Free Republic

WEST MICHIGAN — Muskegon County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jeff Blackmer said he wishes the state legislature would holster attempts to allow stun guns under the state’s concealed weapons law. “I think it’s a bad thing,” said Blackmer, who has been a stun gun instructor for the sheriff’s office since 2009. “It’s bad enough to keep kids away from knives and firearms. “People might treat (stun guns) like toys and they’re dangerous. There is an awful lot of power,” he said. Stun guns — commonly referred to as Tasers, a brand name — are not legal in Michigan outside of law...

"Why as a Society are we allowing this to happen around the Nation? To show how mainstream and accepted this has become, watch this video of a Cop (with his partner assisting) who doesn’t like the actions of his Fantasy Football Teammate. Did you laugh? I didn’t either and I plan to contact DirecTV and demand they pull this offensive commercial. What about the Bud Light commercial where a fully equipped SWAT team secures the beer and pizza, but leaves the individual needing help stranded across the hall?"

Father arrested for child abuse for confrontation with 5th graderAn angry dad whose son was having problems with a fifth grader at his Hollywood elementary school decided to take matters into his own hands and pulled a stun gun on the frightened 11-year-old. The incident happened Tuesday afternoon, as classes at Oakridge Elementary at 1507 North 28th Ave. were being dismissed. According to police, the father, 66-year-old Jose Enrique Guerrero, confronted the fifth grader as he left the school campus, pushing him against a fence and threatening him with the stun gun while holding it inches from his face. Guerrero...

If mine were truly a free country, US police wouldn't wield such immense power or employ such aggressive tactics against their own citizenry – a militarisation of our police forces that started with the war on drugs and intensified after 9/11. Consider: can you invent a realistic scenario wherein you shoot a man dead; justify it with a story witnesses contradict; confiscate any surveillance video; claim a "glitch" makes it impossible to show the video to anyone else – all while enjoying the support of state legal apparatus? Police in Las Vegas did that last month, after they shot Erik...

Late one night in October, a 17-year-old on a bike was chased by a police officer in a cruiser. When the boy refused to stop, the officer aimed his Taser out the driver's window and fired. The boy fell off the bike and the cruiser ran over him, killing him.

Janice Wells called the Richland Police Department when she feared a prowler was outside her clapboard house in the rural west Georgia town. The third-grade teacher had phoned for help. But within minutes of an officer coming to her backdoor, she was screaming in pain and begging not to be shocked again with a Taser. With each scream and cry, the officer threatened her with more shocks. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "I did what I had to do to take control of the situation," Smith told the AJC about his decision to repeatedly discharge his Taser. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

El Reno police said they were forced to taser an 86-year-old El Reno woman last week who was threatening to kill herself and threatened officers with a knife. The incident occurred Dec. 22 at the Elizabeth Place Apartments, 1955 S. Shephard, said Police Chief Ken Brown. Brown said the woman's grandson telephoned police asking for help for his grandmother, who he said was threatening to overdose on medication. The chief said when officers arrived, they found the woman lying on a bed. He said when the woman saw the officers she ordered them out of her home and told them...

The BART Police Department will return Tasers to its officers, two months after suspending use of the stun guns to update department policies and retrain officers. "The policy was revised so there's only one way to carry a Taser, versus three," said BART spokesman Linton Johnson. Officers now must carry the stun guns on their "weak" — nondominant — side, or they can choose not to carry one altogether. This has always been an option, but all officers have been trained on how to use them, according to Johnson. The temporary suspension of Tasers went into effect mid-April of this...

Can the same zap that immobilizes a criminal brandishing a weapon be used on a manic moose or a gonzo grizzly? Spurred by the efforts of Fish and Game wildlife technician Larry Lewis of Soldotna, the use of Tasers on large animals is beginning to gain currency among wildlife managers across the U.S. -- and even overseas. "Since we've started this five years ago, it has garnered a lot of interest from other states and management agencies," said Lewis, who recently finished instructing the first group of state Division of Wildlife Conservation staffers on the use of Tasers in limited...

