Buck Naked Politics

Five Alabama Policemen Fired for Beating Unconscious Man

by Damozel |  At least in Alabama cops actually get fired for this, at least after the conveniently not-mentioned videotaped evidence is finally unearthed.  At least the Police Chief says it was a shameful way for veteran officers to behave. (BBC News)  The BBC reports:

The attack on Anthony Warren took place in January 2008, but police video footage has only just been made public.

It was uncovered in March by prosecutors preparing a case against Warren for assaulting an officer, for which he was later convicted. ...

Meanwhile: Who's Policing the Police?

by Damozel | The following links take you to reports at legal scholar Jonathan Turley's blog.  The sheer number of incidents he reports is disturbing.  Surely just one of these a year ought to be considered too much? In addition to the unnecessary taserings, you have the beatings and shootings.

Another Death by Taser

by Damozel |  Via Digby, yet another tragic tale of death-by-tasering in circumstances in which the death penalty wouldn't have been an option if the offense were prosecuted.

Why aren't people up in arms about this?  You don't have to believe that a tasering is torture to see that there is something wrong with the way they're being used---i.e., in situations where the police would not have been justified in using a weapon of any kind to subdue or control a person. 

In fact, that seems to be the crux of the problem:  they're being encouraged, or allowed, to use tasers to control suspects. 

Jonathan Turley: Two More Questionable Taserings

by Damozel | Legal scholar Jonathan Turley---whose blog is on my personal 'read every day' list---has reported today on two more extremely questionable taserings. (See also: Police Taser a Blind Diabetic Women with Cancer 'to Facilitate Cuffing')

First, he tells of a Missouri boy who had fallen or jumped from an overpass and who was tasered 19 times as he lay there with a broken back.  Here's what the Police Captain said:

Police Taser a Blind Diabetic Women with Cancer 'to Facilitate Cuffing'

by Damozel | Nationally recognized legal scholar Jonathan Turley calls it 'a very problematic rationale.'  I'll say.  The police came to her apartment looking for her son.(WDTN.com) 

Her family said she was yelling at officers because she was scared.

  "She was terrified. She was extremely terrified," said Harris's niece, Dionna. "She was scared because the person identified themselves as a police officer. But she's been robbed before by someone using the same technique."...

"She's blind and they pulled her off her Futon, handcuffed her and tased her because he said she swung at him. She can't see," said Harris's sister Elvita Harris. "I'm very frustrated and upset. Dayton police need to implement a sensitivity program." (WDTN.com)

Here's my favorite bit:

Man Tasered To Death in Vancouver B.C. Airport

Posted by Damozel |  Back in 2000, when airport security was worse than it is now and airlines' treatment of bilked and frustrated customers just about as bad, my husband Don died suddenly.  It was Christmas, my friends were all out town, and I lived hundreds of miles away from my family.  My brother drove to Florida and drove me back up to Carolina for a few days so I could be with my ailing mother before my late husband's funeral. 

When my mother took me to the airport a day before the funeral, we got caught in traffic.  As a result,...

Dept of Guys Called Jon: "Are We Tasering People Enough?" (plus bonus Jon Stewart clip)

posted by Damozel | Our favorite sensible conservative, Jon Swift, has published his take on the tasering incident at the University of Florida: Are We Tasering People Enough? As always, the great Mr. Swift is not troubled by the doubts that assail the rest of us.

I am 100% in favor of tasering obnoxious people, whether they are conservative, liberal or radically moderate. In fact, I don't think we are tasering people enough and that this country would be better off if we had more tasering not less.