Police Taser Man Suffering Diabetic Seizure, Charge Him with DUI, criminal charges remain

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.naturalnews.com/023323.html

Police Taser Man Suffering Diabetic Seizure, Charge Him with DUI

NaturalNews) Police in Ozark, Alabama, Tasered and arrested an unconscious, sober man who was having a diabetic seizure on November 6, then charged him with drunk driving and resisting arrest.

James Bludsworth, 54, was pulling a trailer in his black Nissan truck when he began to have a diabetic seizure. Bludsworth promptly pulled over to the side of the road, where he passed out.

After receiving a call about the truck and trailer parked on the side of the road, three police cruisers responded to the scene. When Bludsworth failed to respond to their commands, the officers fired Tasers at his unconscious body three times.

A Taser is a type of electroshock weapon that fires small metal darts attached to the gun by wires, then administers an electric shock that disrupts nerve and muscle function and induces severe pain.

Bludsworth was then taken to the Dale County Jail and charged with resisting arrest, drunk driving and a towing infraction. He was not given medical attention.

After posting $1,000 bail and scoring 0.00 blood alcohol on a breathalyzer test, Bludsworth was released. The towing infraction was dropped, but the criminal charges against him remain.

[Selatius]

1. The charges should be thrown out because of the 0.00 breathalyzer test.

I don't see how letting the charges stand is not a case of wrongful prosecution.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. They will be.

The district attorney will drop the case. He will hire an attorney and the city of Ozark will give him enough money to pay off his house. That will be the end of it. Hopefully he will start taking his seizure medicine because if he doesn't he'll kill himself or someone else while driving.


David

[easttexaslefty]

53. He's diabetic

You can have a drop of blood sugar and have a seizure even if you are taking insulin.......

[truebrit71]

2. So SOP is to taser an unconcious person? Wow...

...these officers should have been placed on "administrative leave" and the charges should have been dropped pretty quickly I think..

If this ever sees the inside of a courtroom the follow-up lawsuit after the quickest acquittal in history could be huge...

I love this quote "saying that the unconscious man was "combative." :wtf:

If you're unconcious how the hell can you be "combative"...???


Oh, and FUCK the police...

[Uncle Joe]

13. They had psychological experiments allowing people to believe they were shocking other people,

they weren't really shocking them, but they were made to believe it was happening, eventually they increased the voltage so much, had it been for real, they would've been killing those people.

I believe Tasers are like that, it becomes so convenient to shock someone, it's brings unnecessary sadism out of the police. They become increasingly prone to use them when there is no logical call for it.

[tblue37]

54. Google "Milgram Experiment."

My English 101 students write their final exam on the Milgram Experiments and the Stanford Prison Experiment. (Google that one, too.)

[bean fidhleir]

70. Two of the most important experiments in the history of psychology

or, hell, for that matter the history of *science*.

[tblue37]

76. And an important part of the proper education of a free citizenry.

We used to learn these experiments in school. Now they usually don't. But I use them as the basis for my English 101 final exam in some semesters.

[Echo In Light]

33. The American Way

[givemebackmycountry]

3. Wait a minute...

After receiving a call about the truck and trailer parked on the side of the road, three police cruisers responded to the scene. When Bludsworth failed to respond to their commands, the officers fired Tasers at his unconscious body three times.


They tasered a dude who was unconscious and not responding?

These guys are still on the job?

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Note: 3 cruisers respond to report of truck on the side of the road???

[Warpy]

6. First, fire those cops

There was no need for a taser on a man who was unconscious and in no way capable of offering resistance, no matter what the other circumstances were. They could easily have killed him. Assholes like that need to be off the force NOW.

Second, the charges will not stand. Since he had a negative serum alcohol, there is no way to charge him with inebriation.

He needs to sue those bastards. Finding someone unconscious in a vehicle means you call an ambulance, not hit him with an electroshock.

They didn't learn how to do their damn jobs. They need to go.

[Jax]

8. Warpy nails it

as usual.

Spot on..."They didn't learn how to do their damn jobs. They need to go."


The blame the victim bullshit up thread is bullshit.

Alyce

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

10. Where are those posts?

The blame the victim bullshit up thread is bullshit.

I must have missed them.

