Cusac, Anne-Marie,
The Trouble with Tasers. Anne-Marie Cusac. - Progressive, 2005. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Article 69, Institutions, 1522-3256; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Originally Published: The Trouble with Tasers, April 2005; pp. 22-27.
"High-powered tasers are the new fad in law enforcement. They are becoming ever more prevalent even as their safety is increasingly in question. The proliferation of tasers in police departments across the country has led to unconventional uses. Among those hit by tasers are elderly people, children as young as one year old, people apparently suffering diabetic shock and epileptic seizures, people already bound in restraints, and hospital mental patients....Last summer [2004], The New York Times reported that at least fifty people had died within a short time after being hit with a taser. By November [2004], when Amnesty International released its own report, that number had risen to more than seventy." (PROGRESSIVE) This article considers the safety of tasers and presents both the supporting and opposing viewpoints of the device. Proponents of tasers argue that they reduce fatalities and injuries, whereas opponents contend that they may in fact be responsible for "the deaths associated with the device."
1522-3256;
Amnesty International
United States Dept. of Justice
Nonlethal weapons
Police brutality
Police weapons
Stun guns
AC1.S5
050
The Trouble with Tasers. Anne-Marie Cusac. - Progressive, 2005. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Article 69, Institutions, 1522-3256; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2006. Originally Published: The Trouble with Tasers, April 2005; pp. 22-27.
"High-powered tasers are the new fad in law enforcement. They are becoming ever more prevalent even as their safety is increasingly in question. The proliferation of tasers in police departments across the country has led to unconventional uses. Among those hit by tasers are elderly people, children as young as one year old, people apparently suffering diabetic shock and epileptic seizures, people already bound in restraints, and hospital mental patients....Last summer [2004], The New York Times reported that at least fifty people had died within a short time after being hit with a taser. By November [2004], when Amnesty International released its own report, that number had risen to more than seventy." (PROGRESSIVE) This article considers the safety of tasers and presents both the supporting and opposing viewpoints of the device. Proponents of tasers argue that they reduce fatalities and injuries, whereas opponents contend that they may in fact be responsible for "the deaths associated with the device."
1522-3256;
Amnesty International
United States Dept. of Justice
Nonlethal weapons
Police brutality
Police weapons
Stun guns
AC1.S5
050