NYPD Looks to Tasers to Avoid Shootings

The New York Police Department intends to begin arming sergeants with Taser stun guns, which shoot a pair of electrodes at an intended target and disburses a disabling electric charge. The expressed purpose of the move is to try to prevent life-ending incidents where police are forced to shoot non-compliant citizens with bullets.

Tasers have been available to NYPD sergeants since 1984, but their bulky design required that the non-lethal weapons be stored in the trunk of police cars, inhibiting their usefulness. Design improvements made the Taser more portable and now sergeants will be carrying them on their hips. Up until now, only the Emergency Services Unit has had ready access to Tasers as a combative tool, because of their training with special weapons. Now, 3,500 patrol sergeants will be wearing them on their belt.

The Tasers will be always placed on the opposite side of a sergeant's hip as his or her pistol, to reduce confusion in the heated moments of a potentially fatal confrontation. Sometimes those types of situations can lead to a level of confusion that "left vs. right" should eliminate.

Tasers can be an effective use of non-lethal law enforcement tactics. As made famous by a privately taped exchange between an obnoxious college student and a Presidential nominee, one can see that whereas a life-endangering gunshot to the head of a persistent gadfly would have been quicker, the drawn-out and repeated Tasering of the young man resulted in a happier resolution for everyone.

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By Dave Hogarty in News on June 8, 2008 9:00 AM

Comments [rss]

sj

Hey controversial tasings are still better for everyone than controversial shootings.

That said, a situation that has escalated to the point where deadly force would be justified is not the appropriate time to use a Taser. A deadly force justification presumes someone is in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury and a Taser doesn't give an officer the certainty that they need to end the threat quickly (i.e. it's useless if the darts don't penetrate the badguy's clothing, or if you miss when you fire the darts).

If someone's coming at you with a blade or pointing a gun at you or someone else, the Taser is not going be the right tool for the job. In those cases the proper tool would be an officer's firearm.

But, if used properly, hopefully the Taser will be another tool to prevent a situation from escalating that far in the first place. The best way it can do that is by basically disabling someone at the first sign of a fight. Badguy takes a swing or resists being placed in handcuffs, that's the perfect application for a Taser as it allows the officers to subdue the guy without having to fight or use a baton. The theory is that would allow for the badguy to be cuffed up quickly and provide less opportunity for injuries on both sides.

jaycjay

"I can't believe Gothamist is reporting this NOW?"

Uh, that's probably because the NYPD just made the announcement YESTERDAY, and... you know, we're in NYC. So is the NYPD. See the connection?

Shinobi Shaw

I can't believe Gothamist is reporting this NOW? THis has been going on for quite sometime all over the country.

Get with it Goth.

JacqueMehoff

I forgot to add the invisible step in which all these prisoners trip on which was the cause of the black eye and bruises.

JacqueMehoff

add in "STOP RESISTING" BBZZZZT

which is why video is always needed to combat these liars.

rtd2101

"Don't tase me bro" indeed

Steven

I could just see now Al Sharpton complaining about tasers on his people.

Dave Hogarty

If the Dept. has any sense, it will extend the circumstances of a firearm discharge (alcohol testing, internal review of the circumstances) to Taserings. Otherwise, I foresee a hell of a lot of "You're not cooperating--[BZZZZT]".

bklynd

Now we'll get lots of controversial taserings of protesters and the like. The taser will not merely replace the gun but add a whole new way NYC cops can fuck up. Kelley has got to accompany this new equipment with very strict instructions on when they are appropriate, and be ready to fire some people for misusing it.

Spirit of 76

Those UF guards were way over the line. You can hear Kerry saying he wanted to answer the question and urging everyone to calm down, including the guards, but they wanted to be big shots.

BTW, you do know that there's a difference between a Taser® and a regular stun gun, which is what the student was hit with?