SANFORD, Fla. -- A 7-year-old Sanford boy was hit by a taser prong while police tried to arrest his uncle Tuesday, according to Sanford police. A street crimes officer was chasing Reginald Hadley, who was wanted on several warrants. Hadley ran up to his sister, Antonette Jones’ house where she was sitting with her baby and 7-year-old son, Trenton. Police said the officer shot the taser at Hadley, but one prong hit Trenton in the chest. "He was terrified! Started screaming, ‘Ah ah ah ah!’ I thought he was getting shocked," Jones said. "Ya'll tased my baby, what the hell?"...

<p>SAN DIEGO - A man who U.S. authorities shot with a stun gun at a San Diego border crossing is brain dead but remains on life support, according to a published report.</p> <p>Anastasio Hernandez, 42, has been in a San Diego hospital since he stopped breathing Friday night after struggling with border agents at the San Ysidro port of entry, according to KPBS.</p>

Considering objections from Lisa Nowak's victim, an Orlando judge Monday denied the former astronaut's request to terminate her probation for attacking a fellow military officer over a mutual love interest. According to documents from the Ninth Circuit Court, Nowak was eligible for termination once she reached the halfway mark of her one-year probation period. But the judge instead loosened her sentence to administrative probation, which does not require the Navy captain to report to a probation officer. Florida law says administrative probation is reserved for a defendant who "represents a low risk of harm to the community."

<p>FORT WORTH — The city has offered a record-setting $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who was killed with a Taser during a confrontation with police last year.</p> <p>The City Council is scheduled to vote on the settlement Tuesday.</p>

Police Taser Drunk Fan Who Heckled Tiger Woods At Golf Tournament 9th May 2010 A drunken American who heckled Tiger Woods at a major golf tournament was Tasered by police when he refused to stop. Travis Parmelee yelled abuse at the shamed golfer at the second round of the Players Championship, close to the 11th hole in Sawgrass, Florida. The 36-year-old resisted attempts to calm down and became increasingly belligerent – which led to officers zapping him with a 50,000 volt stun gun. Travis Parmelee is handcuffed and arrested after being Tasered by police for heckling Tiger Woods at the...

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 36-year-old man attending the second round of The Players Championship was subdued by a Taser on Friday. Travis Parmelee, of Jacksonville, was charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence, said St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Dave Messenger. Messenger said course marshals notified officers that Parmelee was yelling at players and being belligerent near the 11th hole. Officers responded and attempted to calm Parmelee down, but they said he became more combative. They tried to take Parmelee into custody, but he resisted and was Tasered once. “He was at the point...

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (WBZ) ―Two people have been arrested in connection with a daylong bomb scare on a Greyhound bus in Portsmouth, N.H. John Smolens of Lewiston, Maine was tasered and charged with resisting arrest after police say he refused to obey orders from the SWAT team during the evacuation Thursday. Calvin Segar of Brooklyn, New York was charged with two counts of obstruction for lying to authorities. Both will be arraigned in Portsmouth Friday afternoon. The bomb scare began Thursday morning when a passenger overheard a man speaking a foreign language on a cell phone, police said. The passenger then...

Valley law enforcement agencies this week modified their Taser policies, saying the devices can no longer be used to force compliance by people who do not pose an immediate threat. The change comes after an April 7 incident in which a Jackson police officer attempted to arrest a man and then used the Taser to stun him when he resisted. Jackson police had stopped Frank Meek because of an alleged license plate violation for which he had already been issued a citation. A video of Meek’s arrest showed officers ordering him out of his car. Meek got out briefly but...

You can see in the video that he is running around being disruptive, but does not appear to be threatening anyone. Excessive force?

<p>The fan, wearing a baseball cap, red T-shirt and khaki shorts, hopped a fence and scurried around the outfield at Citizens Bank Park, eluding two security officers in the bottom of the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals.</p> <p>One officer used a Taser and the fan went down in a heap.</p>

Philadelphia police found a new way to tame an unruly fan at Citizens Bank Park during the Phillies game, they tased him. It happened Monday night at the start of the eighth inning with the Phillies trailing the Cardinals. A teenage fan waving a rally towel jumped the fence and ran out into center field with stadium security and a Philadelphia police officer in pursuit. The police officer then fired a taser at the fan to bring him down