California’s Bay-Area Transit Police Stripped Of Tasers

By on April 28, 2010 in News 10
Photo: D.C.Atty (CC)

Photo: D.C.Atty (CC)

Have we finally reached the point at which police over-use and abuse of tasers will start resulting in the danged devices being taken away? The Bay Area’s BART police are losing their tasers after a police sergeant attempted to tase a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle whom he was pursuing by car. Oh, and there was last year’s fatal shooting of an unarmed, restrained man on a subway platform after a BART police officer confused his handgun with his taser. California’s KTVU reports:

OAKLAND, Calif. — Following an incident involving a BART police sergeant inappropriately discharging his Taser, transit agency officials have ordered all its officers to hand in the controversial weapons Thursday until further training could be undertaken, KTVU has learned.

The final straw, apparently, came after an April 1st incident when BART police sergeant who was responding to a call about an alleged assault at the Richmond BART station.

Multiple sources said the sergeant was pursuing a 13-year-old boy who was fleeing the scene on a bicycle and reportedly deployed his Taser at the teen through the passenger window of his vehicle.

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  • emperorreagan

    How will police ever keep us safe if they can't just randomly zap people with electricity without justification or provocation?!?

    • Tuna Ghost

      They'll still have that option, this is only one law enforcement program in one state. Also they're not taking them away permanently, only long enough for “extra-training” and for new holsters to be issued. The holsters will be placed on the opposite side of the officer's dominant hand, minimizing the likelyhood of the officer drawing his gun instead of his taser. So the next time a police officer shoots a bound and unarmed citizen, he won't be able to use that as his defense.

  • tonyviner

    How does one not realize that the weapon in their hand is a gun? I don't know if it is still the case in England, but I have heard that their cops largely do not carry firearms. We need to move more toward a system like that. I would much prefer that no one had instruments with which to cause harm to one another, but baby steps, I guess. It should be noted here that I have quite a distaste for police, but I also understand and often justify their usefulness as a whole. The nonsense with the tazers has done nothing to help their image in the eyes of a lot of people. Also, while I am on it, your shitty hometown cop does not deserve ANY respect just because someone else died on 9-11 or because someone else died doing their job. That is not how this works, people. Same thing goes for firemen. No disrespect intended, just not any unwarranted respect, either.

    • emperorreagan

      Also not a fan of the arguments about “putting themselves in harm's way to protect you.”

      That's not really true. Many of the dangerous situations they're putting themselves into are to perpetuate a failed war on drugs, which does exactly zero to protect me from anything.

    • voxmagi

      When I was in London I saw two kinds of cops…the beat cops who are NOT armed with guns and are uncommonly polite and freindly…and the riot police that respond only to potential emergencies (in this case, it was a very rowdy football crowd at the pub with some troublemakers in their midst.)

      and hell yeah…Respect is for people who consistently earn it through doing a good job…not just for any asshat who finished the Academy and got a goldstar in asswhupping strangers class.

  • hypnos

    Confusing the gun with the taser is the murderers flimsy defense line. Since he is still at trial I'd say the word “allegedly” belongs in that sentence above.

    If you ask me it was clearly murder, not manslaughter.

  • voxmagi

    About damn time!! How long does it take to notice that cops nationwide are turning into reaming sissies who won't risk cuffing a drunk grandmother unless they stun the hell out of her from 10 feet away and then club her senseless while she's still twitching??? This bullshit needs to stop…everywhere…now. No more new toys until you learn how to play nice with others!!

    And people wonder how a negative view of law enforcement happens? I can name that tune in one f&%*ing note: zzzzzzz!

  • Anonymous

    here’s a tale about a Chicago cop who tasered a diabetic man who was in the midst of a seizure and on his way to the hospital. 11 times.

    http://rawstory.com/2010/01/chicago-cop-tasered-diabetic-seizure-11-times/

  • dumbsaint

    here's a tale about a Chicago cop who tasered a diabetic man who was in the midst of a seizure and on his way to the hospital. 11 times.

    http://rawstory.com/2010/01/chicago-cop-tasered…