Tasers . . .

Taser deaths investigated by police watchdog 

Police restraint tactics are under fresh scrutiny after a third member of the public died following the use of either a Taser stun gun or pepper spray by officers.

Amnesty International said the number of fatalities over the past eight days had reaffirmed its concerns that Tasers were "potentially lethal" weapons.  Read more . . .

 "potentially lethal" weapons . . .

Some doubt 'excited delirium' condition cited in Taser-related deaths 

. . .

You won't find excited delirium listed as a recognized condition or diagnosis by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association or the World Health Organization. Nor is it listed as a validated diagnostic entity in either the International Classification of Diseases or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Medical Disorders.
Some human rights groups say that's because it doesn't exist.

Eric Balaban, senior staff council for the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, calls excited delirium a "catch-all" diagnosis police and forensic pathologists use to whitewash cases of excessive police force, inappropriate restraint or brutality that leads to in-custody deaths.  Read more . . .

What they said . . .

Police Department Tasers a Mentally Ill man 11 times in the span of 4 minutes, resulting in his death

Officer Glen Felton fired his Model X26 Taser at Graham and held the trigger for 13 seconds, attempting to administer a shock of 50,000 volts. Graham fell to the ground but continued to kick violently, the report says. He removed the wired probes and rose to his feet to attack police.

Sgt. Thomas Cossette, who is now a lieutenant, attempted to “drive stun” Graham with his Taser by placing it directly against Graham’s body. Cossette deployed the device 10 times over a span of about four minutes, with shocks lasting between five and 11 seconds, according to the report.  

However, “other than further agitating him it had no noticeable effect” on Graham, the report says.

The report concluded that both Felton and Cossette, who is the chief’s brother, used the devices properly. Although Felton’s shock was long and Cossette’s were frequent, “it is not definitively known” whether there was enough contact through Graham’s clothing to render the shocks, reads the state’s attorney’s report. 

A fourth officer assisted at the scene and then four more came to relieve the first responders, who were treated for various injuries at MidState Medical Center and released.

It took five sets of handcuffs to restrain Graham’s arms and legs. Once that was done his “breathing and pulse were getting shallow,” the report says. 

Emergency personnel attempted CPR and he was taken to MidState, but he could not be resuscitated.  Read more . . .

Maybe if someone trained police that if it doesn't work the first time, shoot, this young man would still be alive.  One assumes, of course, that the police didn't INTEND to kill him.


Helena mother questions taser-related death of son

The mother of a man who died following an altercation with police last week says she's still trying to make sense of what happened that night. 

Lois Mitchell said she called 9-1-1 on the evening of Aug. 14 out of concern for her son, 41-year-old Roger Chandler. Mitchell said she never imagined that her son would end up dead in a Great Falls hospital three days later. 

The exact cause of Chandler's death is still unknown.  Read more . . .

Man dies after Oklahoma City police use Taser to arrest him

A man died early Sunday in Oklahoma City police shortly after officers shot him with a Taser to take him into custody.

Oklahoma City Police Capt. Patrick Stewart dicusses the investigation of man who later died after officers used a Taser to take him into custody Sunday. 

Montaleto McKissick, 37, who was fleeing from police investigating a fight at a nightclub, was taken to OU Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

There's some light reading for you . . .

In Texas schools, a criminal response to misbehavior

By Donna St. George, Published: August 21
SPRING, TEX. — In a small courtroom north of Houston, a fourth-grader walked up to the bench with his mother. Too short to see the judge, he stood on a stool. He was dressed in a polo shirt and dark slacks on a sweltering summer morning.

“Guilty,” the boy’s mother heard him say.

He had been part of a scuffle on a school bus.

In another generation, he might have received only a scolding from the principal or a period of detention. But an array of get-tough policies in U.S. schools in the past two decades has brought many students into contact with police and courts — part of a trend some experts call the criminalization of student discipline.

Now, such practices are under scrutiny nationally. Federal officials want to limit punishments that push students from the classroom to courtroom, and a growing number of state and local leaders are raising similar concerns.  Read more . . .

TSA Guard: “Get used to radiation”

Going through the line that approaches the security check at Seattle airport, I asked a TSA guard lady if I have to go somewhere else if I want to avoid the scanners.  She said, “Just tell them when you get up there.  You might want to get used to radiation because Seattle airport will not have any other options very soon.”  I said, “Get used to radiation?”  She confirmed, “Yes”.  I said, “I don’t know about that.”

We need to end the TSA!