TASE DAYS

By Dave Buhlman

"Don't tase me, bro", screamed the student who was being dragged out of that Kerry speech last month. As it turns out he was looking for some publicity in this show he set up, and tase him they did. Ouch! He survived. Tasers were supposed to be used by police in lieu of the deadly force of a firearm, but lately it seems as though it's used for ease of capture when a little trained muscle would do the job.

There was another tasing incident at Vancouver Airport where the recipient of the taser from Vancouver police did not survive. This Polish fellow was exercised over something real or imagined and two airport security guys were keeping an eye on him. They called in the real police, those trained to handle incidents such as this, and a lot more. Four male officers, who all looked to be in good shape, approached this guy, who had his back to a glass separator. After a minute or two, one of them hit him with the taser, the guy collapsed, and died on the spot.

I have top-level respect for police officers and in no way am I just tossing that out. They perform feats of bravery that would make many men cower in fear. And even in their slow times, their presence creates a significant deterrent to the activities of the criminal element. But I wonder why four trained officers could not take down an unarmed man who, although agitated, presented no apparent immediate threat. I believe that, as part of their training, police officers learn to handle people, with various holds and pressure points, etc., so it seems they could have easily subdued this guy. Instead they tased him and he died. Before tasers, police seemed to able to do these take downs rather easily, as easily as we did as completely untrained teenagers when dealing with other untrained, unarmed teenagers in various situations.

I suppose tasing is a lot easier than getting the hands on a guy, getting him to the ground and handcuffing him, even for four trained officers. There have been hundreds of tasing incidents in recent months, some of which resulted in death. Of course, it's not possible for police officers to know who will die when they tase them, but when someone does die from a tasing, a death penalty has been administered by government agents on the spot, even if unwttingly.

If tasing has become, or will soon become, the default position for police officers in non life-threatening situations, in lieu of wrestling to the ground, then we might have to consider outlawing tasers, or at least clearly defining when they can be used. On-the-spot executions are not the American way.

Dave Buhlman is a former two-term New Hampshire State Representative, published author, and dedicated supporter of our Constitutional Republic.