Man dies after Tasering

Man dies after Tasering

www.macombdaily.com

A man who was running through traffic in his underwear died early Saturday at William Beaumont Hospital in Troy after Shelby Township police used a Taser gun on him....
...When paramedics arrived, the man broke away from a medical examination and ran into traffic, police said. Officers caught him, struggled to control him, and used a Taser gun to subdue him, police said.

The man was returned to waiting medical personnel and quickly lost consciousness, police said. He was transported by ambulance to the Oakland County hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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UPDATE

UPDATED INFORMATION - SEPTEMBER 12, 2007

Macomb County Taser death ruled accidental

[edit on 13-9-2007 by DontTreadOnMe]

It seems like there are too many instances where people are tasered lately.
And suffering sometimes fatal consequences.

I don't know all that much about taser guns but it seems to me that the police have no way of knowing whether the physical condition of the person being tasering can absorb the taser without excessive negative effects.





www.macombdaily.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Tasers while by some are considered non lethal the correct term should be considered less than lethal. When you have a less than lethal weapon it is more tempting to us it IMHO. Problem is you never know the health condition of the suspect and you dont know how the taser will interact with drug alcohol etc that might be in the suspects system.

I would rather be tasered than shot.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe

It seems like there are too many instances where people are tasered lately.
And suffering sometimes fatal consequences.

Yes, this is the second fatality I have read in two weeks. I went looking for this thread last night and couldn't find it. I had read last night the Police would not be using Tasers to deal with protestors at the APEC Summit. However, Police 'might' need to use them in individual situations.
It is very early days for taser use in Australia and we don't hear too much about them in the media.

Safety: Manufacturer Taser International claims "no deaths have occurred as a direct result of the use of its taser technology products" (Taser International Inc. media release 28 April 2004). It has recently listed on its web site all the deaths occurring after the person has been tasered but not caused by the taser shock. Sixty people in the United States have died since 2001 after being tasered and concerns are mounting as the number of deaths increases. After 6 deaths in Canada, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, in August this year, requested a "unique and comprehensive review of scientific research, field reports, and data on the use of Tasers in police work in Canada and around the World" (RCMP News Report 18/8/04).
Lack of scientific research: There is a paucity of independent and rigorous research into the effects and safety of the tasers. There have been no tests published in scholarly peer-review scientific journals. Taser relies on two studies, one of a single pig in 1996 and on five dogs in 1999 conducted by company paid researchers. (The Taser: Life Saver or Killer? The New York Times, 18/7/04). They also cite many examples of police voluntarily being tasered as evidence of safety, but for the most part they receive a shock one tenth that given to suspects. Medical experts are now warning to be wary of labelling tasers safe (Special Report: Tasers -- Do they kill? Patrick Maloney, The London Free press, 21/8/04).

more here

Tasers are bad news. I used to live in Miami, Florida and every few weeks there was something in the news about how police were misusing them. One tased an 6 year old in the forehead Taser incident because they thought he was a danger to himself. They can be lethal if used for over a few seconds. It was right down the street from where I lived at the time, and I remeber that the story that was printed wasn't how it happened. That same week they tasered a 12 year old because they were skipping school. To me It's just anothher handgun, but without the mess of bullets. And those were children, I'm sure that adults are dying...

Still looking for the results of the autopsy, nothing in the local papers of doing a Yahoo! news search. *sigh*

Did find this though, the cops did "nothing" wrong:
www.macombdaily.com...

Officials also said they're confident officers violated no department policies and none were disciplined.

"Our preliminary report indicates the policy was followed," said Ralph Maccarone, township supervisor. "There is no plan to suspend the use of Tasers in Shelby Township."

That must be such a comfort to the man's family.

hmm just read this:

POLICE have used a stun gun to subdue a man who smeared himself with faeces and blood after being thrown out of a Gold Coast nightclub.

from here

And I am thinking that maybe a taser would have been necessary here. What else could they have used? And who would want to touch him??

Not me.

Well, it appears that the cop who tasered Steven Spears, 49, to death has been cleared of any wrongdoing. It has been decided that the death was an accidental event because Mr Spears was using coc aine.

The cause of death for a Shelby Township man who died after being shocked by police with a Taser was ruled "coc aine induced excited delirium," with phyical restraint as a contributing factor, the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office said today.

Shelby Township police said the medical examiner ruled the Aug. 4 death of Steven Spears, 49, as accidental. The report was forwarded to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office, which is conducting an independent investigation.

Police asked the sheriff’s office to investigate the circumstances surrounding Spears’ death.

www.freep.com.../20070912/NEWS04/70912065/1006

So, I guess that means if you use drugs or alcohol, have a bad heart or epilepsy, or any other condition that might make tasering lethal you'd better not give cops any reason to look at you twice.

Also, I find it very curious as the original autopsy was to be done in Macomb County, where the incidnet occurred and now the report is out of a neighboring county ???? Perhaps to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest...