Because tasering a man in front of his pregnant wife and the child in the car wasn't enough, the cops in Ohio went one step further.
Apparently, a pregnant woman tried to leave her 1 year old child with authorities because she was "tired of playing games" with the father. It's a bit unclear on what happened, but the cop didn't want to let her leave without answering questions, so she decided to leave with the 1 year old.
Let me pause a moment. This sounds like a battered woman to me. Why else would she be doing this?
So, the cop decided to force her to the ground and taser her. The article hints that the cop had no way of knowing she was pregnant. Which tells me that if cops can't tell by looking that someone (say who is pregnant or has a heart condition) could be majorly harmed by tasering them, is the use of the taser acceptible?
I think that cops should be allowed to use a taser in very limited circumstances, and any time they violate the rules, punishment should ensue. Tasers aren't toys, people.
Oh, and the officer remains on duty. I bet all of Ohio feels safer now.
Crooks and Liars has more.
Update: Kelly Ann Booth, A Progressive Utahn has a really good commentary on the whole story about tasers.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
3 comments:
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I think you're right for the most part. I believe they do go through some training on tazering that includes these points. Maybe the penalties for officers who seem to arbitrarily tazer people should be more severe to prevent the officers from abusing their power.
ReplyDeleteI know they do go through training, but I think that the abuse of power is largely being ignored. At least some of them aren't understanding that using a taser is just as serious as using a gun. It has the power to kill, and it's a bit like Russian roulette, in the sense that they don't know who might be seriously harmed or killed, and who might just feel the pain and be done.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to take tasers away from cops. I just want the bad cops stopped, and the rest of the cops properly trained.
Cops have a lot of power. Because of that, they ought to be scrutinized. But, in the same breath, we ought to give cops the benefit of the doubt wherever possible. When I heard about the Utah taser incident, I was indignant about the cop's behavior. Then I watched the video and changed my mind and mostly sided with the cop. We get so few details from these stories that it is hard to make an accurate conclusion that is really fair to the people involved.
ReplyDeleteSo I agree that we should get rid of cops who abuse their authority. But let's always do it with due process rather than lynch mobs.