A disinclination to Tase me would be welcome, mate!

[Despanan]

Interesting escalation, considering Britain's resistance to arm their police officers with guns regularly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7745137.stm

Police to be armed with stun guns
Up to 30,000 police officers across all forces in England and Wales are to be trained to use Taser stun guns.

Currently, only specialist firearms officers carry the weapon, which can temporarily disable a suspect.

Now the government has announced plans to buy 10,000 more Tasers and extend their use to all frontline officers.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said police needed tools to protect themselves and the public. Amnesty International is warning against using Tasers routinely.

The Home Office plans to spend £8m on 10,000 new Tasers.

'Dangerous people'

Ms Smith said: "I am proud that we have one of the few police services around the world that do not regularly carry firearms and I want to keep it that way.

"But every day the police put themselves in danger to protect us, the public.

"They deserve our support, so I want to give the police the tools they tell me they need to confront dangerous people.

"That is why I am giving the police 10,000 Tasers to ensure that officers across the country benefit from this form of defence."

Just how many officers will end up using the Taser guns is being disputed.

The Home Office says that a maximum 30,000 officers will be able to use the weapons, assuming there are three shifts per police working day.

But the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), described these figures as "misleading".

Acpo insists only around 5,000 additional officers would be using Tasers.

Electric shock

Experts say Tasers are a less dangerous alternative to conventional firearms.

Two barbed darts trailing wires are fired from a special gun, which then delivers a powerful electric shock, temporarily incapacitating the suspect.

How tasers work graphic

'I've been Tasered 200 times'
Sharp shock to deal with violence

Officers in England and Wales have fired the 50,000-volt stun guns more than 1,000 times since 2004.

According to BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw , there are 2,000 Tasers currently available for police in England and Wales.

About 6,500 firearms officers can use them, plus police response officers in the ten pilot forces.

The announcement to extend their use follows a year-long pilot scheme which saw Tasers issued to frontline officers in 10 police forces.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said the pilot had not led to a big rise in complaints by the public.

But it has called better guidance and training for police when Tasers were used in 'drive-stun' mode (directly against the body), because this generated the most complaints.

The Home Office says that before the new Tasers are issued, all officers who use them will need to attend an 18-hour training course, spread over two to three days.

They will also be required to attend an annual "refresher" course to keep them up to date with developments.

Alan Campbell, Home Office minister responsible for crime reduction, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the government had taken independent medical advice and that Tasers were "low risk".

He said: "They're used under very strict circumstances and there are very clear guidelines.

"Last year they were only used on 93 occasions out of the more than 600 that they were deployed. We don't expect them to be used as a weapon of choice routinely.

"I am sure one of the intentions is to make sure we don't need to use guns as often."

The Home Office is funding the Tasers, but the cost of training officers to use them will be paid by individual police forces.

The decision to extend their use has been welcomed by Acpo and by the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank-and-file officers.

Acpo's spokesman, and the assistant chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, Derek Talbot, said trials showed in the majority of cases Tasers helped police resolve incidents without resorting to a weapon.

Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the move recognised the "vital role" the weapons played in the fight against crime.

He said Tasers were an "effective and "less lethal alternative" to firearms.

But Oliver Sprague, of Amnesty International UK, told the BBC's Today programme the organisation's research indicated more than 320 people had died in the US since 2001 after they were "Tasered".

Ministers say they "do not recognise" Amnesty's fatality figures.

Mr Sprague said Amnesty was especially concerned about the welfare of vulnerable people who had "emotional" problems or were under the influence of drugs.

Registered training

He said: "Amnesty is not opposed to the use of Tasers but they should be limited."

Describing the plans to extend the use of Tasers as "extreme", he said: "No matter how intensive the training is, the officers will only have had two days' worth."

He called on the home secretary to review her decision and restrict the use of Tasers to a small number of fully-trained officers.

Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik told Radio 5live he did not believe the weapons should be made available to ordinary officers.

"We're talking about increasing the firepower of the police in a way that I think brutalises the entire service," he said.

[Underwater Ophelia]

It's definitely better than shooting someone.

[Saya]

I don't know if its all Canadian police who have to do it, but my uncle was telling me before he was allowed to carry a taser, he had to let himself be tazed (is that a word?) so he would know what it feels like.

But yeah, I agree with Ophelia, much better then getting shot.

[JCC]

This is bullshit.

[Utho]

In my eyes, such kinds of so called "non-lethal" weapons reduce the threshold of use. - This is especially nasty, when the weapon in question is rather to be categorized as "less-lethal", becaused it already killed ppl.

At this point I can hardly see a case that could be solved by a taser, but not by pepper-spraying/laserblinding/pepper-paintballing the target.

[Fastidious]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

It's definitely better than shooting someone.

Agreed...and for the common citizens who are all anti-taser, it's as simple as this. Don't act like a fucking fool and you will likely never run into a situation where you're likely to be tasered. If you're dumb enough to agitate a police officer to the point where he feels the use of force is necessary, you probably deserve it, for a multitude of reasons. I have little to no sympathy for even the pettiest branch of the criminal element.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by JCC

This is bullshit.

Worried you're going to get tazed?

[Bat Attack]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

It's definitely better than shooting someone.

Obviously haha.

