DON'T TASE ME BRO!

In all cases the cops were justified. Why? We all know why. Cops clear other cops, not a jury. Yea, we don't follow the Constitution when investigating cops actions.

Two things:

1. The headline sets up a false dichotomy. A tool is merely something useful; deadliness doesn't disqualify something as a good tool. Guns are good tools for police and hunters--and also deadly. Knives, too. Looking at it in that context, I'd have to say Tasers are good tools for police. The question is not whether they're good tools, it's how they should be used. Personally, I think sometimes they're used too much; though not necessarily deadly, they are weapons and can be dangerous. They're tools of necessity, not mere convenience.

2. If Taser is actually an acronym, then nobody should be using the word "tase." As an acronym, it can't be broken down into "tase" as the action and "taser" as the thing that performs it, because it's not a normal word. The thing is a *Taser* (probably should be capitalized, TASER), and if it's used on you, then you've been *Tasered*. Sort of like if you get hit with a laser beam, you don't get lased, you get lasered (laser is actually an acronym too, by the way; just don't ask me what it stands for). Probably doesn't matter to anybody except me...but there it is anyway.

If Officers are going to be using this device then I would hope that it would only be used in a situation where a gun would have been used but they chose to use the Taser instead of killing the subject.They should use great care in when the use of it would be justified. I have one question. What about their using it on individsuals who have a heart condition? For the most part I don't trust the judgment of todays regular police officers to use it only when needed. I feel they will overuse it to get compliance to their every whim?

that cops are just a little too trigger happy with their tasers. If they are going to use them, I feel that everytime they deploy their taser, they should have to be tazed again in the exact manner and for the same duration as their victim for each taser use, so that they do not lose sensitivity to the victim as they deploy their allegedly non-lethal weapon.

These weapons should be banned from standard police officers & use.
They have caused too many unneeded deaths in petty traffic and every day offenses nation wise.
Plus most local police officers will take this taser short cut and not take that other extra step verbal or physical wise !............

if the police use it, it must be good.

when a subject resist arrest and has aids or sores that is when you apreciate the taser.

If you don't want to be tased, don't break the law!

The article is incomplete on the motorist who was tasered by a rogue officer. He merely refused to sign a speeding ticket, which is not illegal in Utah, and the ticket is still valid without a signature. For that the officer tasered the man while his pregnant wife sat in the passenger side of the family SUV. You also left out that the officer was disciplined and relieved of duty for several weeks because of his outrageous conduct, in addition to the offer to settle with the motorist for $40,000, an admission of wrongdoing by Utah.

I'll bet the reputedly berserk guy who was recently killed in a restaurant by the gunshot of an off-duty security guard would have preferred being hit with a Taser.

I'll bet his family, who condemns the lethal actions of the guard as being premature and unnecessary, would have preferred the same.

The first comment by “Ing” is excellent.

Over 6000 children between the ages of 16-18 die every year while using a "tool" and nobody cares. In point of fact, we encourage them. This is more than the number of people who were killed in the World Trade Center attack AND all soldiers killed in the first four years of the Iraqi war. 6000 each and every year and nobody cares.

And this doesn't count the trauma, injuries and damage they cause to others. And we still let them have their driver license. A car is a "tool" as well, and yet we apparently prefer to be more concerned with faulty research, skewed statistics and an indifferent (at best) attitude of "if the police want it, it must be bad" from a vocal minority.

Go ahead, take the TASER away. But I don't want to hear a single one of you start to whine when there are more incidents of officer-involved shootings.

It is always nice to hear those that have never deployed the TASER nor have been "shocked" make uninformed comments about thier use. As a former deputy (SLCO), I have been shocked more than once and have deployed the TASER numerous times. I can say for a fact that the TASER allowed me to resolve a situation that would have been justified for lethal force on the use of force scale. A suspect tried to run over two Midvale officers, then tried to carjack two vehicles, broke into more than one home while evading arrest, and assaulted numerous civilians and officers. I deployed the TASER and he was safely taken into custody without further harm to anyone (including himself). Repeat. No further harm. I would have been justified in stopping the threat (permanently) but had the tools to prohibit any destruction of life.

