Callous and Cruel: Use of Force Against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons
"This 127-page report details incidents in which correctional staff have
deluged prisoners with painful chemical sprays, shocked them with
powerful electric stun weapons, and strapped them for days in
restraining chairs or beds. Staff have broken prisoners’ jaws, noses,
ribs; left them with lacerations requiring stitches, second-degree
burns, deep bruises, and damaged internal organs. In some cases, the
force used has led to their death."
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Showing posts with label use of force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label use of force. Show all posts
Half of People Shot by Police Are Mentally Ill, Investigation Finds
The newspapers analyzed in detail the incidents of police deploying deadly force in Maine — a state with a comparatively low crime rate — since 2000. The report noted:
42 percent of people shot by police since 2000 — and 58 percent of those who died from their injuries — had mental health problems, according to reports from the Maine Attorney General’s Office. In many cases, the officers knew that the subjects were disturbed, and they were dead in a matter of momentsRead on...
Taser Error
by digby
This is just unbelievable:
BART's police chief asked for patience from the public on Sunday after video footage surfaced showing one of his officers fatally shooting an unarmed man who was on the ground on a station platform on New Year's Day, and after an attorney for the dead man's family said he planned to sue the transit agency for $25 million.
Chief Gary Gee said he, too, had seen video images of the shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward. But Gee said he found the footage to be inconclusive, and he said his investigators still needed to interview a key witness - the officer himself.
Read on...
Does anyone really think police are adequately trained in the use of Tasers, or guns for that matter. Tom
Update: Here is video if you can stomach it. Tom
This is just unbelievable:
BART's police chief asked for patience from the public on Sunday after video footage surfaced showing one of his officers fatally shooting an unarmed man who was on the ground on a station platform on New Year's Day, and after an attorney for the dead man's family said he planned to sue the transit agency for $25 million.
Chief Gary Gee said he, too, had seen video images of the shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward. But Gee said he found the footage to be inconclusive, and he said his investigators still needed to interview a key witness - the officer himself.
Read on...
Does anyone really think police are adequately trained in the use of Tasers, or guns for that matter. Tom
Update: Here is video if you can stomach it. Tom
Is it ever okay for the cops to shoot violent protesters?
John Aravosis (DC) · 12/07/2008 04:07:00 PM ET
Or to put it another way: Are violent protests ever justified?
I remember talking to my mom, a few years back, when the anti-globalization crowd was trashing Seattle, and, well, let's just say that mom and I had a different view on the use of force to stop people from turning over cars, looting stores, and more generally setting the city on fire. You might be surprised to know that mom was against the police using more force, I was for it.
I'm reading the news from Greece, and I just can't help but feel that when mobs are turning over private cars, and setting commercial buildings on fire (when hundreds of innocent families live above those buildings), that maybe the cops ought to use more than tear gas. If someone is setting fire to a building that houses hundreds of families, including children, you don't get into an argument about Marxist theory, you shoot them. My gut tells me that the people who were trashing Seattle, and who are setting fire to buildings in Greece, are not "angry students" - they're violent thugs. I've done a lot of pretty hard-hitting political activism in my years, and never resorted to violence.
Read on...
Interesting question. Obama supports the workers' occupation of a factory in Chicago right now. Management probably thinks the occupation is "violent". I'm a bit suprised by John Aravois' opinion here. There is already too much "use of force" by the police. I"d hate to see an open season against protesters along the lines of Richard Daly's infamous "shoot to kill" order in Chicago. What do you think? Tom
Or to put it another way: Are violent protests ever justified?
I remember talking to my mom, a few years back, when the anti-globalization crowd was trashing Seattle, and, well, let's just say that mom and I had a different view on the use of force to stop people from turning over cars, looting stores, and more generally setting the city on fire. You might be surprised to know that mom was against the police using more force, I was for it.
I'm reading the news from Greece, and I just can't help but feel that when mobs are turning over private cars, and setting commercial buildings on fire (when hundreds of innocent families live above those buildings), that maybe the cops ought to use more than tear gas. If someone is setting fire to a building that houses hundreds of families, including children, you don't get into an argument about Marxist theory, you shoot them. My gut tells me that the people who were trashing Seattle, and who are setting fire to buildings in Greece, are not "angry students" - they're violent thugs. I've done a lot of pretty hard-hitting political activism in my years, and never resorted to violence.
Read on...
Interesting question. Obama supports the workers' occupation of a factory in Chicago right now. Management probably thinks the occupation is "violent". I'm a bit suprised by John Aravois' opinion here. There is already too much "use of force" by the police. I"d hate to see an open season against protesters along the lines of Richard Daly's infamous "shoot to kill" order in Chicago. What do you think? Tom
Man in Edmonton dies after taser hit
Police zap man 'at least twice' after commotion at pawn shop
DAWN WALTON AND JOSH WINGROVE
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
October 30, 2008 at 5:00 AM EDT
CALGARY — A man in Edmonton has died after being hit "at least twice" with a taser as police attempted to quell a disturbance inside a pawn shop, officials said yesterday.
Police were called to Dan's Pawn Shop in the city's west end at about 11 a.m., responding to a report of a man smashing things and making threats.
Read on...
Check Crimbrary's archive for multiple stories on Tasers. It probably is going to take some 12 year old kid getting tasered to death before anyone starts paying attention. Tom
DAWN WALTON AND JOSH WINGROVE
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
October 30, 2008 at 5:00 AM EDT
CALGARY — A man in Edmonton has died after being hit "at least twice" with a taser as police attempted to quell a disturbance inside a pawn shop, officials said yesterday.
Police were called to Dan's Pawn Shop in the city's west end at about 11 a.m., responding to a report of a man smashing things and making threats.
Read on...
Check Crimbrary's archive for multiple stories on Tasers. It probably is going to take some 12 year old kid getting tasered to death before anyone starts paying attention. Tom
Use of force incidents drop: police
October 17, 2008 Thana Dharmarajah
GUELPH
Early one morning, Guelph Police chased three men leaving a stolen vehicle on foot.
They followed one man into an alley where he hid against a wall in the darkness. One officer drew his Taser. The police found the man and told him to get on the ground.
When another officer moved to put handcuffs on the suspect, he noticed scissors in the man's pants pocket. Fearing for his safety, he stepped on the man's back and zapped the man in the back with the Taser before he could reach for the scissors.
Read on...
I have to confess I don't know if this is good or bad for a city of about 125,000. Guelph does have an overly active nightclub scene that floods the downtown with 6000 mostly drunken citizens every weekend night. But it is worth monitoring. Is seeing scissors in a pocket a good enough reason to taser someone? What do you think? Tom
GUELPH
Early one morning, Guelph Police chased three men leaving a stolen vehicle on foot.
They followed one man into an alley where he hid against a wall in the darkness. One officer drew his Taser. The police found the man and told him to get on the ground.
When another officer moved to put handcuffs on the suspect, he noticed scissors in the man's pants pocket. Fearing for his safety, he stepped on the man's back and zapped the man in the back with the Taser before he could reach for the scissors.
Read on...
I have to confess I don't know if this is good or bad for a city of about 125,000. Guelph does have an overly active nightclub scene that floods the downtown with 6000 mostly drunken citizens every weekend night. But it is worth monitoring. Is seeing scissors in a pocket a good enough reason to taser someone? What do you think? Tom
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