Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Killer Cop Goes To Trial For Taser Death - Another Taser Death in New York

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A former Winnfield Police officer accused of repeatedly jolting a handcuffed man with a Taser before he died is scheduled to be tried on manslaughter and malfeasance in office charges in February. Death by Taser: Police Accused of Cover-Up.

Former police officer Scott Nuugent's trial originally was scheduled to start July 13, but it was postponed so a key witness, Winn Parish Coroner Randolph Williams, could recover from an accidental gunshot wound.

A spokesman for Winn Parish District Attorney Chris Nevils said Thursday that Nugent's trial now is scheduled to start Feb. 9 and last about a week. In January 2008, Nugent allegedly shocked 21-year-old Baron “Scooter” Pikes nine times with a 50,000-volt Taser while arresting him. Also read cover-up alleged in La. Taser attack and Lousiana Police Electrocute Handcuffed Man..

It's important to note, as reported by findingdulcinea.com that police officer Scott Nugent arrested 21-year-old Baron Pikes, handcuffed him and shot him six times in three minutes with a Taser as he struggled to escape.

Once Pikes was in the police car, Nugent shot him a seventh time in the chest. Pikes stopped responding, but Nugent shot him twice more after removing him from the car. Pikes was ruled dead within a half hour.

Nugent was charged with manslaughter August 13 by a grand jury that ruled he used the Taser “unnecessarily” and failed to get medical help. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

The mother of Pikes’s four-year-old son has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Nugent, city officials and Taser International, the manufacturer of the gun. More HERE

Meanwhile, as reported by NewsDay, the mother of a drugged-up Long Island man who died after being shot by a Taser gun while fighting with police officers Saturday said cops didn't have to stun her boy.

Darryl Bain, 43, was high on cocaine and had locked himself and his elderly mother in her Coram home about 2:46 a.m., causing his brother, Kevin, to call 911, relatives and Suffolk County police said.

But Bain was not posing any threat and didn't need to be stunned with a Taser, said Phyllis Hawkins, his mom.

"I was just trying to get him to get his hands off the door," Hawkins, 78, said."He seemed to be getting himself together from what he did," she said, adding that she smelled alcohol on her son's breath.

"[The police] know that when he gets like that, he calms himself down," she said.

Hearing a struggle with his mother, who has an order of protection against her son, officers broke down the door and tried to wrestle him to the ground, police said.

Bain was shot with the Taser but continued to fight with the officers as they tried to cuff him and they zapped him again, police said. He stopped breathing moments later.

Darryl Bain, 43, was high on cocaine and had locked himself and his elderly mother in her Coram home about 2:46 a.m., causing his brother, Kevin, to dial 911.

Read more: HERE

AAPP says: It';s obvious that this man was troubled and needed mental help, not death because he abused cocaine and liquor.

Black progressive bloggers have been covering this issue for some time.
Progressive bloggers like, Excited-Delirium , Truth Not Tasers, Electronic Village, and so many other bloggers have been working to expose the deaths of men in women tased to death in police custody. We want to expand the conversation to include as many bloggers as possible.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

58-year-old South Carolina manTasered to Death by Corpus Christi police

CORPUS CHRISTI — According to caller.com, and kristv, a 58-year-old South Carolina man who police subdued using a Taser and then performed CPR on died Friday.

The man was removed from life support Friday afternoon by doctors at Christus Spohn Hospital South, said Corpus Christi Police Capt. Todd Green, department spokesman.

Authorities wouldn’t release the man’s name, pending notification of family members. An autopsy will be done by the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine an official cause of death, police said. The autopsy could take days depending upon the medical examiner’s workload Monday morning, according to Ric Ortiz, an assistant to the medical examiner.

“A preliminary investigation has shown the officers acted appropriately in responding to an aggressive individual who was acting erratically,” said Police Chief Troy Riggs “Unfortunately, he has died and we will continue the investigation.”

The five patrol officers who were placed on paid administrative leave have been cleared to work, Green said. Placing the officers on paid administrative is a routine policy for incidents under investigation, he said.

The incident began at 6:54 p.m. Wednesday when officer Stephan Beletic saw drivers flashing their headlights at Cimarron Boulevard and Airline Road. Beletic saw a man riding his bicycle illegally against the flow of traffic and attempted to stop him. The man didn’t stop and rode into a parking lot of restaurant where he banged on the restaurant’s window and spoke unintelligibly, Green said.