David

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

31. Jax actually accused me of being a freeper because of this response.

Incredible.


David

[Sequoia]

59. Well.....are ya!?

Just kidding. JAX is jumping to conclusions I guess...now that's incredible!

[malaise]

18. Bingo

I'm betting no DUI here but probably DWB. I remember when cops would help a person in that condition.

[Mad_Dem_X]

32. Exactly!

The cops need to be fired, pronto.

[Selatius]

7. I hate to ask such a loaded question, but is James Bludsworth a black person?

I know what some of you will say about that not being the PC thing to ask, but whatever. I live next door in Mississippi, and frankly, some people around here haven't really moved that far beyond the old days, and that applies to both civilians and law enforcement personnel. Some parts of Mississippi have not really changed.

[TheDebbieDee]

15. I wondered the same thing myself...........

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. Horrible reporting here's a link to a NEWS story.

Charges of driving under the influence and resisting arrest have been dropped against an Ozark man who is believed to have gone into a diabetic coma or seizure at the time of his arrest on Tuesday.

An Ozark police officer observed 54-year-old James Bludsworth slumped over the steering wheel of the vehicle he was driving at the intersection of Highway 231 and Marley Mill Road around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Ozark Deputy Police Chief Myron Williams said Bludsworth became violent when the officer asked him to get out of the car.

At least three other units were called to the scene and a Taser was used on Bludsworth to get him to comply, Williams said.

Williams said officers noted something was wrong with Bludsworth by the time he was booked into the Dale County Jail. Williams said Bludsworth was treated, and the charges were dropped.



http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/-DEA_2007_11_07_0025/14388/

It really does a disservice to people to report inaccurate information. It took all of 5 minutes to find out the truth. Before anyone gets in a stir, I'm making no comment on whether or not the taser use was justified.

David

[TexasObserver]

11. the taser use was inappropriate

The police have a duty to protect and serve, not to tase anyone who doesn't respond appropriately to their verbal instructions. As this incident demonstrates, not every unresponsive person is willfully resisting them. They must learn to return to the pre George Bush world, when police were expected NOT to abuse prisoners as a matter of policy.

And I don't know why you think your source overrides or negates the OP. It doesn't. It merely fits your biases better.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. He wasn't unconcious.

I never said it was appropriate. I routinely deal with combative patients, mostly hypoglycemic more rarely seizure patients. I seem to be quite successful in dealing with them without the use of a taser. Having said that, I wasn't there and haven't seen the tape so I will refrain from judging anyone as it is not wise to do so without all the facts. If you think natural news is an independent journalistic source you need to go to the link and look. This case did occur in NOVEMBER of 2007. If natural news wanted to be unbiased they could have released all of the information, since they didn't I feel the horrible reporting title fits, whether willful or lazy it's horrible reporting either way.

David

[madrchsod]

23. my wife deals with mentally ill and autistic adults

with out the use of tazers. she either deals with them alone or with another worker.it`s very dangerous at times but she`s trained to disable or redirect the "client" to avoid an escalating situation.

the police should have the same training my wife had...three trained cops should be enough to subdue one person

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

26. I completely agree and even said so in the post to which you responded.

You wrote, "Three trained cops should be enough to subdue one person"

I agree. Having said that 3 firemen, a paramedic, an EMS supervisor and and EMT should have been enough to restrain a 17 year old with hypoglycemia, but we couldn't. So based on my experience and lack of a complete set of facts, I choose to withhold my judgement about the cops in this case. Intuitively I would say that the use of the taser was likely inappropriate, without the facts though I won't make a conclusive statement. Generally speaking, tasers are overused and misused, I will make that conclusive statement. Good thoughts to your wife, I have very good friend that I grew up with who is moderately retarded my brother and I used to beat up the kids that picked on him, he's 38 now and lives in a group home. I brought him to the fire station one day and took him for a ride on the engine and let him blow the horn and the siren. The look of joy on his face still almost makes me cry. I have a niece that's just turned 20 who is severely retarded. They are both easy to deal with though. Some of the autistic adult I have had to deal with though could really be a handful if they got wound up. If I can ever retire from the fire department I want to become an occupational therapist for kids. Helping handicapped people is really where my heart is, that's my dream job anyway.

