Murder a Kid, Plant a Gun — Take a Vacation

‘I Have a Black Male Trying to Get Away From Me on a Bicycle’

So said a Pensacola, Florida cop before he tasered the man on the bike, ran him over with his squad car, killing him, and then planted a gun on the body.  (Thanks to Travis Holte).  According to the Tampa Bay media, Florida’s “finest” have killed 57 civilians with taser guns since 2001, leading the nation in that particular category of Death by Government.

‘I Have a Black Male Trying to Get Away From Me on a Bicycle’ « LewRockwell.com Blog.

Thu Jul 15, 9:11 am ET

HAVERHILL, Mass. – Two police officers are facing charges after an off-duty fracas outside a Massachusetts home ended with one officer using a Taser on the other.

Daron Fraser lives in Raymond, N.H., and is a patrolman in Lawrence, Mass. Joshua Wallar, of Methuen, Mass., is a patrolman in Kingston, N.H.

Authorities say Fraser and his pregnant girlfriend were having a dispute late Tuesday night in Haverhill (HAY’-vruhl), when Wallar intervened and subdued Fraser with his department-issued Taser.

Fraser was charged with two assault counts. Wallar was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Both pleaded not guilty.

Wallar’s lawyer says his client believed his intervention was justified. Fraser’s lawyer says the dispute was overblown.

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Information from: Eagle Tribune, www.eagletribune.com

Cop uses Taser on another in Mass. off-duty spat – Yahoo! News.

2 officers out of jobs in wake of repeated Tasering of woman

By Rhonda Cook / The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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.

“All of it’s just unreal to me. I was scared to death,” Wells said in an interview with the AJC. “He kept tasing me and tasing me. My fingernails are still burned. My leg, back and my butt had a long scar on it for days.”

The officer in question is Ryan Smith of the Lumpkin Police Department. Smith was called to back up an officer from the Richland Police Department because the sheriff’s office in the county, Stewart, had no deputies to send.

Smith resigned as a result of the incident. The other officer involved, Tim Murphy of Richland PD, was fired for using pepper spray while trying to arrest Wells.

Wells is considering filing a lawsuit, according to her attorney,.

…

The AJC obtained a copy of the video.

Read entire article here:

• 2 officers out of jobs in wake of repeated Tasering of woman

More News Coverage:

• Stun Gun Video: Two Officers Out After Woman Tased Repeatedly: WRBL - Alison Flowers - A dashboard police camera reveals video of a rural Georgia woman getting zapped repeatedly by a stun gun in late April. …
• Two police officers out after woman reports getting tased: WLTZ – NBC 38 (blog) - ‎Jul 13, 2010‎ – Two police officers are off the force in Richland, Georgia after a woman says she called police to her home, and ended up getting tased. …
• Two Police Officers Off Forces in Stewart County Over Stun Gun Incident: WRBL - Tammy Terry - ‎Jul 13, 2010‎ – Two officers in Stewart County, Georgia are no longer on the force over a stun gun incident. Ryan Smith of the Lumpkin Police Department has …
• Cops Use Taser on 911 Caller: News/Talk 750 WSB - Chris Camp - ‎Jul 13, 2010‎ – RICHLAND, Ga. (AP) Two police are off the force and a rural Georgia teacher …

Lonnie Tinsley of El Reno, Oklahoma made a nearly fatal mistake last December 22 when he went to check on his grandma, Lona Vernon.

Concerned that Lona hadn’t taken her medications, Lonnie called 911 in the expectation that an emergency medical technician would be dispatched to the apartment to evaluate the bedridden 86-year-old woman.

Instead, that call for help was answered by nearly a dozen armed tax-feeders employed by the El Reno Police Department.

Understandably alarmed — and probably more than a little disgusted — by the presence of uninvited armed strangers in her home, Lona ordered them to leave. This directive, issued by a fragile female octogenarian confined to a hospital-style bed and tethered to an oxygen tank, was interpreted as “aggressive” behavior by Officer Thomas Duran, who ordered one of his associates : “Taser her!”

“Don’t taze my granny!” exclaimed Tinsley. According to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Tinsley’s “obstructive” behavior prompted the police to threaten him with their tasers. He was then was assaulted, removed from the room, thrown to the floor, handcuffed, and detained in a police car. At this point, the heroes in blue turned their attention to Lona.

The tactical situation was daunting; at this point, the police had only a 10-1 advantage over a subject who — according to Duran’s official report — had taken an “aggressive posture” in her hospital bed. The sacred imperative of “officer safety” dictated that the subject be thoroughly softened up in order to minimize resistance.

Accordingly, one of the officers approached Lona and “stepped on her oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation,” narrates the complaint, based on Lona’s account. One of the officers then shot her with a taser, but the connection wasn’t solid. A second fired his taser, “striking her to the left of the midline of her upper chest, and applied high voltage, causing burns to her chest, extreme pain,” and unconsciousness. Lona was then handcuffed with sufficient ruthlessness to tear the soft flesh of her forearms, causing her to bleed.