Beletic, who already had called for backup, began to frisk the man to make sure he wasn’t armed.

The man resisted, and Beletic managed to cuff one hand, but the man continued to struggle. Officers Ross Murray and Daryl Anderson arrived on the scene and Murray used a Taser, hitting the man in the lower back. The man appeared unaffected by the 50,000-volt stun gun, Green said, adding that police aren’t sure if the probe even penetrated the several layers of clothes the man was wearing.

Murray then placed the Taser on the man’s shoulder blade and shocked him, Green reported. The man continued to be combative, Green said.

Anderson used pepper spray, which also did little. Officer Jason Rhodes arrived and the four fell to the ground in a struggle with the man.

It wasn’t until a fifth officer, Jason Tello, arrived that they were able to finishing handcuffing the man, Green said.

Once the man was in custody, he quit breathing, Green said. MORE HERE

Monday, November 9, 2009

Americans Fighting Against Taser Torture

Across America people are beginning to raise voices against taser abuse and taser torture.

As an example, there is a rally scheduled against police brutality as reported by Megan Rolland at the Gainsville Sun. A newly formed Alachua Committee Against Brutality is holding an event Tuesday at 5 p.m. for people to speak out against police brutality. The organization was spurred in response to an altercation Halloween night where a Gainesville police officer used his Taser gun on an individual and witnesses on the street responded by attacking the officer. Hundreds of people were attending a block party on NW 8th Street just north of University Avenue when police arrived after 1 a.m. on November 1.

Five people were arrested on charges ranging from assaulting an officer to open container violations. Two of those arrested are from Alachua County and will be present at the event Tuesday.

“We are a group of concerned local citizens who believe that this case is just one highly-publicized incident in a pattern of corruption, arrogance, bias and violence displayed by members of the Gainesville Police Department,” wrote Alexandra Weiss in a media release for the new committee.

Lt. Keith Kameg with the Gainesville Police Department said the use of the Taser in this instance was within the department’s guidelines. According to the arrest report, the officer deployed his Taser after the suspect attempted to hit him.

At least one witness to the event said she never saw the suspect throw a punch.

Weiss, who is helping organizing the event, said one important purpose of the protest is to gather information and evidence that can be used to get the charges against the five suspects dropped. More HERE

TASER's new aiming guidelines - Shot Them In the Back

TWB publisher says: Now that the maker of the TASER is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event." There probably will be "more Taser Torture victims being shot in the back and in the head."

- TWB Publisher
Email me at: TasedWhileBlack@gmail.com

The blue highlighted area in the adjacent target man represents the preferred target area. TASER has lowered the recommended point of aim from center of mass to lower-center of mass for front shots. (TASER Photo) TASER's New Training Targets

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — as reported by Policeone.com The maker of TASER stun guns is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event."

The advisory, issued in an Oct. 12 training bulletin, is the first time that TASER International has suggested there is any risk of a cardiac arrest related to the discharge of its stun gun.

But TASER officials said Tuesday that the bulletin does not state that TASERs can cause cardiac arrest. They said the advisory means only that law-enforcement agencies can avoid controversy over the subject if their officers aim at areas other than the chest.

The recommendation could raise questions about whether police officers will find it more difficult to accurately direct the probes emitted by a TASER gun at a recommended body area in order to subdue a suspect. TASER officials say the change won't hinder officers' ability to use TASERs.

In a memo accompanying the bulletin, TASER officials point out that officers can still shoot the guns at a suspect's chest, if needed.

Police departments across the United States and in Canada and Australia reacted immediately to the bulletin, with some ordering officers to follow TASER's instructions and begin aiming at the abdomen, legs or back of a suspect.

Officials with the Phoenix Police Department, one of the first in the country to arm all its officers with TASERs, said Tuesday that the new guidelines are being adopted by trainers who are reviewing departmental policy for possible changes.

Critics, including civil-rights lawyers and human-rights advocates, called the training bulletin an admission by TASER that its guns could cause cardiac arrest. They called it a stunning reversal for the company, which for years has maintained that the gun was incapable of inducing a cardiac arrest.

Scottsdale-based TASER insisted that the revision admitted no risk of cardiac arrest and served only as risk-management advice for law enforcement.

In the past, TASER has cautioned that use of its stun gun involves risk inherent in police-suspect conflicts, including the risk that suspects fall after being struck by a TASER.

