Coalition to Control Tasers Could Change Course of Town’s Election
November 5th, 2009 at 6:30 am Posted by The Dean
Various articles in the news this week focus on the state of Missouri where taser use has caused quite the heated debate. One article even points out that there have been 86 taser-related deaths in the United States since June 2008.
In Columbia, MO, there is a group called Coalition to Control Tasers trying to make the town taser-free. Coalition member Catherine Perke spoke out recently saying that tasers “are dangerous weapons and the public genuinely does not understand that. So that is our task, to educate the public.”
This group is not trying to reform taser-use or policies but seeks to educate the public and make them more aware of the adverse effects tasers have on communities. The Coalition to Control Tasers is even suggesting that the town votes on taser use as part of the ballot next November.
In Minneapolis this week, a police officer who used a taser on an unarmed man is now being investigated by the FBI. The police officer in questions has previously been reprimanded for use of deadly force, when he killed an innocent bystander during a 2002 police chase.
Once again, this type of incident was recorded and the video will serve as evidence in the FBI’s investigation of the incident. The Dean believes that cameras such as dashboard mounted devices can be helpful but a device such as $BSTK‘s Duty Light Camera (DLC) has the ability to tell the story in audio and video, when incidents like this are called into question.
Obviously, the taser has been the center of many controversial lawsuits, officer suspensions and terminations, and unfortunate deaths. The Dean believes this is why groups like Amnesty International and the Coalition to Control Tasers even exist.
As The Dean has suggested to the CollegeStock Community in the past, it’s not always the fact that tasers can be deadly but rather that they are “used in ambiguous, uncertain and seemingly mistaken ways that appear not to conform consistently to ‘imminent danger standards.’” The Dean thinks this points out that tasers are often not used according to their intended function of saving a police officer’s life.
This is why many human rights and activist groups speak out about wrongful use of the devices and want to see the supposed less than lethal weapon alternatives banned all together.
