Americans do you support your police having tasers?
I personally wouldn’t want the police in the UK to have tasers because of what I’ve see from the Ameircan police.
Tasers maybe do have a positive influence in most scenarios, though I still still think seeing what I’ve seen I would still choose for our police to have no tasers.
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64 Answers
better than a barretta sometimes…
By used in Britain I mean taken out as much as it is in America, some police forces here do have tasers.
It’s an effective way of taking down a threatening person.
I think they need to be turned down in power by a little bit though.
I’d trust a British cop with one far more than I’d trust an American cop, though.
I don’t usually engage in criminal activities so it doesn’t directly affect me.
In cases where police directives are ignored, a laser is preferable to a gun.
There are some trigger happy cops, no doubt about it.I don’t think there are more in USA than anywhere else.
The easiest way to avoid being tasered is don’t break the law, people who do risk the consequences.
@rooeytoo
“I don’t usually engage in criminal activities so it doesn’t directly affect me.”
But a lot of people tasered were in my eyes wrongly tasered, and many didn’t break the law.
I wouldn’t want to be tasered for trivial reasons and I hope the same for other people. Tasers can be very good, I’m not against tasers but I don’t like how they’re used in America.
I don’t like it because a lot of them definitely misuse the tasers. However, living in a country where guns are easily accessible, what else can they do? Cops also carry guns. Again, don’t like the idea… But as things stand now, there’s nothing that can be done about it.
@DrasticDreamer
I would like them to be trained more about when they should take the taser out, that may help a llittle.
@allansmithee – They were wrongly tasered in your eyes. That is a relevant phrase. Unless you were there, how do you know the level of life endangerment
And also better to be tasered than shot.
I can’t get into this most cops are irresponsible thing, I think the opposite is true, but the news isn’t exciting enough if you report the cop who helps the old lady across the street or the kid out of the tree. So instead you get the story of the cop who goes nuts.
@rooeytoo
“They were wrongly tasered in your eyes. That is a relevant phrase. Unless you were there, how do you know the level of life endangerment”
Video footage.
Police with tasers, please no. Let’s take away the gun and cuffs too. I’m 100 percent for law enforcement and want them to have everything they might need to stop a criminal – tasers included.
They need to be trained more about the danger of tasers, also each use should have to be documented and justified by the policeman in question and misuse should be punished severely. This should also go for the pistols they use. This would decrease the amount of inappropriate uses, injured/killed innocents, resulting lawsuits and thus costs.
@Steven0512
“Police with tasers, please no. Let’s take away the gun and cuffs too. I’m 100 percent for law enforcement and want them to have everything they might need to stop a criminal – tasers included.”
Of course because the police in the UK excluding the very small number who do, can’t do their jobs without a taser?
Look I don’t know why you went to extremes, but your police overuse them.
@Steven0512
And if they say they need automatic grenade launchers, tanks and gunships, let’s give them these as well, right?
I take it none of you have ever been in law enforcement or have family members that are?? Why is it that people defend criminals before people that risk there lives every day for us? Put yourself in the officers shoes, do you want a taser?
@Steven0512
Sorry to say your wrong, my dad is. (As if that changes any of my point, no)
@allansmithee – You really think you get the actual feel of and total veracity of a situation by watching edited video footage on the telly?
I also would want to know the absolute statistics on how many “innocent” people are tasered. If they were not drunk or acting threatening in one way or another, they probably would not be at any risk.
The whole idea of tasers is so grenade launchers and tanks are not needed, although in a lot of situations they would probably come in handy.
If you’re about to be tazed, the secret password is: “Don’t Taze Me Bro!”
@Steven0512
I would want to be prevented from using my taser/gun whenever I feel like it.
I would want to be encouraged, forced to use my assets responsibly, to prevent me from making mistakes that I would later regret. This is only effective with strong regulations and restrictions.
@rooeytoo
“You really think you get the actual feel of and total veracity of a situation by watching edited video footage on the telly?”
Almost all of them are video clips taken by a someone there and unedited, though it could be missing something before or after filming, I would have to show you every video and then we may still disagrees on should they have used the taser.
http://digg.com/search/page2?s=taser
Try this.
