The taser debate

The use of tasers by police has been in the news lately. There is the infamous video from out in BC. Additionally a local man died recently here in Halifax after being tasered.

It should be noted that the individuals who died were apparently in serious medical distress to begin with so it's not certain at this point the tasering actually caused them to die as they may have died imminently anyway. The autopsies are still to be done.

In any case some people are recommending the police no longer use tasers as they can cause deaths. That doesn't make any sense. Some people are going to die each year when the police have to use physical force to get someone under control.

The cops wrestle someone to the ground. Suspect hits his head on the pavement, goes into a coma and later dies. People can die getting wrestled to the ground.

The cops use a night stick to subdue someone. Suspect loses consciousness as a result and dies later in hospital. People can die getting hit by a night stick. Choke holds can result in the loss of life.

Of course when the police have to shoot someone then the mortality rate is pretty high.

So we shouldn't discontinue tasers because some people die from them. Some suspects are going to die no matter what the police use to get them under control. The issue is if tasers produce an overly high mortality rate compared to other techniques the police could use. I'm not convinced the death rate from tasers is unacceptably high so without strong evidence the death rate is high then the use of tasers should continue.

Tasers were invented to give professional law enforcement extra options between smashing someone unconscious with a night stick and shooting him. I think they've worked well at that, and certainly decreased mortality from police shootings that were avoided. If there is further innovation and new technology is invented to replace the taser then great, we'll adopt the better new technology just like the taser was adopted as better new technology. Until then there is no meaningful statistical evidence at this point to question or discontinue the use of tasers.