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Use of alternative weapons by police needs to be studied and utilized extensively
Pocatello police used a Taser to help arrest a suicidal man Sunday, the Idaho State Journal reports. The use of such alternative weapons is in its infancy, but it is a topic which needs to be vastly and deeply explored. The potential benefits of such weapons is great.
What indicators exist that there are great potential benefits to Tasers? One example happened last month. The Idaho Press Tribune reported that a 19-year old Nampa man was shot and killed by Nampa Police after he approached them with what appeared to be a knife, then disobeyed orders to stop. It turns out that the man had a broken piece of glass in his hand. He was a suspect in a domestic violence call made by his girlfriend. The subject is now under investigation, and as you can imagine, the police aren't saying much, other than to state that when the investigation is complete, all parties will see clearly that the officers acted properly. One question that immediately comes to mind is: since the officers had time to see the individual coming at them, why wasn't a stun gun, tear gas, spray, mace, or a Taser used? One can only speculate here, since exact facts are necessary for such an answer. It will be interesting to see what the answer to this question is, when all the details of the completed investigation come out. Witnesses reported that the man was waving the glass over his head as he approached the officers, and there are varying accounts of the incident through several witnesses. Boise Police Chief Michael Masterson was asked about the Nampa Police incident in a recent radio interview. As expected, he could not say much with the facts still under investigation. But Masterson mentioned that most people would be surprised about how much training, research, and constant preparation police departments undertake to respond to such situations -- and how much pin-point accuracy is neccessary, and regularly implemented, when cops deal with life threatening crises. Masterson went on to say that police respond to hundreds such cases every year. Almost all are handled without tragedy. Thus, it is only once in a while when we hear about a rare event such as the police shooting death in Nampa. In Pocatello, the man was taken to the Portneuf Medical Center where he was treated and moved to the psychiatric unit. No death in this incident. While police obviously do their jobs effectively in the overwhelming majority of cases, the Pocatello Police response seems like a better ending to such a story. It appears that the Tasers worked, so we need to talk more about utilizing the vast benefits while mitigating the dangers of such weapons. -- Michael 3 comments from 2 users
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posted by
mbogo
on Mar 11, 2008 at 10:14 AM
This was well thought out Michael. As you probably know, I am an advocate for the inclusion of tasers as an alternative weapon for police work. I don't know the answer to your question about the 19 year old in Nampa and why a taser wasn't used. I do know that not all departments have tasers and that most of those who do require their officers to go through a training course which includes being tased so they understand what is happening to anyone they use the weapon on. Possibly, the officer in Nampa didn't have access to a taser or has not yet been certified to have one available. Currently, my son is a Bannock county deputy . He carries most of the tools of police work on his belt including the H&K .40 handgun. Although his department issues tasers, he hasn't as yet been certified to have one available to him. When ever police have to deal with someone who is threatening deadly force and has the means to carry out that threat, the situation gets pretty dicey. The rule of thumb I was taught is, "The only justification for a police officer to use deadly force is an overwhelming need to stop an individual from what he is doing or is about to do. The need to stop him must be so great that it does not matter if he dies as a result of being stopped". Several years ago, I was given a demonstration of how fast a person with a knife in close proxsimity to me could cover 20 or 30 feet,close the gap and stab me. I made up my mind right then and there that if I was ever faced with that situation, I would give a verbal warning if I could safely do so without endangering myself or any innocent third parties, but the individual would not get any closer than 20 feet from me if he still had the knife in his hand. It was one of the most vivid demonstrations I have ever attended and the decision I made that day is one of the heaviest responsibilities I have ever accepted. posted by
Sam
on Apr 10, 2008 at 03:22 PM
I agree with the logic behind all you said and don't have any answers. The only problem with the use of tasers is the people using them. The problem is that a lot of young officers don't respect the people they are arresting. I have seen guns pulled on people running from a arrest warrent and shots fired. So the problems is how to teach all officers to respect the taser and the people. The bad thing is the only officers in bannock county in the last 20 years or more that have been shot have been shot by other officers.
posted by
mbogo
on Apr 11, 2008 at 08:13 AM
Sam, Your statement about other officers shooting their own people is one of the primary concerns during the training of officers. The basic problem is that we are all human and make mistakes from time to time. In police training we try to use experiences from the most common problems we face and train officers how to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. One of the most common training issues we deal with trying to teach officers to keep their finger out of the trigger well, and off the trigger until a shot must be fired. Most officers do a good job until they get into a high stress situation or what I commonly refer to as a stress fire incident. In this case the stress is so high that some but not all officers, unknowingly place their finger on the trigger because they are so concerned about what is going on that it is a natural ,but not cognitive action. This is one of the primary reasons most police departments require their officers to be issued a double action pistol that requires eight or more pounds of pressure to release the firing pin. I wish I could say that we have removed all chance of accidental shootings in police work, but the only thing I can honestly tell you is these types of mistakes are rare statistically, and through training things are getting even better.
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