Taser Use Compared to “An Extreme Workout”
In Canada, there is an inquiry into the user of Tasers by the police. In testimony before the Braidwood inquiry, a police officer, Craig Baltzer, compared the impact of a Taser shock to “an extreme workout”:
“…Baltzer, who trains officers on the use of Tasers, said police are taught that multiple Taser shocks can be hazardous.
“It’s a situation to be aware of because you are putting people through an extreme workout,” he explained.”
link: Multiple Taser shocks like “extreme workout,” expert tells Braidwood inquiry
At best, this comparison is disingenuous. It is far more dangerous than extreme exercise. The person using the Taser has no idea whether the person receiving the shock has any pre-existing medical conditions. There is usually no knowledge of whether the person receiving the shock has been using any drugs, whether prescribed or not prescribed.
The use of the Taser is a risk. The notion that the Taser is a non-lethal weapon flies in the face of the growing empirical evidence of deaths associated with Taser use. If a person with a heart condition were to have an “extreme workout”, as characterized by Constable Baltzer, there would be gradual warning signs. The body would alert with signs such as chest pains, faintness, shortness of breath, numbness of the extremities and a variety of other warning indicators. The person would discontinue the exercising. To use Constable Baltzer’s comparison to an “extreme workout”, there is no option to discontinue when shocked. The consequence may be a fatality.
Catherine Forsythe
5 Comments
Geek Eye for the Sloppy Guy - a Beginning | Chris Pirillo
April 22nd, 2009
at 4:36am
[...] Being tasered is like having a great workout?! [...]
BlackWolf
April 22nd, 2009
at 4:51am
Have you ever been tased? No? I have. Most police officers have – it’s part of the training they and people in my profession go through. No – it’s no joke to get tased. What the good constable is trying to say, is that when you are tased, afterwards, it has the same effect on the body as if you had done an extreme workout. You are completely ZAPPED – pardon the pun – and you have NO energy, you feel like hell, and you can barely move. Tasers ARE safe – and let me tell you why: People with heart conditions and so on, generally DO NOT TEND TO BE CRIMINALS. And if they are, they don’t run very far, or fight very hard. Any idiot that does fight with police, deserves to be tased. You think that tasers are dangerous? Well, then why don’t we just take the tasers away, and let the cops go back to doing it the old fashioned way where you shoot the perpetrator with a gun rather than a taser. Last time I checked, a gun is more lethal than a taser. You need to think things through before you speak. Criminals ASK to get tased when they resist arrest, fight with law enforcement. Are you arguing that criminals shouldn’t be tased when they fight or run from the law? Or are you arguing that old people are going to be dying from being tased left and right because of their heart conditions? The biggest danger to anyone being tased: Poorly trained officers who don’t know when to let up on the tasing, OR idiots who are getting tased, NOT STOPPING whatever it is they were doing in the first place that warranted them getting tased.
Nate
April 22nd, 2009
at 8:26am
You’re right. Tasering might be uncomfortable. We should just shoot them instead.
That makes sense…
BW, thanks for the sanity check. We have become so freakin’ politically correct it’s just silly anymore.
Dr. Seuss Fingernails ~ Windows Fanatics
April 23rd, 2009
at 4:05am
[...] Being tasered is like having a great workout?! [...]
Pam Walter
April 23rd, 2009
at 6:56am
I have to believe that being tased is still far less dangerous than being shot.