Dont Tase Me Bro! Dont Tase Me!

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

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? 

Taser electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill, a UN committee has declared after several recent deaths in North America.

“The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture,” the UN’s Committee against Torture said.

“In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events,” the committee of 10 experts said.

Three men, all in their early 20s, were reported to have died in the United States this week, days after a Polish man died at the Vancouver, B.C. airport after being Tasered by Canadian police.

The man, Robert Dziekanski, 40, fell to the ground and died after the police officers piled on top of him.

There have been three deaths in Canada after the use of Tasers over the past five weeks.

The company that makes the weapons has said that similar deaths have been shown by “medical science and forensic analysis” to be “attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser”.

The UN committee made its comments in recommendations to Portugal, which has bought the newest Taser X26 stun gun for use by police.

Portugal “should consider giving up the use of the Taser X26,” as its use can have a grave physical and mental impact on those targeted, which violates the UN’s Convention against Torture, the experts said.

SOURCE:

• News.com.au

CHILLIWACK, BC – A B.C. man was fighting for his life in hospital Tuesday after a police confrontation involving the use of a Taser the day before.

RCMP in Chilliwack, B.C., say they used pepper spray, batons, and an electric stun gun known as a Taser to subdue a man who appeared to be acting aggressively at a rental store.

Witnesses told CTV British Columbia that the man had been driving erratically before entering the business. They add that he became extremely agitated when he learned that police had been called.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Peter German said that when police arrived on the scene, “They encountered a very aggressive individual and the members, as we are informed at this point and time, were engaged in a very difficult struggle to control this person who was combative and aggressive.”

When none of the police tactics worked, the two Mounties who initially responded had to call for back-up.

The 36-year-old man was taken to a local hospital after police subdued him. He was initially conscious and talking, but his condition worsened overnight.

The man is listed in extremely critical condition with cuts to his head.

The RCMP noted, however, it is not clear what led to the man’s current medical condition.

The Mounties have been in the middle of a public firestorm since mid-October when a Polish immigrant died after a Taser incident with police.

A video recording of the incident released last week showed that RCMP officers used a Taser on Robert Dziekanski within 30 seconds of confronting him at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14.

Although there is no evidence to suggest that either Dziekanski’s injuries or those of the man in Chilliwack were the direct result of Taser use, the Mounties noted Tuesday that they will reconsider the use of electric stun guns if research warrants.

“Should we ever be provided with any credible research or evidence that it shouldn’t be used, we would certainly be in favour of a moratorium for its use,” said Gary Bass, the RCMP Deputy Commissioner for the Pacific Region.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced on Tuesday that he will appoint Paul Kennedy — the head of the Public Complaints Against the RCMP — to review the use of Tasers by the Mounties.

SOURCE:

• CTV.ca

VANCOUVER, BC – Below is an eyewitness’ video recording of Robert Dziekanski dying after being stunned with a Taser by RCMP Police on Oct. 14 at Vancouver International Airport.

Dziekanski arrived at Vancouver International Airport as a would-be immigrant about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 — a Saturday. Between the primary customs post and the secondary checkpoint, he went missing.

He apparently sat forlornly near the baggage carousel not understanding what he should do or where he should go until about 10:30 when he finally found his way to the second customs post.

After this second interview with border officers he was cleared to enter Canada, but remained in the secure arrivals area until about 1:15 a.m. when he became agitated.