This is a very sad case of a Mobile Mental Health patient who was stopped by law enforcement, and tased, more than once, accordingly to the attorney that has filed suit for the family. Mobile attorney, Chase Dearmanly said his investigations of the case unearthed that 25 year old Daniel Mingo was BRAIN DEAD when he arrived at the emergency room. "Mingo was tased multiple times and injured to the extent that brain swelling happened" http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/mobile_police_sued_over_tasing_and_beating/685233/Jan-29-2010_10-23-am/
This case certainly raises multiple questions, but one main one...ARE TASERS REALLY SAFE? You read about cases where the use of tasers have killed individuals. http://concernedoflinwood.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/warning-tasers-kill-warning-graphic-content/
HERE IS A MARCH 31, "2006" REPORT...where Amnesty International released a report about 70 taser related deaths from the tasers..."non-lethal weapons". http://effectmeasure.blogspot.com/2006/03/tasers-killing-more-people.html
Here's another case on Tasing... http://www.alternet.org/rights/44455/
Here's a Wikipedia listed tasing ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dzieka%C5%84ski_Taser_incident
CBS THIS MORNING... had a show on tasing... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/12/earlyshow/main648859.shtml
If you think that TASING is safe, please weigh in. If you think it's UNSAFE, please let me know your reasons as well.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
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2 comments:
ALL electroconductive weapons (including the Taser) are LETHAL weapons. They are sold to law enforcement agencies and correctional institutions as NONLETHAL weapons because they can be used safely on a person IN GOOD HEALTH to incapacitate him and enable him to be safely taken into custody, when otherwise he might be shot and killed.
It is difficult to use such weapons safely on people who are NOT in good health, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to use such weapons safely on SOME people.
If the law enforcement personnel who use Tasers were PROPERLY TRAINED in the SAFE use of an electroconductive weapon, deaths following the use of these weapons would be much rarer than they currently are.
You are so right, Anonymous. Training is the word we are looking for here. Proper training is very important. They cannot always assess if someone is mentally ill, just because they run. They cannot assess if someone has heart disease, or brain disease, or any other disorder that would warrant special treatment of the individual they are trying to detain. I think they need to conduct MORE studies on these tasers. I don't feel they are safe. They CERTAINLY were not safe in this Mobile case.
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