Giving Thanks

I am VERY thankful for each & every person that I've been blessed in working with.

Without y'alls support, I would not be remotely the photographer that I've become.

Tasers and Police Brutality

I live in a small community of 15,000 at most.

Seeing the questionable tactics used by law enforcement to disperse the Occupy Wall Street, one of the better examples is the Channel 4 news video of UC Davis' response to their Occupy protests as seen below:



 ...combined w/ a NYCLU report naming my own localities high use of tasers (aka "stun guns"), its made me question some things.

During the mid-late 90's while serving with the Marines, the use of "deadly force" was ingrained into each & everyone of us. It was seperated into two parts. Defining "deadly force" & explaining when it can be applied (while on post as a sentry). From my US Marine Guidebook (1999 edition)...

"Deadly force is defined as that force which a person uses with the purpose of causing-or which he knows or should reasonably know, would create substantial risk of causing-death or serious bodily harm. Deadly force is justified under conditions of extreme necessity and ONLY as a last resort when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed." (emphasis mine)

Yes specific situations & environments will vary on the when, how, & why. But basically, one has to use all possible options BEFORE they pull that trigger.

So what explains the Glens Falls Police Department's high taser usage? Back in May 2010 why did they taser a guy who reportedly had no other weapon on him besides his fists? Could they not have TRIED calming him down before they shot him? If this is how they treat one of their "Brother Officers", I'd hate to see what they do their enemies (so to speak).

Why is it that reportedly 99 out of 150 tasering incidents involved people with no weapons on them?

Granted this incident happened with a sister police department, can they & in what manner do they justify using a taser on an animal?

I'm not remotely saying tasering people is always unjustified.

What I AM promoting is that the Glens Falls Police Department step forward & explain themselves to the public. Specifically their policies on A. when their officers can draw their weapon, B. when they can pull the trigger, C. why doing so is acceptable.

I WANT to sympathize with the tough jobs the Boys in Blue have (Lord knows there are A LOT of whackos) but without having any clue as to what they're thinking, it simply reads as the leadership is promoting a culture of trigger happy cops getting their jollies off on hurting people.

Edit: Another taser fatality this time by a NC Police Department under questionable circumstances.


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This is Vanessa. "She makes Zombie Killing Look Good!"

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