"Don't tase me, bro" cops cleared

[simuvac]

http://www.wftv.com/news/14413428/detail.html

University Of Florida Police Cleared In Use Of Taser On Student

POSTED: 12:10 pm EDT October 24, 2007
UPDATED: 1:49 pm EDT October 24, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- University of Florida police were justified in using a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Sen. John Kerry on campus last month, according to a state investigation released Wednesday.

SLIDESHOW: Student Tasered During Press Conference
RAW VIDEO: Student Shot With Taser During Press Conference
READ: FDLE Report On Tasering Of UF Student (PDF)

Some had questioned the use of force in using the stun gun against student Andrew Meyer, leading to the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A summary of the agency's report was released Wednesday. (PDF: Read Full Report)

"In short, the FDLE determined that our officers acted well within state guidelines," university President Bernie Machen said in a letter to students, faculty and staff.

Two officers who were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation were reinstated Wednesday, Machen said.



Rob Griscti, Meyer's attorney, said he had not yet reviewed the report and had no immediate comment. The journalism major is known for posting practical jokes online on his Web site.

The scuffle between Meyer and police started during the Sept. 17 speech by Kerry when Meyer refused to leave the microphone after his allotted time was up, police said. The videotaped altercation and Meyer's cries of "Don't Tase me bro!" were played frequently on the Internet.

The report says the officers' intent was to escort Meyer from the auditorium, but he broke away and refused to follow the officers' instructions.

"Officers decide not to escalate to hard empty hand strikes, kicks, knees or baton ... (it) would have looked like the officers were beating Meyer into submission," the report said.

The report, which has Meyer's name and that of other students blacked out, said the officers did what was necessary to control the student.

"Our purpose is, and has always been, to ensure a civil and safe environment where the many types of campus activities and open discourse can occur," said Police Chief Linda Stump.

Meyer has been charged by police for resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, but the State Attorney's Office has not yet decided whether to file formal charges.

Spencer Mann, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said the decision may be made some time next week.

[dMole]

Jeebus, shouldn't this have been on the WTF-TV website instead? Have we officially gotten to the point where there is ZERO police accountability in this country (even for low-rent-a-cop university police troglodytes?)

[AuGmENTor]

More and more now, they can do whatever they want to us. Law enforcement is supported, while they decide whether or not to file formal charges against us...

[dMole]

At my alma mater, the university police were running down little old ladies with their police cruisers in marked crosswalks a while back (no shit, it actually happened and killed 2 older ladies).

No charges filed there either....

[AuGmENTor]

Coulda been worse? Yeah, coulda been Kent State..

[dMole]

I meant to type that this was two separate instances that killed 2 separate women- f'n morons!

[simuvac]

Coulda been worse? Yeah, coulda been Kent State..

Right-the-fuck-on.

Seems like even something like Kent State wouldn't bring mass protest these days.

[dMole]

I just reminded myself that this IS Florida we're talking about, Land of the Dangling Chad and the Uncounted Vote, run by the "dumb" "Non-Ivy Leage" Bush for chrissakes (but all I know about Neil is that little Securacom detail) ...

Please tell me other eastern states aren't really this bad, PLEASE! Then again, Cheney's from just up the canyon from my stomping grounds.

[PhilosophyGenius]

LET THE TAZING BEGIN!

[dMole]

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/11/18...ath/index.html

Man dies after police jolt him with stun gun

• Story Highlights
• Man dies after police use Taser device on him while breaking up fight in Maryland
• Another man died in Canada last week after being shot with Taser gun
• Amnesty International blames 150 deaths since 2001 on police stun guns
• Taser International says many deaths involving stun guns have other causes

(CNN) -- A 20-year-old man died Sunday after being shot with a Taser device during a scuffle with a sheriff's deputy in Maryland, a spokeswoman for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office said.

Cpl. Jennifer Bailey said deputies responding to a report of a fight in progress arrived at the location in Frederick, Maryland, just before 5 a.m. ET and found four people fighting.

A deputy used a Taser device on one of the men, who fell unconscious, Bailey said.

The man was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity was not immediately released, pending the notification of his family.

The deputy, who has not been identified publicly, has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the completion of an investigation, Bailey said.

Amnesty International has reported that, since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the United States after being subdued with a stun gun. The organization has called for police departments to suspend use of the devices pending study of their possible risks.

Few have done so, said Amnesty, which added that more than 7,000 of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies use the devices.

Last week, an airport security officer in Vancouver International Airport in Canada used a Taser device on a distraught 40-year-old man on his first airplane trip outside Poland. He died.

In a statement released Friday, Taser International cited the Vancouver case and said it "appears to follow the pattern of many in-custody deaths or deaths following a confrontation with police. Historically, medical science and forensic analysis has shown that these deaths are attributable to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the Taser."

A bystander's video of the Vancouver incident that showed the victim continuing to struggle after being shot with the device "is proof that the Taser device was not the cause of his death," the company said on its Web site. Cardiac arrest caused by electrical current would have caused immediate death, it said.

In addition, "the video clearly shows symptoms of excited delirium, a potentially fatal condition marked by symptoms of exhaustion and mania such as heavy breathing, profuse sweating, confusion, disorientation and violence toward inanimate objects," the company said.

"We are taken aback by the number of media outlets that have irresponsibly published conclusive headlines blaming the Taser device and/or the law enforcement officers involved as the cause of death before completion of the investigation," said Tom Smith, the company's founder and chairman of the board.

But Amnesty International, noting that coroners have identified Tasers as a contributory factor in more than 30 deaths, said such a link cannot be ruled out.

The devices use compressed nitrogen to shoot two probes -- connected to the device by wire -- up to 35 feet away at speeds exceeding 100 mph.

An electrical signal transmitted through the wires contacts the body or clothing, "resulting in an immediate loss of the person's neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse," according to the company.

All AboutTASER International Inc. • Police • Amnesty International