I have been shocked and while it hurts, there have been no lasting reprecussions whatsoever.

Until you have been on either end, try and give the deputies and officers the benefit of the doubt. They work hard so you can sleep well at night.

Research hasn't proven that TASER's kill people, and research hasn't proven that they don't.

Maybe they should also study the effects of being hit in the chest or back with a bullet from a 9 mm calibre handgun, and compare the mortality rate.

The fact is, this is an intermediate weapon to use before the handgun. If it didn't exist, the handgun would be used, and personally (without doing the research) I believe many more people would die from the handgun.

Before everyone judges the cops for doing their jobs, maybe they should find out what kind of intimidating situations our police force is put under...

The taser is making cops lazy. Rather than negotiate or restrain someone, they can just shock them. If a few die as a result, well that's OK, isn't it? Unfortunatley, this isn't a 'just don't break the law' situation. As cops become dependent on the things, it's amazing how quickly an ordinary encounter with a cop can deterioriate into a blast from one of these things once cop attitude kicks in.

How can anyone condemn the officer that tazed Masssey after reading about the young lady that shot the cop in Utah County.
There is no way to know if someone is a threat. The only guideline is their action. Massey was a jerk who disobeyed a direct order from a police officer. He earned the tazeing by his actions.
By the way, the law does state that a speeder IS required to sign a ticket.
As Mark Twain said, "Get your facts straight before you try to distort them."

Interesting comments. However, before one judges those who dispense the use of force, perhaps you should walk a block in the officer's shoes. Have you gone through scenario based training? I am willing to bet that if you do, you will see a whole new light to this conversation. When YOU are confronted by a suspect with unknown intentions or are trying to bring order to an unknown individual, let's see what use of force option YOU choose (and subsequently, if YOU go home that evening. The best thing Taser International could do is travel the country bringing ordinary citizens into scenarios to see what would happen to them. It is easy to be brave behind the keyboard; but what would happen to those of YOU in reality based scenarios?

LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission from Radiation ;)

I'm sure that these tasers are not used when not needed. Just look at peoples behavior nowdays, always wanting to be in control, never wrong of anything and so on. People need to realize that when stopped or arrested the officer is merely doing his or her job. It doesn't necessarily mean your are guilty of anything because that will be proven in court. In other words shut your mouths and don't be threating and you won't get shot or tasered. Let the officer do his job and take your complaints up with the judge. People are too combative nowdays.

You will always have trigger happy cops just like you will always have rude, inconsiderate people. Its like the comment earlier. If you don't want to get Tased than don't break the law. There are too many people in today's society that are so disrespectful and think they can do anything without getting in trouble. This is a consequence for a wrong action.

Before you judge the use of tasers by a set of anecdotes told in a news story, make sure you understand all of this from the officer's point of view. When dealing with an individual who does not cooperate, you always feel you life or health may be in danger. You never know if they have shanks, knives, or other weapons hidden somewhere, or perhaps a gun. You do not know what kind of training they have in physical combat. Every time the gun is pulled, many questions are asked, and justification has to be proved, that is, guilty until proven innocent. This is a better choice than just using deadly force.

I question the article's statistics on the number of times police in Utah have used a TASER. The officer in Vernal, whose deed the article mentions, did not file a report on his use of the weapon, nor did he take the required photographs, etc. He was later disciplined for the omissions, but only after the incident became public. Based on that, it's reasonable to assume that there have been many other incidents of TASER use when no report was filed.

Further, the necessary precautions for use of the weapon that the article mentions are not always followed, and officers who do not follow them are not always disciplined. We know that, before the Attorney General's office settled with the victim in Vernal, UHP upper management announced that they had reviewed the video and had concluded that the officer's use of the weapon was "reasonable". If one reads the list of precautions in this article, and compares them to the actions of the officer in Vernal, and factors in the statements by UHP management after that incident, one can only conclude that the UHP either doesn't understand its own rules or regularly ignores them.

