Something Must Be Done About Tasers

Hello Papamoka Bloggers - I need to take a position on tasers after reading about another death this weekend in Virginia. Poor 17-year-old Derrick Jones of Martinsville was pronounced dead in his own home following an encounter with police that ended in a taser blast.

Neighbors called the police due to noise. Jones, who had been drinking AT HOME with friends, "moved rapidly" towards the officer while making unspecified unkind comments. Police officers know that tasers have killed people in the past, especially those who may be high on drugs, so a taser should have been used as a LAST RESORT!

It is clear to me that police officers, who I hold in great esteem, are not using their tasers properly. They're inadvertently killing innocent people, and something must be done. He wasn't armed, so why taser him? Why couldn't the officers have just called in back-up, and wrestled him to the ground the old-fashioned way? Isn't that why we hire strong officers?

This is an example of how some police departments are taking tasers too lightly, and how they use them too casually. Despite what some police say, tasers can be deadly weapons, and they should be taken very seriously.

A CBS report shows that tasers have KILLED "at least 400 people in the United States and Canada since 2001." Those figures leave out those who merely suffered heart attacks yet survived after being tasered. I don't know about you, but if the police know that tasers can kill, or cause heart attacks, and they do, than it's clear that tasers should be restricted to the same rules as firearms. It only seems reasonable to me.

I've even read that when testing tasers on rookies, to demonstrate their use, police departments make a big deal to use volunteers with a medical clearance, because they know a heart attack is possible. That alone is very disturbing to me. It shows they are aware.

I'm pretty angry because, despite my admiration for law enforcement, I think some police departments are out of control, seeming almost militaristic in the way they enforce laws on unarmed citizens. It could be the thin end of the wedge, and could get worse. We as citizens need to get more vocal about it, unless you want to risk being tasered in the future, or even killed.

Just like that college student in Florida who tried to scream questions to McCain, and who begged not to get tasered by campus police, people are getting tasered way too easily. It is a growing problem that needs to be addressed by journalists and community groups. It is a good cause, and people have to speak up more. I know I will try.

My own father died in 1969 after police chased a criminal causing him to slam into my father going around 90 mph on city streets. Police chases kill thousands each year, and very little is written about their victims.

I cope with the idea that my father died because police thought it was important to catch that criminal. In a way he was armed, at least with a speeding vehicle. I could see tasering that young man if he was carrying a taser, or driving a car perhaps, but not for simply running and yelling abusive language.

Citizens tolerate police carrying firearms for good reason, but we do not have to tolerate police tasering unarmed citizens. Either police departments begin to take great steps to limit their use, or citizens should do it for them by writing laws. Something must be done. Derrick Jones should not die in vain.

Michael Boh
Papamoka's Left Coast Contributor
from Our Rants & Raves Blog

BART Shooting and Profiling Gone Bad

I realize that being a police officer is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. I would never do it for a living myself but I sure as hell appreciate the men and woman that do seek out law enforcement jobs for a living. I apologize to the guys fishing in the Bearing Sea for crab but I don’t think that any Alaskan King Crab has ever fired a gun at you just because you have them about to go in the holding tank. Ergo you do not get the title of most dangerous job in America in my opinion. I love the crab folks but I have to go with serving in law enforcement anywhere as the most dangerous job in America. Then again, the tables can be turned and some of those in law enforcement can not or do not have the knowledge or training needed to do the job right.

Any true police officers last resort is to pull their weapon... Very LAST option. That isn't to say that they need to show force when force is needed. My own older brothers father in-law, God rest his soul, in almost thirty years of service in the Worcester, MA Police Department never once fired his gun in the line of duty. Thank God! Not for the people that he would have found the need to do so but for him.

Any idiot could unload a hidden gun against a police officer simply because he thinks the officer is going to take him in on a traffic stop and find out he is two months behind in child support payments. Pick a reason, idiots will never think before firing a gun at any law enforcement officer. That isn’t the case here. My friend Jeff over at Worm Town Taxi posted this video on his site and I stole it.

Profiling among police officers is clearly evident in our society just as much as young men ignorant of the law hate or run from all police officers. It is a fact that anyone of Hispanic or African decent will have their vehicle searched regardless of the reason of the stop simply because of the color of their skin. I’m not defending this practice but the chances are higher for a search of your vehicle the darker your skin color is. I’m Irish American white, I’ve been stopped many times in my life by police, not once has my car been searched. My best friend is black, his car has been searched pretty much every single time he has been pulled over. My other good friend is of Hispanic descent, yup, he gets searched every single time too. Mind you, neither one of my friends has a criminal record, matter of fact they are more lily white than me. Racial Profiling is real!

I defer to who these officers were at BART and who actually murdered the young man that was clearly defenseless and co-operating with the BART Police when an officer shot him. This is not a law enforcement agency that even the local police should look kindly on. Poor training that is not the training that real police officers receive to serve the public is to blame. Even here in the Northeast, Transit Police are a joke and the leftovers of what the local police would not consider as worthy to serve the public. AKA wannabe cops! But they have a badge, a uniform, and a gun that can kill.

Oscar Grant died New Years Day not because he was not submissive enough to the BART officers that apprehended him but simply because someone had no clue as to how to do their job. The kid was subdued by multiple officers, he was very much under control, and this was murder no matter how you look at it.

Bart Police shooting in Oakland, CA KTVU report…

You Tube Video Link



One thing is certain in this case, Oscar Grant’s family lawyer John Burris has a clear open and shut case that the BART officer was negligent and murdered this young man. Video is flowing into Burris office from multiple sources on the event. Law enforcement has just entered the digital age from the victims angle more than ever. Thank you Karina Vargas for telling the tale with your video from your cell phone and telling the story of Oscar Grant and his last moments of life. And to the unknown gentleman that actually captured the shooting with his cell phone that has submitted it to Oscar Grant’s lawyer.

All I have to say on this is that their was no reason for this 22 year old man to die. The people that were subduing him had the situation under control and there was not one reason why this BART officer needed to pull his gun. NOT ONE!

My thoughts and prayers are with Oscar Grant and his family. His life was worthy enough to grow old and create many of memories and this was wrong There was no need for him to be shot and killed. NONE! One reason to consider is where the taser gun is located and where the gun that shoots bullets is located on officers that carry them both. The officer from BART is claiming that he reached for his Taser. I am NOT buying that story!

If you are in Law Enforcement, back me up with a comment! You deserve a voice on what is right and what is just wrong and poor training by wannabe police officers.

Papamoka