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The Tasers are coming! The Tasers are coming!
by stephen donahue
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 at 8:08 AM
Just in time for Spring some of our city's finest will be armed with the life saving weapon.
Seems that the tasers ordered for our Pittsburgh city police are arriving. Soon 150 Pittsburgh police will be equipped with these. The chief of police would like to have ordered more but as we all know the city is in fiscal turmoil these days. Still the police department was able to find $120,000.00 for 150 tasers. Yes, these are the devices that shoot fine wires with a barb that allows these wires to affix themselvs to you. Then comes the charge. Down you go.
These tasers are being sold as life savers. Hmmm, how many in Miami who were victims of police tasers were a threat to anybody's life or well being? None. No these tasers will be used on peaceful demonstrators who just don't get off the street quickly enough for the bulls. They will be a new (for this city) and frightening instrument of state repression.
I want to know just what is the protocol for using these things. Do we get a verbal warning? If I simply ignore a police command does that warrant getting shot with a taser? Can we hold the police accountable for their taser use?
Supposedly the police do not use their guns except in certain circumstances. Now that they will have a gun that does not kill but only renders a person immobile they will be much more inclined to use it. That is the issue. That is the rub.
The good news is that these taser things are only good at 20 feet or closer.
just another step
by ....
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 at 8:51 AM
This is just another step in the militarization of the police. They are becoming more and more para-military. Not much time left....
The tasers specifically: I think our best bet is to find out what the protocals are for use and widely publicise those.
We're in a very privilaged situation for our protests and for that reason I hope they do try and use them on us (maybe march 20th?). If they do we can probably create enough pressure to get them taken away from the police for future actions and events. I would prefer they use them at protests because we all know they are going to be using them on all the other "criminals" where the use is out of sight and out of mind of the public. Better that everyone can see what the effects of these are and how the police are misusing them.
any suggestions?
by electricity hutrts
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 at 9:20 AM
anyone have any suggestions on how to deflect or prevent barb penetration. i mean, besides not pissing a cop off, which doesn't take much...
any suggestions?
by electricity hurts
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 at 9:20 AM
anyone have any suggestions on how to deflect or prevent barb penetration? i mean, besides not pissing a cop off, which doesn't take much...
Fire beats 'lectricty
by Crazy Hoss
Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 at 5:19 AM
We all like the pictures, but we need to start making our own.
Fire-The Biblical Cleanser
by Gawd
Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 at 5:21 AM
What would Jesus do?
p
by p
Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 at 6:36 AM
this pamphlet talks about a couple of ways to neutralize the pigs and their tools nonviolently and effectively.
http://www.devo.com/sarin/bodyhammer.html
I suggest everyone interested in direct action confronting the pigs read it. Even if you're just interested in going to a march and not getting the shit kicked out of you, there's some good ideas.
Luck
aluminium foil clothing?
by dannyp
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004 at 6:57 AM
I noticed there was a big debate going on in Miami about whether or not wearing aluminium foil under your clothing would provide protection against these things. Does anyone have any information on that?
If the aluminium foil fails to stop the barbs from penetrating your skin, then it would be provide a path of very little resistance in parallel with your skin which would reduce significantly the amount of charge that flows through your skin. However, this would cause the aluminium foil to heat up, which is potentially just as dangerous, but the exact amount that it'd head up cannot be calculated without knowing more about the design and construction of the tasers. My instinct (studied electrical engineering for two years) tells me you're better off wearing the foil, but I don't want anyone to do that, catch fire, and then yell at me.
do not try that.
by someone from pog
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004 at 9:10 AM
definetly NO to aluminum foil. That is from people in the know in Miami. Do not attempt that...
There is good information some places about what you can do (maybe someone can post it...) Anything that creates a barrier without being a conducter (thick clothing, cardboard, shields, banners, etc is good) if the barbs can't go into anything you're okay.
practical?
by electricity hurts
Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 at 6:15 AM
The idea of dissipating the electrical current using aluminium foil sounds feasible, but what about the practical part of that idea? Aluminium foil probably wouldn't stay in place while you're running around or even walking. Unless you could somehow sew a layer of it into your clothes, but I suppose that would increase the chances of catching fire. Oh man, I bet the folks at KDKA or WPXI would love a shot of a protestor bursting into flames...
taser info...
by someone from pog
Monday, Feb. 23, 2004 at 12:08 PM
Some info that we might find valuable is: This was true of the tasers in Miami- i don't know that Pittsburgh is using the same kind. We had a ton more in-depth info, I will try to find that and post...
--The tazers are only accurate up to 21 feet.
--They work by deploying two very thin wires with barbed hooks on the end.