Ing's point might be valid if the police force were to acknowledge that tasers can be deadly. The problem is that these weapons are being marketed as non-lethal. They might be less lethal than a gun but to claim that they are not lethal at all is absurd. The statement that their lethality has not been proven one way or the other is also ridiculous. How many studies do you have to do before you realize that tasing someone with an existing medical condition can kill them? What about the effect they have on an unborn child? If the deadly or not question has truly not been answered yet these weapons need to be removed from use until it is. Tasers may be a great tool for law enforcement but it sounds like more research needs to be done before implementation.

Having recently retired from law enforcement, I can tell you first hand that tasers, like so many other tools available to law enforcement, are an excellent device that are abused by a minority of officers that would abuse other tools as well. I have been subjected to the taser in training exercises and I don't know if I ever encountered anyone who "deserves" to be treated that way. But, I also know from personal experience that the man who wanted to shoot himself one night is greatful that a taser was used instead of handguns while dealing with him.

I also know from experience that when someone is "high" and wants to fight, it takes several officers to restrain them. A single taser shot can bring the event to an end without exposing the suspect, or the officers, to the dangers of fighting the suspect.

Is the taser dangerous? Yes. Can it contribute to a suspect's death? New evidence suggests that it can. Are officers too quick to deploy it? I think some are.

Tasers are used successfully hundreds of times every day across the Country. Unfortunately people only hear about the cases where they are abused.

The Tom Eagleton Personal Peace Society supports the use of Tasers as a means to find oneself amid the chaos of criminality.

If it is legal to use Tazers on our citizens who do not cooperate with the police, why is it illegal to use them on terrorists who want to kill us and who murder innocent people? If we could use tazers on those militants that we capture in combat, they would tell us where their safe houses are. Why not? Because it would be unethical? Is it more ethical to allow terrorists to continue to murder innocent people than to do what is in our power to stop them?

Having been on scene several times when TASERS have been used I would say that they are the much better alternative then having the police go physical. I have also arrived after to do a medical evaluation and I can only imagine the types of injuries the suspect or/and the officers/deputies would have had as compared to what they don't have with the TASER. Least some forget, it's not a job requirement to go home shot or with a broken arm or rearranged nose and to expect that would mean no law enforcement anymore. A lot of people like to get down on police cause they once got a traffic ticket or something but for most of us that is the most we will deal with them. So lets be thankful they deal with the people that the rest of us avoid and give them the tools to do it.

Tasers save lives, both police and suspects. End of story.

I think it is the best alternative and should be used before Deadly Force if it can be helped.

Re: EST
:)

Time to run some experiments. Maybe have half the officers in a department deploy with tasers and the other half with night sticks. Then document the number of injuries or deaths to individuals, vs the number of injuries or deaths to officers. Then weigh whether the cost is worth it.

I'm too biased to run the experiment, though. I would have given Massey a few more jolts.

CJ said it best. Tasers save lives. A buddy of mine who is a federal law enforcement officer (and a fellow vet) explained to me that Tasers are much more effective threats than lethal weapons. Suspects don't react to guns because they don't believe officers will use them. When officers threaten the taser, suspects take notice. Don't blame cops for the dangerous situations that people put themselves in.

As an Iraq War veteran I am grateful for the support that Americans show to myself and fellow soldiers (and Americans are right to be proud of our professional military). I think it is unfortunate that people don't also appreciate the dangerous job that law enforcement is asked to perform every day, and so close to home.

Support our cops!

Why is every one so down on cops The taser is the best wepon that they have ever come up with. It beats the hell out of getting shot or having a night stick used on you because you ar stupid and don't do what is ask of you.
Good work law inforsment keep it up.