David

[rocktivity]

62. So the cops say

No dash camera, I suppose.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

68. That's what the newspaper said.

I don't know. This story is from November of 2007, feel free to search for dash camera footage. This case was dismissed within days and the officers were cleared. I don't know how much information you will find in light of those facts.


David

[Th1onein]

77. Ah! My old pro-taser friend, Fire Medic Dave!

Come on, Davie Boy! You KNOW you just love them tasers!

Folks, in case you don't know: Fire Medic Dave ALWAYS errs on the side of using tasers.

[Art_from_Ark]

79. Just like "liberalnurse"

and her (?) not-so-liberal view of tasers

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

83. I'll be happy to look at your examples.

If you have any opinions of your own, I'll be happy to discuss them with you.

David

[Th1onein]

84. I'm not taking my time to defend you, Fire Medic.

The posts are in the archives. Go dig them up yourself, and bury yourself.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

85. That's what I thought, you can't back it up.

I'm sure the name calling and libel is working just fine, who needs facts huh.

David

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

82. Th1onein, my pro animal abuse friend, again with the libel.

My opinion on tasers is clearly stated down thread. To say I'm pro-taser is a lie, but if those are the tactics you must resort to then so be it.

David

[rock]

25. "and once you arrest someone they can’t be unarrested"

A quote from the article by a police officer who has never heard of dropping a case.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

27. Bad choice of words huh.

I think he was trying to say once someone's in custody they can't just be released especially once they discovered it was a medical condition, who knows though it is Alabama. Sounds like Ozark needs a Public Information Officer to deal with the press.

David

[rock]

30. Well, that makes sense

I notice that the news agencies have a hard time with anything technical. Thanks.

[Hart2008]

49. He means he knows the police are getting sued now, so they are all in cover up mode. n/t

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

69. None of the articles mentioned a lawsuit.

I guess the guy has another six months to file. We'll see I guess.

David

[uppityperson]

46. Is the NEWS story in the OP not a NEWS story?

I understand checking for another story, but wondering if the NEWS story in OP is not truly a NEWS story. Sometimes NEWS stories differ in the facts they present.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

48. You can call it a news story, they do.

I'm not saying it's not a news story just that it's horrible journalism if it is. The case happened in November of 2007. The case was resolved within days. The officers were cleared, the man who was tased is fine, he wasn't unconcious when he was tased, he was combative. A journalist would have included those facts in the story. Whether laziness, ineptness or malfeasance caused the facts to be left out is immaterial to that fact that it's a great example of horrible journalism. We can't keep calling out faux news when they do it and then do it ourselves. Before you think I am justifying what happened please read the rest of my posts on this thread. Hope this clears up my point.

David

[uppityperson]

50. It is always good to get a second source. I check for more if stories differ

as much as they have here. And I call one accurate, once corroborated by others.

am on hold with irs, and been with cell phone service so am a bit grouchy, having to argue with irs person that no, I can't give client's names due to HIPPA and being a health care provider, without a written permission slip or court order. Back on hold. sigh

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

52. Good luck with that.

[uppityperson]

56. Thanks. Guess where I am now. On hold! Still!

at least it is the repeating classical music rather than the chipper verizonwireless person telling me that they'll fix my problem the first time I call!that my problem is their problem!and then the finally sympathetic customer service person comes on all apologetic that the phone I returned 3 months ago still isn't credited and our phones "shouldn't have been shut off".


woohoo a person, briefly, now back on hold. aieeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kdpeters]

80. Accurate information? You quote a deputy police chief's damage control and call that accurrate?

You're not even the least bit skeptical swallowing whatever he says whole without even bothering to think it through to see if it makes sense to you. The police say he "became violent" when the first officer asked him to get out of the car. First off, why so vague and why so subjective on the details of the man's actions? You can bet that there is a police report written chock full of observational details in the sequence of events. That's what cops do. All you have to do open up the blotter section of your neighborhood newspaper to read details and the objective voice I'm talking about and know why this sounds fishy.

