In message , John Smith
writes
On 9/3/2010 8:07 AM, Art Unwin wrote:
On TV news last night they showed a video of a police officer talking
to a man resting on a sofa in his own home. His wife had called
saying that he had a heart attack and should go to hospital. The man
refused to go
preferring to rest rather than go to hospital for treatment as he
could not afford it. The police officer then tazered him to make him
go to hospital! The chief of Police said that standard protocol had
been followed.
Only in America!!!!
I wonder if he is still married to the woman
or he cancelled his insurance policy?

Art,

Was he holding an antenna?

Anyway, if I'd been present, I would have been arrested. I would have
considered force, up to the point and including lethal, would have been
justified in stopping such a revolting display. Somehow, tazing an ill
man having, apparently, a heart attack/pains puts that individual
preforming the action below chit, in my world ... sad, so very, very
sad ... it is why the wife and I are considering a move to Montana; I
just hate the cold.


I'm sure it was all done with the best intentions. What probably
happened was that the police officer suspected that the husband's heart
rhythms had gone all twitchy, and he needed to apply a spot of instant
defibrillation to save his life.

But rest assured that this sort of thing doesn't only happen in America.
In the UK, where the police still, for the most part, do not carry
firearms, they now carry a veritable arsenal of supposedly non-lethal
devices (including tasers). While these are only supposed to be used as
a last resort, when a miscreant cannot be subdued by the more
traditional methods, they are increasingly being used, as in America, to
ensure instant compliance.
--
Ian