Taser stun gun fails to gratify aspirations

This may not be a new subject for the human rights activists performing throughout the world but it is a reality that the Taser stun gun has been failing to match the expectation. What’s more, lots of questions are emerging in the greater society regarding the use of Taser stun gun. What are the most evident reasons behind this? Well, it is worthwhile to mention, in this context, that the United Nations Committee against Torture reported that the use of Tasers can be a form of torture, due to the acute pain they cause, and warns against the possibility of death in certain cases. Is it so? Let’s find out.

Well, the Taser stun gun has already been advertised and sold as a police tool that can lessen the number of suspect shooting deaths and officer injuries. However, according to the appraisals of a new study, its use does not reduce the number of people who die in custody. Can it be so? This is very difficult to state, as indicated by observers. As stated by them, Tasers were brought to the fore as ideal less-lethal weapons to be used by police to restrain widespread social or political disturbances, or potentially dangerous subjects. Nevertheless the use of Tasers has become controversial since many incidents have resulted in serious injury and death.

The study was conducted under the auspices of the researchers at the University of California San Francisco. These esteemed researchers left no stone unturned to make the investigation a success and therefore looked for cases of in-custody sudden deaths to differentiate between the period of using the weapon and the period before its use. What was the result? There was a stark increase in the rate of in-custody sudden deaths in the first full year of Taser deployment, if compared with the average rate in the five years before the stun guns were used.

Even though a decrease in the following years in sudden in-custody deaths was found, which probably resulted from changing the ways of using Taser stun gun, the danger persists always. Lastly, it must be said that this painstaking report is, without doubt, half-done. Want to know the cause? Ten largest U.S cities where stun guns are used most frequently refused to release their Taser data for the study.