The Canadian Police force have reportedly used taser on a senior who tried to dodge a parking ticket, a balky teenage girl in a jail cell, a heart patient in the hospital, and other unarmed people (The star, 2013), to mention but a few. Though better than shooting a gun, Tasers can still be very deadly to people who are highly agitated, or if someone is continuously or repeatedly jolted. Some people have not been able to withstand the incapacitating shock emanating from the taser when fired and die instantly or a few days later, while some others have been fortunate enough to survive it. Incidents like these were what drew my attention to this topic.
Although Taser International, the Arizona based company that manufactures these Tasers claim on their website that the use of Tasers have saved close to 125,470 lives till date, at least 500 people in the US alone since 2001 have died after being shocked with Tasers either during their arrest or while in jail (Amnesty International, 2012). While across Canada 25 people have died as of 2013. This goes a long way to show that the use of Tasers by law enforcement agencies in general, and by the police in particular, is and will continue to be the most controversial issue in the area of criminal justice policy. The law enforcement agencies will strongly argue that Tasers are a non-deadly option that allows them to disable suspects without having to be close enough to touch them, as required with a stun gun or baton. It is also a known fact that tasers are an effective means of self-defence, especially when someone threatens them with a knife or other weapon. Nevertheless, some people still think the idea of using a Taser is just a deliberate act to cause the attacker pain and they are used too quickly and unnecessarily by overeager police officers.
I believe the pros outweigh the cons when you consider the complex nature of law enforcement today. In less civilized countries, the suspect is almost always considered guilty until proven innocent. And as such, law enforcement officers are inclined to treat you as such through the use of force and extreme prejudice when effecting an arrest. The opposite should be the case in the more civilized countries and economies of the world like Europe and America. That being said, I believe there are standard operating procedures and protocols to the use of tasers and the officer is required to take into consideration certain factors like environment, age and physical orientation of the suspect, as well as the present circumstances at hand. And while it may be near impossible to ascertain people with medical conditions by merely looking at them, it can be safely presumed that elderly people will be more impacted than younger ones when tased.
ReplyDeleteI also do realize that some kinds of tasers have voltage settings that can be regulated to reduce the effects on a target.
Overall, its a safer bet than using a handgun under the same circumstances.