Conductive electrical device - (Taser is a brand name.)
Few notes I made after doing a some digging about them..... can't be arsed to structure it properly, sorry! But some good information.
Matilda MacAttram, director of Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK
“Tasering patients on locked psychiatric wards raises serious human rights concerns.
“The United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture (CAT) has stated that Taser X26 weapons provoke extreme pain, and constitute a form of torture.
“There is little point in the UK being a signatory to UN treaties like the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, if the protections that they afford are not extended to the most vulnerable in our society. You do not monitor human rights abuses – you stop them,
www.disabilitynewsservice.com/mps-back-a...mental-health-wards/
Killing them Safely – A social awareness film
'Founder - The American Dream – a few guys starting up an idea and building up to selling hundreds of thousands of products
Tasers have a monopoly currently on law enforcement markets
When questioned about people who have died after being tasered the company's stance is that there is no medical evidence to suggest that tasers are responsible for their deaths.
Police found it difficult to obtain data and statistics about tasers. Most of the information was held by Taser International.
Product liability lawyer mentions propaganda campaign about the safety and risk free product before being asked to produce thousands of these products worldwide. Propaganda included 'no effect on cardiac pumping'
Deployed in 100 countries
16,000 agencies
530000 units deployed
75000 saves from injury or death
2500000 human exposures
300 medical studies
Alternatives to Tazers
Weapon that squirts out sticky substance
Lasers that disorientate
Metabolic acidosis causes bodily Ph levels to fall which can cause cardiac problems.
Prolonged or repeated exposure to Tazers carries a greater risk as the levels involved become more significant.
Were the studies carried out thorough enough in their investigations into Tazer exposure? Made no measure of blood physiology during tests and only exposed volounteers to taser bursts of 5sec. Experimented on healthy people with no medical conditions or under influence of drugs.
Sgt Darren Laur approved the use of the taser for his dept based on literature he received from the company – he also had an undisclosed financial arrangement with Taser int.
Agencies relying on medical data provided by the company
Dr Douglas Zipes is one of the world's leading experts in cardiac behaviour concluded that tasers can increase heart rates by up to 4-600 times per minute.
Dr Patrick Tchou had been picked by Taser int to conduct research into the effects of Tazers and cardiac behaviour. He discovered by tests on swine that 'cardiac capture' was possible. By 2006 the papers on the study were published, meaning that from this point on, Taser int were aware that there was some risk.
Safety record revised down to 99.75% - no significant injury. Rising use means 0.25% significant injuries to more people. 1/400.
Braidwood enquiry concluded that Tazers can cause deaths. Taserz int disputes the claims.
Tazer int changed target area away from chests.
Problems:
Poor research leading to safety failures
Culture of capitalism. American dream. Make lots of money and you are a success. Tom Smith left Taser Int in 2013 he made $40million in company shares alone. Taser expected to generate $176m in 2015, although this extends to other Taser products such as Officer cameras.
Commerce is able to licence the products based on its own non scientific self referencing and ultimately self serving product information.
Monopoly. Patents industry.
Creation of a weapon which can be used by perpetrtors rather than law enforcement.
'We're protecting the future and we're protecting lives' – is this logical? Dr Spock – 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'. We're not Vulcans.
Problems swept under the rug for profit motivation – deaths have seen decrease in deployment in Countries such as British Columbia. There was no subsequent rise in injury or officer arrests. Other agencies in USA have also reported zero change in these statistics when Tasers have been removed from police armoury. Taser still claim that an officer is able to arrest a suspect when they are at risk of violence every 4 minutes.
Chain of command in conjunction with conflicts of interest
Never looked at by any electrical standards body
Weapon deployed on children and mentally ill
Police using weapons as a default method of subduing individuals
Over zealous use by law enforcement for petty crimes
Cuts in services leading to law enforcement being involved in medical and psychiatric settings.