Behavior control with tazers
The use of tazers as weapons for behavioral control is becoming alarming, as well as increasingly controversial because of the number of deaths associated with their usage. One must suggest that to many people, death related to the use of tazers as weapons, appears to be cruel, harsh and senseless.
It is important to understand what a tazer is and how it functions as a weapon.
Is the use of a tazer acceptable, or are there better answers for behavior control?
What is a tazer?
“Tasers are hand-held weapons that deliver a jolt of electricity through a pair of wires propelled by compressed air from up to 10.6 metres away.”
How does a tazer work?
“The jolt stuns the target by causing an uncontrollable contraction of the muscle tissue. The target is immobilized and falls to the ground — regardless of pain tolerance or mental focus.”
What does the word Taser mean?
“Taser stands for “Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle.”
The question becomes one of whether ‘electric’ rifles are acceptable as weapons used in behavior control. Unlike a rifle, the tazer administers an electro-shock to its target.
Should tazers be used?
Deaths associated with or related to the use of tazers as weapons raise some serious issues and concerns. One must ask whether the actual cause of death in each instance, is the electroshock administered with a tazer, or are there other factors involved, as well?
“Some psychologists say the cause is a rare condition called “excited delirium” and not the obvious common element — the use of a Taser.”
What is excited delirium?
“According to some psychologists, a person with excited delirium acts agitated, violent, sweats profusely and is unusually strong and insensitive to pain. Then, the victim’s heart races and eventually stops beating.”
Note that these symptoms can also be associated with other things, like a sudden release of adrenalin associated with fear, unusual activity, as well as various kinds of substance abuse.
Let us look at an example.
A person having done something socially unacceptable, like rob a bank, could have a sudden release of adrenalin, while he is on some kind of a substance that alters his behavior.
Targeted and hit with the tazer as a weapon, he could die. Which would be the cause of his death?
Under normal circumstances, behavior control of any kind is not associated with a death or a death sentence, which could be the result of a severe electric shock administered with a tazer. In this case, it is also associated with a sudden release of adrenalin and substance abuse, as well.
Electroshock ‘therapy’, with respect to the behavior modification of psychiatric patients, has been used for many years. Note that electroshock therapy could be fatal as well, depending upon the intensity of the electro-shock administered.
The same basic principle applies to tazers. One must ask, is it a relatively mild electro-shock administered by a tazer, or an intense one?
Any weapon that could, or does inflict death upon a person, should be subject to very severe scrutiny. In terms of psychiatry, the practice has been carefully monitored, as well as documented in the form of medical records.
The use of tazers may endanger the life of the individuals and thus, tazering is not an appropriate form of behavior control. One must argue that less severe measures would appear to be more appropriate than the use of tazers.