Did you know that Tasers have been involved in more than three hundred deaths?
Dozens of others have suffered Taser-related injuries. I respect that sometimes force is needed to subdue a non-compliant suspect. And I'm not suggesting that police shouldn't defend themselves against violent attacks.
However, because Tasers are classified as "non-lethal" they are not routinely used to protect cops from deadly force – guns do that.
You shouldn't have to die because you're being unruly. We are a better country than that...
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have long argued that most of the deaths associated with Tasers are related to multiple uses or prolonged usage of the weapon on the same person. Since 2001, there have been over 300 deaths that Amnesty has studied where Tasers were involved - a significant number involved either multiple uses or prolonged usage of the Taser. In over 20 of those cases, coroners have listed Tasers as the contributing factor. In only 10 percent of the cases was the Tasered individual actually carrying a weapon.
We are not against Taser use as an alternative to deadly force. We are however against Taser abuse by rogue cops who consider the Taser an apartheid electrocution whip of the 21st century
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It stuns me that anyone would think that the police are justified in killing this young man. He did not have a weapon. Police said Turner had been threatening the officer after having disagreement with his employer. It just seems that the penalty for disagreeing with your Food Lion boss should not be execution
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By: Censored All the Time on 7/15/2008 12:38PM
"Threatening an officer" is not exactly a smart move on anyone's part! No matter how angry a person may be, threatening a police officer is a sure recipe to get tasered or otherwise put out of commission. Mr. Turner's death is regretable certainly, but perhaps it will serve as notice to other angry people to be cautious about what you say or do to a police officer.
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By: Jarvis on 7/15/2008 3:07PM
People must learn to respect the law and the police officers that enforce these laws. Sure there are police officers that get out of hand and should be dealt with thru the law as well.
Look, stay out of trouble and teach your children to do the same.
Also, everyone needs access to a good attorney and legal counseling.
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By: HISGirl on 5/14/2009 12:42PM
Wow Jarvis,
You have just set all cultures back by your comment. Do the People of the World a favor by providing a real resolution to the negative beavior of the police. We all know that the have been several occassion when police have taken their authority out of the job specification. Please advocate for the police to be mindful and respect to all individuals because it is their job. Remember no one is forced to take a job in law enforcement. Yes we all have to take the good with the bad and it is often a part of the job as civil servant; but always keeping in mind that we are not above the law.
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By: sherri on 7/15/2008 4:38PM
Police can be so reactionary.
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By: vernon on 7/15/2008 6:48PM
Would you rather he use his gun.I'd rather get tasered than shot.Odds are you'd live.
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By: stare k on 7/29/2009 5:54PM
If the police tazered your son /husband .I bet u would have a different answer .
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By: James on 7/16/2008 11:18AM
Tasered while black is way better than shot while black. The realty is that the African Americans have significantly high crime rate. Bashing taser will just lead to more police shooting of black people. Many more Darryl Turners would die because tasers were taken away for one Darryl Turner. Has AI bothered to do a research to find out how many people died of police-involved shootings since 2001? How many of these people would have lived today if police had used tasers instead? There are thousands in-custody deaths since 2001 without tasers. Most people actually died of drug-overdose or excited delirium. One-sided statistics will cause more harm to black people if AI's recommendation is followed.
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By: Shar on 7/24/2008 2:47PM
Tasers are dangerous! now they have tasers parties, and you know what that means. Look out people of color, watch out, most of these parties, women of color are not included.
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By: CJ Falkner on 7/16/2008 8:24AM
police tasters whites less offen than blacks for the same crimes
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By: Icolenay20 on 7/16/2008 2:41PM
The posts that I have read are unbelievable. It seems that most are condoning the killing of an angry teen, as we parents know teens can be VERY dramatic, however if the police knew he was unarmed, why not cuff and detain him, not taser him to his death. Had this happened to any of our kids how many would still agree with the polices tactics? Not I! Bottom line is of course police have to protect themselves, but not at the cost of an innocent, but angry child. Seems if we aren't on the receiving end, we can spin any story to our liking, me included, but not this one, not ever.
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