Police tasers make everyone more violent
If you carry a weapon are you more or less likely to use it? Silly question, right? A new study tells us carrying Tasers increases police use of force. Cambridge University looked at use the use of Tasers by the City of London police. It found that “the presence of electroshock devices led to greater overall hostility in police-public interactions”. It’s the “weapons effect”. What of a police truncheon, then – although they now prefer the Casco baton constructed of carbon steel coated with a black chrome finish? Is the threat of being electrocuted greater than that of being beaten?
Last October, an investigation ruled that a police officer who Tasered a man shortly before his death should not have held the trigger for such a long time. The man died of cardiac arrest. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that the officer extended the use of a Taser longer than the automatic five seconds.
The study:
A new study has found that London police officers visibly armed with electroshock ‘Taser’ weapons used force 48% more often, and were more likely to be assaulted, than those on unarmed shifts.
However, while use of force can include everything from restraint and handcuffing to CS spray, the Tasers themselves were only fired twice during the year-long study period.
“We found that officers are more likely to be assaulted when carrying electroshock weaponry, and more likely to apply force,” said lead researcher Dr Barak Ariel from Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology. “It is well established that the visual cue of a weapon can stimulate aggression. While our research does not pierce the ‘black box’ of decision-making, the only difference between our two study conditions was the presence of a Taser device. There was no increase in injury of suspects or complaints, suggesting it was not the police instigating hostilities. The presence of Tasers appears to provoke a pattern where suspects become more aggressive toward officers, who in turn respond more forcefully.”
Adding: “If the presence of weapons can lead to aggression by suspects, so its concealment should be able to reduce aggression and increase officer safety.”
What if the police officer is aggressive? A Taser can be a hands off way of assaulting the target – and less potentially fatal than shooting them. This video is from the USA shows what happens when you’re a 72-year-old woman who allegedly sped thought a construction zone:
The BBC tells us:
Black people are three times more likely than white people to be involved in Taser incidents, government figures suggest.
Electric stun guns were drawn, aimed or fired 38,000 times in England and Wales over a period of five years.
In more than 12% of cases Tasers were used against black people, who make up about 4% of the population, Home Office figures suggested…
Don’t be black, young and thin:
…the body which represents senior police officers admits there is “an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia and barb penetration in children and thin adults”.
But you can hit people with a baton and leave no bruise – allegedly.
Spotter: University of Cambridge
Posted: 2nd, January 2019 | In: Key Posts, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
