Dont Tase Me Bro! Dont Tase Me!

NEW ORLEANS, LA – A bitter battle is brewing over New Orleans’ public housing projects.

On Thursday the protests turned violent as the city council prepared to vote to tear down the old projects.

As protesters broke through locked gates outside of City Hall, New Orleans police pepper sprayed and tasered the crowd, trying to hold them back as they attempted to get into city council chambers already filled to capacity:

Inside tempers also boiled over as the council prepared to vote to tear down four of the city’s public housing projects and replace them with mixed income housing.

Opponents claim it is a racist move that will continue to leave the city’s poor without homes.

Those in favor of the tear-down, including the city’s mayor and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, say the massive housing projects failed New Orleans well before Katrina and that new housing will give the city a fresh start.

“We cannot go back. Katrina washed it away we have to move forward,” said the Louisiana Finance Housing Agency’s Wayne Woods.

Protesters promise to continue the fight to stop the demolition.

SOURCE:

• WCBD

PHOENIX, AZ – A man trying to set a building on fire was taken to the hospital Friday morning after a fall from the roof.

For hours, police and firefighters tried to get the suspect off a roof near 48th Street and Guadalupe in Phoenix.
Police say the man broke into an apartment, climbed on the roof, and tried to start a fire.

After police negotiations failed, firefighters tried using a water hose to spray him down.

Then police shot him with rubber bullets, then…just watch this amazing video:

Eventually, cops used a taser on him, causing him to fall off the roof and onto a balcony.

Officers say he then jumped two stories to the ground below.

He was taken to the hospital.

Police are working to find out who the man is and why he started the chaos.

SOURCE:

• AZCentral.com

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — A police officer used a stun gun to subdue a woman who yelled at her in a crowded Best Buy electronics store, and prosecutors are reviewing whether to pursue charges against the customer (Editor’s Note: a customer yells at a rent-a-cop, gets tasered, and she’s the one who’s in trouble?).

While Elizabeth Beeland was trying to purchase a CD player at a Best Buy on Nov. 26, she stepped outside to talk on her phone, leaving her credit card. Concerned about the sudden exit, a store clerk suspected Beeland was using a stolen card and called over a police officer.

Officer Claudia Wright wrote in a police report that when she approached, Beeland became “verbally profane, abusive, loud and irate.” She said she warned Beeland to calm down or face arrest.

In a video, Beeland is seen backing away and avoiding Wright, then crumpling to the ground after being hit with the Taser:

Wright was not disciplined, and police Chief Mike Chitwood defended her actions. Beeland was refusing an officer’s orders, and using a Taser avoided use of other weapons, he said.

Police verified Beeland, 35, was using her own credit card, but she was arrested on two misdemeanors, disorderly conduct and resisting a police officer without violence. She has since pleaded not guilty, and state prosecutors are reviewing whether to pursue the case.

Beeland’s attorney William Chanfrau Jr. said he is reviewing the encounter and declined further comment.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported Friday that Daytona Beach police used a Taser 10 times in November, but Beeland was the only person stunned who wasn’t acting violently or fleeing.

Amnesty International and American Civil Liberties Union representatives criticized the use of a Taser on Beeland, saying yelling at an officer is not illegal and other methods could have been used.

SOURCE:

• Associated Press

BRANDON, MANITOBA — The Brandon police department is investigating allegations that some of its officers agreed to Taser people at a party, simply because they were curious about what it would feel like.

Sgt. Rick Semler said an incident happened at a Brandon home sometime in late October where on-duty and off-duty personnel were present, but he didn’t say whether it involved alcohol.

He also wouldn’t say how many people were Tasered, specify how many officers are under review or whether they’ve been suspended pending the outcome.

“It’s alleged that the Taser was used in an unauthorized demonstration at a social gathering,” said Semler.

The force is calling the investigation a “performance management review.”

Usually the force doesn’t discuss internal matters publicly, but Semler said it was making a public statement because Tasers are under scrutiny following the deaths of men who were shocked by police in other Canadian cities.

The Brandon Sun quoted unnamed sources as saying the Taser was brought to the party by an on-duty officer who hadn’t been drinking, and that it was used by an officer on at least one willing, curious civilian with no lasting effects.

There’s no account of how long it was used or on what part of the body. According to one account, the newspaper says, more than one person was Tasered, including off-duty officers.

Kevin Loewen of the Brandon Police Association said he’s aware of the review but didn’t have any details.

Some officers don’t consider the incident a big deal, noting a member of the Brandon media was Tasered as part of an organized demonstration when the force introduced the devices in June 2006.

Semler wouldn’t specify how long the review will take but said any wrongdoing could result in discipline ranging from remedial training to suspension or dismissal.

On Oct. 13, a 38-year-old Quebec man died after he was zapped while in police custody.

The next day, polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after he was repeatedly Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport.

Amnesty International called for a moratorium on use of the devices and the RCMP have just announced they are restricting their use in the wake of a report that officers use them too often.

SOURCE:

• The Globe and Mail

Since 2001, 290 people have died after being shocked with Tasers, according to Amnesty International.

Taser International has been sued 102 times for product liability, with claims of wrongful death or injury, but hasn’t lost a case yet (62 have been dismissed by the courts).

And recently, the U.N. called Tasers a “form of torture.”

But now, just in time for the holidays, is a special Taser (the “C2″) made just for her:

AUSTIN, TX – A man filed suit against the City of Austin in federal court, saying a police officer violated his civil rights when using a Taser on him at a traffic stop.

Video from a dashboard camera shows Cpl. Thomas O’Connor using his Taser on Eugene Snelling in November:

Then Acting Police Chief Cathy Ellison suspended O’Connor for three days for the incident.

Chief Art Acevedo later used the video in training as an example of what officers should not do.

City officials said they received the lawsuit late in the afternoon and want to review it fully before responding to it.

SOURCE:

• KXAN.com

WICHITA, KS – Donnell Williams had just gotten out of the bathtub, wearing only a towel around his waist, when he turned the corner to see guns pointing right at him.

“I ain’t never been so scared,” says Williams.

Police forced entry into Williams home while responding to a shooting, but it turned out to be a false call. They had no idea at the time the call wasn’t real and that Williams is hearing impaired. Without his hearing aid he is basically deaf.

“I kept going to my ear yelling that I was scared. I can’t hear! I can’t hear!”

Officers were worried about their own safety because at the time it appeared Williams was refusing to obey their commands to show his hands. That’s when they shot him with a Taser.

Deputy Chief Robert Lee of the Wichita Police Department says, “This one occurred on the worst of calls, that being a shooting. The first few minutes getting control of the scene are very, very important.”

Once the facts were all sorted out, officers repeatedly apologized to Williams. Police wish it never happened, but with the information they had at the time, their choices were limited.

“Do I wish there would have been some way they were notified in advance this gentleman was hearing impaired? I certainly do. No one is happy with the way it worked out,” says Lee.

Williams was not hurt in the incident. Police say the shooting call came from a cell phone but they still don’t know who made it or why.

The case is being reviewed by the department.

SOURCE:

• KWCH

Looks like “The Andrew Meyer” is finally going to get some residuals from his infamous incident.

That’s right – Verizon has just released his saying as a ringtone!

DOWNLOAD THE “DON’T TASE ME BRO” RINGTONE

This is an amazing display of why cops should be forced to go through “patience training.”

This officer tasers a guy just 46 seconds after approaching him.

Watch the video and you be the judge – did the cop taser him too soon?