Police taser trials

Taser incidents are not always harmless - being given 50K volts via a taser would give anyone a nasty shock and risks fatality in 1 of 870 cases. Being tasered a few seconds later increases the odds by squaring it, this becomes 1 in 30.

The 1 in 870 ratio must be considered acceptable by the police trialing the taser device. Triggering heart attacks seems the most likely reason a large shock causes fatality. Using the weapon twice magnifies the risk. How can that be acceptable? What about damage to internal organs or other possible long term results? How can they justify the introduction of 50,000 volts to the nervous system of those they have not even had the decency to arrest yet?

This is indescriminate murder insofar as the propensity the police have had on occassions to go for the wrong target. Recent examples of demonizing their own victims highlighted in recent police rape trials where juries had to balance the careers of "good men" against the possibility of ruin. In fact two of the three accused were already serving eight year sentences and this was hidden from the juries in accordance with our laws about name supression. It may seem a questionable path to justice, but it is there to ensure that each case is judged on its own merits of its own presented evidence.

Does that mean that you can be tried for the same crime twice, so long as there is more than one victim? That would seem to be an effect of name supression. If you are found guilty twice from independent crimes, it may be that you are considered twice as guilty?

Leave a comment if you have an opinion.