Read the entire article here:

‘Don’t Taze My Granny!’ « LewRockwell.com Blog.

BRUNSWICK — The Glynn County school board, voting 6-1 Tuesday night, rejected a proposal to arm the school system’s 24 police officers with Tasers.

School system Police Chief Ron Lee had requested the non-lethal weapons, saying officers needed them to do their job. The officers already carry .40-caliber semi-automatic pistols and pepper spray while some also have batons.

Board member John Madala, chairman of the board’s Safety and Discipline Committee, who advocated measure was the only one to vote for it.

Opposed were board Chairman Millard Allen, Vice Chairman Ray Snow and members Venus Holmes,  Mike Hulsey, Jerry Mancil and Ruby Robinson. They cited the wishes of their constituents or concern that the school system would be sued if a student died or was severely injured after being tased.

In his motion, Madala asked the board to approve issuing Tasers to school police contingent upon three factors: when money was available to pay for the weapons; when policies governing their use were in place and when the officers underwent proper training to use them.

Read the rest here:  jacksonville.com

Stimulus grants help Maine police fund TASERs

By David Hench
Portland Press-Herald

PORTLAND, Maine — As bleak as the forecast is for municipal spending, acting Police Chief Joseph Loughlin got some good news last week: Economic stimulus money could make possible some equipment purchases that he says will improve officers’ ability to keep the peace.

Portland is due to receive almost $700,000 in U.S. Department of Justice grants to pay for equipment, technology and specialized enforcement, and Loughlin said it couldn’t come at a better time.

”There’s a lot of needs we’ve been forgoing for years. We need to address those things that help us provide public safety and efficient and effective police work on the streets,” he said.

The department’s needs range from fitness equipment and new lockers, to biometric fingerprint storage and analysis systems for the regional forensics lab, he said.

The money might finally enable the department to equip officers with Tasers, the electronic stun devices, Loughlin said.

”I’m looking at Tasers. I think they’re effective tools. I know they are controversial, but enough studies have shown if officers are trained properly, they work,” he said.

Read the rest here…
SOURCE: www.policeone.com/police-products/less-lethal/articles/

Consenting(?) taser use against children in the State of Colorado…

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/35031947001?isVid=1

Deputy resigns after tasing students at career fair

“Purely and simply, the minor can not voluntarily agree to be assaulted so as to prevent criminal charges from being filed,” Legal Analyst Scott Robinson said.

Ken Christian, Information Center Content Manager

LITTLETON, Colo. (NBC) — The Lake County Sheriff’s deputy who resigned after shocking 30 high school students with a Taser at a career fair is now facing several charges, including multiple counts of child abuse.

The Lake County District Attorney’s office is charging former Deputy John Ortega with 11 counts of child abuse resulting in injury, one count of child abuse with no injury and nine counts of reckless endangerment.

“You would certainly hope they would know better,” Lake County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said. “That they would be trained and that they would know a Taser is not a toy. We don’t think Mr. Ortega was doing anything malicious, but it was certainly a bad, bad judgment.”

If he is found guilty on all charges, he could be sentenced to more than 27 years in jail. All the time would be served in the county jail.

Ortega resigned around April 12, following the April 8 incident at Lake County High School.

Ortega told Lake County Sheriff Ed Holte he collected waivers from the students, saying he could shock them. Colorado law says a minor cannot consent to an act of physical or sexual abuse.

Read the rest at the link below…

SOURCE: NBC

www.wcsh6.com/news/watercooler/

State Law Allows Police Acting as Teachers to Taser School Children

By: David Deschesne

Editor/Publisher, Fort Fairfield Journal, May 19, 2010, p. 1

As the School Administrative District (SAD) #20 school board for Fort Fairfield schools considers a proposal to allow Fort Fairfield Police officers to function as teachers in Fort Fairfield schools, fears parents have of Taser use on their children may require more serious thought.

A Taser is a gun-type object that electrocutes its victims with a 50,000 volt electric shock, rendering them temporarily incapacitated and in some cases has caused death. Police across the United States have been abusing their Tasers as if they were nothing more than fancy cattle prods to coerce and intimidate the citizenry they serve.

As cited in last edition of the Fort Fairfield Journal, Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 106 states a teacher is justified to use a “reasonable degree of non-deadly force against any such person who creates a disturbance when and to the extent that the teacher or other entrusted person reasonably believes it necessary to control the disturbing behavior.” That section of law defines “reasonable degree of force” as “the physical force applied to the child which may result in no more than transient discomfort or minor temporary marks.

”Since a Taser, most of the time, only creates a devastating shock, it is classified as “non-deadly” force and does not result in more than transient discomfort or minor temporary marks, thereby making it a justified means of punishment or coercion under Maine Law.

The SAD #20 school board is currently considering a proposal that would place uniformed police officers, armed with loaded handguns and Tasers, in the Elementary, Middle and High School classrooms, functioning as teachers under a grant from the Department of Homeland “Security.” However, Fort Fairfield Police Department policy on Taser use doesn’t address officers functioning as school teachers and how Title 17…

Read more here:

FORT FAIRFIELD JOURNAL.