Pittsboro Police to get tasers?

[billwillcox]

  The Town Board is considering purchasing tasers for the Pittsboro Police Department. Town Manager Bill Terry said he needs the Board's permission to purchase the weapons because there has been a lot of national press on the weapons and they are considered controversial. In several instances, individuals have died after being shocked with the devices. What do you think?

[girlfrompbo]

I think getting tazered beats the cr*p out of getting shot.  Providing our law enforcement with non-lethal ways of protecting themselves and us is a good thing.

Doesn't the Sherriff's dept. use tazers already?

[billwillcox]

 Yes, the Sheriff's Dept. already has tasers...A comment by the Mayor in another thread about about large parties at the fairgrounds referred to an incident last weekend...not sure which one...but here is what he posted:

The incident at the fairgrounds was one of the examples of its potential use in large crowd control situations. The county's deputies had tasers available and may have used them in last weekend's incident.

  As I said, I am not aware of the incident that he is talking about.

[Mayor Randolph Voller]

According to the report submitted by Pittsboro Officer Travis Thomas and presented to the Town Board on 7/28/08:

What follows is directly quoted from the account without editing:

Officer Thomas called for back up---"...and that's when a Deputy from Chatham County Sheriff's arrived on scene he took out his tazer and began giving verbal commands to back up and stop fighting along with officer Swain and myself.  Officer Swain and I only had pepper spray and were not getting any response but when the Deputy took out his tazer the crowd began to move back and they responded more to the tazer than to the pepper spray. Just having one tazer available save 4 Officers from having to try and brake up the fights by hand and possibly getting injured ourselves. Plus calmed down a crowd of around 100 people and they left the fair grounds with out anymore incidents..."


I trust this clarifies Mr. Wilcox's query.

[chrstnhsbndfthr]

According to the report submitted by Pittsboro Officer Travis Thomas and presented to the Town Board on 7/28/08:

What follows is directly quoted from the account without editing:

Officer Thomas called for back up---"...and that's when a Deputy from Chatham County Sheriff's arrived on scene he took out his tazer and began giving verbal commands to back up and stop fighting along with officer Swain and myself.  Officer Swain and I only had pepper spray and were not getting any response but when the Deputy took out his tazer the crowd began to move back and they responded more to the tazer than to the pepper spray. Just having one tazer available save 4 Officers from having to try and brake up the fights by hand and possibly getting injured ourselves. Plus calmed down a crowd of around 100 people and they left the fair grounds with out anymore incidents..."


I trust this clarifies Mr. Wilcox's query.

Let me express my appreciation to the Mayor for participating in our forum under his own name and providing information like this. 

It agrees with everything I have heard and experienced about situational control.  Often the tazer allows control and NO ONE is hurt, which is always the goal.

[natvrabit]

I am surprised they were not already equipped with these. I am sure there are incidents that someone is out of control in a crowd or some other circumstance that would make the use of a firearm risky to more than the person that needs to be subdued and a tas(z?)er would be more individual specific I'd think. Most accounts I have read of death resulting from use of these apparatus, is because the person has been under the influence of a rather large dose of drugs and or alcohol and the combo didn't mix OR improper length of time or number of times the unit was used, so training and restraint of use unless absolutely necessary is a must, just like it is with any other control measure instrument LEO have.

[belle]

the sheriff has them. I believe the sheriff could use a bit more training in how to diffuse situations without resorting to tasers. sort of the Andy Taylor approach to guns. if you have one, it is so tempting to try them out.

it is better to use a taser than to use a gun. but it would be better to train these guys to handle situations without weapons.

I saw the sheriffs use a tasor on a guy in a domestic situation involving his girlfriend. I knew the woman well, she manipulated the situation until the guy just tried to explain his side, and she started screaming, and the guy got zapped.

it was the 2nd guy in 4 months she had called the sheriff on. she loves to do it.

it is nice he didn't get shot. but if the sheriffs had separated the two from the get go nothing would have happened like that.

training costs money, but it is worth it.

[billwillcox]

This is from the New York Times, published last year
Tasers are pistol-shaped weapons that fire electrified darts up to 21 feet, shocking suspects with a painful charge. More than 5,500 police departments and prisons now use Tasers, compared with only a handful five years ago.

Many police officers say that Tasers give them a way to restrain dangerous suspects without using firearms or fighting with them. But civil liberties groups say police often use Tasers on people who are merely unruly or disobedient, not dangerous. Recently, police officers in Miami shocked a 6-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl in separate incidents, prompting widespread criticism.

"The evidence suggests that far from being used to avoid lethal force, many police forces are using Tasers as a routine force option," said Curt Goering, senior deputy executive director of Amnesty International. "The way these weapons are being used in some circumstances could constitute torture or ill treatment."

Amnesty has called for police departments to stop using the guns pending an independent inquiry into their safety. The group will release a report next week documenting police abuse of Tasers, Mr. Goering said.

