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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Finally, a court limits Taser use by police
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 6:03 PM
From the Better Late Than Never Dept. comes the news that a federal appeals court yesterday issued a comprehensive ruling limiting police use of Tasers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a specific case that a policeman’s use of a Taser against a suspect who, although acting strangely, was unarmed and was not approaching or threatening the officer, was unwarranted. The ruling limits police use of Tasers on low-level offenders who pose little threat, and/or may be mentally impaired.
Tasers are marketed – and heavily – as a non-lethal alternative to guns, but they have become increasingly controversial due to what many see as overuse by police officers nationwide – and the inconvenient fact that over 350 Americans have died after being shocked by the “non-lethal” weapon. The ruling by the court comes about 21 months too late to help the family of teenager Darryl Turner of Charlotte who was Tased in March 2008 after arguing with the manager of the Food Lion at which he worked. He was shocked for 37 seconds, and then shocked again, and later died. Who knows? Maybe once yesterday’s court ruling is digested and implemented, it will keep similar unwarranted deaths from happening.
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