When you have a suspect with PCP in their system, you can slap a superman sticker on there chest. They have freakish strength, and feel no pain. The taser is the only thing that works. Go challenge someone high on PCP and post how good you can control them. You people dont know your facts. Just dont break the law.

I'm so sick and tired of the people whining about police brutality when it comes to TASERs. I've taken two hits from a TASER. It's NOT A BIG DEAL. Yeah, it hurts for five seconds, but after you actually feel better.

I'm much rather be hit by a taser than a baton, pepper spray or a 9mm.

I think they can be wonderful tools in the right hands. I believe most people think they are being used as a last resort to using deadly force. I believe those people, if they studied what was happening, would know that was wrong. It is being used way to often for simple compliance in "Disrespect of Cop" issues. Knowbody should know two teens 15 and 17 that have been tazed, nobody. But here in my small town, Vernal, I know two. Neither had a weapon, one was out of control but they shocked her (15) AFTER she was subdued and handcuffed. The other called officers names and tried to run, he was tazed on a high fence, after they had his name and address. The young girl has a scar on her leg the young man got hit in the back of the neck. I also support people with disabilities, in the past I have used the police force in issues with needing help in helping someone who is at risk from running away. Now I feel I can no longer call them as it puts the people with medical issues at greater threat than just running away.

A tazer is the best non-lethal form of force officers have available. They have proven to have the least physical impact on humans to include pepper spray, hands on (an officer physically restraining someone), a baton or ASP.

Everyone is freaking out over absolutely nothing. When your tazed you do feel pain, I know as I have been during training. What hurts more is a broken arm in which I inflicted on a person who was resisting arrest. I used an appropriate control hold, the person fought harder, I took them to the ground and the arm snapped in the process. It was all on video so to all you who claim "cover up" sorry. Had I been able to use a tazer the person would have been in handcuffs heading to jail instead of the hospital.

Tazers are the least invasis form of non-lethal force we have, period!

TASERs save lives.

VERY few die from its use.

A bullet can accidentally strike the wrong person, it can't be recalled. But, with a TASER, the policeman only 'pull the power trigger' while needed.

The DN is to be thanked for bringing facts to the public discussion of this valuable tool.

I hope the police continue to use tasers. It is only the rude, disrespectful people who need to be tasered. Respectful people handle things through the law and not by mouthing off. Police officers should not have to put up with disrespectful people.

Is there anyone that has a heart condition that does not know about it? My guess: not too many.
Of the people who DO know that they have a heart condition, how many are willing to take the gamble that the TASER will not aggrevate their condition? Probably the same amount who decide to ignore their cardiac issues and get into an officer's face, or directly disobey him/her.
Of all the people whining about TASER fatalities for those with cardiac conditions, don't you think that they might have made a conscious decision, despite their condition, to ignore the officers' warnings of being TASERed? If I had a heart condition, you're dang right I'd back down from a TASER threat any day if I expected to live.
Side Note: I've been hit with 22% OC spray (military grade stuff), and I'd rather be hit with a TASER any day than go through the 4 days of agony that came from the spray. The TASER is a much kinder, gentler use of force than that stuff.

I have deployed my taser a few times in the last 2 years. I have only done so when hands on with the suspect could have caused more injuries. For anyone to say that tasing is a last resort has never had to be tackled by an officer. In those events that person and usually the officer receive some injuries. I'm sorry but when I swore to protect and serve that doesn't include me being punched by some drunk who doesn't want a ticket. My kids deserve to have their father come home uninjured.

p.s. to you tv attornys it is against the law in the state of utah to refuse to sign a citation. refusal to do so is a trip to your local county jail.

"It is only the rude, disrespectful people who need to be tasered."

Fascism will welcome you with open arms annabelle.

The taser may save lifes.

Tasers may the best nonlethal weapon the police have.

The problem because of this the police feel more free to use it.

And So the police use it way more than is necessary. Simply because they think it non-lethal.

They use it with less discretion than any other weapon.

