Indiana lawsuit stimulates debate on Taser training

[BlueJessamine]

Source: The Indianapolis Star

Suit filed by fired officer who declined shock draws divided reactions

Should a sheriff be able to reassign an officer to a different, less desirable position if the officer refuses to undergo a training exercise?

What if that training exercise required the officer to receive a shock from a Taser?

And what if that officer had a note from his doctor advising against it?

Those are among the provocative questions at the center of a lawsuit filed this week by Ray F. Robert against the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.

And how those questions are answered depends greatly on whom is being asked.

Robert, who spoke with The Indianapolis Star on Wednesday, said he can't fathom being fired for basically taking his doctor's advice.

"I'd been in law enforcement for more than 31 years, and (when I was terminated), it felt like it was all for nothing," Robert, 54, said. "Just because I can't be Tased doesn't mean I can't do my job."

Robert said two doctors -- including a physician chosen by the Sheriff's Department -- advised him against being Tased. He feared the electrical jolt and ensuing muscle spasms could further injure a damaged vertebra and a metal plate in his back.




Read more: http://www.indystar.com/article/20090409/LOCAL01/904090444

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excerpt:

Dalia Hashad, a policy director with human rights watchdog Amnesty International, praised Robert for his refusal and chastised the sheriff's decision.

"It seems they (the Sheriff's Department) lack a strong understanding how dangerous a Taser really is," Hashad said. "Given his medical history and the two doctor's notes, it's obvious he wasn't an appropriate person to be Tased. With that attitude, I'm curious how they're using the weapon on the street. Is there anyone they think shouldn't be Tased?"

Amnesty International is a longtime critic of Taser use. The organization attributes 335 deaths from July 2001 to August 2008 to the device."

And in Texas a Police Chief has been arrested and fired for using a taser on his wife.

He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

Video:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x294328

[snappyturtle]

1. I wish somebody would come out and tell us how much good tasers do.

It seems as though everytime I see one being used is when the ratio of cops to person being tased is four or five to one. Maybe I see only what the MSM is putting out for 'entertainment' purposes. I'm glad the former office in IN is suing and I hope he wins!

[tomm2thumbs]

2. i wish him much money and a great settlement

money talks when it comes to these issues -

[Eric J in MN]

3. I don't think he should have to be tased, but...

...there seems to be a double-standard, that tasing a cop in training can be dangerous, but tasing a random unarmed civilian is completely safe, and if the civilian dies, it's not the fault of the tasing.

It should be illegal for cops to tase an unarmed man.

[Pastiche423]

4. This officer for thirty one years was fired

because he din't want to chance his life by being tased?

That is fucked up!

[crim son]

6. It also suggests the department sincerely believes being tased poses no danger to life or health.

WTF?

[Kevin Cloyd]

5. Reading the Indy Star today the main article was on

the many housing projects that had gone bankrupt, many were in Hamilton County. I'm guessing the Hamilton County budget is going to be cut and the Sheriff is using any excuse he can to cut costs.

I hope the fired officer reams him but good.

From the article: Barnes, whose department is among several in Central Indiana, including Indianapolis police, that require such training. "What happens if you're wrestling with a suspect, and he grabs your Taser (and shoots you)? If you can't perform your duties, you're putting everyone else at risk."

By definition after being Tased you are incapacitated, How the F do you “perform your duties” while you are laying paralyzed on the F’n floor? The fired officer should amend his lawsuit to include that working for a moron is an unnecessary hazard.

Indiana has 92 counties and I’m sure Hamilton is in the top three in terms of income. If there was a ranking based on having redneck law enforcement Hamilton would place in the top three in that category also.

A couple of years ago we went to a Chris Isaacs / Natalie Merchant concert at the Verizon Concert center there (an outdoor venue with a roof over the main seating area). Neither artist seems like they’d draw a rowdy crowd, but there were so many cops there you’d have thought that it was a FOP meeting. Beyond the many many officers in uniform there were as many “under cover” 40-50 year old guys who’d thought that they’d dressed up all hip. Before the concert we were sitting at a table having a drink and I started saying under my breath “five-oh” every time a likely undercover cop walked by and the people that overheard my started doing the same, we laughed so hard it’s a wonder we weren’t busted for having too much fun.