Typical Day In Taserland
by digby
A 71-year-old man who was tased by police in September was found guilty and fined on multiple misdemeanor counts Friday, after a trial that raised the issue of widespread police use of Tasers in the city.During trial testimony in the case, one Waveland officer refused to say how many times he has shot people with an electronic weapon, which sends 50,000 volts through the body. Another estimated he has tased suspects at least 50 times.[…]
Parker drove his Ford F-250 pickup through the light to turn left, passing about two vehicle lengths from Waveland officer Clay Necaise, who was stopped in the westbound lane in his police cruiser. Necaise deemed the turn illegal and pulled Parker over into a parking lot off U.S. 90.That began a chain of actions that ended with Parker being subdued by three police officers and shot in the back with a Taser. His trial stemming from the Sept. 2 incident was held in Waveland Municipal Court on Thursday and concluded with a Friday guilty finding by Judge Frank Wittmann.[…]
Parker eventually was handcuffed and then, while in cuffs, was shot by Necaise with a Taser in the back. The device malfunctioned the first time and had to be used again to complete the electronic circuit, officers said.Parker then went down, suffering abrasions to his knees and skin injuries from the handcuffs on his arms and wrists.”We assisted him to the ground with the Taser applied to him,” Barber said.[…]
Necaise, who said he has been a Waveland Police officer since February, refused to say how many times he had used his Taser. “I cannot testify to that,” he repeatedly responded to questions from Moak.Eventually, he did answer he had used the Taser on people on “less than 100” occasions.Barber, who said he has been a Waveland police officer for 23 months, testified he had used a Taser “multiple times,” perhaps as many as 50 occasions.[…]
Waveland officers testified during the Parker trial their formal training with Tasers consists of a one-afternoon course taught by another department member. The training requires officers to be shot by Tasers themselves.Following the incident, Parker was treated by emergency medical personnel but declined a hospital visit. After being allowed to rise from the ground in the parking lot, “he said he was going to be a gentleman,” Necaise said.
That man will know better than to do anything but smartly salute and do exactly what he is told by a man in uniform no matter what in the future. And that’s the way it should be in the land of the free. Don’t meet their eyes, don’t say a word, just comply meekly, unless you want to be shot with 50,000 volts while in handcuffs and “be assisted to the ground” writhing in agony.
The police have a perfect right to do this with impunity whenever they choose. It’s true that some people die from tasers but you shouldn’t have anything to worry about if you don’t give the officer a reason to zap you. Of course, he could also zap you for no reason at all and there would be nothing you could do about it because courts do not hold them culpable even if it is an egregious misuse of police power.
Just a word to the wise.
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