Moratorium on the Police Use of Tasers
It was in the year 1919, when a majority of police forces across North America introduced a futuristic product which has spiked a lot of controversy. The TASER, an electroshock rifle invented by Thomas A. Swift was designed as a means to decapitate excessively aggressive suspects without having to use a traditional firearm (Blair et al 2012). Although the idea of a high tech device that gave police officers an added layer of protection may have seemed like a great idea at the time, all inventions, especially those which put the body into an unnatural state have their flaws, and the TASER is no exception. Therefore, there should be a moratorium on the police use of TASERs.
The number of mortalities in police confrontations has increased consistently with the adoption of the Taser. According to Amnesty International; a non-profit organization that conducts research for the sole purpose of protection human rights (Amnesty 2012), between the years of 2003 and 2008 alone, a staggering 300 people died after having being hit with a stun gun. Those numbers, as high as they may seem already, are only a fraction of the actual deaths that occurred as in some provinces and states such as Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland, some police forces did not make it mandatory for officers to report if they had used their stun gun on anyone (Blair et al 2012). Statistics such as these cause one to wonder if society needs yet another way to harm one another. While the majority of the police officers serving on forces today are brave, noble, individuals and should be honored, they are at the end of day, still humans and sometimes will make unreasonable decisions which lead to the unnecessary deaths of innocent individuals. Police brutality, as taboo a topic as it is, is unfortunately still present on all police forces today. That fact will remain inevitable, but a stun gun adds additional fuel to the fire. Giving police officers the option of a weapon which claims to not cause any
The number of mortalities in police confrontations has increased consistently with the adoption of the Taser. According to Amnesty International; a non-profit organization that conducts research for the sole purpose of protection human rights (Amnesty 2012), between the years of 2003 and 2008 alone, a staggering 300 people died after having being hit with a stun gun. Those numbers, as high as they may seem already, are only a fraction of the actual deaths that occurred as in some provinces and states such as Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland, some police forces did not make it mandatory for officers to report if they had used their stun gun on anyone (Blair et al 2012). Statistics such as these cause one to wonder if society needs yet another way to harm one another. While the majority of the police officers serving on forces today are brave, noble, individuals and should be honored, they are at the end of day, still humans and sometimes will make unreasonable decisions which lead to the unnecessary deaths of innocent individuals. Police brutality, as taboo a topic as it is, is unfortunately still present on all police forces today. That fact will remain inevitable, but a stun gun adds additional fuel to the fire. Giving police officers the option of a weapon which claims to not cause any