On Tuesday, a man from San Angelo, Texas died after pouring gasoline on himself and then catching fire after being stunned with a police officer’s taser gun. Juan Flores Lopez, 47, was a suicidal man who kept threatening to light himself on fire due to being distraught over his looming divorce. He did have a can of gas and a small lighter in his possession at the time, but police are not sure if it is either of these two tools or the taser stun itself that caused Lopez to burst into flames.
Police started using tasers as a non-lethal weapon in January 2004. Unlike a night stick or gun, it can subdue unruly suspects and criminals without doing serious damage. However, this may not be the case. The human rights group Amnesty International USA has done a study on taser use has counted 250 cases in which people have died after being stunned with a taser. However, they cannot say whether the taser was the actual cause of the these deaths or contributed in any way. Only about 12 deaths have been confirmed in the U.S., and people who are heavy drug users or suffer from heart problems are most at risk to be killed by a stun gun.
There is also the question about whether or not police are appropriately using these weapons as a means for defense rather than for aggression. In Oklahoma City, a homeless woman died after being stunned with a taser even though she was on the ground and in handcuffs. Some experts say that tasers should not be used at all, especially on women. However, police say that tasers save their own lives as well as others because they are substituting tasers for other weapons. Regardless, tasers are still a risky device and should be used with precaution.
For related articles visit
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284572,00.html and
and http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun11/0,4670,TaserDeaths,00.html.
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3 users commented in " Taser Use Becoming Deadly "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackif the “police are not sure if it is either of these two tools or the taser stun itself that caused Lopez to burst into flames.” then why does your headline read, “Taser Use Becoming Deadly”? The Taser has not been shown to be the cause of death; the cause is still under investigation. Your article even states that the victim possessed a lighter. Shame on you for fanning the flames of the unwarranted paranoia which surrounds this wonderful tool called a Taser. Are you in business to report news or perpetuate myths? Tasers have been proven to help save lives and they have NEVER been cited as a principle cause in ANY death. Get your facts straight and then print the facts…IN YOUR HEADLINES!!!
I agree with the comment from Dan Peters. Your comments are worth reading and considering, but your headline is nothing than sensationalism. There is enough contraversy about TASERs already, your post just adds to this paranoia.
What your headline should have been was something like “Police may need more training using new technology” because what you are talking about is not the TASER, it’s how and when it was used. There are many examples of when police shoot suspects (and many times when the suspect is subsequentially killed) because police had no other choices. TASER gives them another choice.
By the way, what “experts” have recommended that TASERs not be use on women? And also, your satement: “Police started using tasers as a non-lethal weapon in January 2004.” is incorrect. TASERs have been marketed as “less-leathal” weapons, not “non-leathal” weapons for quite some time.
Dan and Scott, Tasers has NEVER proven to save lives; get your facts straight, will you?
If you can find any hard evidence then please keep us posted.
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