10Th Death By Police Taser.

[Gromit]

// Eye-witness Lee Wilkie, 25, who lives nearby on Mount Road, said: "Three Transit vans came storming up to the house then they bashed his door down and you could hear all sorts of shouting and banging.

"I think he's been Tasered inside and then the ambulance came outside his house. A bit later he came into the street but something happened again and they started giving him CPR in the road.

"He was a good lad, a quiet lad, and he was very well-liked. People around here are just in total shock and really angry as well, why did they have to Taser him?" //

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/jordan-begley-named-man-who-5066332

What are your views on Tasers?

Are Tasers safe?
Are they being properly used?
Are they being over used?
Are they being used as first resort instead of last resort?
Is 10 deaths acceptable?

[Gromit]

Orderlimit

I must have got the 2011 figure here...

// Forces collectively fired Tasers more than 1,500 times in the year ending March 2011, 70 per cent more than the previous year //

http://www.channel4.com/news/taser-firings-the-inside-story


Your figures for 2004-10 are interesting.

South Yorkshire 16 firings
West Yorkshire 213 firings

A bit of a postcode lottery going on how readily your police force uses tasers. WY is nearly twice the size of SY but the figure for firings is nearly x 14.

[Orderlimit]

Thanks. Blimey, up by 70% !!. And whats going on in Northumbria, think they to start Arcing more try and scare people before firing.

[LazyGun]

@ OrderLimit Thanks very much for doing the work and listing the 10 deaths associated with a Taser Discharge, OL - appreciated.

One of the other figures that surprised me, at least initially, was the number of times a taser had been deployed in Northumbria. I was thinking moors and remote villages and wondering why the need to taser the local sheep, but of course their catchment extends across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland etc :)

[Orderlimit]

...think they need to start Arcing (Arced) more to try and scare people before firing.

[Orderlimit]

Ah yes, good point Lazygun, a very active area then (lol at the sheep).

[emmie]

its the problem with looking for this type of information, as they can be misleading, as in the reasons for the deaths of those who died, admittedly as i think was pointed out at the time, why would anyone taser someone who had just doused themselves with petrol.

[whiskeryron]

The problem that I see here is '' some people who died from being tasered had underlying medical conditions ''. Obviously the police do not have time to enquire before tasering if a person has an underlying medical condition therefore to be on the safe side should they be tasering at all ?

WR.

[Sqad]

From my point of view, were I a policeman and despite protocols, being faced with an armed assailant, the fact that he had doused himself with petrol would not deter me from Tassering (sp) him.......OR her.

I would regard the Taser as a weapon of self defense.

[Old_Geezer]

If authorities use a deadly weapon on a citizen it should be only because such an action is the best course of action. As such a taser should only substitute for some other deadly weapon that would have been used instead. My impression is that they are used as if they were a harmless subduer of someone the police wish to control. The death of anyone by the police, who was not looking likely to cause death or serious injury, is unacceptable. I'll look at your link if I get time later.

[emmie]

sqad, perhaps they were trying to stop the bloke from setting himself alight, that obviously failed..

[emmie]

pretty gruesome

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315486/Andrew-Pimlott-burned-death-police-taser-horror-Officers-fired-50-000-volts-man-doused-petrol.html

[TTG]

Not sure if already mentioned but design a taser with adjustable power.

[Sqad]

em...LOL

[Orderlimit]

A bit of further uncorroborated info:

A friend of Mr Bagley's said: "I think he has some problem with his heart."

http://news.sky.com/story/1114286/taser-death-jordan-begley-dies-in-manchester