--The hooks can catch either skin or clothing and form an electrical loop.
Sort of like binocular vision, with wires.
--The electrical pulse is high amps but low voltage, the idea is that it will knock someone down, but not have the same effect that putting your tongue in an electrical outlet would have.
--The effects are transferable, to someone you are holding onto, for instance. Or if the barbs connect with two people that are touching, then both get zapped. Lesson here-let go.
--The charge does not effect pacemakers, but I don't know about folks prone to seizure disorders.
--It is a one shot deal. The "guns" have only one shot in them, then there is a canister that has to be taken out and an new one put it. This process takes 30-60 seconds.
--Once the wires are deployed and caught, the officer pulls a trigger that sends the current through the wires. It comes in a single burst, and that is all it takes to knock someone off their feet and unable to move for about
10 minutes. There does not appear to be any lasting effects beyond that time frame.
--This being said, the manufacturer realized the potential for abuse of this "tool" and installed a computer chip that while not blocking multiple bursts, does record every use of the tazer with times and durations used.
This info could be subpeoned if there are cases of abuse.
Mad props...
by electricity hurts
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004 at 2:30 PM
...to everyone sharing thoughts and info. Thanks!
holy hogher power...
by supreme leader
Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 at 11:00 AM
You protesters are dumber than I thought possible. Why don't you try putting the tin-foil on your heads to block out the CIA "thought-rays" too? That would be more effective that blocking the barbed points of the TASERs.
Here are two clues:
1. Short Circuit the wires
2. Ground out the wires.
Are you capable of understanding these?
Taser Education
by www.taser.com
Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 at 4:49 AM
Some of the best protection against the tasers is going to be education. Residents of PGH cannot be held captive by another fear campaign of the police state.
http://www.taser.com/pages/2003/06/salinas.html
When an officer shoots a suspect with a taser, two barbed darts puncture the skin and deliver a jolt of electricity that affects the central nervous system. The person shot usually falls to the ground, and officers can then take control.
So far, officers have used the taser guns on 12 suspects and two dogs. In all instances except one, when a dog died after being shot, there were no injuries to suspects or officers, McSorley said.
But the first time the gun was used on March 31, it was less than promising.
"He (officer) deployed it on a person he was taking into custody and it did not work," McSorley said. "Tasers are not 100 percent effective, just like anything else."
The gun, which had a battery that had not been charged or was faulty, was sent back to the manufacturer, she said.
There have also been a couple of misses when the gun's barbs did not hit the suspect or penetrate the clothing, McSorley said.
The weapon's manufacturer, Taser International, claims its guns are effective from 21 feet away and have a 99.5 percent incapacitation rate with no injuries.
However, a pit bull inexplicably died June 5 after being shot with a taser on Nacional Street, McSorley said. The dog had to be shot instead after it killed a cat and acted aggressively toward the officer, she said.
So far, 26 patrol officers and 18 officers in the anti-gang Violence Suppression Unit and the narcotics division have been issued the guns, McSorley said.
Salinas police Chief Daniel Ortega said the department's goal is to eventually issue taser guns to every officer.
Most officers who've been issued the guns have voluntarily been shot with the gun so they know what a suspect would feel. (SOMEHOW I REALLY DOUBT THIS!!!!!!)
"It's a really, really intense feeling of having no control over your body," said McSorley, who has been voluntarily shot.
An officer doesn't have to fire the gun for the weapon to be effective. An officer can remove the barbs and administer a shock by touching a suspect, McSorley said.
League of United Latin American Citizens President Aurelio Salazar said his organization has not fielded any complaints from citizens about the gun's misuse.
"We still want to hear from the community if something does happen," Salazar said.
Salinas police Capt. Rick Moore said a new restraint device called the RIPP Hobble, also provided to officers, has been a good replacement for a previous method.
The department's decision to switch to the hobble tie followed the deaths of Louis Castillo Jr. in 2001 and Gregory Keith Patton in June. Both men died after officers attempted to use total appendage restraint procedure or TARP, a method similar to a hog-tie position.
The $10 hobble device is a strong polypropylene webbed belt that can be attached to a person's ankles, knees and elbows.
Also the fact that tasers are 100% non-lethal is very......Debatable.......
http://www.cordeledispatch.com/articles/2003/12/11/news/1211man.txt
http://www.startribune.com/viewers/story.php?template=print_a&story=4374621
As with the "Miami Model" tasers are being purchased by police departments across the US. It is going to be the "norm" not a Pittsburgh exception
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2847968/detail.html
The same people who control the school system, control the prison system. (thought I would throw a little Dead Prez in for good measure)
PEACE.
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