RSDavis
11-08-2007, 03:53 PM
"Don’t Tase Me, Bro!" Redux...
by RS Davis (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=326703689&Mytoken=032BB6E0-1D3F-48DA-ADB993AEBD8CF69634794942)
Hello Freedomphiles! Now, I've blogged a few taser stories in my time - from the one about the little old wheelchair-bound invalid who was tased to death (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=311810308&Mytoken=5FC9451E-C1BE-449B-BF313AAE6255727654995649)to the innocent man who was tased for filming the police (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=319610020&Mytoken=FB11122B-8966-41F6-9001DFFBBAE7E176103304821) - but I think this one takes the cake.
Can you think of a single reason where a prudent course of action for a law enforcement officer would be to tase a sleeping man?
Me neither.
Arriving home after a night of partying, Shawn Hicks stumbled through his door and passed out fully clothed and face down on his couch. What he did not realize before the sweet ambrosia of drunk dreams was that he had forgotten to disable his silent burglar alarm, and the police had been alerted.
So, the cops showed up and lightly roused him by shooting him with a taser between the shoulder blades.
"I felt a lot of voltage going through my body," Mr. Hicks said recalling the events of that late July weekend. "That's what woke me up."
Jumping to his feet, Mr. Hicks was aware of an intense sensation between the shoulder blades of his 150-pound body. It didn't stop there. His whole body felt as if it were on fire.
When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, his heart skipped yet another beat. Two North Braddock police officers, Gerard Kraly and Lukas Laeuricia, were standing in his living room. To this day, Mr. Hicks still doesn't know which is Kraly and which Laeuricia.
Wouldn't a nudge have worked? He could have even shoved him with one of those shiny, patent leather cop shoes if he wanted, or shine a light in his face. With 260 deaths (http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e3c8a9f4-43ee-4a08-b72e-9dd5ae8bd46f)attributed to tasers since the inception of their use in 2001 as a law enforcement tool, I don't think using them as alarm clocks is warranted.
The cops told Hicks that they thought he was a robber, and he assured them it was his place.
According to Mr. Hicks, the cops were skeptical. "How do we know that you're who you say you are?" the shorter of the two cops asked.
At that point, the cop holding the Taser squeezed the trigger, sending Mr. Hicks into paroxysm of agony. It was not a short jolt like the first one he received. He fell to the floor. His screams woke the neighbors.
"What do you want?" Mr. Hicks asked. "Please stop [shooting] me." The shorter cop helped him to his feet. Swaying unsteadily, he offered to show them his identification. They searched him and found his wallet. After inspecting it, they threw the wallet on the coffee table.
So, now that they knew exactly who he was and understood the error in shooting an innocent homeowner twice with a taser, they did the only sane thing to do in that situation.
They shot him again.
The cop with the Taser squeezed the trigger again, anyway. Mr. Hicks flapped his arms wildly, but didn't fall. All he could do was scream loud enough to be heard all over the Mon Valley.
After removing the pellets from his bloody back, the cops handcuffed Mr. Hicks and led him out his front door to a police van. They did not read him his rights, Mr. Hicks says. The back of his shirt was soaked with warm, sticky blood.
Meanwhile, cops from six neighboring boroughs searched the house for other "burglars."
Mr. Hicks' mother, Arlene, arrived just as her son was being escorted out the door. She had Mr. Hicks' 11-year-old daughter and a niece in tow. "Why are you arresting my son?" she asked. The taller of the two cops answered that he "didn't have to tell her anything."
When Mrs. Hicks persisted, he said her son was being arrested for "being belligerent."
Well, no shit. If they'd done that to me, I'd be pretty fucking belligerent, too! The cops held him until five o'clock in the morning, refusing medical treatment, and never charged him with a crime.
