.
These incidents form a very small percentage of many tens of thousands of operational uses of tasers.
Various lawsuits against the manufacturers and users of stun guns are pending, but many court judgements have dismissed lawsuits by finding evidence of preexisting conditions, ranging from excited delirium (caused by a subject's interaction with high levels of drug-use) which may be a factor before cardiac arrest, and preexisting osteoarthritis which may make bone fracture more likely when the device is used on the subject.
Police officers in at least five states have filed lawsuits against Taser International claiming they suffered serious injuries after being shocked with the device during training classes.
Critics argue that although the medical conditions or illegal drug-taking of some of these casualties, may have been the proximate cause, the use of the taser may have significantly heightened the risk of death for those suspects in an at-risk category. Therefore, they argue, this suggests that tasers and other electroshock weapons may be too dangerous to use on people with certain medical conditions. Furthermore, since police officers will typically not know about a person's medical conditions or the contents of his/her bloodstream, this entails a risk of death with virtually any suspect.
Supporters say that stun guns and tasers are more effective than any other means including pepper-spray (an eye irritant/breathing irritant), batons (and other conventional ways of inflicting pain), hand-to-hand combat (i.e. wrestling a subject to the ground), or even hand guns, at bringing a subject down to the ground with a minimum physical exertion, and with a minimum of potential for injury. Stun-guns have a direct link to reduced injury from use of physical force, and are attributed to saving human lives by use as an alternative to the use of firearms to subdue violent or out-of-control subjects. However, critics charge that police officers who are risk-averse will also resort to tasers in situations where previously they would have used more conventional, less "extreme" techniques, such as trying to reason with a cornered suspect.
Legal restrictionsElectroshock guns are generally used for self-defense, or by law enforcement to subdue, for example, an out-of-control prisoner. They are illegal or subject to legal restrictions on their availability and use in many jurisdictions. Reports of the devices being used for torture or as interrogation tools have led the United States to place restrictions on export of the devices. Critics point out that any country could easily duplicate these devices, which are relatively simple.
FlammabilityTasers come with express instructions not to utilize them in areas where flammable liquids or fumes may be present, such as filling stations or meth labs. Tasers, like other electric devices, have been found to ignite flammable materials.
An evaluative study carried out by the Home Office investigated the potential for tasers to ignite CS gas.[8] Seven trials were conducted, in which CS gas canisters containing methyl isobutyl ketone (a solvent used in all CS sprays utilized by the United Kingdom police) were sprayed over mannequins wearing street clothing. The tasers were then fired at the mannequins. In two of the seven trials, "the flames produced were severe and engulfed the top half of the mannequin, including the head". This poses a particular problem for law enforcement, as normal police doctrine needs use of CS before the use of a taser.[9]
In another case, a man's shirt caught on fire after one of the taser spikes hit a cigarette lighter in his pocket. He suffered minor burns, but was also treated for two self-inflicted knife wounds, the original reason for which the Taser had been deployed.
Use in schools and on minorsPolice officers that patrol schools, including grade schools, in several US states (including Kansas, Minnesota and Florida), currently carry tasers. In 2004, the parents of a 6-year old boy in Miami sued the police department for tasering their child. The police said the boy was threatening to injure his leg with a shard of glass, and claimed that using the taser was the only option to stop the boy injuring himself.[10]
Supporters of taser use in schools argue that merely switching on the device, and threatening to use it, can be effective in frightening violent or uncooperative students into desisting from inappropriate behavior, in cases where verbal reprimands have not succeeded. Critics counter that tasers may interact with preexisting medical complications such as medications, and may even contribute to someone's death as a result. Thus, critics say, they should either be prohibited altogether in schools, or classified as possibly-lethal weapons and as a consequence, should be regulated extremely tightly. Critics also argue that using a taser on a minor, and especially a young child, effectively acts as cruel and abusive punishment, and therefore it should be banned on the same grounds that other, older forms of physical punishment such as canings have been banned from use in many schools.
There has been at least one case of students using improvised electroshock guns in a school. In March 2005, several high school students in Maine faced charges when another student reported that they had been playing with improvised stun guns and testing them on themselves and fellow students. The devices were made from disposable cameras with a 330-volt electric charge, which, while not strong enough to cause severe injury, could be fatal to a person with a condition such as arrhythmia.[citation needed]
In November of 2006, considerable controversy arose after UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad was repeatedly Tasered by campus police, several of the times while already handcuffed, after failing to produce university identification.
I'm a little amused that that incident is already up on Wiki.