I want to know what the officer's report says. It's simply not believable that this man, in a diabetic coma, was charging the officers, kicking at them, swinging at them, or throwing things. He hasn't been accused of brandishing a weapon, so just what in the hell could he have done that justifies what happened? Why was the police chief not forthcoming with the details that were in the officer's report? I suspect that what was written in the report is either exaggerated or false, but not unbelievable for an intoxicated suspect that are indeed now highly dubious after-the-fact knowing that a diabetic seizure explains the mans strange behavior. The public has a right to know so we can take part in making judgments on what constitutes a justifiable use of force. Without that, how can you tell me that what you've posted here is "accurate" information? It's not even complete.

You do a disservice when you choose to believe that you are told all you need to know and that all you need to know is whatever you are told. Approach your government with skepticism not trust. Think. Ask.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

81. I qouted nothing, I referenced a newspaper article.

The article quoted the deputy chief. How many hypoglycemic patients have you dealt with? I have treated between 500 and 1000. My comment wasn't about whether this was right or wrong but about a horrible job of reporting by natural news. They might as well be faux news. The information that I posted from the newspaper at least included all of the information. Since natural news' article was published 6 months after the fact how hard would it have been for them to publish all of the facts in the case. Like the fact the charges had been dropped, like the police officers account (whether you choose to believe it or not). I'm not the one blindly following here, you are. I questioned the original story and in 5 minutes came up with more information to base my opinion on. My opinion is pretty clearly stated in the other dozens threads to which I have responded here. I'll be happy to expound further if you are in need.

DAvid

[eShirl]

12. I've never heard of a "diabetic seizure"

and I've been married to a diabetic for 10 years

edit: I'm sure they mean severe hypoglycemia... but I don't know why anyone would call that a seizure

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. Some hypoglycemic patients have dystonic muscle reactions.

To the lay person they can seem like seizures. We used to run a guy about once a week that had them. We would start a line and give him an amp of D50 and he would be fine. Seizures can also be triggered by hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemic patients used to die on a regular basis while under arrest. Anyone who has seen a severe hypoglycemic episode can vouch for how much they can resemble intoxication? Before the cops were trained they would throw them in the drunk tank to sleep it off and in the morning they would be dead, this is in no way a justification of what the cops did in this case, for the record.

David

[blondeatlast]

37. That's what happens to me; usually only insulin-dependents suffer these symptoms, though.

The tasering is NEVER justified before calling for medical help but I'll give you this much--when I'm severly hypoglycemic I've been known to beat up my very strong husband until I get help.

I think it's strictly limited to insulin-dependents though--is that your experience?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

44. It's very rare to see severe hypoglycemia in non-insulin dependent patients.

If you see it in patients not taking insulin it is usually caused by an underlying condition. The tasing doesn't appear to be justified. I'm just not willing to condemn the cops without all the facts, based on my experience with hypoglycemic patients. The dystonic reactions in hypoglycemia are pretty rare also. I've probably treated between 500-1000 patients with hypoglycemia, I may not have seen it all, when it comes to hypoglycemia, but I have seen most of it.

David

[REP]

61. Not true; I have anecdotal evidence of T2s having severe hypoglycemia

Me. I'm not overmedicated, but I'm in non-diabetic early kidney failure (FSGS) so I'm down in the 30s more often than anyone likes. The older class of diabetic med I can take probably has something to do with it too; maybe those on Metformin are more stable.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

67. I would classify the kidney failure as an underlying condition.

I think the point is that it is the most common for insulin dependent diabetics to take to much insulin and not eat enough. Hypoglycemia naturally results. That has been the case in 99% of the between 500-1000 calls for hypoglycemia that I have responded to.


David

[blondeatlast]

73. Thanks for that. It's just that I've heard T2s say they've never experienced it

and I've wondered about that. I've never met a T1 that HASN'T experiwnced it though.

BTW, how are you doing? Take care, :hug:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

19. Probably should have added this.

dys·to·ni·a (ds-tn-)
n.
Abnormal tonicity of muscle, characterized by prolonged, repetitive muscle contractions that may cause twisting or jerking movements of the body or a body part.

That may help.

David

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. I have... and I have the scars to prove it

if your sugar levels drop enough, as in dangerous level territory, one symptom are seizures as the brain is starving for ... sugar

And yes a patient in this condition did BITE hard on me when we tried to help him down... thankfully I was wearing bunker gear.

Or I would have lost a chunk of muscle

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

28. The guy that had those dystonic reactions would kick the hell out of you,

if you weren't paying attention, he couldn't help it though. I was always real careful not to let his foot get between my legs when I was starting an IV.

