Defeating a taser BAN in Minnesota.

Binky .357 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 13, 2009 3:50 pm

AGoodDay wrote:

jrp267 wrote:

I do think when a taser is used for compliance and the victim dies the officer should be charged with a crime such as murder in the 2nd degree. Officers should have to accept the responsiblity of using deadly force if it was not justified. Saying I didnt know they had a heart condition should not be acceptable. Kinda like saying I thought it was my taser when I shot the cuffed suspect in the back on the ground.

Just about everything the cops use kill people in similar ways and should result in murder charges for cops by that argument.
-Pepper spray can spike up allergic reactions, asthma or other breathing issues such as various forms of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases.
-Batons can miss, be dodged and strike an unintended target or perhaps blow a blood vessel on a hemophiliac.
-Handcuffs can cause positional asphyxiation
-Open hand techniques can cause stress to the heart (a heck of a lot more than a taser, btw), positional asphyxiation, suspects bodies and head can accidentally strike hard objects.

And those are only examples, in no way an exhaustive list of all of the ways that police tools can kill people. Take those away and you have two choices. Presence and asking politely or shooting. I think something between those two extremes is a good thing.

I guess the point I see in forcing a level of accountability upon the officers is that the worst of the door-kickers, kitten-stompers and assorted other jackbooted thugs would eventually be locked up and the remaining officers on the street might actually be trying to make the world a better place. Spread the word that door-kickers need not apply, you know?

Think about it... "Isolated Incidents" becoming a footnote in the annals of law enforcement history.

But unfortunately, I know I'm only dreaming. There will always be the laws that punish "us" while giving "them" more and more privaleges; at the same time our constitutional rights will continiously be erroded by the crowd that keeps using the same old tired excuses like "It's for officer safety", "it's for the public good", "it's for the children", " there were exigent circumstances", and so on ad nauseum...