Tased While Black: Fighting against the current

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Problem chylde, Fighting Against the Current: Tasing as Deadly Force

Sylvia, a great Blogger from the blog Problem Chylde and one of the 6 founders of the Afrospear Think Tank has written a great post, Fighting Against the Current: Tasing as Deadly Force. I agree with her post and her observation that officers are using tasers as an instrument of sadism rather than a method of non-lethal force to bring someone under control. Sylvia poses a key and critical question at that end of the post. Please go to her website, and give her your comments HERE

AAPP
Publisher
Tasered While Black

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

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 More on TASER's new aiming guidelines

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

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

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Problem chylde, Fighting Against the Current: Tasing as Deadly Force