At some point, someone will have to spend some time and research how many people are being "tazed" to death by cops in situations where potentially lethal force is not called for.
Here's one from yesterday in Minnesota. An "uncooperative motorist", who had been in a traffic accident, was "brought under control" with a tazer.
Troopers responded to a crash about 5 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 694 near Silver Lake Road in New Brighton and used a stun gun to bring the driver under control, according to a Public Safety Department news release.
Allina Medical Transportation spokesman Tim Burke said the man, who was in his 20s, was breathing but unconscious when paramedics arrived at the scene. He was pronounced dead at Unity Hospital in Fridley.
We don't really know what happened, but the five cops who were at the scene are all on administrative leave. Given that this is the State Patrol, that creates quite a whole in the work rotation.
But, this is not what I want from my government. They have five officers on the scene with a 20-something kid who has just been in an accident.
Maybe the kid was in shock? Maybe he was freaked out? Maybe he was having a bad day? But, do we really have to resort to what amounts to a lethal cattle prod in order to retrain and subdue him?
This level of violence and aggressive handling of suspects--and we don't even know that he was a suspect--creates far more problems in our society than it resolves.
As a citizen, I see no good reason why they have to use any form of weapon on a motorist who is upset about a traffic accident. For God sakes, they have his car, license and plate number right in front of them. Let the kid run into the woods if he has to, but why do something so extreme that he ends up dead?