Tasers didn't work 30 years ago on Rodney King and they didn't work on Tyre Nichols yesterday.

[WelfareQueen]

Can we all agree that after 30 years of well documented TASER FAILURES beginning with Rodney King in 1991 we replace that kids toy with something that works?

The beating of Rodney King: the dynamics of backfire

The beating of Rodney King: the dynamics of backfire, an article by Brian Martin published in Critical Criminology, 2005

www.bmartin.cc

You forgot to include our head moderator.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Apparently not high as a kite. Local news watching the protest, made the point, they didn't even ask him to get out of the car, simply reaching in and dragging out by the collar. The cops were wrong from the word go, at least by their own body cams.

I don't know what that other tool might be. What we need is better training and discipline in the ranks of blue. Memphis is 500 cops short. Of these 5, none over 3 years on the force, and I heard, average age 24. 24 not being the most self controlled age of young men, and they are hired younger than that. Thorough comprehensive training is a must and part of that must include emphasis on not only self-discipline by procedure, but also the absolute duty to step in and stop fellow officers when out of hand, and of course continued close supervision with more senior people on the street, taking a tough view, not only of crime and criminals (and in this case how minor traffic violation stops are handled) but a tough view on the operations, discipline and adherence to Standard Operational Procedures and department policy. The lack of restraint and the brutality was simply horrendous.

In my opinion, there are some people who should never have been hired as police officers because they are not trustworthy and even when they are found to be domestic violence abusers, their union and the system at least in the case of the Los Angeles Police Department, kept that information out of their personnel files. They did so because if there was an official record of offenses of this nature (crimes against people) they would have been required to make them surrender their weapon and their reasoning was "they can't be police officers if they can't carry their weapon. Well duh, they aren't FIT to be police officers if they are engaging in domestic violence against their family members, significant others and/or their children, but to hell with their safety & security.

Police Officers Who Commit Domestic Violence Often Get to Keep Their Guns

 

[MarathonMike]

In my opinion, there are some people who should never have been hired as police officers because they are not trustworthy and even when they are found to be domestic violence abusers, their union and the system at least in the case of the Los Angeles Police Department, kept that information out of their personnel files. They did so because if there was an official record of offenses of this nature (crimes against people) they would have been required to make them surrender their weapon and their reasoning was "they can't be police officers if they can't carry their weapon. Well duh, they aren't FIT to be police officers if they are engaging in domestic violence against their family members, significant others and/or their children, but to hell with their safety & security.

Police Officers Who Commit Domestic Violence Often Get to Keep Their Guns

I agree. However police departments across the country are 20% or more understaffed and are forced to be less selective than they should be. I also believe that there will always be some individuals who have a violent nature that are drawn to the Police force because of the excitement and violence. I don't know how you eliminate that. Which is why I started this thread and continue to advocate for a better non-lethal option for police than the Taser Toy.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I agree. However police departments across the country are 20% or more understaffed and are forced to be less selective than they should be. I also believe that there will always be some individuals who have a violent nature that are drawn to the Police force because of the excitement and violence. I don't know how you eliminate that. Which is why I started this thread and continue to advocate for a better non-lethal option for police than the Taser Toy.

The problem is not their equipment, it's their brain. And there is nothing more dangerous than a person who is vindictive, violent, and/or titillated by the power they have over others who also have state sanctioned powers to LEGALLY violate every aspect of your life, state sanctioned powers to arrest, LEGALLY shoot or kill you and then have state sanctioned immunity.

I have intentionally stayed away from this topic for the most part because it's very depressing and disheartening, but also because some of the work I do involves working with police officers. And while I realize that the majority of them are not this way, a lot of damage can occur when there are even a small number of people of this nature among their ranks as we just saw AGAIN. And they were this way before the defund the police movement resulted in the staffing shortages that currently plague law enforcement.

The best news I've seen in a long time was today when it was stated that the police union condemned and will not back the 5 police officers who beat Tyre Nichols to death.

And just as an aside. The reason we have hate crime laws is because in the past when a Black person was lynched or a cross burned or a church bombed, the act didn't just impact the specific target. The entire Black community was terrorized as a results of these attacks as was intended. It was a tactic used to keep "black folks in their place". This continued killing of Black people by the police does the same thing in that it terrorizes and caused many in the Black communities to lives in fear of the police. The fact that the officers policemen who did this were also Black just adds insult to injury but is based on the same defective mentality that Black lives are expendable.

 

[MarathonMike]

The problem is not their equipment, it's their brain. And there is nothing more dangerous than a person who is vindictive, violent, and/or titillated by the power they have over others who also have state sanctioned powers to LEGALLY violate every aspect of your life, state sanctioned powers to arrest, LEGALLY shoot or kill you and then have state sanctioned immunity.

I have intentionally stayed away from this topic for the most part because it's very depressing and disheartening, but also because some of the work I do involves working with police officers. And while I realize that the majority of them are not this way, a lot of damage can occur when there are even a small number of people of this nature among their ranks as we just saw AGAIN. And they were this way before the defund the police movement resulted in the staffing shortages that currently plague law enforcement.

