Two things, first most cops prefer tasers, because guns only have three modes, holstered, brandished, and shooting; but the vast majority of what they do needs something intermediate to that. Other weapons, like a billy club or a tonfa, have their own problems as well.
As far as the Milgram experiment, of giving shocks, while that was a basic breakthrough, there is much, much more to that psychology.
For example, individual action vs. mob action, “identity known” action vs. anonymous action, and one I have been very surprised by, is what I would call “Internet mob mentality”.
In a forum like FR, most posters are well behaved, with just some minimal moderation. But in other forums, anonymous posters can turn vicious, given the right subject.
One that impressed me was a discussion about crime and punishment, where posters were almost in a contest of how sadistic they could be towards prisoners, and their approval of the sadism of others. Torture such as flogging, branding, amputation, and the death penalty for even petty crimes. Some showed twisted creativity in this.
But it also raised the question of were they just too inhibited to propose this in person to someone else, or if they found the peer approval they wanted, were they serious about these things?
“But it also raised the question of were they just too inhibited to propose this in person to someone else, or if they found the peer approval they wanted, were they serious about these things?”
I think it’s a mixture of two phenomena: first, there are those who were serious, and simply found an opportunity to express unorthodox views without being rejected, and second, there are those who may not have been serious, but just jumped on the bandwagon because of mob mentality.
You see similar stuff with something like the Occupy Wall Street protestors. The committed anarchists and radicals latch on to it as an opportunity to voice their extreme views in a welcoming environment, and the hipster hangers-on just mostly parrot those views, because they think it will make them look cool and help them pick up protestor chicks.
“Two things, first most cops prefer tasers, because guns only have three modes, holstered, brandished, and shooting; but the vast majority of what they do needs something intermediate to that. Other weapons, like a billy club or a tonfa, have their own problems as well.”
Yes, the idea of giving police a nonlethal, but effective weapon, was a noble one. I just think the decision that the Tazer is the right weapon for that job is not well thought-out, and perhaps, lacking a better alternative, the idea itself may prove to be mistaken.
Previously, without the tazer available, the police officer had more limited options if they encountered some noncompliance. They could either try to talk to the subject and reason with them, or perhaps intimidate them into cooperating, or they could escalate to getting physical with the club and restraining holds, or ultimately, escalate to the use of firearms. Now, they have what seems like a much easier option, of escalating to the tazer.
The result of this, as far as I can see, is that the officers are not as hesistant to escalate the situation anymore, since they see the tazer as a “humane”, nonlethal escalation. So, in situations which they previously might have defused with patience and communication, they will most likely not exercise such patience, and will just taze the subject into compliance. It seems to me, at least with many cops, this rushing to escalate, just to end a situation quickly, is becoming habitual, and it can have unintended consequences.