State sanctioned murder.

@BlueButterfly – I think that you are close to the the truth. If these had been blue-eyed blondes getting killed at the rate of one-per-week I think that we would have a different public outcry.

Thank you for linking to my site at truthnottasers. It’s more than a little alarming to see the number of African American victims in black and white. Tasers have come to replace the judge, the jury and the executioner. And so long as this continues, I will carry on the grim task of gathering the names/dates/locations of the victims.

@RealityChick – Your blog has been doing remarkable work in this area over the past 4-5 years. I wanted to point out the impact here in America during this calendar year. It is a grim task … but only wtih specifics such as this can we begin to turn the discussion…

Yes, Villager, you are absolutely right that this kind of specific data is of grave importance. It has long been apparent that the number of non-caucausian (mostly African American and Hispanic) deaths was substantially higher than the rest, but it is still shocking to see it in print.

I think that the number of taser-related deaths should be compared to the number of times tasers were used. That should be considered so as to see if taser usage has led to a decrease in police employment of firearms in reaction to similar situations. Finally, I would suggest a review of the relative lethality of police-employed tasers as compared to guns.

Of course there would be a different reaction. Anybody who says otherwise has not been paying attention to the reality of racism. Tasers are not non lethal weapons and are used far too frequently and quickly. In many cases they are used as a substitute for what police work used to entail. Now we have cases of shoot first and ask questions later, if the person lives. When discharging a gun, the shooter knows that he/she will have to justify the use of their weapon ie their life, or someone else’s was in jeopardy. Not so much with the use of a taser. The label non lethal gives licence to their overuse. Tasers are not reliable as to the voltage they deliver. That fact alone should end the use of them.
***********
(Dec 2008)
” VANCOUVER–B.C. police forces will pull the plug on Tasers acquired before 2006 over concerns they generate shocks higher than what the manufacturer specifies, and Mounties are recalling some of their arsenal as well.

Solicitor General John van Dongen said yesterday that municipal chiefs of police unanimously agreed to remove the shock weapons from service after testing showed the voltage sometimes exceeded the weapon specs.

The announcement came the day after the RCMP quietly announced a national testing program for 24 Taser Model X-26 units acquired before 2006.

“Effective today they have agreed to pull all Tasers purchased prior to Jan. 1, 2006, out of service and have them tested to ensure that they’re properly calibrated to ensure that they’re meeting manufacturer’s specifications,” van Dongen told reporters in B.C. “

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/551308

It’s just a little jolt, really; it’s not harmful. Bollocks.

Especially egregious is the Taser company’s litigation strategy of personally suing for defamation medical examiners who attribute these deaths to the Taser, or even mention in it their autopsy findings. Heaven knows the profit hit they would take if they knowingly sold a dangerous product as a harmless substitute for the use of lethal force.

Get ready for the screams (and the lucrative lobbying) as the company opposes properly characterizing these devices as lethal weapons. No doubt, they will claim that to be a “taking” and demand compensation from the government.

Digby follows this closely, too.

No, macaquerman, one should not compare lethality of guns v. tasers. The whole idea behind tasers is that they are “non-lethal” tools.

The problem is that cops, sold on the non-lethality, use them for street-justice punishment and, quite arguably in many, many cases, for torture.

I did an cursory examination of the issue last year for a law class, and wound up urging a statutory presumption that any use of a taser on an already-restrained subject, is excessive force. Why? Because of the astounding number of incidents of tasers used on subjects handcuffed, or, literally, strapped to ambulance gurneys, or in strait jacket-type restraints, handcuffed in the back of a police car, and on and on, to say nothing of what goes on in police headquarters, etc., etc….

Clarify “already-restrained”. If you mean a person already subdued, I would think that the use of any instrument would be already defined as excessive.
My questions don’t assume situations where the use of force is clearly improper.

petition signed. thanks for spreading this! ll