These incidents seem to cost the city money even when police are correct procedurally. From the CT Post:
A naked man who was reportedly fighting with emergency medical personnel died Sunday morning after being hit with a stun gun at least three times by Bridgeport police.
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/policereports/article/Man-dies-in-Bridgeport-police-custody-2267236.php
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I’m worried about the proliferation of stun gun use by the police.
In the past two years I have witnessed three incidents where police officers went for their tasers disabling men who were highly inebriated or agitated and were otherwise acting in a threatening manner. None of the three had weapons on them.
I think the police regard the taser as a non-lethal method of controlling an out-of-control person without becoming physically involved themselves.
I think the cops react too quickly. They give little or no time to talking with the agitated person which may or may not reduce the situational threat. It is almost as if the police do this instinctively.
I am concerned the freedom to use this taser type of force so easily may cause an officer to draw and fire his/her weapon without proper thought.
I say get rid of the cops, let’s go back to the old west days when we had sheriffs and everyone had a sidearm. Because it’s obvious no matter what the cops do it’s wrong in everyone’s eyes so let’s just break laws and make this country unsafe.
There are a few things at hand here:
1) don’t put yourself in a situation to be shot or tasered.
2) the guy was assaulting the EMT.
3) if the police used brute force on the guy who was attacking the EMT then everyone would cry they should have tasered the SOB.
4) the cops just aren’t handed tasers, they have to go through training and get tasered themselves in order to carry one, not all police officers chose to do so.
5) refer back to #1.
You’re not regarded as a smart person, are you?
yahooy, I was wondering the same thing about you. Were you there? Did you see the incident? Do you know the level of threat the man was?
The police have a tough job and idiots make it tougher and so do the UNTRAINED people second-guessing them at every turn.
Oh.
Thank you, yahooy. burman’s just a little f**ked up in the head, but he’s still an a**hole.
LOL
Ah yes, I don’t like Ronin’s pov so I must be an a-hole, I don’t agree with yahooy who thinks cops are too quick to use tasers, and now I’m a screwball. Once again, the best way to not get tased, yahooy, is NOT TO PUT YOURSELF in a situation to get tased. As for for Ronin, the results are in, you are an even bigger loser now than in the primary.
There was big story on 60 Minutes just last night on this topic.
The whole situation is just plain sad. I feel for the families of both the police officer and the victim. I am certain there will be a complete investigation. The fact remains the lives of many individuals will be affected forever.
I can say this much: I work at the BPD as a Service Assistant and get to work around the building. On the ground floor of the PD, there is a bulletin board with clear instructions in the use of Stun Guns. The instructions have several sketches of a human in different positions showing the areas where an officer is not allowed to aim for. Hitting certain areas of the body can lead to harm, but hitting some areas may not have any results at all. An officer can’t know what kind of substance (drugs) a suspect may be on. Some drugs make people pretty strong and aggressive and even non-responsive to being tasered. Officers are trained well and are not out there to taser people for the fun of it. If an officer wrestles a suspect down and the the suspect is injured, the city gets sued and the officers would even be questioned as to why he or she didn’t use the taser gun instead of tackling the suspect. 10-4, over and out!
And they say they’re making Tasers for consumers now.
Meanwhile, now the mayoral election is over with, maybe it’s time for some good old review. Why not start the Bridgeport City Charter? Spoke with someone who had a conversation with mayor about the charter. Is the city charter actually followed? Does it reflect best practices and should it be amended?
In other news, could the city really be moving forward with development? Is there something up with six buildings on Middle Street? Also, some were impressed with city development representative chat at Burroughs last Thursday. Seemed like the city is making good efforts to find most suitable developers. Could the city actually be moving in the right direction? Could even Majestic revitalization be in the cards?
Bridgeport Now,
You know I love questions. They provide a course to monitor, to follow, to see if productive activity follows “hoopla” and “hype.” Or whether talk is one thing, action absolutely something else, and what follows “hoopla” and p/r are accusations of hypocrisy.
We have always had planners, speculators and dreamers to flavor the palate of wishful thinking. For us to change results, what did you see, whom did you hear, and what was said that was different and provided hope, favorable impressions and a sense the Charter might be addressed.
Lennie, why don’t you have a blog “question of the day” for posters suggesting what Charter changes might be considered to assist the City in governance, good growth and prudent fiscal management? Let’s make a list of them, see the resources required to put them in place, and understand the financial pluses and minuses, if any. Let’s see if the Mayor’s list for considering the authorization of a Charter reform committee might overlap your readers in important ways. Time will tell.
BEACON2, in answer to your question “what was said that was different and provided hope” about city development. The topic was the Black Rock Bank development. I didn’t want to specify names. However, whoever spoke there at 6pm should be a matter of public record. And I was impressed by the city official who described the criteria and follow-through for which developers were chosen.
Negativity is expected in Bridgeport. Maybe one of the city’s best exports. I hate to say it, but there is sometimes some good news. It’s not my job to report it, thought I could do so. Some call that public relations and get compensated for it. I could do a whole hour program just talking about good news or bad news. I recall doing a month-long series on crime in Bridgeport during which I got emails from a former city official requesting I stop. We discussed different levels of crime.
Let me say this, it’s not easy for those who complain to acknowledge something good, like for example the renovated fountain on Fairfield Ave. On the other hand, conventional wisdom is Bridgeport will never revitalize.