Reach out and touch someone

It looks like we are on the same track for once as America.   Now that the holidays are over, I hope some kind of response will occur Re: The BRAIDWOOD Inquiry.  Similarly, the non-replacement of RCMP watchdog - Robert KENNEDY, the commissioner for public complaints against the RCMP reinforces this idea.  2011 may be the year we swap our Military in Afghanistan for the RCMP across the country.

The use of Tasers as compliance tools — means for compelling behavior — has generated a huge amount of protest. For many, the famous “Don’t Tase me, bro” incident, in which student Andrew Meyer was Tasered at a political debate, signaled an alarming new form of oppression. 

Perhaps the distinguishing feature of the Taser, compared with other forms of enforcing compliance, is that it can be used with one finger. Police have always been able enforce their wishes using batons or manual force, but a Taser is a much easier option, and perhaps this makes it more prone to abuse. Whether it’s zapping an unruly student protester, an uncooperative 11-year-old or an abusive driver, the trite observation that power corrupts may have some truth here.

Also, these developments:

A new electroshock weapon being developed by Taser could zap people up to 175 feet away — and keep on applying pain for as long as three minutes in a row. Which is pretty tough to take, since it only takes a second or two of shocks to make most people cry out in agony.

The new 40mm projectile resembles a super-sized version of the shotgun-fired XREP Taser projectile. And like the XREP, it will attach itself to the target and incapacitate him or her with a series of electric jolts.

The new projectile might continue shocking for as long as three minutes. The duration of the shock is also likely to be a significant issue.  In Taser training, a one-second shock is administered. It has been described by those experienced the test. “It was brutal - like sticking your finger in a socket over and over and over again. I screamed in pain as he zapped me. I screamed some more after it was over,”.  The standard Police Taser gives a five-second shock for each trigger pull.

Perhaps it's not surprising that Taser Int'l has also developed this product to go with new taser sales - the Axon Headcam.   At the ned of a shift the officer just downloads the day's work onto a secure server run by Taser.  Oh and there is a optional "kill switch" to stop recording activities that the officer wants to keep private.