Well you have to arm the police with a weapon. and if they have a taser, most officers would use it while defending themselves before the gun, and since the taser obviously inflicts less physical damage while still defending the officer, its safer for everyone involved.. I think anyways.
I’d rather have them equipped with other less-dangerous non-lethal tools, such as immobilizing foam or super silly-string or nets or something.
No, not at all. I’d rather have them use the netgun
It’s far less lethal and more hilarious. Plus they’ll never see it coming.
No, they should only be allowed to use rubber bands.
@Garebo Don’t rubber band me bro!
Seriously shit hurts when you get hit in the eye
My step father was a policeman, and as a family we thanked goodness he had a gun. Unless you know what’s happening first hand don’t judge! An example…my step dad and his partner went to a disturbance, nothing new or anything to be worried with. Right, the wife comes running out with a knife (butcher knife) and stabs my step fathers partner in the cheek and it comes out the bottom of his chin. My step dad did not shoot her, he tased her. His partner survived, but like I said you never know the whole story or what’s happening behind the scenes!
Or at least water guns
Mischievous Cop: “Haha, take that minority! I’m squirting water all over your pants so it gives people the impression that you pissed yourself!”
Not really, but I suppose they have to defend themselves. I’ve just seen so many videos of policemen tasering people for no reason whatsoever. The worst was when the guy tasered an old lady for no reason.
I don’t have as much of a problem with tasers as I do with the way the police use them.
Police use tasers indiscriminantly. If someone’s resisting, they don’t use a move from police training to take them down, they taser them. Some times, a cop has to use it, no question. Many times, cops use them when it is completely unnecessary. That has to stop.
they already have guns. can’t get much worse than that.
i think tasers are a good alternative to the classic billy club. it is much faster, more effective, but still not life threatening. and the taser is definitely better than having to use their gun.
(all cops have to be tasered during their training so that they know that it feels like. that is supposed to prevent over use of the taser… idk if that works, but still)
@Ansible1 Is that the secret password to getting tased a second time?
I agree with the heretic, it’s is the person using them I worry about. And I am sure there are alot that love the slightest opportunity to use it. On the other hand, it can be a valuable tool under the right circumstances.
Tasers are a very effective way of using non lethal force to force criminals to complying. It works like a charm, and doesn’t leave broken bones, or anything too severe.
Using a baton, or attack dog also is non lethal force. But either one of those methods are going to leave some pretty big marks.
If I were a criminal, and a cop was going to use non lethal force to restrain me, I’d rather take a taser over a German shepherd or Baton…. unless I was standing in a pool of water.
@RandomMrdan , standing in a puddle of water wouldn’t make the shock any worse. The Taser uses two wires, with electric potential to one another, but none to ground.
Something no one has mentioned here is that Tasers can be rendered ineffective. They’re really a Rube Goldberg contraption; two thin wires attached to a projectile that has little points on the end to lodge in the skin as the charge is delivered. Even a thick leather coat would stop it, and anyone knowing they would go into a situation where they could be Tasered could take precautions. Wear something conductive, and you can short the thing out. And you also have time to pull your gun while the cop is screwing around with his toy.
I think they’re just a bad idea.
@allansmithee true, but batons also kill people. If used properly the taser is fine, or the person doesn’t have any sort of weird health problems.
@IchtheosaurusRex yeah, I was kind of kidding about the pool of water thing. And I’m sure the cops know the limitations, I don’t think they’d try and use it on a guy who has a thick leather coat on. And have you seen how long it takes for a cop to pull out a taser and shoot it? probably about 3 seconds if you include him warning the individual. If the criminal then looks to be going for a gun, it takes another 1–2 seconds to reach for a gun (not like he’s going to turn around and fiddle with the taser and not watch the criminal).
And yes, I do support American police having tasers. I think they do more good than harm.
To all of you who are referring to all the videos of officers who’ve used the taser “indescriminately” in your opinion, please remember that they’re doing thier job, and while Yes, there is a minority of law enforcement that misuse their power, but please remember that what you’re seeing is a very few people compared to total number of officers in this country, and as someone else noted, you don’t know what was happening before the “suspect” was tazed. (Editing can be quite misleading… ask Michael Moore… oops!)
