Taser @ UF

[Rudyjohn]

Actually I'll admit that it was funny.

BTW as a tangent, you'll appreciate this. I just got a check for the gig that our string quartet did at the Cochran Collection (which had a show at the Met in NYC this spring) opening. I did it totally as a gift. My first check as a musician!

Congrats!

I'm starting to think that my son needs to give up his gratis gigs too. Some of this might help pay for, oh I don't know, maybe the instrument, the lessons, college??!!

 

[Bob]

In general, why did the police start using tasers?

. I'll bet the sale is that it prevents escalation of violence or force, and keeps the Glock from leaving the holster. I think it causes escalation of force, and I'll bet when donuts are being consumed, tasering is the subject of many cop war stories now. Who really wants to wrestle with a foaming, HIV positive meth head anyway?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser#Taser

 

[ShallowsNole]

Bob is partially right - it is another tool that *should* be used to take charge of a situation, instead of drawing your weapon. Drawing your gun is preparation to use deadly force; drawing your taser is not. Or, it isn't supposed to be. Overuse can kill, as can tagging someone with a heart condition.

Most officers who carry tazers are well aware to use discretion with it, as one of the things you have to do to get certified to carry one is to be shocked with it. (We have a video that Fuzzy is NOT proud of, but it's good for a laugh...now )

If the cuffs are already on, you can bet there will be an II to determine if it was appropriate. And...there are a lot of cops out there that have no business carrying the taze, until they have been in law enforcement for long enough to gain some age and experience in dealing with folks. That's just my opinion; not sure how it could be applied in a practical manner.

 

[TNJed]

Just to be clear, this young man was zapped with a stun gun, not a tazer. I know tazer is one of those words that has come to be one of those catch-all terms used to describe non-lethal force, but a tazer gun is that thing which shoots the two electrodes attached to wires and can have deadly results. A stun gun is the zapper thing where the sparks fly between the two contact points and must be held in place against the body. There is a big difference between the two.

Stun Gun

Tazer

 

[Bob]

i suspect they both get your attention

 

[Miss Kitty]

i suspect they both get your attention

...even if you have ADD!!!

 

[Jdarg]

I have watched this video and read about this Andrew Meyer. It seems pretty obvious that he went to that event looking to make a scene just like the one he got. It was almost like he planned it out. I have no sympathy for him. TNJed's "rest of the story" is a more accurate picture of this jack a$$.

 

[seacrestkristi]

Bob is partially right - it is another tool that *should* be used to take charge of a situation, instead of drawing your weapon. Drawing your gun is preparation to use deadly force; drawing your taser is not. Or, it isn't supposed to be. Overuse can kill, as can tagging someone with a heart condition.

Most officers who carry tazers are well aware to use discretion with it, as one of the things you have to do to get certified to carry one is to be shocked with it. (We have a video that Fuzzy is NOT proud of, but it's good for a laugh...now )

If the cuffs are already on, you can bet there will be an II to determine if it was appropriate. And...there are a lot of cops out there that have no business carrying the taze, until they have been in law enforcement for long enough to gain some age and experience in dealing with folks. That's just my opinion; not sure how it could be applied in a practical manner.

Totally agree! After this nekkid kid up here died the news showed our Chief Serpass and other officers tazin' each other while getting certified. It was just . That kid may have been a smarta$$ but he sure brought some attention to the subject.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I think the issue is that they tasered someone, not that anyone's free speech right was being violated.

I disagree greatly. This event had a microphone placed in the audience for Kerry to listen to and respond to questions from the audience. Never did Kerry look threatened. The guy was squelched from asking questions. Sure, the kid was excited, but poliTRICKS do that to people, especially to people who really care about our country and our gov't. I applaud the guy. If we had more people in Congress asking questions like this kid, we might actually have a better gov't.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I did see the video of him getting tasered and felt his supposed "plea" to not be tasered might have only been uttered to draw attention to the taser.

If I had a tazer with 50,000 volts of electricity being pointed at me when I had done nothing illegal, with the person on the other end of it saying that they were going to tazer me, I would be yelling, "Don't Tazer Me," too. First, I would want to make sure the cops heard me, clearly and correctly, and second, I would want everyone in the room to witness the abuse of power and hopefully capture it on video for my legal defense of the charges of starting a riot, and I would also be using it in my lawsuit and TV interviews.