"TASER has long stood by the fact that our technology is not risk-free and is often used during violent and dangerous confrontations," TASER Vice President Steve Tuttle said in an e-mail. "We have not stated that the TASER causes (cardiac) events in this bulletin, only that the refined target zones avoid any potential controversy on this topic."

TASER's training bulletin states that "the risk of an adverse cardiac event related to a TASER. .. discharge is deemed to be extremely low." However, the bulletin says, it is impossible to predict human reactions when a combination of drug use or underlying cardiac or other medical conditions are involved.

"Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a TASER discharge to the chest area, it would place the law-enforcement agency, the officer and TASER International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any, the TASER. .. could have played," the bulletin says.

The bulletin recommends that when aiming at the front of a suspect, the best target for officers is the major muscles of the pelvic area or thigh region. "Back shots remain the preferred area when practical," it says.

For years, TASER officials have said in interviews, court cases and government hearings that the stun gun is incapable of inducing ventricular fibrillation, the chaotic heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.

The guns are used by more than 12,000 police agencies across the country, including every major law-enforcement agency in the Valley. Many authorities credit the weapon with preventing deaths and injuries to officers and suspects.

Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International allege that TASER guns are often used by police as a compliance tool on unarmed individuals who pose no deadly threat, who are drunk or on drugs and simply quarrel with officers.

Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado American Civil Liberties Union, who has tracked TASER issues for years, said the bulletin means that police departments should now be asking questions about liability and reconsider how the stun gun is used.

"This is further evidence that law-enforcement agencies need to stop and ask if they have been sold a bill of goods," he said. "This (training) bulletin confirms what critics have said for years: that TASER has overstated its safety claims.. .. (It) has to be read as if TASERs can cause cardiac arrest."

Since 2001, there have been more than 400 deaths following police TASER strikes in the United States and 26 in Canada. Medical examiners have ruled that a TASER was a cause, contributing factor or could not be ruled out in more than 30 of those deaths. More at Policeone.com

More on TASER's new aiming guidelines

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Fort Worth residents marched calling for police to stop using Tasers

As reported by Traci Shurley at The Star-Telegram.com more than 50 people marched through downtown Fort Worth on Saturday calling for police to stop using Tasers and punish an officer involved in the April death of a mentally ill man. The protest was organized by supporters of the family of Michael Jacobs, 24, who died after a Fort Worth police officer shot him twice with a Taser to subdue him. Jacobs’ death was ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County medical examiner and will be reviewed by a grand jury.

"I’m really grateful to this big old crowd for speaking on behalf of my son," said Charlotte Jacobs, Michael’s mother.The protesters walked from the Fort Worth municipal building to the Tarrant County Courthouse carrying U.S. flags and signs, some of which read "Lazy Cops Taser" and "Tasers trample the Constitution."

The death occurred after police responded to a call from Jacobs’ parents that he was being disruptive. Police said the officer used the Taser after Jacobs became combative.

In his report, Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani found that Officer Stephanie A. Phillips shocked Jacobs twice with a Taser — once for 49 seconds and once for five seconds. According to the report, the officer told a detective that the first jolt was longer because "she unknowingly kept the Taser trigger engaged." She remains on active duty.

Jacobs’ family has filed a wrongful-death suit. Last month, an attorney for the family said witnesses have disputed claims that he fought with police. On Oct. 16, Police Chief Jeff Halstead announced that his department had finished its investigation of Jacobs’ death and provided copies of the report to the FBI and Justice Department. He said officers would get more training in how to deal with mentally ill people and in the use of force. The Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Tarrant County chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and organizer of Saturday’s march, said that Tasers inflict cruel and unusual punishment on the community and that their use must stop. More HERE

Saturday, November 7, 2009

New York Family of Officer Who Committed Suicide Sues City

John Eligon at the NY Times reports that the family of a police lieutenant who committed suicide last year is suing the city, claiming that police officials drove him to kill himself. The suit maintains that the officials vilified the officer, Lt. Michael W. Pigott, after a confrontation in Brooklyn in which the lieutenant’s order to shoot an emotionally disturbed man with a Taser gun led to the man’s death.

Susan Pigott, the wife of Lieutenant Pigott, who worked for the Emergency Services Unit, maintains in the lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn that her husband “suffered severe and excruciating humiliation, mental anguish, fear, depression and shame,” after department officials took away his gun and badge, assigned him to desk duty and told the news media that he had acted improperly when he ordered an officer to fire a Taser at Iman Morales.

