What's wrong with pepper spray? Isn't it a much better alternative to the taser?
Not in the slightest. Tasing someone is a lot safer than pepper spraying them, for everyone involved. Here's basically the short list of why:
1.) Pepper spray is more likely to kill someone: Life-threatening respiratory problems that can be triggered by pepper spray are far more common than the heart conditions that can be set off by tasers. (Tasers are actually pretty much the safest "less-lethal" device available right now) 2.) Pepper spray is far more likely to cause problems for the officer and bystanders 3.) Pepper spray is far less reliable.
Also, tasers are not an alternative to guns, they're an alternative to pepper spray, night sticks, and other "less-lethal" devices. Night sticks are specifically designed, being hollow, not to cause permanent brain trauma. But they often do, which is why they've fallen out of favor.
The fact that even tasers can kill people in rare instances has started the trend of abandoning the term "non-lethal," going to the more accurate "less-lethal." The idea is to try to cut down on complacent overuse of "non-lethal" devices.
Harley Quinn hyenaholic Knight of the Bleach
Join date : 2009-06-12 Age : 39 Location : Taking that picture...
The problem lies in the fact that the people being handed 'non-lethal' weapons that are supposed to be used only in the event of somebody being a danger to them or the public, are given next to no training with them.
Apart from being told how to turn them on and which end to hold them by, they aren't told how and when to use them; all they have is their own judgement, which can in cases like this, be somewhere in the region of moronic.
Penguin NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-07-18 Location : Wild Gray Yonder
The problem lies in the fact that the people being handed 'non-lethal' weapons that are supposed to be used only in the event of somebody being a danger to them or the public, are given next to no training with them.
Apart from being told how to turn them on and which end to hold them by, they aren't told how and when to use them; all they have is their own judgement, which can in cases like this, be somewhere in the region of moronic.
I really need to learn to stop clicking the "Display this post" link.
No. You're completely fucking wrong again. Even though I'm pretty much the last person around here to suggest that law enforcement officers get adequate training, initial taser training is actually pretty thorough. You usually have to be tased before you are qualified to carry a taser.
No. You're completely fucking wrong again. Even though I'm pretty much the last person around here to suggest that law enforcement officers get adequate training, initial taser training is actually pretty thorough. You usually have to be tased before you are qualified to carry a taser.
(This is also common practice with pepper spray).
That's how it is for law enforcement around here. Hell, campus security (all students) at my university had to get sprayed, too, so they'd know how it felt.
Training definitely needs to be better all around, but it bears repeating that these morons we keep hearing about are a minority--less-lethal devices are used every day across the US within the local regulations and use policies and without fuckups that attract media attention and/or end up on this board.
Training definitely needs to be better all around, but it bears repeating that these morons we keep hearing about are a minority--less-lethal devices are used every day across the US within the local regulations and use policies and without fuckups that attract media attention and/or end up on this board.
Not sure if I said this here or on another board, but "Officer Recognized for Bravery" barely gets a blurb in the local paper; "Officer Kicks the Shit Out of Handcuffed Dude" is national news. Keep this in mind when considering police brutality (which, in the interest of nuance, is present, terrible, and still much too common).
I love how people are going "It's because she's black!!" NO! It happened because the cops are assholes.
No one here is saying that, what are you smoking?
No one on here is saying it. Doesn't mean I haven't heard others say it/it wasn't said by someone in the article.
Quote :
The details of the altercation between Wells and the officers have been fodder discussions in the two towns, which are only 10 miles apart. Some have speculated there was a racial component to the altercation between Wells and the policemen; Wells is black and the officers are white.
Stewart County Sheriff Larry Jones, who came to the house seconds after the last electric shock was administered, suspects the outcome would have been different if the woman had been white and the officers black.
“I don’t think they would have done a white female like that,” said Jones, who is black. “If they had, it wouldn’t have been any doubt about whether they need to be terminated.”
Penguin NO NOT THE BEEEEES
Join date : 2009-07-18 Location : Wild Gray Yonder
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