Tasers saving lives
The Dom Post reports:
The Taser is saving lives, and many criminals are simply surrendering at the sight of it, police say.
Nine people were shot with a Taser in its first year of use and some incidents were so violent, the offender could have been shot with a firearm, if the stun gun had not been available. …
Police incident reports issued to The Dominion Post reveal the extreme violence faced by police during the Taser incidents last year.
One man had just allegedly killed a man and was raging at neighbours with an axe. Another had stabbed himself with a samurai sword and was brandishing it at officers, a third attacked officers with a wheel brace and screwdriver, and another had stabbed a taxi driver in the head and fled in his stolen taxi.
In the Johnsonville case, a mentally ill man was tasered as he lunged at police with a hunting knife after a two-hour standoff.
Wellington area commander Inspector Pete Cowan said: “Potentially it was a case where a person could have been shot. It was a very, very good example of where … the Taser saved the offender’s life and potentially other members of the public and police.”
If the opponents of the taser had their way, then there would probably be some additional corpses. Offenders who are brandishing axes and swords would probably have been shot in the past.
But the opponents have done some good:
Police Association president Greg O’Connor said: “Perversely, the misinformation given out by the anti-Taser group has probably worked in the police and the public’s favour. People think the consequences of the Taser are worse than in reality they’re likely to be.”
Bring on the national roll-out.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:37 am
“Bring on the national roll-out.”
And the short barrelled tactical shotgun as a backup.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Facebook has the group: Join this if you want the police to yell “PIKACHUUUUUU!!” before tasing.
Absolutely awesome idea; then they can roll up the crim and put him in a ball…
edit: removed fb link ’cause I can’t link-whore properly
February 8th, 2010 at 9:53 am
While tasers are a much better option to deal with a lot of these situations, the public needs to be wary of the potential for abuse. Pepper spray was also sparingly used at first, but every now and then stories and evidence comes out of it being used on people already handcuffed and restrained.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:04 am
I’m concerned for John Minto, could we save his life and give him a bit of tazering too?
There you go http://www.facebook.com/pages/If-you-want-the-police-to-yell-PIKACHUUUUUU-before-tasing/287075964042?ref=search&sid=689146835.327109566..1
February 8th, 2010 at 10:19 am
In the Dompost today was an adult (18yrs) who punched a police woman in the face and got community service.
Its all well saying roll out the Tasers but if we don’t deal harshly to violence before the samurai swords are got out it is a waste of time as we aren’t dealing to the underlying attitudes that build up to serious violence.
Nice TV ads are only the start, short jail (3-6 months) with some of it commuted for 2-3 yrs and then enforced has to follow.
But we aren’t building the prisons to house the offenders now let alone in 3-5 years time.
But add to that, we convict kiddie porn people with no jail time and then permanently suppress their names so they don’t have to deal with the community for their actions so how can we expect to ever deal to other crime properly?
It is this double mindedness that makes a mockery of the Justice system and feeds the attitude that I can behave as I want.
Why should there be respect for the law when we have a judiciary and parliament that brings it and the system into disrepute. Nullifying the efforts of the people working at the coalface.
Don’t let me get on to what doesn’t parliament and John Key’s National not understand about 80%.
Do you see an underlying sabotage of right thinking and common standards/sense that underpins the whole edifice?
February 8th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Damn, looking at this list of idiots that got zapped I’m seeing a downside to tasers – all these oxygen-wasters really needed to get a bullet in the head.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Kieran
“the public needs to be wary of the potential for abuse. Pepper spray was also sparingly used at first, but every now and then stories and evidence comes out of it being used on people already handcuffed and restrained.”
The public needs to get right behind the Police, if some low life gets a blast of pepper spray in the face then who really cares?
February 8th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Are there more “innocent” people being pepper sprayed than there are people being assulted by thugs on drugs?
Focus on the actual problem not the percieved problem.
No one dies in “police chases”, people die when offenders CHOOSE to run. I speak as one who has been CS gassed more than once. I’d prefer that to being knifed by some tool who doesn’t want to pay a $20 cab fare.
