Tasers and Beater Clubs

To be completely honest, I never understood the need or use of tasers. They seem so archaic and really should have no use in humanity. I do understand that the ruling forces (police, government, military, etc) need to use these types of weapons to control or subdue individuals but I have always felt a taser was way over the top. There is way too much risk involved and the idea of actually shocking someone to submit does not seem very intelligent. I know whenever I have been shocked by electricity I have never wanted to calm down and be subdued, instead it has made me want to cringe, swear and roll around. I recall onetime at Daniel Boone when I was about 13 years old, my dad told me that I could turn the gym lights on by sticking a paper clip into the key light switch and they would turn on. He told me the trick behind doing this so I naturally went in and screwed it up and received a huge shock. I remember the feeling distinctly and having orange and yellow burns on my skin for a few days. That shock did not make me want to calm down, instead it was quite the opposite.

If officers need to use force to subdue individuals, why use something that can potentially kill them. Hundreds of people have died in the past years from tasers and tens of thousands are severely injured. It has always made more sense to use a debilitating weapon, such as a beater club to subdue someone. At least a beater club will debilitate certain parts of an individuals body to enable officers to wrap them up and finally control the individual. A beater club may also be used to break bones or knock someone out...this may seem brutal, but in comparison it is much more humane than being tased. At least bones can heal from beatings, a shocked heart may cause severe problems for the remainder of ones life or cause fatality...which it has on countless occasions.

I am writing about this because there was a world famous incident that occurred here in Canada in the middle of Canada and it has been an extremely hot topic since it took place. A polish man was immigrating to Canada to live and start a job with his mother. He flew into Vancouver and when he arrived he was placed in international hold for 10 hours. He was disoriented, recovering from his first flight in his life and in a massive international airport that for some reason had no translator to assist him. The man panicked, barricaded himself and subsequently was tased 3-4 times by officers trying to subdue him. He was killed on the spot. No drugs were in his system. He was stone cold sober...no health problems.

I am not blaming the officers completely. I have listened to numerous CBC Radio shows dealing with this and have concluded that the Airport is at fault. The mans mother was in the airport while he was in hold but for some reason the airport was confused by the entire situation. They handled him poorly and this led to his panicking because he was held in the airport for over 10 hours. I also felt the police could have handled the situation better. One security adviser discussed how he had a similar situation and instead of running in, barricading the man and then attacking...his group actually went in, his men sat down with their hands up to show the suspect they were there to help and he stood and gradually aided the man to safety before he could hurt himself or others. This may have been a better and safer option. It is difficult to lay blame on people with such an atrocity.

This is such a tragic event because the woman is left with nothing. This was her only child and they were going to start a business together. Now she no longer has him. I cannot imagine nor do I want to imagine her pain.

Tasers are unnecessary objects and they are terrible for humanity. Immediately following this incident a man was killed by a taser in Montreal and now a man is in severe condition in Chilliwack after he was tased. All this happens and the Vancouver police have now ordered 70 more tasers for their department. Taser deaths are extraordinarily high in the US and in Canada and it is time that someone jumps on the clue bus.

Here is a link that tells the story about the Polish individual and his family.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=e5e54f7a-edd6-49c4-b715-5b1eb216788a&k=35629