More tasers for everyone!
by digby
You all will recall the Sand Francisco transit officer who “accidentally” executed a citizen when he allegedly grabbed his gun instead of his taser, right? Well, evidently, the transit authority has decided the problem is that there just aren’t enough tasers around:
The issue of officers’ training and familiarity with Tasers was raised by lawyers for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last year for fatally shooting unarmed passenger Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale station in Oakland on Jan. 1, 2009. Mehserle admitted that he shot and killed Grant after responding to a report of a fight on a train but claimed that he had meant to use his Taser.
Mehserle’s lawyers said Mehserle hadn’t been properly trained to use a Taser. They said that since Mehserle didn’t have his own Taser — the one he was carrying was borrowed — he wasn’t very familiar the stun guns.
BART staff members stated in their report that Tasers “are an important less-lethal-force option that officers can use when lethal force is not required.” BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the transit agency will get the new Tasers before the current fiscal year ends on June 30.
Johnson said BART previously had a voluntary policy under which officers could choose whether to carry Tasers, but now all officers will be required to carry Tasers once they get proper training on the devices.
No word on whether or not they will be trained not to use guns or tasers on people who are handcuffed and in custody as Mehserle’s victim was. Somehow, I have a feeling that’s not going to be addressed. Tasers, after all, are harmless devices that don’t leave any marks so how could there be anything wrong with using them whenever a police officer wants to?
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