Another Taser Death

More than 290 people have died since June 2001 after being struck by police Tasers, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

That was in October; we may have already passed the 300-mark by now.

Here's the latest: on Tuesday, Minnesota state troopers tasered 29-year-old Mark Backlund after he'd just accidentally crashed his car. Backlund was "uncooperative" when they arrived, the cops allege. Or (wild guess here) maybe he was just dazed — literally and figuratively shaken up — after having been in a rush-hour highway accident. No matter, the cops fired their tasers, and Backlund, by all accounts a healthy guy, died — "his heart stopped," is all the explanation we're getting so far.

How's that for non-lethal intervention?

While we're on the topic, here's a driver who got pulled over for an alleged traffic violation in rural Utah. There's video; watch it if you haven't already. The motorist wasn't aggressive and the officer couldn't possibly have feared for his own safety, but he tasered the guy anyway. Prior to the cop firing, the driver did seem to be more assertive, and better informed about his legal rights, than most. But that wouldn't piss off a law-enforcement professional, and turn him into a trigger-happy cowboy, would it? Nah.

The victim in the latter case lived to tell the tale, at least.

BONUS: I just learned that the spokesman for Taser International is a gentleman named Steve Tuttle. Tuttle... police brutality... dystopia... ring a bell?

Comments

[Jozef]

With stories like that, it's no wonder that people who have nothing to hide run away from the cops ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_fe_st/odd_fleeing_father ).

[hugo]

We recently had a Taser death here in Jersey County Illinois.
A young teenage boy was having an emotional crisis, an adult friend of the family who was at the scene, asked the officers if he could intervene and was ordered away by the police, who then "tasered" the youth to death.
The fact of the matter is that the cops use these things casually and they are purported to be non-lethal which is not necessarily the case; especially in the hands of some of these arrested maturation cases we call police.
The only good to come of this is that the plaintiff's attorney is getting ready to give the Jerseyville Police a very costly lesson in correct police procedure.

[John]

While I do believe that the "non-lethal" nature of the Taser is being cast into doubt these days, I find it very difficult to drum up any sympathy for the motorist in the linked video. Once a police officer informs you that you are under arrest, you are under arrest. From that point on, the officer is justified in using whatever force is necessary to take you into custody. Refusing to sign the ticket is grounds for arrest. When the motorist attempted to walk away, he was resisting arrest. If the officer involved didn't have a Taser, he would have had to use pepper spray or his baton to take the man into custody. The officer used the fastest and safest (for him) method of making the arrest. Lesson: You fight tickets in court, not on the side of the road.

[Joel]

Another Taser Death? .....actually, another person high on an illegal heart-stopping stimulant - cocaine - who unfortunately died after being tased. Probably would have died if the police had to wrestle with him too. Everytime somebody dies after being Tased we hear this outcry, from much smarter people, who demand we get rid of Tasers only to find out that cocaine or methamphetamine actually caused the death. Unfortunately, cops aren't issued clairvoyance or a tricorder to know if the person they are dealing with is going to die from their heart exploding from drug use......

[joe]

So, Joel and John, are you two in the same precinct?