In September 2008, Mr. Morales, naked, ranting and swinging an eight-foot-long fluorescent light bulb at officers, tumbled to his death from a roughly 10-foot-high ledge atop a storefront security gate outside his building at 489 Tompkins Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, after Officer Nicholas Marchesona, on orders from Lieutenant Pigott, fired a Taser that immobilized him. Mr. Morales hit the pavement and suffered a fatal head injury. More HERE

The Fort Worth Police Department will soon be facing a second taser lawsuit

FORT WORTH, TX - According to Channel 33 News, The Fort Worth Police Department will soon be facing a second lawsuit related to the use of taser devices by officers. An attorney for 29-year old Marcus Swiat is prepared to file a civil lawsuit in the next few days.

A bystander captured video of Swiat being tased up to eight times by several officers outside a downtown bar last year. On the tape, the disc jockey can be heard screaming and others asking police to stop. Officers are also seen kicking Swiat, who has since moved from the North Texas area.

Swiat's attorney, Brian Eberstein says Swiat was later acquitted of the charges against him, including public intoxication. Eberstein says the tape is disturbing. "The only word I could attribute to the attack was savage". He says Swiat is still suffering. "I think when any human being is brutally beaten the scars can be physical, but I think the emotional residue can be equally significant".

The lawsuit comes on the heels of another by the family of Michael Jacobs, whose death was ruled a homicide. Corporal Stephanie Phillips used a taser on the mentally ill man last April. Jacobs died in his yard. Both lawsuits allege the department has failed to properly train and supervise officers in using tasers. Eberstein says officers who misuse the device aren't disciplined. "Phillips is still on patrol and that tells others that you can do what you wish and the department will support you". More HERE

SCLC calls for Gov. Crist To Ban Tasers

As reported by Creative Loafing The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) calls it “electrocution without prosecution,” and in the wake of the two most recent Taser-related deaths in Florida, the civil rights group wants the governor to temporarily ban Tasers until a stricter, more uniform policy can be put in place.

The so called “non-lethal” devices, manufactured by Taser International, have killed over 400 U.S. citizens since 2001. According to the website Electronic Village, which diligently tracks the numbers, over 40 percent of the victims are black men. Charles Smith, president of the Manatee Chapter of the SCLC, sees Tasers as the biggest threat to the people of Florida. “You don’t have to break the law for them to use it on you. We cannot allow the local authorities to arbitrarily decide when a person can use a Taser and when they can’t. This is not a black and white issue; this is a right and wrong issue.”

The October 27 meeting with Governor Crist came after weeks of protest over the Pensacola killing of 17-year-old Victor Steen, who police say was fleeing on his bicycle from a construction site the night of Oct. 3. Officers tried to tase him from inside their patrol car but missed. Steen then lost control of his bike and fell into the path of the vehicle and was dragged 25 feet to his death. After that incident the Pensacola Police Dept. revised their policy to prohibit the shooting of Tasers into or from a moving vehicle.

A week before Steen was killed in Pensacola, 38-year-old Derrick Humbert died within a half hour of being tased in the back for not stopping when ordered to by Bradenton Police Officer Del Shiflett. Humbert’s only crime was operating a bicycle without a headlight.

When asked if it was legal to tase a suspect in the back, Bradenton Police Deputy Chief William Tokajer said Shiflett’s actions were well within department guidelines. “You can tase the back of the person, you can tase the front of the person, the Taser policy basically states that it can be utilized when the person who you want to arrest starts to evade you or starts to fight the officer or resists in any manner. This gentleman ran from the officers and basically the facts are the facts, if you don’t want to get tased, don’t run from the police.” More HERE

Tasered While Black Publisher says: My friend Francis L. Hollands recently asked, How Many Blog Posts Does it Take to Stop One Death By Summary Electrocution? My answer, "As many blog post as it takes" to get civil rights and progressive organizations to take the conversation of banning tasers to every Governor, mayor, city council, police department, and Congressional decision maker. If it were not for bloggers like:
African American Opinion - A Day of Blogging for Justice …

