Watching the squad
video of the great-grandma getting Tasered in Texas made me cringe. She appears
to be challenging the deputy constable who stopped her for speeding in a
construction zone to zap her with his Taser.
Watching the woman
moan and hit the ground after getting the Taser jolt brought back memories of
my own decision to be Tasered by St. Paul police several years ago.
It was part of a
story on their new tools for dealing with people who don't want to cooperate
when they are being arrested. The experience has helped me cover Taser-related
stories on my beat -- and convinced me never to volunteer to be zapped again!
While people may debate
whether the Texas officer should have Tasered the elderly driver, no one will
debate getting Tasered really hurts. I have seen other videos from police
cameras showing people taunting officers to Taser them. It totally baffles me
why anyone would let them get themselves into that kind of confrontation with
an officer and demand a "ride" on a Taser. (In at least one case,
alcohol appeared to have clouded the guy's reasoning!)
In any case, if you
want to see what it feels like to get a shot from the Taser you can
check
out my experience and
some
of the videos the Minneapolis Police department captured on their
Taser cams. Once you watch them, I can't imagine you'll challenge an officer to
use a Taser on you!
