The Police Philosophy that Underlies Tasers

What sadistic worldview justifies the use of tasers for pain compliance, even when they can result in the sort of agonizing death that Robert Dziekanski suffered? Here is a few snippets of that worldview, from the Blue Line Forums (h/t):

“Why in God’s name should a copper get hurt just to avoid tasering or OCing a subject that it violent and out of control?”

“Today we have use of force tools that allow us to effect our purpose without getting a “bloody nose”. Getting hurt isn’t part of my job.”

“I don’t go to work to become a punching bag, and weapons and tools are available to me so I go home. These guys are cops who are no different. At the end of the day it’s ME who goes home, if some jerk-off who tried hurting me gets hurt or killed in the process, that’s just too damn bad.”

These sorts of statements make it difficult indeed to believe the police line that tasers save lives by giving cops the option of not using their guns. So too do stories that describe how RCMP officers shot a handcuffed woman twice with a taser in order to convince her to move into a cell; how a lawyer was shoved to the ground and shot with a taser because he wouldn’t hand over his camera; and how a seventeen-year-old was tased up to thirteen times because he wouldn’t (couldn’t?) roll over onto his back. Some of the recent commenters at this site might be a-ok with the idea that Canadian police officers are using potentially lethal weapons as a method of pain compliance. That’s fine, but be sure to keep your eyebrows un-arched next time you’re getting a speeding ticket.

Presumably, cops didn’t use their guns as a method of compliance prior to the advent of the taser. Presumably, those four cops would not in the absence of their tasers have shot Robert Dziekanski. Yet Dziekanski is dead. All the more reason to ban the vile things.

Robert Dziekanski’s Last Words

“I want to get out, help me find the way…Police! Police! Can’t you help me?“

The RCMP, an international embarrassment.

A Polish immigrant tasered to death by Canadian police appears to have been asking for their help in a non-violent fashion, when he was tasered.

h/t 

“Robert Dziekanski only wanted some help.”

Unable to read the signs (Latvian and Russian) and unable to find anyone who spoke English, I blundered around through the train station in confusion and cannot deny feeling bewildered. After about 2 hours of this I was beginning to wonder if it had all been a mistake to come. But then I was approached by a boy of about 12 and his father. I owe a debt of gratitude to this young fellow who …recognized that I was in an unpleasant situation. After figuring out where I wanted to go the boy and his father accompanied me to my train…

Would it have been so hard for the RCMP to do something similar?

Read the whole thing.

Tasers: Instruments of Affirmative Action?

*

One wonders if tasers are growing in popularity because they level the playing field between officers of different physical capabilities, important in a world of affirmative action.

57% less compliance than last year!

Fascinating!:

B.C. police use of Tasers up 57% in past two years

[Edited because I didn't really like it] 

God Bless Newfoundland

“The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has suspended its use of Tasers, following a fatal incident at Vancouver’s airport.”

The first step to banning tasers in Canada

Day orders taser review

Now to wait and see what the review consists of, and how sharp are its teeth. And how many representatives from police unions and the shadowy American taser corporations are invited to give “input” (Hey, maybe we can hear from more industry-sponsored experts on how tasers are “completely harmless”!).

Meanwhile, Stephane Dion lends his weighty intellect to the cause:

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said he hadn’t seen the video, but [nevertheless] wants the Mounties to review their use of the weapon…

Mr. Dion asked other Liberals at a news conference if they’d seen the video.

“I didn’t. Did you see it, Keith?” said Mr. Dion, turning to Victoria-area MP Keith Martin.

“No,” Martin replied.

The Death of Robert Dziekanski

If you are like me, you will be sick. Robert Dziekanski spent his last moments in agony, courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. No wonder they attempted to suppress this tape.

Less than ten seconds after walking up to the man, he was tased. The lesson is therefore that four RCMP officers considered themselves unable to subdue a single man without resorting to tasing him. One can be heard saying, “Got your taser ready?” as they walked into the room, before even seeing the man or assessing the situation. If you can think of a shorter way to write an abdication of an RCMP officer’s duty, I’d like to see it.

The situation is sickening. Dziekanski didn’t speak English. He’d been held as a prisoner for ten hours. The ridiculous security guards repeated, “He only speaks Russian,” constantly. In fact, a woman had asked Dziekanski if he spoke Russian and he shook his head “no.” Perhaps security guards at Vancouver International Airport should be given training on what shaking one’s head in a horizontal direction generally indicates.

Enough. Canada does not and has never needed these vile instruments, whatever excuses Canada’s assorted police unions are currently patronizing us with. It’s within the authority of the federal government to ban their use. Let Stockwell Day watch this video, hold his lunch down, and then do so.

AND: Considering that Canadian police have murdered a Polish citizen, why is the government of Poland not now raising hell?

AND: Robert Dziekanski, meet Ian Bush.

AND:

Look at it this way: if the same cops had approached the guy and immediately started kicking the shit out of him, 3 on 1, it would be considered unacceptably savage. A taser can (obviously) be more deadly than a shitkicking, but because it’s small and quick, somehow it gets lost that this is exactly what they’re doing when they employ that kind of force.

AND the worst of all:

The video is hard to watch. It has four brawny men going up to a clearly petrified man who’s suffering an anxiety attack. He even seems to welcome them by saying Polizei, Polizei - perhaps mistakenly believing that they are coming to his help. They zap him twice and sit on his neck.

Major-General Michael Jeffrey on Constitutional Order

Fanciful idealists often take for grant how exceptional a just liberal democratic regime can be. The present Governor-General of Australia, careered in the Australian army, offers some interesting insight into defending it in Malaysia. He also comments on why republicanism, in Australia, should not be taken lightly.

In 1999, Australians voted “no” in a referendum for a republic system for their country.

“We’ve got a very stable system of government. There has been no coup or civil war, in part because of the constitutional linkage between the Crown, the Governor-General and the Government of the day.

“This has given Australia great stability,” he concludes.

Harper Irks China, Again

I have the highest regard for Harper’s brave and principled foreign policy. Starting with his outspoken response to the attacks on Israel out of southern Lebanon, and his previous refusals to butter up to China the way his Liberal predecessors, at Maurice Strong’s urging (see also, this and this and, better yet, this), always seemed to enjoy.

The West should be very wary of trading with China to the extent that it presently is, be it a tyrannical and morally bankrupt regime, although some significant trade is necessary to leverage our moral authority and hope to influence them in the long term. As a point of national interest, India is a much more logical strategic ally than China, although China has certainly helped reigned in the North Koreans.

In the mean time, those Liberal trade missions to China should not have been in vain. It’s nice to see Harper, rather than more trade missions, cashing in on Canada’s moral leverage to prod Chinese leaders along.

Now, if only he can say something about Darfur and China’s less than agreeable complicity. See here as well.

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