Disappeared News

One simple question here, would you rather have a cop use "real" deadly
force (e.g their gun) or a Taser Gun.

At least the odds are good you'll survive. If you get shot with a gun the odds are not good.Look at what happened to Sean Taylor (NFL football player).

If you look at the bigger picture, you'll see why there is no outcry about this.
 

There is a great outcry against this, just not yet in Hawaii.

Do you condone cops shooting someone they've already wrestled to the ground with their handgun? That's what your comment sounds like.
 

The police can't win it seems like.
People bitch when the police use deadly force (e.g using a gun) to take suspect down. At least when
they use a taser, instead of a gun
INITIALLY, there is much higher survival rate.

Like I said, you look at what happened to Sean Taylor. One gunshot wound killed him.
 

"The police can't win it seems like."

It's more like "the people can't win" in the face of the use of excess force by police.

New York City has seen a steady stream of police murders of black men. 20 bullets shot into a guy holding a hairbrush. 51 shots at a guy leaving a bar after his bachelor's party. Lots more.

I don't think Big Island police would have pulled out a gun and just killed someone they had already wrestled down and who was unarmed. But because they've been given these new Tasers and told it's ok to use them, they did so.

There's the danger, and no one is safe, because you have no idea how casually these weapons may be used.
 

the use of tasers in our island state is unwarranted, unsettling, and barbaric.

It seems that the military, "security", corporate excesses of Washington D.C. are increasingly, alarmningly seeping into our island life. Just as military forces gain a stronger foothold on our island (i.e., expanded training areas, Stryker introduction, Superferry contracts with the military,..), it appears that the connection of our governor to the unfortunate Bush Administration also means increased police (and corporate) over-control of our citizenry. The "security" and weapons industries -- incredibly generous when it comes to helping to get certain politicians elected -- gains even more incredibly from the nationwide sale of tasers and other devices and systems ostensibly "security" related.

Stepped up, militaristic overuse of a police force seems to parallel a federal leadership that holds the warped mindset that torture of human beings is "necessary" to maintaining the peace (despite solid evidence to the contrary). This Lingle-led, bi-partisan (including Democratic party "Good Old Boys"), heavy-handedness in Hawai`i is glaring in recent crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations against Superferry. Is that what "aloha" and "democratic process" mean to the residents of Hawai`i? I think not.

Tasers can kill people -- innocent or no. Their use is a symptom of an imbalanced society that is increasingly unable/unwilling to re-balance itself. Instead of focusing on increasing the education and well-being (including meaningful rehabilitation) of its citizens, our State (and now County) is spending huge amounts of tax dollars to lead Hawai`i down a path of violent non-solutions to the challenges it faces.

Using tasers is a barbaric overuse of force. They should be eliminated immediately Hawai`I Island's law-enforcement scene.

Janice
Kailua-Kona
PS. BTW, law enforcement is not limited to two choices 1) shoot with guns or 2) shoot with tasers. Domestic abuse (Hawai`i Island's first use of taser) -- like other criminal issues -- is a deep, societal challenge which rquires complex, societal solutions. Some are law-enforcement related, but none includes the use of torture.
 

Police officers have a very thankless job to do. They are all placed under the microscope on a daily basis. Anything that will make their job easier or safer has my 110% support.
 

Better to avoid confrontation with police than think about surviving it. Don't do things that attract police attention. Avoid the vacinity of police action. Like protests.

If they do single you out, do exactly what they say immediately with absoutely no question or back-talk. Argue your case with the courts, not the cops.
 

Now we can have our very own Gestapo, why should we be left our ot the "new age" of the "citizen as terrorist" craze. Turn the vicious dogs loose on the populace. And if you don't like that, you better do as they say at all times, and never speak out about them or they will hunt you down and make your life ugly or even kill you. Oh but they will do it with "aloha".
 

This whole issue boils down this point. What is more barbaric, a gun
or taser. To me a gun is more barbaric since the odds are very good you'll die. Just something to think about.