September 07, 2004
Tasers (electric guns) still Deadly
Personal experience by families of people with schizophrenia suggests that even the electronic guns called Tasers (that are supposed to be harmless) can still be deadly.
A father wrote this recently in a letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic:
Taser analysis not so simplistic
The writer's analysis is as shallow and misleading as Taser President Tom Smith's.
The issue is not whether or not the Taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage.
I'm happy for letter writer Jim Barber that his son is an officer and has a
healthy heart. My son is dead. He suffered from schizophrenia most of his adult life and yes, was developing heart problems. As a full-time resident of a group home for the mentally ill we might have expected more for Ray when he went into crisis.
Ray was stunned in the chest and behind the left ear. Maybe Jim's son can tell me why, if the Taser is so effective, it is necessary to stun people multiple times in the presence of multiple officers.
I think Jim and Taser International should do a bit more research. The successes aren't the problem -- the failures are. Is there a reason the X-26 (current model) is less powerful than the M-26 introduced in 1999, about the time the death statistics start? Does Taser know something it isn't telling?
Posted by szadmin at September 7, 2004 02:27 AM
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my son was tasered too, only, AFTER he had shot himself through the head. They told him to drop the gun and he didn't. They weren't taking any chances, I suppose, or they were following 'Policy'.
But I don't think he heard them anyway, there was a hole in the side of his right temple. I don't think he could do anything, since there was another hole in the LEFT REAR quadrant of his skull! i am being deliberately graphic, i know. it is because this illness killed him, or actually it was the cure.
I am cold heartedly angry about the case mis-management that he received from the Mental Health professionals, and the University Medical Center.
Sure, they took him in, when he had a hole, 2 holes, in his head. But when he asked to be admitted, MONTHS BEFORE, he was told he wasn't SICK ENOUGH. they needed the bed space for sicker patients.
they need to taser the mental health system into something resembling a health system. right now, the favorite cure of the month seems to be suicide.
actually, it's the government. they won't pay for anything other than prisons, or stun gun toys. And F-16s. Apaches, neutron bombs, etc. How about that noise thing they have now? Where they can bend sound waves? How many ways are there to KILL PEOPLE??????!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: chaiteacity at September 17, 2004 03:52 AM
about 4-months ago my husban wus taserd 12 tims.he lost his mind and i had to call 911.he now suffers from schizophrenia and he is biypoler.Do you thank being taserd that many times can mack him werser than he all redy is.
Posted by: cindy at September 20, 2004 12:42 PM
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my son was tasered too, only, AFTER he had shot himself through the head. They told him to drop the gun and he didn't. They weren't taking any chances, I suppose, or they were following 'Policy'.
But I don't think he heard them anyway, there was a hole in the side of his right temple. I don't think he could do anything, since there was another hole in the LEFT REAR quadrant of his skull! i am being deliberately graphic, i know. it is because this illness killed him, or actually it was the cure.
I am cold heartedly angry about the case mis-management that he received from the Mental Health professionals, and the University Medical Center.
Sure, they took him in, when he had a hole, 2 holes, in his head. But when he asked to be admitted, MONTHS BEFORE, he was told he wasn't SICK ENOUGH. they needed the bed space for sicker patients.
they need to taser the mental health system into something resembling a health system. right now, the favorite cure of the month seems to be suicide.
actually, it's the government. they won't pay for anything other than prisons, or stun gun toys. And F-16s. Apaches, neutron bombs, etc. How about that noise thing they have now? Where they can bend sound waves? How many ways are there to KILL PEOPLE??????!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: chaiteacity at September 17, 2004 03:52 AM
about 4-months ago my husban wus taserd 12 tims.he lost his mind and i had to call 911.he now suffers from schizophrenia and he is biypoler.Do you thank being taserd that many times can mack him werser than he all redy is.
Posted by: cindy at September 20, 2004 12:42 PM