Posted on 02/18/2009 7:53:04 AM PST by Starman417
Never thought it to be a great idea to have Tasers same shape and size as firearms.
I agree, I am surprised that they are easy to confuse with a gun. In the heat of the moment people may make mistakes. It would seem that anything that lessens the likelihood that those mistakes can be fatal should be done.
Also, according to a BART police officer that posts at the website BartRage, they had only had these particular Tasers for about 30 days.
Or don’t get in a situation where police have to make split second decisions about your intentions.
That’s my own personal policy!
Bingo! we have a winner
Yes I am going to Monday morning quarterback this because a police officer executed a handcuffed citizen.
Due to the gun or Taser likely mistake, BART Officer Johannes Mehserle should not be charged with murder or negligent homicide. He was a sworn officer acting in the heat of a legal arrest and made a momentary mistake. The slain perpetrator’s relatives still have a case against BART for negligence on the part of one of their agents, Mehserle, but that is a money matter, not a criminal matter.
Uh huh...and you'd be saying that if it was your brother or dad or son that was shot?
ERR! I just read he was handcuffed after he was shot.
Look it up. The video and the articles when this first came out had the guy in handcuffs on the floor face down THEN he got shot by that piece of dogcrap police officer.
Like being already restrained, and cooperating with the cops?
Sometimes the situation comes to you. As in a no-knock raid that has YOUR address instead of the right one.
Bullcrap, he shot a person, who was already under restraint, gangland style. Indefensible.
So, being face down, already under restraint is justification for a cop to shoot you?
Ok look at the video and you still don't make since to what I see.
The story seems to read that he only was starting to cooperate once he heard the cop say he was going to taser him.
I think the officer accidentally drew the wrong weapon. It’s not an excuse for him, or that he shouldn’t face the consequences, I think he drew the wrong weapon.
And I think this will also force the PD to implement different training and placement of weapons if they are going to have both tasers and pistols.
Sure, I’d be upset if the slain person was close to me, but I am looking at the situation in light of established law in the USA. A cop in the course of his legal duties who makes a momentary mistake is not doing a criminal act when the mistake results in harm of another. The same law works for other professionals. Heart doctors used to goof hooking up the heart lung lines until the machine maker colored the line in red and the line out blue. Same deal with the same shape of the grip on a gun/Tazer, but these should have different shapes as one does not look when grabbing in haste.
It seems pretty clear to me in the video above that he wasn’t yet cuffed when he was shot.
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