David

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Exactly,

I just waned to keep it in layman's terms

Patient survived... but we had to give him two bolus of D50 and MedControl order a muscle relaxant too

It was scary for everybody involved

[blondeatlast]

39. When I was age 7, I pretty much beat the crap out of my dad waiting for medics.

I had no idea he was my dad.

I'm NOT defending the cops at all, but as you say, unl;ess you've experienced it firsthand, you can't possibly imagine what it's like.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

41. When you see it firsthand, you can almost understand how people thought they were posessed.

We had another old lady we used to run. She bit at least to Paramedics that I know of and would cuss us like a sailor. We would give her an amp of D50 and in about 10 seconds she would ask if she hurt any of us and tell us she has been praying for us and how much she appreciated us, when her blood sugar was normal you couldn't have gotten her to cuss for $10,000 dollars. Sorry about your experience with your dad that's tough at 7.

David

[FloridaJudy]

51. Yup.

I had a colleague who used to go absolutely bonkers when her blood sugar dropped. Skinny little thing, but it would take two people to restrain her. She'd start ripping her clothes off, and making these eerie whooping noises until we could get some glucose into her. I had another colleague, who would occasionally "take a nap" when she went hypoglycemic. Had we not been aware of her true condition, there's a chance she might not have awakened.

Really scary disease. Which reminds me: time to stick my finger again...

[blondeatlast]

38. Is he on insulin? I think this only happens with insulin-dependents but

I may be wrong.

It's happened to me, mostly as a very young child; I've taken insulin since age 7.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

42. I've never seen it in someone who doesn't take insulin.

That of course doesn't mean it can't happen but, if it does it's rare and probably the result of a more serious condition (thyroid, pancreatitis, etc.). Sounds like you have it under control now.

David

[my2sense]

16. WTH

What the hell. It seems tasering folks is the first option these days. We are living in a police state.

[Voltaire99]

20. Tasers = portable torture devices.

These insidious devices amount to a movable Abu Ghraib in every city in America.

Time for a wholesale ban.

[Journeyman]

22. Take THAT You Diabolic* Felon! . . .

*Strike that. Ozark Police would like to apologize for confusing DIABETIC with DIABOLIC.



http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/2007/11/take-that-you-diabolic-felon.html

[Brigid]

24. *sniff sniff*

Is that a lawsuit I smell?

Tasering an unconscious person. Yeah, that makes sense. :eyes:

[slampoet]

34. One COP needs to be charged with perjury.

He has signed off saying that he smelled alcohol.

He lied and it is OBVIOUS he will try to frame anyone he can.


Also each of these officers needs to be charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.




When people say that cops deserve what they get sometimes they are referring to cases like this.

[WritersBlock]

40. Not necessarily perjury.

It's possible he thought he did smell it.


"Further, the acetone on the breath from ketoacidosis will result in an odor of alcohol."

http://alabamaduiblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/dui-field-tests-and-diabetics.html

[slampoet]

43. Acetone smells nothing like alcohol.

Sniff nail polish remover and tell me if you'd drink a shot by mistake.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

47. I agree it's not perjury.

For starters he wasn't under oath. You could fire him for lying on a report, if you could prove he lied, which you couldn't. All of the officers in this case were cleared of any wrong doing. Ketoacidosis and hypoglycemia aren't the same condition though. Ketoacidosis is actually caused from hyperglycemia which results from insulin deficiency. Hypoglycemia is usually caused by taking too much insulin and not eating enough food. If he was hypoglycemic then he shouldn't have had the fruity or acetone like breath smell often associated with ketoacidosis. Just so we are all on the same sheet of music.

David

[IDemo]

57. Actually that's wrong

Ketoacidosis doesn't occur because of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), but hyperglycemia, generally a blood glucose level of 250 mg/dl or higher. You won't be "blowing ketones" in a state of hypoglycemia.

[slampoet]

35. Here is the police recruitment web page for Ozark AL.

Notice it is a blank HTML page with no contact info.


http://www.ozarkalabama.us/ozark/CityGovernment/CityDepartments/PoliceDepartment/PoliceRecruitment/tabid/87/Default.aspx

[BlooInBloo]

36. Fucking cops.

[uppityperson]

45. Happened to a guy in our rural area also.

This sort of stuff really pisses me off.
"Ozark Deputy Police Chief Myron Williams defended the officers' response to the situation, saying that the unconscious man was "combative."

