saw my first Taser deployment today....

[BillMac]

Yes, they are worn on the support side to avoid confusion with lethal force.

And I asked to be sure. "Deployment" is the correct term!

[guitarist]

Lethal force deployment might have some special jargon, too.

I'm reminded of the famous comment at a Pentagon press briefing, when responding to a question about friendly fire:

"Once a bullet leaves a gun it doesn't have any friends"

--General Norman Schwarzkopf

[edgarbc1]

guitarist wrote:
"Once a bullet leaves a gun it doesn't have any friends"

--General Norman Schwarzkopf

when me any brother went fishing as kids, whenever we caught a really big and fat sunny that put up a good fight to get caught we would say, "Dang, that's a real Schwarzkopf!"

[Black]

BillMac wrote:
Yes, they are worn on the support side to avoid confusion with lethal force.

Is that something new since the Oakland "accident?"

[BillMac]

I don't know. From what I can remember, I've usually seen it worn that way. The belt fills up quickly with all that gear!

[kj4btkljv]

RAMd®d wrote:
Bill, where do your people wear their Tazers, weak side?

I'm just curious now...

Is the "weak side" always on the right, or left? Or, is it simply based on the officer's dominant hand?

The weak side is the side without the gun that fires bullets, correct?

Jeff

[BillMac]

Correct, Jeff. Strong side is the dominant hand. Weak/support side is the non-dominant.

[guitarist]

I always keep a third option. A can of Silly String in my back pocket.

And Cans of Whoop-Ass in the trunk of the car.

But I also have to make sure I'm in a zone where Silly String deployment isn't prohibited by law.

[Numo]

I have excellent reflexes, so I carry a wire cutter in a quick-draw holster in case a rogue cop tries to Taser me.

[RAMd®d]

Is that something new since the Oakland accident?

No need to use quotes, though I suppose it furthers your bias.

Yes, strong side the side on which you wear your duty weapon, for use with your strong/dominant hand. It's generally not new to most departments, but it *is* new to BART.

When BART first issued Tasers, they were carried on the strong side, as dictated by department policy. That was a tragedy waiting to happen, and it did. Because of that accident, the policy was changed in a number of ways, one of which was to switch the Taser to the weak side.


Is that really the official euphemism for launching the voltage???

You get worked up about the oddest things.


Maybe someone can introduce you to a police forum. I bet that would be a more appropriate venue for your predilections.

This place is as good as any, given the gamut of postings over any day. There's nothing inappropriate about his post.

I see nothing wrong with enjoying zapping some miscreant who would otherwise injury somebody because they're resisting. Until I *know* otherwise, I'll assume that "necessary force" doctrines were followed, and the deployment was not about field testing on homeless people or school children.

And it's entirely possible that it's not the sight of a body reacting to 50KV or so, but the satisfaction of having a tool that allows for subduing and capture of the aforementioned ne'er do well.


I still think Tasers are a great technology. 20 years ago, many suspects would have just caught a bullet instead.

No argument here.


So glad that never happens anymore.

Yeah, people will still get shot. Some of them will be innocent victims, others not.

Accidents will happen, some cops will use poor judgement, and people will Monday-morning QB without facts, until the end of time. Because that's the easy part.

Screening and training take time and money. And nobody wants to give PDs and SOs money. But you can MMQB and pretend you know what you're talking about.

That's free and without accountability, no less!