Police begin national rollout of tasers (New Zealand)

Police begin national rollout of tasers (New Zealand)

www.stuff.co.nz

Nearly 700 taser stun guns will be available to 3500 front line police throughout the country by August.

Operator training began in each police district this week and the tasers will become available from later this month. By August 681 are expected to be available throughout the country.

The electronic stun guns would "not be carried on the hip as a matter of course, but will be readily available to frontline staff," police said.

The guns use a 50,000 volt electric current to stop people and are used in situations where previously police may have used firearms.

They were introd

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.nzherald.co.nz
www.nzherald.co.nz

It's hard to comment on this, really. The last line seems to say it all, IMO.

New Zealanders have already been educated by the Western world to go quietly, because if you are tased, no one can help you.

When will they stop pushing people? Patience is the answer, calm is the only hope, but it's obviously getting harder and harder.

NZ has had a mystique to me since I made friends there on a website that is now defunct, but was designed to facilitate relationships (business and social) between Australia and NZ and the US.

They have a great lifestyle there, a gentle rivalry with Australia, and self-deprecating humor in a naturally stunning panorama of beauty and life. How tasers fit in, I will leave to our NZ members to explain.

Even the UN is getting concerned about the ramifications and consequences of taser use.

www.stuff.co.nz
(visit the link for the full news article)

As with any society there are from time to time people who will be acting extremely dangerously and agressively, causing harm or loss to others through direct actions. In New Zealand a murder or any sort of harmful weapon related crime is usually reasonably big news. For example, a guy goes on a machete rampage chopping stuff up in a market. In New Zealand during this situation, a police officer with a radio, baton, pepper spray and handcuffs will be put in harms way. If the machete guy really wants to mean business, it would be difficult to try and subdue him solo, to prevent him from hurting someone - primarily because the New Zealand police, usually do not have firearms. What right does the machete guy have injure or potentially injure a police officer, whom usually cannot easily stop him with a baton or spray, whilst he is on PCP, meth or most commonly drunk?

In this situation where armed officers will be called, would you rather see someone initially shot and potentially bleed to death or suffer organ damage, or take a chance of cardiac arrest and more by a taser? Tasers don't always work either. I personally dislike tasers, the death statistics and capabilities of some models (drive stun) are rather abhorrent and easy to abuse, even off such a source as wiki or Amnesty international.

Since June 2001, more than 351 individuals in the United States have died after being shocked by police Tasers.

-Amnesty International


Do we really need that many tazers in New Zealand? I doubt it. More money that could have been spent on education, sustainability or some other cause perhaps.

I believe tasers should only be mentioned or even possibly used in situations where an alledged offender has used or presented a deadly weapon, with intent to cause harm in the immediate vicinity. However in any other situation a baton and or normal hand to hand defense/offence techniques should be used, as this is how police have worked pretty much forever and it has normally worked fine. The quick and easy compliance route of a taser leads down a dangerous, slippery path of abuse - they should only be presented and used when absolutely necessary.

Thats sad to hear,although there is a case for using tasers against a very small amount of folks-the psychotic,armed lunatic-yeah go for the taser.

The problem is,as we have seen countries where the taser has been introduced,the weapon is used in many non serious events,such as to shut up a shouting lady in a car,or to electrocute a diabetic man on a bus(uk).

Amnesty international designated the taser an item of "torture" under their terms I think.
Something about "pain compliance"

Cops should only use these things when their lives are endangered IMO,not to subdue some drunk kid or old lady...
If the cops use tasers for the wrong reasons it can quickly turn the community against them.
I hope the New Zealand Cops are responsible users of the taser,the UK cops are for the most part,but the for the odd case .

Thank you for your perspectives from NZ and the UK.

Both comments reflect a sensible approach, and knowing that NZ police don't usually carry firearms is a vital point to understanding the climate these tasers are being introduced into.

No humane person wants police or law enforcement killed or hurt in the commission of duties which include protecting us, the populace.

Likewise, we don't want to see people who are helpless by comparison being bullied by the police. Children, women, elder folks, the handcuffed and mentally ill, no one is safe in our country from tasers and the so-called justification to use them.

The use of tasers seems to be filling a lot of deficits in our law enforcement community, like psychological testing and training, conflict resolution, anger management, and coping with stress and stressors. The taser should not take the place of higher human reasoning and ability to evaluate situations which could be settled or handled without this instrument.

That, sadly, may be a problem especially endemic to the States.

Better lock up your Granny. Just to be safe.

A 27 year old man in a group home was tasered yesterday in a town near me. He passed away. I think it is sick.

www.thestar.com...


I have said it since the release of tasers and I haven’t changed my opinion yet: I would rather be shot in the leg or another limb than tasered any day. I think faced with being tasered I would actually plead to instead be shot. I’ve never been shot, but the thought of being tasered scared the bejeebies outta me.

I am fairly certain my heart could withstand being shot in a limb. Being tasered? Not so much....

[edit on 25-6-2010 by worlds_away]

How barbaric.. There are proven methods that have worked for thousands of years to disarm or subdue someone that are much more effective than resorting to using such a barbaric weapon as a taser on individuals.

Any candidate that wants consideration, no matter what party, must publicly address this issue to get my vote.

And a lot of people feel the same way.

Tasers are Barbaric.

If someone is so dangerous that they need to be tasered then the cops should just shoot them dead.

....Of course, then they'd actually need a good reason to use their weapon; unlike with tasers.

[edit on 1-7-2010 by Exuberant1]

Recent reactions and articles on the use of tasers in New Zealand. Any NZ residents on ATS with more information are encouraged to share their input.

www.stuff.co.nz...


truthnottasers.blogspot.com...

www.amnesty.org.nz...

reply to post by Exuberant1


Agreed!

According to the website in the above post, Truth Not Tasers (TNT), there have been 675 deaths in North America following a taser use.

They have a list of the dead posted there.

And now, the expected and sad updates:

www.smh.com.au...

Note that the female officer kicked the man as he lay dying. Sweet. Just like Amerikka.

A man died in Australia today due to the police using a tazer on him... This is getting out of control. I thought tazers were meant to be non-lethal.......

www.smh.com.au...

This article contains a list of taser-related deaths since they were implemented a couple of years ago, when I first created this thread with sadness in my heart.



Here is a related one where Australian lawyers are calling for a moratorium:

www.smh.com.au...

reply to post by aRogue


That is why I posted this thread when this first happened in New Zealand.

I wish I had been wrong, though there was at least some hope for better results there.