In Pennsacola, FL, a 17-year-old is trespassing on a posted construction site (a felony) at 0200 hours. When police try to stop him, he flees.
During the course of the chase, a police officer deploys a TASER, but misses. Soon after, the suspect wrecks his bicycle and falls into the path of a patrol car. The suspect is killed due to the trauma of being hit by the cruiser.
However, the suspect is labeled a victim of police brutality, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference demanded a change in the department’s TASER policy. “If it had not been for the reckless use of the Taser gun, this tragic accident could have been avoided,” said Dexter Wimbish.
Mind you, the TASER never struck the suspect, nor was it even mentioned in the cause of death report issued by the medical examiner. Let’s not forget that had the TASER probes struck home, the chase would have likely ended with no more than some minor abrasions of the suspect falling from the bicycle.
I guess facts have no bearing on the SCLC’s agenda to take TASERs and other tools from police officers.
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I’m from Pensacola, non-cop, and I think the whole situation is a tragedy for everyone involved. Just a tragic, unavoidable accident. Maybe you can help answer a question for me. A hypothetical one, of course. Can you possibly explain why, if a gun happened to be found on the suspect after he was squished, why this information would not be released to the public? I am not implying it should be used as some sort of excuse for the incident or as a kind of proof that the suspect deserved his fate. However, I think it might remind the public of the kind of dangers that police face everyday, and that these situations are a lot more complex than they can imagine? I know that’s asking a lot from the public! I just don’t understand, with all the uproar that is going on here (we’re having marches), why the PD wouldn’t (hypothetically, of course) release that info in an attempt maybe save some face in the public eye? Are they saving it up to make a big splash in court? I don’t understand how something like that would need to be a secret. It makes me wonder how many details ever really get released in these situations.
I think with all the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various Christian groups clammoring for hard facts on the taser…one should be done. And while they are at it hard factual numbers should be posted on how many lives were saved by a taser use instead of a gunshot, stab wound, or knock out and drag out fight.I can not wait until the next big thing comes out for these whack jobs to go on about. Remember how controversial Pepper Spray was???
Wow. based on the information provided, it looks like a straight up witch hunt of the police and Taser. Regrettable that the man died, yes. Preventable, yes. He could not have run from the police, he could not have trespassed, or the police could have a policy of not pursuing fleeing subjects as has been made policy in other areas (there by giving the green light for bad guys to run from police contact).
The Taser, had it been deployed successfully, would have prevented the tragic death by stopping the pursuit early.
The Taser is not the end all be all of tools, but it is one of the better ones we have at our disposal.
All right, I read the article on policeone.com and watched the news video clip. What I gathered from them was this:
1. The Taser was in no way the cause of death; In fact, it does not appear from initial reports that he was even hit by the Taser.
2. The officer used poor judgment in attempting to stop the teenager by the use of the Taser by firing at him from a moving vehicle. We are selected and hired based off of numerous traits, one being the use of common sense. Based on the initial reports, it looks like common sense was not used in this situation.
I hate to report negatively on a fellow officer, but we can not afford to gather the wagons around an officer who makes poor decisions. This may be a fluke and this officer may have a good record of making the right decisions, but we must be honest and forthright with the public when we do wrong.
I hope the best for the officer, his family, and the family of the teenager.
Take my Taser and my other “less lethal” tools..thats fine. I will go back to using my 36″ steel flashlight and my Glock. Funny how the simple things work best.
I am sick and tired of Taser being the focus of malicious claims by defense attorneys and so-called victims. This guy was a victim of his own poor judgment and stupidity. Hindsight is 20-20. Deployment from a a moving squad … whatever. None of us were there, and the probes didn’t even strike the target. The genius fell off his bike. I have deployed a Taser on multiple occasions and have to say there is no better tool in law enforcement right now.
And to Law-Abider. Do some research. There are multiple “hard-fact” reports on Taser by Taser International. The ACLU and the like consistently disregard Taser’s reports, however.
While I think that the taser is a good tool I personally think it is way over used. less than lethal should only be used right under the thresh hold of use of lethal force. I just think that its used at the drop of the hat now by alot of officers that dont want to have to put hands on people.. We could do much better to train our people in useing their brains before pulling a taser.
Chris, I completely agree with you on that. Technology has advanced enough to bring us these great tools to use but there are a lot of officers that automatically resort to them without thinking of other alternatives first. There are instances in which you do have to go to these tools but we all know that they area a case by case basis which is why agencies across the nation have different policies when it comes down to Tasers since there is no set standard.