Police can't wait to tell if illness is to blame (Diabetics being tazed)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

This brings up a lot of questions and no real easy answers.

From: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/14733436.htm

In recent months, area police have used pepper spray and a Taser gun to subdue two diabetics in separate incidents after the men became combative because of low blood sugar. A third diabetic is accused of being involved in a fatal accident.

Because the symptoms closely resemble those of being drunk or high, it is very difficult for police to tell the difference until they find a medical card or bracelet, or until a paramedic can test the patient's blood, Euless Assistant Chief Harland Westmoreland said.

Until then, police must make sure that diabetics don't hurt themselves or others.

"The problem that we are faced with is that we don't know what's causing the violence," Westmoreland said. "All we know is that we have to intercede with their behavior. We are forced to use some level of force to control the situation. ... We are caught between a rock and a hard place."

<snip> The article is worth the read.

[MercutioATC]

1. It's a real problem.

A diabetic with low blood sugar acts exactly like a drunk. They slur their speech, stagger, and may become combative for no reason. How are police to know whether they're dealing with a combative drunk or a diabetic?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

3. True. Something needs to be figured out and there does not

seem to be an easy answer other than restraint and training.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Read this again.

Read this again and consider it in light of what tasers and pepper sprays are often used as:

The First Line of Punishment. Meted out without any due process, just officer discretion.

[MercutioATC]

4. Not punishment, restraint.

Perhaps you'd prefer a Streamlight to the head? That's what officers were forced to do in the past...

[htuttle]

6. No, not in the head

At least from what I know about police training, they are trained to use their billy clubs, etc... on exposed joints like knees and elbows. From what I know, they are specifically NOT supposed to hit people in the head.

Not that it never happens, though....

[MercutioATC]

7. Try restraining a 280-pound drunk with a hit to the knee...

...especially if you're a 110-pound female officer. In some cases, tasers or spray are needed.

I'm not denying that they haven't, on occasion, been abused...but there's nothing wrong with an officer using spray or a taser to restrain a combative subject.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. Google up...

Some of the dashboard cam videos of taser use in traffic stops that are on the internet. Then tell me they are not using them as punishment and worse.

But yes, there are times when they are appropriate. A lot of times they are not and yet they are used and abused.

Let's be honest: there is a small sub-set of police officers who are troubled and not too bright. They have visible and clearly apparent contempt for anyone not a LEA. They will use these these tools because they can and modify their reports to make sure their asses are covered. Their collegues, like it or not, will most often cover for them. It's just they way things are.

[MercutioATC]

17. We're in agreement.

There ARE officers who misuse the tools they're given. That's true in any profession.

However, CS sprays and (to a lesser degree) tasers are legitimate tools that serve a valid purpose. My issue isn't with people who claim that they're occasionally abused, but with those who feel they're inherently "bad".

[AX10]

5. True Tandalayo. If a Taser can kill, then that would be the...

police administering "punishment" undjustly.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

13. They have killed. Many times.

[Marie26]

8. They're tasering diabetes now?

I just heard that school security guards are now tasering students at the local middle school, as well. IMO, it's just another example of the authoritarian groupthink that's taking over our culture. Shoot first, ask questions later.

[AX10]

9. Where is this middle school?

[Marie26]

12. Charlotte, NC

This is second-hand info, but the guards apparantly taser a student who was acting out last week. At the least, it shows that they do now have these weapons available, whether it's justified or not.

[BlooInBloo]

11. ROFL! They did they same thing out here in the Seattle area...

... I guess we'll see how many lawsuits it takes to rein in these taser-happy Sgt. Kickasses.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlooInBloo]

15. That's why they get paid the big bucks...

... to protect MY rights - not shoving nightsticks up black people's asses, or tasering diabetics.

When the country starts to have a problem with black civilians running around shoving nightsticks up cops' asses, and the like, rather than the other way 'round, I'll have more sympathy for your view.

EDIT GODDAMIT! That ALWAYS happens - I take 10 minutes to write a scathing reply, then the mods ring the bell right when I was about to throw my knockout punch... I copied what the jackass said - but I'm prolly not allowed to post it... sigh...

[AX10]

18. Are you allowed to privatly email what the poster said?

[MercutioATC]

19. Let's make a distinction about "tasering diabetics"...

If the diabetic in question isn't combative, no tasering is needed (yes, I know there have been some idiot officers who think a taser is a wake-up tool...but they're the ones not obeying regulations).

If a diabetic is combative, two things are true:

1) They very well may be indistinguishable from a combative drunk (without blood testing), and

2) If they're combative, they STILL may present a danger to themselves or others and tasering may be the only way to subdue them.

[freeplessinseattle]

16. yep, but she was totally nonresponsive

not at all "combative" or a threat, fortunately it was all caught on videotape.