THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Tasers are safe!  This is from the Taser manufacturers themselves.  Who else would know more than they about the safety of Tasers:

Independent studies - including an extensive, multi-million
dollar three-year study conducted by the British Associations of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in
consultation with the British Police Scientific Development Branch (PSDB), the British Defense
Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and the British Defence Scientific Advisory Council
Sub-committee on the Medical Implications of Less-lethal Weapons (DOMILL), as well as a U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD) study involving approximately 20 medical and research doctors
from a dozen academic, government and private institutions - have reaffirmed the overall safety
and effectiveness of TASER’s life-saving technology. In January 2005, the Pacing and Clinical
Electrophysiology (PACE) Journal published the results of a cardiac safety study of TASER
technology and stated, “There has been no report directly related to its risk of inducing
ventricular fibrillation (VF), although preliminary findings suggest that the likelihood of inducing
VF by neuromuscular incapacitation (NMI) discharge is extremely low. We hypothesized that
the induction of VF would require significantly greater discharge levels than delivered by
electrical NMI devices fielded by law enforcement agencies.”

Seriously, though, is it a secret that police in general are assholes?  Obviously not all of them and I mean the “industry” itself and not necessarily any officers in particular.

As my friend Dennis likes to say, “If you are told to do something by a policeman and you don’t (regardless of whether they are justified or not in telling you what to do) or you doth protest, you are generally in grave danger of getting the crap beat out of you or tasered.”

It is as simple as that.  And that is how most people are injured or killed in confrontations with police officers.

That, and not being able to speak the same language. 

Also, it seems that the harm in the Taser is that you fall without being able to stop yourself (risk of hitting your head to the ground), and that the police apply pressure to your neck with their knees, and you suffocate (and again, you have an inability to even move a smidge). 

I don’t think those were part of the million-dollar tests.

I don’t think it is the taser itself that is harmful, it is the police tactics.

Would it be that difficult to compare the number of injuries and deaths in police encounters BEFORE they used tasers to AFTER they used tasers?  I suppose you also have to include police injuries as well, since it is possible that tasers increase the risk of injury to the perp but decrease that to the officer.

This is a little off-topic but I have been thinking about controlled scientific studies a little as I have been going to see a doctor who likes to prescribe some “alternative” type therapies.  I noted to myself that you very rarely see (good) controlled studies testing the effectiveness of alternative therapies and medicines (and all those late night commericial diet pills and penis enlarger pills), and if there are, they are usually conducted by consumer protection groups, and not by the manufacturers or purveyors of the medicines or therapies themselves.  Why is that?

Because they don’t have to!  Only when a drug or a treatment has to be approved by the FDA or other government agency will a company test their product for effectiveness (or safety) correctly.  It does not behoove these companies to test their products for two reasons:  One, it is time consuming and expensive, and two, they will probably find out that their product doesn’t work, over and above a placebo in controlled studies.

So they usually either lie about the product’s effectiveness or “use” some kind of silly anecdotal evidence or testimonials to promote it.  For medical treatments, #1, the placebo effect will “cure” like 15-20% of all patients and I have also heard that for most maladies, 1/3 of them will go away by themselves anyway.  IOW, if you give a group of people any old (worthless) pill or treatment, a large percentage of them will experience positive results.

I don’t doubt that lots of manufacturers, doctors, patients, and purveryors of these things believe they work.  It is easy to be “fooled” into thinking that these things work because, as I said, no matter what, plenty of people will rave about them.

Police departements shouldn’t be compared to alternative medicine;the efficacy of tasers would have to have a rigorous thorough scientific evaluation.Regardless of the instruments that law enforcement uses,none will prevent an occasional injury or death.The reason for tasers in the first place was their much safer success in apprehending criminals,while not increasing the officer’s safety.
Regarding your broadbrush cheapshot at police officers, (err police industry)It’s no longer 2001,but police officers are still heroes.

First of all, nowhere in my post do I “compare police departments to alternative medicine.” That is a bald (or it is “bold”?) faced lie or at least a gross misrepresentation of my post.  I say, “this is a little off-topic” AND “I have been thinking about.” One simply reminded me of the other.

As far as whether tasers are safer than other methods in apprehending or subduing criminals, I agree with you and that WAS MY POINT.  My point was that it was not relevant how many injuries or deaths occur as a result of tasers but how many occur as compared to other methods.

You state that tasters ARE more effective than other methods.  Are there any studies to support that claim?

Of course we can debate who needs to be “subdued or apprehended.” I will claim that from the stories I have read and heard about, many people are apprehended or subdued by the police that shouldn’t necessarily be, such as the Polish guy at the airport.  Just because someone is acting irrational or strange does NOT mean that he or she should be subdued or apprehended by a police officer.

Now…

To say that police officers are “heros” is just as meaningless and “broadbrushed” as my saying that they are “assholes.” At least I added that “not all of them are of course.” You did not.  Are ALL police officers heros, including the corrupt and violent ones?  Apparently during the 60’s and 70’s when Frank Lucas from American Gangster was apprehended, 75% of the NYC police force was fired for being corrupt.  I don’t know if that is true, but if the true number was 25% or 50%…

Regardless of what we elect to call them in general terms, my opinion that many/most police officers think that they can tell people what to do any time they want and if they don’t like it (the people), they (the police) get generally really pissed, stands.  Of course, that is what they think they should be doing and thinking, and that is the way they are trained, so it is not necessarily the “fault” of the officers themselves.

Yes, probably many, if not most, police officers are fine upstanding people doing a difficult, dangerous, and admiral job, yada, yada, yada.  Military people, teachers, doctors, nurses, peace corp volunteers, animal rights workers, firemen, etc., are heroes too.  I guess almost everyone is a hero, but a baseball analyst.

And yes, they are a necessary and valuable commodity in any society.  Does that mean that they cannot stand better training and have more accountability?  No.

Did I take a cheap shot at them?  No.  I didn’t take any shot. I just generalized that I thought they were “assholes.” Obviously that doesn’t mean anything in and of itself, but my basic opinion of police in general still stands.  My basic opinion of politicians and corporate officers is about the same.  Does not mean that I don’t respect, know, love, like, etc., some politicians, police, corporate people, etc.?  No, of course not.  I am and was making generalizations.