African American Political Opinion – “A Day of Blogging for Justice …
African American Political Pundit – A Day of Blogging for Justice – Blogging Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution via Tasers
All About Race – A Day of Blogging for Justice
Ancestralenergies – Day-of-Blogging-For-Justice
Black Perspective.com - Taser Awareness – Blogging Against Extrea Judicial Electrocution
Christina Springer Blog- Wish-I-Had-More-Time
Eddie G. Griffin (BASG) - Officer may be indicted for Tasing Death of Scooter
Electronic Village -Electronic Village: End Police Pre-Trial, Extra Judicial
Electrocuted While black – Electrocuted While Black: “A Day of Blogging for Justice
InkogNegro – Day of Blogging for Justice – Don’t Tase the Bros to death
Jack and Jill Politics - Extra-Judicial Electrocution – Jack & Jill Politics
Jena 6 Blog - Barron-pikes-tasered-while-handcuffed.html
Police Brutality Blog - “A Day of Blogging for Justice
Purple Zoe -A Day-of-blogging-opposing-pre-trial Electrocution
Regina’s Family Seasons - “A Day Of Blogging For Justice” – Tasers.\
Republic of T – Held Suspect
A Slant Truth – Blogging For Justice – Police Abuse (Tasers)
Tasered While Black - Tasered While Black: A Day of Blogging For Justice
Ultra Violet Underground - Day Of Blogging Opposing Pre-Trial Electrocution aka Tasering
What Tami Said – A day of blogging for justice
Wonderland or Not - Taser-lets-get-a-clue
The Black Snob – A Fight Against Taser Abuse and Other News
The Super Spade – A Day of Blogging for Justice – Against – Extra – Judicial Electrocution

Groups like the SCLC would not have the level of understanding about tasers or to call it “electrocution without prosecution,” and " extra-judicial, pretrial electrocution" the words coined by Francis L. holland and used by the afrospear bloggers in it's most recent blogging for justice effort. We should not take our blogging effort lightly, even the highly rated blog boingboing.net is now covering the taser abuse issue.

Now it’s less than one month away from the “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice Day scheduled for December 4, 2009. Our goal is to unite the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day – Taser Torture in America, Canada and throughout the world. I would like to urge every American concerns about taser use and abuse to join us on December 4th as we blog to “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” and we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion. I urge you to contact us at: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com to register your blog. Don’t forget to support the petition to the United States Congress calling for public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding for the use of Tasers® against American citizens. The United Nation’s Committee against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens.

Here is the link: http://www.petition2congress.com/2/1822/taser-torture-in-america-call-congressional-hearings/ Have a question? Need additional information? Want to participate? Register via email: StopTaserTorture@gmail.com Also, don’t forget, please make a $10 or 20 dollar secure Pay Pal donation to this cause: http://aapp.chipin.com/stop-taser-torture. If we don't address this tasering issue, no one else will.

Suit charging excessive force with Taser settled out of court

According to RCG.com, a Reno man who charged excessive force against law enforcement officers at a local concert will receive a settlement of $108,000 from Lyon County and the City of Yerington as an agreed settlement of a lawsuit the man filed.

However, local law enforcement representatives aren't happy with the system that makes it cheaper to settle a lawsuit than to fight it, as they disagree with the allegations in the suit.

The suit was filed in federal court by Cody Herbst, 25, and charged two Lyon County Sheriff's Office deputies with using excessive force in arresting him at the 2006 Night in the Country concert, a fundraiser of the Boys & Girls Club of Mason Valley.

As part of the settlement agreement, Lyon County is paying $100,000 ,while the City of Yerington, which had two off-duty officers providing security listed in the suit, is paying $8,000.

The Boys & Girls Club of Mason Valley was initially included in the lawsuit but was later dropped, reported Chief Professional Officer Travis Crowder, who expressed surprise with the settlement, but pleasure the situation is over.

"I'm glad it's behind us," Crowder said. "It's time to move forward."

However, he said the BGCMV still plans to use sheriff's office personnel for security for its annual concerts.

Herbst, who has local family members, charged that LCSO deputies grabbed him from behind, threw him down, used pepper spray on him and tasered him several times.

Represented by Terry Keyser-Cooper and Diane Vaillancourt, Herbst also charged he wasn't given proper medical care after being arrested on trespassing charges, as he is an epileptic.

Lyon County Sheriff Allen Veil said any time there is a charge of excessive force, his department conducts a thorough investigation, and no wrong-doing was found in this case.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

New Haven Police Chief James Lewis wants his entire force to have Tasers.