February 8th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
putitaway@1056
spot on
February 8th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Put it away 10:56 am,
Indeed, PIA.
Another thing we could do to save lives, much in the same way tasers are saving lives, is to bring back the death penalty.
Except in that case, rather than saving the lives of low life scum, we would be saving the lives of those that ‘low life scum’ go on to kill.
Graeme Burton anyone?
February 8th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Kris K
Of course you’re right .Whose life is important? The innocent or the crim that chose his own course of action.
But naturally in “modern” society the scum have a right to life that they deny their victims. I hate bleeding heart “liberals,’ they have slowly but surely undermined and destroyed our society and sadly I see little chance of revival.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Should have been here years ago. If that idiot Broad hadn’t sat on his hands waiting for another 10 reports to come out and refusing to take action they could have. Bureaucrats, gotta hate ‘em.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
kowtow 1:43 pm,
And yet (we) Christians who believe we should reinstitute the death penalty are viewed as ‘intolerant’ and ‘unloving’.
Most of the Bible based Christians I know, funnily enough, generally support bringing this law back – maybe it’s that we worship a God who is both ‘loving’ and ‘just’.
And conversely, as secular humanism has gained hold society has become increasingly unjust.
Hmmm, one senses a parallel here.
February 8th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Why not just force all low life scum to have abortions if they get pregnant? That will prevent having scum children.
In what way has society become more unjust, specifically?
February 8th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Pete George 1:59 pm,
If you have to ask, Pete, then you obviously don’t live in the New Zealand that most of the rest of us do.
How is life in your parallel universe where everyone sits around the fire singing ‘Kum-bai-ya’, and where people share their feelings on a regular basis?
February 8th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
What timeframe are you comparing it to Kris? 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000 years ago?
I think we are very lucky to be living in the times we are. And think NZ is better than most places to be living for most people.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Now that is funny. My daughter said they should yell Volteon, but she knows her pokemon better than most.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Well Pete we could invite LeRoy Carthart to do the work but then these people would follow him.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
We sanction to the level that we consider a crime bad/offensive/whatever.
so life (10yrs) for killing a person malisciously (not in self defence) is our top sentence.
sure the non parole is a bit of a twister but the base sentence means 10yrs.
so it’s all downhill from there.
if life actually meant til you die that would be a big statement.
costwise and humanity wise I think that isn’t fair.
Kill them (humanely of course) then they never do it again, cost us nothing after and we tell the victims family the victim counts just as much as the shit who killed them.
where as letting someone out after 10 yrs for killing someone doesn’t does it?
February 8th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11830&pageid=37&pagename=Page+One
old news but it shows what happens when you keep things secret.
all convicted should be named.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Forcing abortions is silly pete, whats wrong with steralisation?
February 8th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Theres an easy solution.. Let criminals opt out of being tasered.. Tell the cops tasers cant be used on criminals who are wearing bright orange beanies.. so criminals who dont want to risk being tasered have to wear bright orange beanies.
If they have a bright orange beanie use real guns instead of the taser.. and the orange beanie means theres little chance of confusing which person you are aiming for.
this will also make it easy to spot criminals.. dont open the door to people with bright orange beanies.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Kris K. Your bloodthirsty brand of Christianity strikes again.
WWJD? He wouldn’t advocate the death penalty. (You’re thinking of the prophet Mohammed.)
That’s because they’re not very good Christians who, like you, are missing two important parts of being human (‘logic’ and ‘compassion’) in their brains. They need to go back to bible-camp and sing some more kumbaya – unfortunately that won’t fix them as they likely have high-functioning antisocial personality disorders.
O Lord, Kum bay ya.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
tristanb 5:37 pm,
I guess Tristan is still feeling sorry that his mate Graeme Burton is in the slammer for what is surely a misdemeanour crime owing to a slight loss of perspective.
You liberal handwringers make me want to puke!
(And singing Kum-bai-ya ’round the camp fire was my line from my 2:08 pm comment – you handwringers can’t even fake original thought – enabler!)