Taser-related deaths top 100, Amnesty

There were 103 Taser stun gun-related deaths in the United States and Canada between June 2001 and March 2005, according to an Amnesty International report.

In the first three months of this year, there were 13 Taser-related deaths - compared with six in the same period last year, the report said. <snip>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Taserrelated-deaths-top-100-Amnestys/2005/04/01/1112302215128.html?oneclick=true

have permanent nerve damage? It's an outrage! But all these deaths will receive virtually no attention compared with that of a single vegetative-state individual who had, unlike the 100 killed by tasers, no awareness of what was happening.

just shocking.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Or other minorities.

By Associated Press

HOUSTON - With Houston police officers using Tasers on minorities in almost 90 percent of incidents involving the stun guns in recent months, civil rights groups want to meet with the police chief to express concerns and urge tighter controls.

Officers stunned people with Tasers in 144 incidents between Dec. 3 and March 10, according to the department, shocking blacks or Hispanics in 125 cases, or 87 percent.

"It always seems that the minorities are the first to get a taste of something like this," said Sylvia Gonzalez, director of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "We are very concerned."

Leaders from LULAC, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have requested a meeting with Police Chief Harold Hurtt regarding officers' use of the stun guns. <snip>

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2005/04/01/texas_news/iq_1793152.txt

There have been 103 Taser stun-gun related deaths in the US and Canada since June 2001, according to a new report. Amnesty International described the figure as “staggering” and warned that the number of Taser-related deaths was rising.


In the first three months of this year there were 13 related deaths, compared with six during the same period last year, Amnesty’s report said.Amnesty also condemned the Arizona-based company for allegedly massaging figures.“Taser International wildly exaggerates the number of incidents in which the use of a Taser resulted in a life saved,” the report said.

Its assertion that 685 lives had been saved was “statistically impossible” and fictitious, it claimed. Taser International president Tom Smith has defended the product, claiming there is no scientific or medical evidence to suggest they are dangerous devices.


No confrontation is risk free,” he said. “The Taser is the safest way to end violent confrontations for law enforcement.” Stun guns deliver 50,000 volt shocks intended to disable suspected criminals. Then Home Secretary David Blunkett authorised their use for police firearms officers across England and Wales last year. Despite warnings from civil rights groups, including Amnesty, he said scientific evaluations had shown the Taser guns had a “very low” risk of fatality.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4340094

Translation: You Could DIE!

famous experiments on "Obedience to Authority".

Milgram dummied up a fake apparatus that had dial positions labeled from "slight shock" through "very strong shock", "extreme intensity shock", and "danger severe shock", all the way to "XXX" as the highest level. Then he created an artificial "experiment within the experiment" where the real subjects thought they were punishing other subjects for wrong answers in a learning exercise.

In all experiments, large proportions of subjects were willing to go all the way to "XXX". See http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/milgram.htm .

Moral: If any authority figure (such as the President of Taser International) continues to assure people who've been given stun guns that using them is OK, they WILL use them remorselessly.