Non Lethal Weapons: A Controversial Debate
Taser
Non Lethal Weapons:
A Controversial debate
Over the years, the issue concerning the use of non lethal force in Policing and the Criminal Justice system has been a very controversial and debated topic. These weapons used by the Police have saved a considerable amount of lives and have proven themselves as a useful tool in making the jobs of the police more effective and efficient. Non lethal weapons are designed to incapacitate people or disable equipment with effects that are only temporary and completely reversible. These weapons are meant to cause no permanent change to the person, whether that should be physically or mentally. The police have these weapons as an alternative to using lethal force, therefore decreasing the likelihood …show more content…
When civilians get out of control and begin to riot, there are few options aside from non lethal force to use in some situations. Teargas, pepper spray canisters and rubber bullets are sometimes the only way possible for police to control crowds and end riots. The police are left with few choices in an attempt retake control in circumstances such as riots and they are forced to use these weapons on rioters. For example, if the ring leader of a riot is tasered, and the rioters witness this they will be less inclined to riot any longer in fear that they too could be tasered. These weapons are essential for crowd control and without them, police would be forced to use more extreme measures and a lot more people would be killed in …show more content…
In a case in Birmingham Alabama, forty-one year old Rockey Bryson was found dead in his jail cell 12 hours after being tasered. His family believed that he was tasered 20 to 30 times just because the police needed to subdue him after a confrontation in the cell. (Hambling) The use of the weapon in a circumstance such as this one could be looked at as unwarranted and unnecessary due to the numerous times he was allegedly tasered. Since officers are forced to use their discretion when making decisions, the use of the taser could be a weapon that an officer may become fond of because of how easy it is to incapacitate offenders and he may become trigger happy. Every time an officer uses this weapon he must tell his supervisor and file a report, and in departments all over the country "there are some names (officers) that keep coming up again and again and again. And if you've got a bad apple in the barrel you have to get rid of it, because if you don't it turns all of the other apples bad” (Brian
Non Lethal Weapons:
A Controversial debate
Over the years, the issue concerning the use of non lethal force in Policing and the Criminal Justice system has been a very controversial and debated topic. These weapons used by the Police have saved a considerable amount of lives and have proven themselves as a useful tool in making the jobs of the police more effective and efficient. Non lethal weapons are designed to incapacitate people or disable equipment with effects that are only temporary and completely reversible. These weapons are meant to cause no permanent change to the person, whether that should be physically or mentally. The police have these weapons as an alternative to using lethal force, therefore decreasing the likelihood …show more content…
When civilians get out of control and begin to riot, there are few options aside from non lethal force to use in some situations. Teargas, pepper spray canisters and rubber bullets are sometimes the only way possible for police to control crowds and end riots. The police are left with few choices in an attempt retake control in circumstances such as riots and they are forced to use these weapons on rioters. For example, if the ring leader of a riot is tasered, and the rioters witness this they will be less inclined to riot any longer in fear that they too could be tasered. These weapons are essential for crowd control and without them, police would be forced to use more extreme measures and a lot more people would be killed in …show more content…
In a case in Birmingham Alabama, forty-one year old Rockey Bryson was found dead in his jail cell 12 hours after being tasered. His family believed that he was tasered 20 to 30 times just because the police needed to subdue him after a confrontation in the cell. (Hambling) The use of the weapon in a circumstance such as this one could be looked at as unwarranted and unnecessary due to the numerous times he was allegedly tasered. Since officers are forced to use their discretion when making decisions, the use of the taser could be a weapon that an officer may become fond of because of how easy it is to incapacitate offenders and he may become trigger happy. Every time an officer uses this weapon he must tell his supervisor and file a report, and in departments all over the country "there are some names (officers) that keep coming up again and again and again. And if you've got a bad apple in the barrel you have to get rid of it, because if you don't it turns all of the other apples bad” (Brian