To Taser or Not to Taser - That Is The Question

October 7th, 2007, Author: Baz L, Categories: General

Introduction

I know you’ve heard about all the recent taser related events in the news. The woman in Ohio is now suffering vision problems due to the cops putting the taser down on her. Then of course, there’s the student at University of Florida during the John Kerry speech. Now everyone is up in arms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly advocating what was done in these specific situations; the video with the woman looks kinda harsh, but we have to consider a few things.

Being A Cop Ain’t Easy, But Somebody’s Got To Do It

Cops deal with all sorts of stuff everyday. People carry guns all over the place. You get the blame if a crime is committed and not stopped, you get the blame if yo u use too much force to stop a crime from being committed. The only time you get praise is if you get a nice friendly criminal that says “OK officer, I surrender”; and when does that really happen?

In general, cops get a bad rap. What do most of us knows cops for? Giving tickets, putting folks in jail, etc. Only a small percentage of people that have personal positive experiences with the police have good things to say; people who are saved from getting robbed and pulled from fires, etc.

In the case of the University of Florida student; on the heals of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, do you really blame the cops? You never know these days. Now the Ohio woman, why was she trying to kick the crap out of the guy’s windows?

These Thing Could Be Easily Avoided

Maybe I’m looking at it differently because I’m a black man. With the second hand knowledge (and a lil’ bit of first hand knowledge) that I’ve gained over the years, police officers seem to make certain assumptions when it comes to young black males. A friend of a friend just got a new shiny BMW. So friend A, lends the car to friend B, and friend B takes us out. Then come the cops. It just so happens that friend B, went to the bathroom leaving lil’ ole me to deal with the cops and trying to explain the “Friend A - Friend B” scenario. Needless to say, it didn’t go down too well.

Yes, we all bitch and moan about our rights, etc; but truth be told, if you just sit down and shut up, things usually go alright. The cops say you can’t ask a question right now, take it and be quiet. The cops say calm down and get in the back of the car; stop kicking the windows like you’re trying to break stuff and be quiet. Stop trying to exert the fact that you have rights on the police. It’s already a touchy situation, try not to cause things to get out of hand.

Each situation is totally different, but at the same time, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Tasers are, after all, the non-lethal alternative.

Day In The Life of Baz