College Stock: Penny Stock News

The Dean has been educating the CollegeStock Community about weapon alternatives, such as tasers, and the fallout created by use of such weapons. More often than not, taser use comes under scrutiny, causes serious injury or death, or is questioned and taken to trial to reach a settlement or determine if the taser operator was justified in using the device.

This past weekend outside TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, a man was tasered after being punched “six to seven times” and forced to the ground. The man was not tasered until he was already forced to the ground by more than one police officer.

In this particular instance, the man was obstructing a paramedic crew attempting to put the man’s fiance onto an ambulance. Despite the fact that the woman being transported was the man’s own fiance, he reportedly spit in a police officer’s face when they tried to mediate the situation.

This is an example of where taser use, although mildly merited, could come under scrutiny because the man was tasered while already subdued on the ground. Such a case could go to trial and result in a costly settlement for the police department and it wouldn’t be the first time.

Very recently, a 72 year-old great-grandmother who was tasered on a Texas highway agreed to a $40,000 settlement. The 4 foot 11 inch woman was stopped for speeding and was said to resist arrest. The Travis County Judge, Sam Biscoe, said if the case was not settled it could have gone to trial and cost much more for the county.

Certainly, these taser incidents occur for a number of reasons and each situation is unique in its own way. For example, the taser death of 38 year-old man Ricky Massey is being investigated. This gentleman was stopped by a police officer and was going to be put under arrest for drug possession. A struggle broke out between the man and the police officer, the taser was used, and the man died later at the hospital.

More and more controversy continuously follows tasers wherever they go. In Virginia, the policy on taser-used has been scrutinized because it remains unchanged after the death of another teenager—this one was a 17 year-old. Besides the fact that this taser incident left a teenager with their whole lives ahead of them dead, the policy remains unchanged and the police offer has not been charged by authorities.

In upstate New York, the Niagara Regional Police were found at fault for repeatedly using a taser on a man. This resulted in a $50,000 settlement and the news reported that the police department was not pursuing an appeal of the decision.

This particular example shows that tasers are used incorrectly, as the Judge, Raymond Harris, sided with the victim saying the officers “abused their position of authority.”

It is not The Dean’s position to judge any police officers because he certainly does not want to do their jobs. But, The Dean feels these situations happen too often and have increased as a result of tasers becoming more popular among police and correctional officers.

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The Dean wants to remind all of his students that the deadline for The CollegeStock Scholarship Fund is October 10, 2009. You must get in for your chance to win $5,000.