"The officers were looking for a medical alert bracelet that would signify some medical condition, and he didn't have one," Williams said. "The officer asked how much had he been drinking and he said 'a whole lot.' The officer also asked him did he need an ambulance and he said 'no.'"

One of the responding officers now says that he smelled alcohol on Bludsworth's breath at the time."

[IDemo]

55. I can relate to diabetic 'seizures' as a Type 1 for 45 years

The body will release a large amount of epinephrine (adrenaline) during a bad hypoglycemia episode, and this can cause some pretty wild behavior. I've punched a hole in the kitchen wall of one rental house and put a dent in the refrigerator door of another (I'm a great tenant!). Human speech actually sounded to me almost like a duck quacking during one episode. It's not unusual for police and/or paramedics to have to use force to restrain a patient under such conditions.

But this was not one of those times. If a person is unconscious for any reason; drugs, alcohol, or insulin-induced hypoglycemia, there is no excuse for using a Taser or any other kind of excess force.

[TrogL]

58. The CBC is currently running an investigation on taser use

Police routinely use their tasers several times in a row in direct contradiction to the manufacturers' recommendations.

[rocktivity]

60. ...(The)...Police Chief (says)...the unconscious man was "combative."

Under slightly different circumstances, we'd be laughing our heads off about this.



:eyes:
rocknation

[TheWatcher]

64. Then the lying Police Chief should be thrown out onto the street with the goons that tasered the

guy and seek an occupation more suited to his abilities.

Preferably something that doesn't involve any decisions he makes affecting any member of the General Public.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

71. He wasn't there. He was just reporting what his officers told him.

Why should he be strung up? The scenario the deputy police chief describes is completely plausible to anyone who has experience with hypoglycemic patients. Again I'm not saying the use of a taser was warranted, but the story doesn't come off as a implausible to me.

David

[TheWatcher]

63. What is wrong with this country? What planet am I on and where is the fucking outrage over this?

This guy didn't commit a crime. He was suffering from a medical condition. he did nothing wrong and these morons assaulted him for absolutely no reason at all.

These officers should be JAILED for what they did or at the very least lose their jobs, and this guy should sue the city AND the Police Department back to the STONE AGE.

These cops have no business being cops. The guy was fucking UNCONSCIOUS. There was NO REASON to Taser him.

My God, have they just conditioned us all to accept this as normal behavior and a normal response?

The criminal charges against him are still standing even though there is CLEARLY NO EVIDENCE OF ANY WRONGDOING. There's PROOF the charges are false.

I am stunned at what this country is becoming.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

72. Did you read both stories?

You probably should before responding further.

http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/-DEA_2007_11_07_0025/14388

David

[TheWatcher]

74. I did.

And the cops still acted inappropriately.

Taze first ask questions later.

We shall agree to disagree.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

75. I didn't say the cops were right.

Apparently they woke him up and tried to ask him questions. In my experience hypoglycemic patients react poorly often violently to being roused. That may have happened here, it may not have. Without more evidence though I am unwilling to condemn the cops. I believe that the use of a taser should be investigated like as if a gun were used. Desk job for 2 weeks while IAB and here a Civilian Review Board go over the facts. That simple step would limit the use of tasers to situations where they are truly warranted. I believe tasers are overused and misused. I have also struggled to restrain hypoglycemic patients who were extremely violent. On this issue I have seen both sides. So I don't know what we disagree about since I haven't put forth a conclusive opinion on this case.


David

[anitar1]

65. Hey, these Southern pea brains were just practicing

shootin' their tasers. Bet they genuflect before the Chimps pic when they come on shift.

[rocktivity]

66. Who remembers this oldie but goodie?

"(Texas)...(p)olice are investigating the firey death of a man who burst into flames after dousing himself in petrol and then being shot with a taser gun..."

:crazy:
rocknation

[Rex]

78. Wow what a stupid fucking officer, I hope he loses his badge.

Not a rotten cop, one almost as bad - a stupid judgment cop. Yikes.