I think that somewhere along the line the training syllabus for Taser use got warped.

Originally, Tasers were intended to be used as a substitute for deadly force. Later that became a substitute for physically damaging force: ie whacking someone over the head with a club.

But over the years, people have stopped referring to Tasers as weapons, and started calling them “stun guns” They *are* a weapon, which is why you and I can’t own them legally.

Even more alarming ( and here in Edmonton we have had a large number of fairly clear cases of Taser abuse, so much so that the EPS is planning to put “gun cameras” on every single Taser, ) is that I hear police officers of many police departments refer to Tasers as “tools of compliance.” What this means is that the police are being trained to think of Tasers not as weapons, but as tools to be used to make suspects do what you want.

This, coupled with the belief that Tasers are “harmless” ( and even in the best cases they inflict a great deal of pain, ) has led many police to no longer develop and rely on their judgment and communication skills, but instead to, as it were, stun em all and ask questions later.

Even if a taser were 100% safe and effective, and without discomfort of anykind, I would not want police to use them as a shoot first ask questions later device, because I think it would lead to lazy, sloppy police work, and poorer quality officers over all.

I can’t really imagine Sam Steele tasering people on a regular basis.

Another factor that I find somewhat disturbing is that the initial Taser units to hit the target were fire once devices. They would zap a person and bring him down, but the police then had to jump in. The new models have a fast recharge time, and allow an officer to repeatedly shock a suspect as long as the probes remain attached. While this is a boon for the one or two officer unit that has to deal with a large, drug fueled maniac that is as hard to bring down as a bull elephant, it lends itself to abuse with distressing ease.

Even without it being used as a “punishment device”, we now have cases of suspects being hit with 3 or 4 tasers, and each officer jolting the suspect 3 or 4 times. One Taser hit may be fairly safe, but 12 – 16?

No, we need the police to get back to looking at Tasers as something you only use if the alternative is to shoot someone with a gun instead.