Although I am not categorically against the use of Tasers, it is becoming more and more obvious that their use must be reexamined. The Taser has become a "quick fix" and a form of aggression towards the suspect by the police wielding them. The Taser should be used in place of a gun. In other words, if conditions arise where the officer would normally draw his weapon to fire than a Taser should be employed. It should be used as a replacement for the lethal weapon, and not as a weapon of convenience to make the officer's life easier.
The use of TASERS was approved for testing in Finland from October 26, 2004 through May 31, 2005* (SOURCE), and the weapon was adopted in Finland as standard police gear shortly after the trial ended (SOURCE: In Finnish). According to TASER x26 supplier, TASER International, Inc., Finland was included among other countries that attended the 2006 European Tactical Conference. The focus of the conference "was to train the officers in the use of the TASER x26". I sincerely hope that the Finnish police force will be more discriminating in their use of the non-lethal TASER than their American counterparts. If not, we'll be seeing our own "home town" stories of people abused and killed by cops with non-lethal TASERS to add to the already abundant archive available Online (see TASER vidcaps here).
Personally, I believe the Finnish police force will use more restraint. Why? The Finnish police force is not manned by men and women who have spent several tours in active duty in live war theaters; in short, they have not learned to kill. The American police force is manned primarily by veterans who have served in the Gulf War of the early Nineties and those returning from the current Iraq invasion theater. These people are quite familiar with killing and see the citizens of America as "The Enemy" as much as they view the Iraqis their enemies. And what more can be expected when the Police Terrorist Manual concludes a person who refers to the American Constitution of the United States as a terrorist? Far too often, the American men and women in blue have forgotten their oath to "Protect and Serve". This is by no means an indictment against all American police officers, and we encourage those officers who still care about America to be alert and aware of the Wolves in the Fold.
A quick Google search will bring up numerous videos of people being Tasered brutally by your friendly, neighborhood men in blue. A recent Amnesty International website reports that more than 220 people have been killed by non-lethal TASER welding police officers (SOURCE) in the United States since 2001.
Note: See also POLICE STATE WATCH in the left column for more.
The Exiled American
Ray Zweidinger-Pohjola
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5 comments:
The way Finnish Police tests their new gear, is to use them to their co-workers. :-) Yes, I'm serious. Of course they don't shoot each others with their side arms, but they test the pepper sprays, tasers and so on to their co-workers. Idea behind of this testing is to get to know both how it is used, but also how it feels for the target.
They just happen to be physically fit people, who work in the Law Enforcement, so what happens when they use tasers for some 40+ year old Finn, who is suffering some sort of heart disease? (Very common in Finland, compared to rest of the Europe).
One more thing, those 40+ year old Finnish men are also very often size of a bear! LOL!
Although it is true that police officers often TASER each other during training sessions, the TASER INTERNATIONAL, Inc. document I linked to states that the officers were given eight hours of training and then the 26X TASERS were field tested. Field tested means used on the streets in real world situations. I'm still looking for information as to the final results of the Approval Trial. I've been unsuccessful with English pages. Perhaps someone can find those results from Finnish sites.
According to the survey by Reader's Digest, done in 15 European countries, Finns trust their Police and the Defence Force more than others.
(Pilots and firefighters are the most trusted professions).
60% of Europeans trusts their police officers as an average, but in Finland the percentage is 91%. Next are Swiss (80%) and the lowest score came from Russia (21%). Over 24 000 Europeans were interviewed for the survey.
Simple reason why we trust the Defence Force is the conscript army and the fact that pretty much everyone's grandfathers were defending Finland in WWII.
I'll try to link the source.
Oh yes, the source is in Finnish. it also says pilots and firefighters are trusted by almost all Finns (98%). Lowest trust percentages were for car salesmen (25%) and politicians (10%). Why I'm not surprised? LOL!
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