According to the Yale Daily News, Lewis said so at Wednesday’s Aldermanic Public Safety Committee meeting, where Aldermen discussed the use of Tasers by the New Haven Police Department. He added that if the board approved funding for more Tasers, city officials should purchase ones that, unlike the ones police use now, don’t have cameras.

Also at the meeting, the committee passed a resolution to accept a federal grant for what committee vice-chair and Ward 22 Alderman Greg Morehead called the first undercover vehicle for the NHPD.

The NHPD began using Tasers, which disrupt voluntary control of muscles, after a series of police shootings in 2004, which prompted the Board of Aldermen to form a task force to explore less-than-lethal weaponry. The Yale Police Department, meanwhile, does not carry Tasers.

Lewis, flanked by two fellow officers, said New Haven has been the only place he has worked where the distribution of Tasers has been delayed by public scrutiny. He emphasized the importance of outfitting the entire police force with Tasers.

Lewis argued that Tasers are easier to carry and less dangerous than the heavy clubs that police now carry. Using more Tasers, Lewis said, would reduce the number of broken fingers, dislocated shoulders and other contact-related injuries that could cost the force in manpower and workers’ compensation. He cited surveys conducted by other police departments that have shown up to a 70 percent reduction in injuries after the addition of Tasers.

If Aldermen approve more Tasers, Lewis said, they should consider Tasers without cameras. Out of the roughly 100 Tasers acquired by the police force in spring 2007, five are now in need of $250 battery replacements. If police used Tasers without cameras, however, NHPD officials would only pay $29.95 per unit whenever the battery dies, he said.

Taser cameras only activate when police turn on the gun, Lewis said. He added that in-car cameras take better quality video and are more cost effective. Lewis proposed putting such cameras in 40 cars for $200,000.

At the meeting, Ward 17 Alderman Alphonse Paolillo Jr. agreed with Lewis, saying that Taser cameras failed to record clear images.

“I hope we can push this program and get every officer a Taser,” Paolillo said. More HERE

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Pentagon Contracts with Taser International under a $2.5 million contract

Testing Military Weapons on Civilians?

Discover Magazine reports how your tax dollar is being used. They note, If you’ve caught an episode of COPS lately, then you’ve probably noticed that so-called less-lethal weapons have caught on with police departments across the country as a way to force unruly suspects into compliance. Tasers, which delivers an electrical current to the suspect via two dart-like electrodes, are often the weapon of choice. Now, the Pentagon wants to use beefed up Taser technology on the battlefield.

The puny little electrodes that the police weapons use just won’t do for the military. That’s why the U.S. Department of Defense has been developing a long-range electric shock device that fires from a 40-millimeter grenade launcher and can subdue an enemy from just under 200 feet away. The new Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) projectile is being developed for the Pentagon by Taser International under a $2.5 million contract and should be ready for prototype testing some time after the new year [Popular Science]. HEMI’s range is three times longer than Taser International’s XREP shotgun-style projectile, which has generated controversy because of concerns that the projectile could be deadly in untrained hands. Read More HERE

TWB publisher says: One has to wonder if Taser International is testing these weapons on civilian populations?

This is just another reason to support the day of blogging against taser torture. Go to the website, Stop Taser Torture. Please register for the Stop Taser Torture Blogging for Justice Day – 12.4.09

81-year-old Tasered by Eielson Air Force Base police

I guess your never too young or never too old to be Tasered in America! Get this, newsminer.com reports An 81-year-old man was Tasered during a traffic stop last week.

It is the second time since 1998 that police have had to make a show of force during a traffic stop to arrest Glen M. Wilcox, a Fairbanks-based Episcopalian priest and real estate agent.

Court documents allege that officers with Eielson Air Force Base’s 354th Security Forces Squadron pulled Wilcox over just after 1 p.m. Wednesday for going 11 miles over the speed limit on the Richardson Highway.

An officer, identified as a senior airman in court documents, took Wilcox’s license, registration and proof of insurance and wrote him a traffic citation. When he returned to Wilcox’s car, Wilcox refused to accept the documents and sped down the highway, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.

Wilcox disputes that version of events.

“They waved to me and I thought that meant I could go on,” Wilcox said. “They stopped me again and told me to get out of my car.”

Alaska State Troopers were notified of the incident, and the 354th “initiated a high-risk traffic stop” near 336 Mile Richardson Highway. When Wilcox, a former commander of the Civil Air Patrol, again stopped, he initially refused to roll down his window.

