imported post
# 1 - Wyoming Citizens, WYGO, and WSSA - should be all over this by e-mailing, calling, and mailing - the Governor, AG, County Sheriff, and Police Chief - every week until this case is closed.
# 2- Wyoming Citizens, WYGO, and WSSA - should consider drafting a Bill for your elected reps in Cheyenne to pass.
# 3 - Wyoming Citizens, WYGO, and WSSA - should remember next time it could be one of them - as in one of you reading this post.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/journals/261/stun-gun-safety.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/27/eveningnews/main5119168.shtml
this is only part of the article:
But as of two years ago, the Bureau of Justice Statistics had already counted three dozen "Taser-related" deaths at the hands of police between 2003 and 2005, while in a 2008 report Amnesty International cited more than 50 cases where medical examiners found a Taser shock contributed to death.
Taser International disputes those findings as lacking scientific proof.
Peter Holran, the company's vice president for public relations and government affairs, told
CBS News, "The electrical output of a Taser device is incapable of causing death."
He cited studies such as the work of Dr. William Bozeman at Wake Forest University, who examined 1,200 cases of Taser use by police and found serious injuries occurred less than one percent of the time.
Taser International sees its responsibility to "train the trainers" who show fellow officers how to properly use the devices. "The policy of when they can be used is up to the local community and the local agency," Holran said.
Moberly Police have suspended their use of Tasers indefinitely, as result of Batchel's wrongful death lawsuit, and will now deploy defibrillators in some patrol cars.
Outside her home, she has erected a shrine to her son, which lists the number of deaths reportedly attributed to Taser use by police.
Her settlement with Moberly also resulted in a $2.4 million payout, the maximum that could be obtained under the city's insurance policies. The primary beneficiary will be Harlan's son, who just turned one.
After a probe by the Missouri Highway Patrol, neither local nor state prosecutors brought criminal charges against the officers involved in Harlan's death. His family and their attorneys are appealing to the Justice Department to review the case in the hopes that prosecutors would consider bringing federal civil rights charges against them.
"I made a promise to our son that I would never give up, and I would fight for justice for him," Bachtel says. "You don't watch your child being murdered and feel the same about life."