In the aftermath, the Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., decided the best course of action to teach these cops the proper use of force was to do nothing at all. (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07307/830907-56.stm)
The original story can be found here (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07254/816402-153.stm). Thanks to my hero Radley Balko for the tip.
by RS Davis (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=326703689&Mytoken=032BB6E0-1D3F-48DA-ADB993AEBD8CF69634794942)
Hello Freedomphiles! Now, I've blogged a few taser stories in my time - from the one about the little old wheelchair-bound invalid who was tased to death (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=311810308&Mytoken=5FC9451E-C1BE-449B-BF313AAE6255727654995649)to the innocent man who was tased for filming the police (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=194780914&blogID=319610020&Mytoken=FB11122B-8966-41F6-9001DFFBBAE7E176103304821) - but I think this one takes the cake.
Can you think of a single reason where a prudent course of action for a law enforcement officer would be to tase a sleeping man?
Me neither.
Arriving home after a night of partying, Shawn Hicks stumbled through his door and passed out fully clothed and face down on his couch. What he did not realize before the sweet ambrosia of drunk dreams was that he had forgotten to disable his silent burglar alarm, and the police had been alerted.
So, the cops showed up and lightly roused him by shooting him with a taser between the shoulder blades.
"I felt a lot of voltage going through my body," Mr. Hicks said recalling the events of that late July weekend. "That's what woke me up."
Jumping to his feet, Mr. Hicks was aware of an intense sensation between the shoulder blades of his 150-pound body. It didn't stop there. His whole body felt as if it were on fire.
When his eyes finally adjusted to the light, his heart skipped yet another beat. Two North Braddock police officers, Gerard Kraly and Lukas Laeuricia, were standing in his living room. To this day, Mr. Hicks still doesn't know which is Kraly and which Laeuricia.
Wouldn't a nudge have worked? He could have even shoved him with one of those shiny, patent leather cop shoes if he wanted, or shine a light in his face. With 260 deaths (http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e3c8a9f4-43ee-4a08-b72e-9dd5ae8bd46f)attributed to tasers since the inception of their use in 2001 as a law enforcement tool, I don't think using them as alarm clocks is warranted.
The cops told Hicks that they thought he was a robber, and he assured them it was his place.
According to Mr. Hicks, the cops were skeptical. "How do we know that you're who you say you are?" the shorter of the two cops asked.
At that point, the cop holding the Taser squeezed the trigger, sending Mr. Hicks into paroxysm of agony. It was not a short jolt like the first one he received. He fell to the floor. His screams woke the neighbors.
"What do you want?" Mr. Hicks asked. "Please stop [shooting] me." The shorter cop helped him to his feet. Swaying unsteadily, he offered to show them his identification. They searched him and found his wallet. After inspecting it, they threw the wallet on the coffee table.
So, now that they knew exactly who he was and understood the error in shooting an innocent homeowner twice with a taser, they did the only sane thing to do in that situation.
They shot him again.
The cop with the Taser squeezed the trigger again, anyway. Mr. Hicks flapped his arms wildly, but didn't fall. All he could do was scream loud enough to be heard all over the Mon Valley.
After removing the pellets from his bloody back, the cops handcuffed Mr. Hicks and led him out his front door to a police van. They did not read him his rights, Mr. Hicks says. The back of his shirt was soaked with warm, sticky blood.
Meanwhile, cops from six neighboring boroughs searched the house for other "burglars."
Mr. Hicks' mother, Arlene, arrived just as her son was being escorted out the door. She had Mr. Hicks' 11-year-old daughter and a niece in tow. "Why are you arresting my son?" she asked. The taller of the two cops answered that he "didn't have to tell her anything."
When Mrs. Hicks persisted, he said her son was being arrested for "being belligerent."
Well, no shit. If they'd done that to me, I'd be pretty fucking belligerent, too! The cops held him until five o'clock in the morning, refusing medical treatment, and never charged him with a crime.
In the aftermath, the Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., decided the best course of action to teach these cops the proper use of force was to do nothing at all. (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07307/830907-56.stm)
The original story can be found here (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07254/816402-153.stm). Thanks to my hero Radley Balko for the tip.