I have friends and relatives in law enforcement… if you ever begin to consider pulling over someone in a traffic violation “routine” then you’re putting your life at risk. Police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day that they go to work. If a taser can be used in lieu of a gun, in order to neutralize someone in a bad situation, then I am ALL FOR IT!
@christine215
I don’t care if it helps 1000 people for ever 1 person who was tasered for the wrong reasons,
1 person is too many.
I don’t really get why you bothered posting this Sean.
You ask “do you support your police having tasers” but any time anyone says something remotely un-negative about them, you say they’re abused too much. It seems like you weren’t looking for any opinions anyway.
@allansmithee I guess we should just do away with cops…yeah that will make sure no one ever gets mis-treated ever…
Or better yet, lets do away with any military, there are far too many civilian casualties and collateral damage to wage wars.
We should actually shut down hospitals because of malpractice and people who die there who shouldn’t have died either.
Shit happens dude, the good out weights the bad, deal with it.
@RandomMrdan
I do want to do away with any military but not the police I just don’t want them to have any protection, guns, tasers.
@Sarcasm
But they do abuse the power too much.
@allansmithee you don’t want the police to have anything to defend themselves against criminals, or take control of a situation if needed? Might as well be a civilian just wandering around playing cop.
@RandomMrdan
I’d like them to have handcuffs, batons as they don’t kill and they will have larger numbers.
As this is close to what we have already, no police officer in my local police station can use a gun, I’m not sure about taser but I’ll guess they can’t.
You can’t really handcuff or baton someone who’s 20 feet away and hostile.
@Sarcasm
My local police force do fine without them, and most of the police in the UK do fine without them.
@Sarcasm
I’m not anti tasers, just anti how they’re used.
So what happens once a criminal decides to use a gun? You’re suppose to go up to this person and handcuff them then?
@RandomMrdan I suppose in @allansmithee‘s world, using the phrase: “Freeze, get down on the ground now!” works all the time 100% of the time.
@RandomMrdan
Use a non violent weapon.
Most officers in the UK don’t have guns and they’re good at avoiding getting shot.
@allansmithee “Use of non violent weapon.” isn’t that a bit of an oxy moron?
what you’re describing is like saying your going to show up to a gun fight with a knife…it just isn’t going to work, once the cop gets there, what is he going to do? He is being shot at, and only has a baton, and handcuffs. Maybe armed gunmen is really uncommon in the UK, but here in the United States, if you’re going to rob anyone, you’re going to be armed.
@allansmithee My son just lost a friend because he was beaten to death, none of the three guys who beat him even had a weapon… the used their fists until he was on the ground then stomped him to death… a baton is NOT a non-violent weapon, you can cave someone’s skull in with a baton, just as sure as you can with a fist and a boot.
a taser (generally) will not KILL someone, also many police forces that use them, have as part of their training that the officers themselves get tazed so that they know exactly what the experience is.
@christine215
well apparently some officers didn’t get tazered enough.
@ragingloli or they did, and now they are taking out on people? haha
that may be
but in that case they should be removed from their position
maybe to a nice desk
Maybe if they made it to where…each time an officer used the taser on someone, they had to later have it done to them? Haha, seems kind of extreme, but I bet they would try hard not to use the taser.
Or as i proposed earlier, have them write a lengthy written justification for each use of the taser/gun, with unjustified use punished harshly.
If anything cops hate, it is paperwork and shortening of their donut rations.
I watched that video and I just wonder how you felt it should have been handled. It appears they the cops tried to remove him peacefully and he resisted, was swatting at them and giving them obscene gestures. He was not a little man, would it have been better had 3 cops jumped him and wrestled him to the ground to get the cuffs on and then get a couple more to help carry him out. It did appear the one cop told the one doing the tasering to stop.
I think cops have rough jobs. Had the guy done as requested nothing would have happened to him. Had he not been publicly drunk and presumably bothering other people nothing would have happened to him. The first comment below the vid said it was better than being pepper sprayed or hit with the baton.
The man was wrong in his behavior, he put himself in that position, why isn’t he the bad guy?
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