He eventually got out of his vehicle and was told to put his hands behind his back, something he claims is physically impossible for him.

“I showed them I could barely touch my fingertips and they insisted,” he said.

Charging documents allege Wilcox used profanity with the airmen. When they tried to handcuff him, Wilcox, described in court documents as being 6 feet 1 inch tall and 250 pounds, allegedly tried to jerk away from the airmen and used his body to push them around, a claim he also disputes.

After several warnings, one of the airmen used a Taser on Wilcox to take him into custody.

“It hurts like hell,” Wilcox said. “I’m laying on the ground when they Tasered me. It’s painful and very sharp.” More at: newsminer.com

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Another reason to Join us on December 4th. “Stop Taser Torture, blogging for Justice.” as we raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

Don’t forget to support the petition to the United States Congress calling for public hearings on the systemic human rights violations occurring with Federal funding for the use of Tasers® against American citizens. The United Nation’s Committee against Torture has declared that Taser use can constitute a form of torture, while USA: Amnesty International has an on-going concern about the use of tasers on American citizens. More HERE

Man slits his own throat after officer Tasers him

According to AZ Central News, Surprise police deployed a Taser on a man early Tuesday as he held a knife on a Surprise street. The man then slit his own throat and died, authorities said.

An officer had stopped the 43-year-old man as he drove in a neighborhood near 163rd Avenue and Jomax Road hours after he was reportedly involved in a domestic-violence incident, said Sgt. Mark Ortega.

When the man displayed a large kitchen knife, the officer asked him to drop his weapon. When he did not, the officer used the Taser, Ortega said.

At the same time, the man was holding a knife to his throat. He cut himself across the neck, Ortega said.

Other officers responded to the scene just after 2:40 a.m. and police attempted to provide care before firefighters arrived.

The Surprise man was airlifted to John C. Lincoln North Mountain Hospital where he was soon pronounced dead. Read More HERE

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Black man with his hands on a squad car when an officer uses a Taser on his neck.

The Minneapolis Police Department is again defending itself against accusations that an officer went too far during an arrest.

Video given to WCCO-TV late Monday night shows a man with his hands on a squad car when an officer uses a Taser on his neck.

Attorney Albert Goins is suing the City of Minneapolis on behalf of his client, Rolando Ruiz. They're asking for $75,000 and that the officer involved be reprimanded.

The video given to WCCO starts only seconds before the Taser is used on Ruiz, not what led up to the incident. But in that time, no struggle can be seen before the officer used his Taser on Ruiz. What is seen is Ruiz with his hands on the hood of the officer's car.

The dash camera of the squad car was rolling when the officer approached Ruiz with Taser in hand. see Video HERE

“I hope we can push this program and get every officer a Taser,” Paolillo said. More HERE

What We Think About Taser Abuse

Two differing views

TWB publisher says: Now that the maker of the TASER is advising police officers to avoid shooting suspects in the chest with the 50,000-volt weapon, saying that it could pose an extremely low risk of an "adverse cardiac event." There will probably be more Taser Torture victims being shot in the back and in the head."

- TWB Publisher Email me: TasedWhileBlack@gmail.com

Factoid About Tasers

What's In A Name

The name stands for the Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle, an allusion to the weapon carried by the hero of early 20th century science fiction young adult novels.

Tasers fire two barbs (with quarter-inch fishhooks on the end) capable of producing 50,000-volt pulses into the targets' central nervous system.

The shock frazzles the body's electric signals, contracting muscles and incapacitating the target.

Each individual shock lasts up to five seconds, at the discretion of the shooter, allowing police to gain control of chaotic situations.

Aimed by a laser sight, the two probes have a range of 21 feet and are tethered to the gun by lightly insulated wire. Both need to strike skin or clothing to be effective.

Fabric two inches thick or more, though, can render the jolt ineffective.

Tasers can also be used without the probes, by placing the guns end directly onto a suspect's skin, and firing.

The weapons also have small microprocessors inside them that record every time an office shoots them, and how long the shocks lasted.

As the manufacturer has produced lighter and smaller pistol-shaped stun guns in recent years, police departments have purchased Tasers with increased frequency.

--H/T Bill D'Agostino

Tased While Black

Our plan, to track all incidents of taser torture against black folks....