Every weapon a law enforcment person uses is potentialy fatal, whether it be his/her hands, guns,tasers etc; So the weapon used isn’t the issue, it’s how and in what situations they are used. I’ve seen women tased for not getting out of a car and talking on a cell phone. UNACCEPTABLE!!!! On the other hand, if someone is deemed by the officer to be “PHYSICALLY COMBATIVE” or “PHYSICALLY OVERMATCHING” (ex: man suspect vs. woman cop, 300+ lbs. man vs. 185 lb. man) to the officer then I feel that tasers may be appropriate for use. However, all of this comes down to logic, if a man or woman becomes combative and 2 or more officers cannot diffuse the situation, what else is their but a taser or baton???? Once again, certain situations have been horribly abused: A punk teenager tased on the TV show COPS while the officers on the scene were being “lazy” and could have easily taken this guy down. Here in St. Louis, (St. Louis County Patrol officers to be exact.) I saw a cop threaten to tase teens being detained on a curbside for shoplifting, if they ran. If they run, they run, why threaten their own lives, the suspects lives or the lives of bystanders in order to use this weapon (just like “highspeed chase” debate). And last but not least, the bum, that robbed the bank in Missouri and was pursed into Illinois. The suspect had given up and raised his hands, slam him, cuff him and go on with your patrol.

Protect and serve enslaved??? whatever

You my friend are whats wrong with society today. You speak about subjects that you yourself have never been confronted with. I am a retired police officer of 18 years and made it home to my family every night. I see by your name on this blog that you are a mouth piece of all people that has been wronged by the police. You are the person I was talking to in my first statement…unless youve been by yourself with backup far away from the scene and you are dealing with an out of control person…you have no clue. And as far as my second statement goes…give me a break.

Right on Danny…that guy is an idiot.He would be the first one to call police if needed.He ain’t so tough..just a big talker.

Why are we always defending criminals? Now wonder we are of the nations with the largest crime rate. Our media sympathizes with criminals!

Ohhh, look at this guy who was tasered and died. Who CARES if he was beating someone up, THREATENED a deputy, and ignored the cops. Now this would be a case if the guy behaved for the cops and the cops STILL tasered him. Talk about that scenario. Stop defending attacks on police officers.

With this attitude we should take away all weapons for cops and leave them for the wolves and then wonder why our crime rate skyrockets.

Talk about a duh.

No tasers…..
Shoot em dead and save the tax payers a ton of money.

I think everyone should take a look at this web site(http://www.odmp.org/) and tell me police officers shouldn’t use tasers. Police officers leave there home everyday and have a very high chance of not making it home. Think about it. If you had a gun on your belt and someone was coming after you would you keep it on your belt or pull it out and point it at them and possibly use it. I know if thats all I had I would use it. I’m kind of glad that they have tasers. There are lots of times where a police officer might of used his gun but didn’t because he had a taser. Another thing people don’t think about it when a police officer uses OC spray (mace), it puts their life in danger. If they spray someone and that person charges after the police officer and gets it in the police officers eyes, and now their in danger. Thats why police officers dont like to use it.
The Post failed to let us know how big the guy was that had gotten tased or if he was on anything. I have never been tased and really don’t plan on it. I have been shot in the face with OC spray in the police academy and it was one of the worst things that I have ever had to go through. The thought of getting tased, struck with a baton, or shot in the face with OC spray again, is enough to make me act like a “normal” person.

Tasers have saved a lot of lives and serious injury, both to law enforcement and perpetrators. The police are using nothing that they have not had to submit being used on themselves. Previously, lunging at a law enforcement officer could get you shot. Thousands of perpetrators have been tased without harmful effects and many officers are alive today because they may have hesitated to use deadly force against another human being, even at their own peril.

It is not a perfect world, people make bad choices. Remember, a perpetrator who will not hesitate to attack an armed police officer will certainly not hesitate to attack, injure or kill an unarmed civilian. We must give officers the most up to date tools to do their job and protect themselves and the general population. If an occasional bad guy dies because of an assault on an officer or unarmed person, so be it!

Having them ‘ride the lighting’ is a good thing. People show much too much disrespect for LEO’s.

The police should absolutely carry a taser. It is an effective tool to protect themself and us. As another reader wrote, sorry someone died. Was it from the taser? The officer follwed guidlines. How would you like to be by yourself on that highway with a grown man who just beat up his own sister. He had no respect for her so sure did not have any for the officer. Great job and THANK YOU to all our brave police officers

Cops should be allowed but watched. Good cops need them, bad cops abuse people with them.

The guns have been litigated to death - they don’t cause death.

Fix the penalty for abuse high enough that cops that are outside the law, pay dearly.