The use of tasers is widespread among police departments, but critics worry the devices have made officers trigger-happy.
Tasers, which are used by more than 12,000 police departments in the U.S., have gained popularity as a non-lethal alternative for subduing suspected criminals. Supporters of the weapons point to situations where officers, confronted by, say, a man waving a knife, would otherwise have to use lethal force or put their own lives in danger.
However, critics of tasers say that there is a downside to the devices, as reported on a recent segment of the CBS Morning Show. One contention is that officers have itchier trigger fingers with tasers, in the belief that they are less lethal than a handgun.
On the CBS broadcast, civil rights lawyer John Burton said tasers “are used on people frequently who are doing very little, other than not going along with the program of the police.”
In one of the more notorious examples of this danger, a Georgia schoolteacher was tased repeatedly in July when police responded to her report of a prowler.
Compounding that issue, tasers can lead to fatalities when, for example, someone has a heart condition. According to Amnesty International, coroners around the U.S. have linked more than 50 deaths to tasing since 2001, although the organization contends the actual toll is many times higher.