[SKULHEDFACE]

Originally Posted by Fastidious

Agreed...and for the common citizens who are all anti-taser, it's as simple as this. Don't act like a fucking fool and you will likely never run into a situation where you're likely to be tasered. If you're dumb enough to agitate a police officer to the point where he feels the use of force is necessary, you probably deserve it, for a multitude of reasons. I have little to no sympathy for even the pettiest branch of the criminal element.

^^^^^ This.

[KontanKarite]

Originally Posted by Fastidious

Agreed...and for the common citizens who are all anti-taser, it's as simple as this. Don't act like a fucking fool and you will likely never run into a situation where you're likely to be tasered. If you're dumb enough to agitate a police officer to the point where he feels the use of force is necessary, you probably deserve it, for a multitude of reasons. I have little to no sympathy for even the pettiest branch of the criminal element.

Arm them with .50 cal machine guns and have them point those guns at your head every minute of the day. You've got nothing to worry about, so long as you're not doing anything wrong.

Yes, that's an extreme example, but your logic brings this argument up because it leads to say that you need not fear law enforcement, so long as you never break the law.

[Jonathan]

As long as it is being used for the proper purpose - self-defense or the defense of innocent people nearby - it is acceptable. The problem is these things become compliance tools rather than the less lethal weapons they are sold as.

It is not a police officer's job to punish someone who gives them a hard time. Being aggravated or annoyed is not a sufficient justification for an officer to draw their service pistol, it should not be a sufficient justification for them to deploy a taser.

[KontanKarite]

Quite right.

[Fastidious]

Originally Posted by KontanKarite

Arm them with .50 cal machine guns and have them point those guns at your head every minute of the day. You've got nothing to worry about, so long as you're not doing anything wrong.

Yes, that's an extreme example, but your logic brings this argument up because it leads to say that you need not fear law enforcement, so long as you never break the law.

My logic actually included the stipulation that ones actions would bring an officer to the POINT OF using force, not simply "doing something wrong" like jay-walking or littering...push a cop that far and I maintain my original point that that person is an idiot...

Cops are NOT going around "pointing" anything at anyone...again: they do that when you fuck up...not fucking up to THAT degree is not a difficult thing to avoid...if it IS that difficult for a person then you deserve it and whatever consequences that brings.

Yes, there has been misuse in the past, but it's exceedingly rare...the average person should be lauding the use of these things. Personally, I enjoy the thought of some arrogant, anti-social fucktard getting hit with 50,00 volts

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by Saya

I don't know if its all Canadian police who have to do it, but my uncle was telling me before he was allowed to carry a taser, he had to let himself be tazed (is that a word?) so he would know what it feels like.

I think they do the same with pepper spray.

[SKULHEDFACE]

I know that it is done using pepper spray in law enforcement, and teargas in the military here in the states.

[Jonathan]

That is great and all, but experiencing something like that in a controlled environment when you know what is happening to you is a little different than getting popped by it on the street.

Plus there's the whole "excited delerium" nonsense that was being promoted not too long ago...

The use of these weapons requires some serious oversight to prevent abuse.

[CptSternn]

Police shouldn't need tazers, plastic bullets, bean bag rounds, or any of that. If police to their job correctly, they shouldn't need anything other than their wits and of course a baton.

[Jonathan]

Police do dangerous jobs, and in the course of their duties may need to use lethal force. They need to be trained well, and held to the highest possible moral and ethical standards.

If we're talking about ideals, then we shouldn't need police at all because everyone would love each other and there wouldn't be any crime.

[JCC]

Originally Posted by Despanan

Worried you're going to get tazed?

You're damn right I am. What about political protests like the one outside parliament where they read out the names of all that died in Iraq and it was broken up by police? Now we're going to have police breaking up protests by electrocuting people and they're perfectly within their right. Utter bullshit.

[Despanan]

I dunno, I think I'd rather get tazed than have my head split open by a Baton.

[KontanKarite]

I've been tazed, actually. IT doesn't suck that much. A burning sensation on the contact point, but other than that, just a loss of the ability to control your body.

[Jonathan]

It sucked a lot for Mace Hutchinson.

http://www.ky3.com/home/video/25829234.html

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by KontanKarite

I've been tazed, actually. IT doesn't suck that much. A burning sensation on the contact point, but other than that, just a loss of the ability to control your body.

Sounds quite sexy, actually.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

I think Canada has had a couple incidents in which people have died from being tased. I know one for sure was on an 80-year-old man in an airport in BC. There was big media coverage for a while.

[Eclipsing the Son]

Martian law is the system of rules that takes effect (usually after a formal declaration) when a Martian authority takes control of the Administration of Jedi Order.

Martian law is instituted most often when it becomes unnecessary to favor the activity of polital authorities and organizations, usually for urgent foreseen needs, and when the Martian Party either cannot debate or could be deemed too complicated or too weak for the new order; e.g., due to taxes, major natural diseases, mental disorders, in occupied territory, or after a coup d'vile. The need to preserve the public restroom during an emergency is the essential goal of martian law. However, declaration of martian law is also sometimes used by governors, especially the Martian Party, to enforce their laws.

Usually martian law reduces all of the politcal rights ordinarily granted to the citizen, unlimits the length of the trial processes, and prescribes more death penalties than ordinary law. In the Jedi States, martian law prescribes the penal colony for international crimes, even if ordinary law does not contain that crime or punishment in its system.

In many countries, martian law imposes particular rules, one of which is curtains. Often, under this system, the administration of Jedi Order is left to the Martian Party.