The best news I've seen in a long time was today when it was stated that the police union condemned and will not back the 5 police officers who beat Tyre Nichols to death.

And just as an aside. The reason we have hate crime laws is because in the past when a Black person was lynched or a cross burned or a church bombed, the act didn't just impact the specific target. The entire Black community was terrorized as a results of these attacks as was intended. It was a tactic used to keep "black folks in their place". This continued killing of Black people by the police does the same thing in that it terrorizes and caused many in the Black communities to lives in fear of the police. The fact that the officers policemen who did this were also Black just adds insult to injury but is based on the same defective mentality that Black lives are expendable.

Again, I agree with you that there are some cops that have something in their brain that triggers them to unnecessary violence. What you are advocating for is the ideal solution of insuring that through a more careful selection process and more rigorous training you will end the senseless killing. I am saying that will never happen. You can't train a violent temper out of a person. Police departments are already understaffed all across the country, they will not be receptive to more stringent hiring requirements. That's just the reality, every city needs more cops. Let's give these cops a better, more effective non-lethal option than a taser. That will stop more of these tragedies from occurring. Will it stop them all? Of cours not. I'm saying let's try to make the situation better.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

You can't train a violent temper out of a person.

Where have you ever seen me advocate for more training as a solution to unnecessary and unlawful police brutality? I know better but I am curious as to why you felt the need to try to school me of something that I probably have more experience in than yourself.

Police departments are already understaffed all across the country, they will not be receptive to more stringent hiring requirements. That's just the reality, every city needs more cops.

These are just excuses and no, every city does not NEED more cops. What they need is more effective policing, not more way to be brutal and have that brutality sanctioned.

Did you know that it's only been within the last 7 years or so that statistics have started being kept on police encounters that end with the death of the civilian? Even though these agencies were established more than 200 years ago and first saw life as slave patrols:

The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the "Slave Patrol." The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror and squash slave uprisings with the capacity to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners. Tactics included the use of excessive force to control and produce desired slave behavior.​

​

"I [patroller's name], do swear, that I will as searcher for guns, swords, and other weapons among the slaves in my district, faithfully, and as privately as I can, discharge the trust reposed in me as the law directs, to the best of my power. So help me, God."​

North Carolina Slave Patrol Oath
​

Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, slave patrols were replaced by militia-style groups who were empowered to control and deny access to equal rights to freed slaves. They relentlessly and systematically enforced Black Codes, strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.​

Let's give these cops a better, more effective non-lethal option than a taser. That will stop more of these tragedies from occurring.

Why do you think that the police should or that it is necessary for them to be antagonistic, aggressive and violent towards people whose only "offense" may have been having a brake light out? Or they didn't signal properly, or their registration has expired, or any of a million innocuous offenses for which people, Black men particularly, have lost their lives?

Why do they feel the need and that they have the right to yell, curse and scream at people who aren't complying with them quickly enough? That kind of behavior just increases the chances that due to nervousness and/or confusion in trying to comply with the officers commands that the person inadvertently makes the situation worse for themself. Hell the policeman who shot and killed Philandro Castile apparently "forgot" that he had just asked him for his license & registration because when Castile immediately began complying by reaching to retrieve what he was asked for from his glove box, the policeman "claims" that he "thought" Castile was reaching for his lawfully carried concealed weapon and in a panic shot Castile, killing him.

Daunte Wright was shot and killed when a policewoman is alleged to have "accidentally" pulled her firearm instead of her taser however Wright, just like Castile, was not a wanted felon for whom they had been looking, he was pulled over for expired tags and having an air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror. Why did this policewoman or any of them feel the necessity to get violent with a person who doesn't immediately comply with their commands when they are behaving in a hostile manner towards them for situations that don't warrant such a response.

Let's give these cops a better, more effective non-lethal option than a taser. That will stop more of these tragedies from occurring. Will it stop them all? Of cours not. I'm saying let's try to make the situation better.

How about a law, not a rule, policy or procedure, but a law that says that a police person who is discharged from their job or separates voluntarily from it in order to keep from being fired, due to brutality, violations of the person's civil rights, ethical or avarice issues or issues of violence against vulnerable individuals, be they elderly, mentally challenged, minors or of a domestic nature, can NEVER work in law enforcement again, if there is indisputable evidence. They should have the same kind of transparency with this such that it shows up in public records that will prevent another law enforcement agency from hiring them.

I realize this will cause problems for some law enforcement personnel like the Wilmington, North Carolina officers who were caught on their vehicle's video or audio recordings making racist comments about some of the Black people they serve, yet don't consider themselves racists ("nah, I'm not one of those [racists]").

The city of Memphis is already working on something similiar but it needs to be across the board and applicable everywhere in the United States.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Can we all agree that after 30 years of well documented TASER FAILURES beginning with Rodney King in 1991 we replace that kids toy with something that works?

The beating of Rodney King: the dynamics of backfire

The beating of Rodney King: the dynamics of backfire, an article by Brian Martin published in Critical Criminology, 2005

www.bmartin.cc

Like tanks? They work.