The growing use of Tasers is disconcerting because their risks have not been properly studied, biomedical engineers say. More than 70 people have died since 2001 after being shocked with Tasers, mainly from heart or respiratory failure.

[WolfpackFan]

"Amnesty has called for police departments to stop using the guns pending an independent inquiry into their safety. The group will release a report next week documenting police abuse of Tasers, Mr. Goering said."

Will this group also release a report on the number of lives that have been saved by tasers?

I think the police should get two tasers, and let school teachers borrow the other one.

[girlfrompbo]

trust me, school teachers should NOT have tazers.  Mostly because we would use them.

People get shot by police inappropriately, but I don't hear much call for guns to be taken away from law enforcement.  Tazers are a good tool and if they're being abused or misused the answer is to intervene in those specific places with those specific people, not take them away from everyone.

[WolfpackFan]

trust me, school teachers should NOT have tazers.  Mostly because we would use them.

People get shot by police inappropriately, but I don't hear much call for guns to be taken away from law enforcement.  Tazers are a good tool and if they're being abused or misused the answer is to intervene in those specific places with those specific people, not take them away from everyone.

That's not how things work in this country.  We have to take things away from everyone if one or two people mess it up.  It's the American way.

As for teachers and tasers, I bet after you shock the first couple of kids, the rest would behaive, and you would not have to use it as much.

[mamacash]

"Amnesty has called for police departments to stop using the guns pending an independent inquiry into their safety. The group will release a report next week documenting police abuse of Tasers, Mr. Goering said."

Will this group also release a report on the number of lives that have been saved by tasers?

I think the police should get two tasers, and let school teachers borrow the other one.

I think you are right Wolfie, how many lives have been saved by the use of tasers, how many people would otherwise have been shot to death to stop the perp? How many of the stoned addicts would have been killed? This is a a nation wide use of tasers and 70 people have been killled, if they had an underlying medical problem that might have been triggered by the shock?

[belle]

trust me, school teachers should NOT have tazers.  Mostly because we would use them.

People get shot by police inappropriately, but I don't hear much call for guns to be taken away from law enforcement.  Tazers are a good tool and if they're being abused or misused the answer is to intervene in those specific places with those specific people, not take them away from everyone.

That's not how things work in this country.  We have to take things away from everyone if one or two people mess it up.  It's the American way.

As for teachers and tasers, I bet after you shock the first couple of kids, the rest would behaive, and you would not have to use it as much.

last time I looked, all cops and deputies and a few mall guards still have guns. let's be accurate, here.

they are trained in the rules of engagement. and there are consequences and investigations when they use the guns. all this is good, now.

the same should be applied to the use of tasers. training, and consequences.

[WolfpackFan]

"Amnesty has called for police departments to stop using the guns pending an independent inquiry into their safety. The group will release a report next week documenting police abuse of Tasers, Mr. Goering said."

Will this group also release a report on the number of lives that have been saved by tasers?

I think the police should get two tasers, and let school teachers borrow the other one.

I think you are right Wolfie, how many lives have been saved by the use of tasers, how many people would otherwise have been shot to death to stop the perp? How many of the stoned addicts would have been killed? This is a a nation wide use of tasers and 70 people have been killled, if they had an underlying medical problem that might have been triggered by the shock?

That would be an interesting study.  Why did these 70 people die?  How many more were shocked and lived?  It has to be a balance, and if the 70 is low, then it is a good alternative.  Now, if only 75 people were shocked, we may have a problem.  Maybe an unbiased, full review of the facts will put people at ease.

[belle]

"Amnesty has called for police departments to stop using the guns pending an independent inquiry into their safety. The group will release a report next week documenting police abuse of Tasers, Mr. Goering said."

Will this group also release a report on the number of lives that have been saved by tasers?

I think the police should get two tasers, and let school teachers borrow the other one.

I think you are right Wolfie, how many lives have been saved by the use of tasers, how many people would otherwise have been shot to death to stop the perp? How many of the stoned addicts would have been killed? This is a a nation wide use of tasers and 70 people have been killled, if they had an underlying medical problem that might have been triggered by the shock?

That would be an interesting study.  Why did these 70 people die?  How many more were shocked and lived?  It has to be a balance, and if the 70 is low, then it is a good alternative.  Now, if only 75 people were shocked, we may have a problem.  Maybe an unbiased, full review of the facts will put people at ease.

Most of those who died in custody were unarmed and were not posing a serious threat to police officers, members of the public, or themselves

Those who died were generally subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks

Use of the taser was often accompanied by the use of restraints and/or chemical incapacitant sprays

Many of those who died had underlying health problems, such as heart conditions or mental illness, or were under the influence of drugs
Most of those who died went into cardiac or respiratory arrest at the scene

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=engamr510302006

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