Posted on 12/29/2005 7:59:33 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Unless you have sworn off television sets over the holidays, you have probably seen Monday's tense standoff in New Orleans that ended with a knife-wielding suspect being gunned down by the police. The camera reveals only so much of this tragic event, though my first thought was how differently this situation could have turned out if the cops has been armed with Tasers (Nasdaq: TASR) instead of handguns. The traditional media approached the story from sensationalist angles. Did the officers overreact? Were their lives being threatened? Could New Orleans survive yet another black eye?
I live in Miami. It's a Taser town. I have read about cops sedating a school child who was cutting himself in the principal's office with shards of glass from a picture frame he had smashed to bits. The media played it off as an abuse of force, but if you dig into the finer details of the case, you find a situation that could have been far more heinous if a Taser hadn't been discharged. Tasers aren't toys. However, deadly cases involving a Taser being discharged in the act of policing have been rare. For the New Orleans police force, which was just starting to live down a separate (and non-fatal) confrontation caught on film three months ago, a Taser may be as good a response as possible in a city looking for answers.
Financially speaking, Taser's had a rough year. But like its weaponry, the results haven't been lethal. The company remains profitable. Next year, it's looking to earn $0.13 a share on a 31% spurt in revenue. Tasers aren't perfect. But, with my apologies to the Smith & Wesson (AMEX: SWB) fan base of investors, they are certainly a more effective form of suppressing suspects than firing a round in their general direction. Taser is a Rule Breakers pick even though it certainly hasn't lived up to its billing as an ultimate growth stock at this point. Some of the stocks that have been discussed in the newsletter service's active forum for subscribers include other defense-oriented technology stocks such as Ionatron (Nasdaq: IOTN), with its laser-guided directed-energy weapons, and Metal Storm (Nasdaq: MTSX), with its electric-powered ability to fire stackable bullets.
Still, through feast and famine, Taser has been the face of non-lethal weaponry. The company has been busy trying to clear its good name by issuing favorable press releases and suing media companies that don't get the facts straight. Maybe this would be a good time for Taser to make a public appeal to New Orleans, offering to arm a precinct or two with Tasers. It would be a great way for two distressed entities to win their way back into the media's good graces. Pardon the pun, but it's at least worth a shot. Want to learn more about Rule Breakers investing? Kick the tires for a month as part of a free trial subscription. Fools, now is the time to open your hearts and wallets to worthy causes! Please support our five Foolish charities at www.foolanthropy.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz lives in Miami, which really is a Taser town. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
The company has $106 cash on hand too. LOL.
Hey, I did the same thing exactly. Driving home from my father's funeral on I-70, at about 2 a.m., I started following a fast sports car and thinking about my war-hero dad. I got emotional and didn't watch my speed. I was going well over 90 when the cop pulled me over. He could have written the ticket for reckless driving and taken me in, but I wept and told him about my father, and he wrote the ticket for 78 instead. You better believe I sent the fine in without argument and complimented the officer on his work. I was dead wrong and knew it. And I too got no points.
Don't bring a taser to a knife fight.
Great video! LOL. They're just like that in high school.
Of course, a guy with a gun doesn't have to shoot to kill, a guy with a knife.
I would say "in addition to" handguns rather than "instead of" handguns for police officers.
You got that right.
I love that video!
you're HAMMERIN ME......
LMAO
Why didn't they just let the air out of her tires, or disable the vehicle, instead of her?
(sorry about your Dad)
I have to add another story.
Not long after this incident, I was driving with my two year old when I got a flat tire. I got out of the car and realized that I had no clue how to get the jack out of my Tracker. What to do? I started walking down I-94, pregnant, in heels, with my two year old in tow. An officer pulled up behind me, invited us into the car, took us to a gas station where I called AAA. He bought my daughter a sucker and waited until the AAA arrived.
God Bless our public servants!
My hubby got me a cell phone after that one!
"Also, think of the scars. I mean, if you shoot a guy in the forehead with a .40 he's going to die and have an ugly scar to cover up for the funeral. However, if you shoot him with a Taser in the forehead, he may also die--yet the mark left can easily be covered up with makeup for the funeral. Just looking out for the feelings of the relatives at funeral time."
So according to your logic if the man stabbed a police officer in the chest and killed him it would be OK because he would be wearing a suit in his casket at the funeral so no one would see the scar.
That's ridiculous. As a 25 year veteran police officer, supervisor (Corporal), and certified Defensive Tactics and Use of Force instructor, it appears that these officers used reasonable force.
I do think if they had Tasers and they were CLOSE enough, they would have used them but they didn't have them. Police Officers can only use the tools that are provided them by department policy. Speaking as a police officer, I don't give a royal rats rear end what scars the guy may have if I have to shoot him, if it's him or me, it's going to be him.
The police were right to have their weapons drawn in this case. A minimum distance of 21 feet is SOP in dealing with knife wielding suspects. Even at that distance, a knife wielding suspect could still stab even seasoned officers before they could draw their weapons. Remember, this supect armed with a knife is a DANGER to the officers and the PUBLIC at large, they cannot just leave and let him go about his business. They have to take action. Im sure the action they took was not relished by them.
If people only really knew what these officers will have to go through with the shooting review board, they would know that, not only are officers trained to use deadly force only when threatened with deadly force, but that the BS they have to go through after, even though the shooting is rightious, would keep most of them from using it unless absolutely necessary.
There are some real hard heads in this world. When I was a cop, I didn't have tasers. That guy would have toted a huge @ss whopping or a brief choke out hold would have done the job.
Which ever came first.
If only the perpetrator had been shooting at the cop through, say, a car windshield. The cop coulda quickly got the upper hand with his trusty taser. With a name like "Aristotle", the writer has to to be a complete barf bag.
Some people just need a good tazing.
The New Orleans Police Department has always been known as a violent one. If you taunt them, don't be surprised when they fire on you. They are an underpaid department, an overworked department, and they are a department where brutality has long been tolerated. It's been this way since the department was incepted. If you act cute with the NOPD, you take your life in your own hands.
Yeah, so. If her car were disabled, I bet she would have gotten out of it on her own, plus, she wouldn't have been able to do anything illegal anymore.
Here is another video of a thug in a holding cell going wild and trying to pick a fight with the police.
This boy likes to fight.
He found out that he didn't like tazers.
He got a nice tazing and turned into an apologetic pussycat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.