When in fact they shouldn't be using the taser any more than they would use thier gun.

The problem is they have weapon which they feel free use anytime they wish.

Tasers need to be classified as the next step down from a lethal weapon and limited to situations where bodily harm to an officer or bystander is imminent.

Just because Tasers don't kill young, vigorous officers who get tased during training doesn't mean they aren't lethal to the elderly, the very young and the infirm. (If my husband with his pacemaker-defibrillator were to be tased, it would be a death sentence! Yes, it would. Ask his cardiologist, not Taser International, Inc. which has a vested monetary interest in making Tasers appear safe.)

Increasingly tasers are being used merely to torture non-threatening people into compliance. This makes the policeman using the taser into an instant judge and jury: Obey me, show me the respect I want, or I can torture you until you do!

Also, rarely mentioned is the fact that tased individuals can lose bowel and bladder control just as they lose control over other muscles.

Tasing is demeaning, cruel, and unnecessary except in cases where the alternative is more dangerous to all of the persons involved.

The reason the taser may be used so frequently is because most officers take the 5 second ride themselves when becoming certified to carry it. They would not take the shot themselves if it were not safe. The taser becomes dangerous only when dangerous individuals on dangerous drugs do not comply to lawful orders and need to be brought under control. Medical experts call the condition excited delirium. The human body can only take so much and when the individuals is high on drugs and tries to fight with the police. It takes their body beyond what it is capable of. The wheels are in motion well before the police even arrive. The next line of defense for an officer is a baton or ASP. You need to ask yourself, would I rather be hit with an asp/baton or tased? Of course when your on drugs, you can not make rational decisions.

'The Truth' and others here who think police officers use the taser indiscriminantly have no concept of the scrutiny an officer undergoes when using any of his weapons of force. Indiscriminate use results not only in departmental disicpline, but opens an officer up to civil liability. I served 15 years in Utah law enforcement, and never met an officer, esp. an officer with a family, who wasn't aware of this, and, as a result, used force very carefully. It's always easy to second-guess the use of force, especially when there's an anti-police bias afoot, but having been out there in the dark of night with the kinds of individuals who make police force necessary, I can say that citizens like 'the Truth' would pull the taser trigger in a heartbeat in the same confrontations.

Why don't the researchers research this?

How many people got tasered that "didn't" break the law or decide they could get quick $50,000 if they are belligerent to the law? The good "-abiding" tax payers are footing the law suit bills because some judge sits behind a bench and decides to NOT support the officers and let the poor tasered person get the cash. VOTE NO ON ALL JUDGES, I can't say it enough. Let the judicial system know that we are tired of their lame judgements that protect the criminal.

Some of you people make me SICK!
support your local cops
walk in their shoes you might change your narrow opinion.

In all honesty, I think TASERs are great as an alternative to more violent methods. If a person is being TASERed it's likely they've done something wrong and were caught and resisted. Think about it... If you're saying cops overuse them, then they're overusing TASERS as opposed to physical violence and guns! I'd rather be TASERed than get broken bones or be shot by a gun.Yes, they should be used with almost the same hesitence as an officer would have to use a gun. Yes, they should be used only with proper judgement and consideration, but the fact remains that they're better for preventing injury to everyone than pepper spray, than guns, batons, physical violence, and just about everything else in a police officer's arsenal. If they've be shot by it, they should be better able to judge when it's proper to use it. Argueing that a TASER would kill your grandparents seems inappropriate. Are your grandparents likely to be TASERed? Are they illegal drug users or anything of the sort? I doubt it. Are they likely to resist a police officer? Unlikely. Thus I find the chance that they would ever be shot by a TASER to be negligable.

I have been tasered in training and it does not make you lose bowel control. Most of these comments are made by ignorant people who have no idea of what they are talking about. Being tasered only hurts for the few seconds that the tasing is going on. When it is over there is not lasting pain. I have also been pepper srayed during training and it hurts a lot worse and lasts for hours.