tasers

Is there data on how often tasers are used where firearms would've been, in the absence of tasers?

This is precisely why tasers and non-lethal weapons were invented: there are many situations were harming or incapacitating an assailant is needed without necessarily killing him.

It certainly could be that tasers reduce the number of people killed by police, but it sounds hard to measure that.

When tasers were introduced they were supposed to be used in situations where an officer would have instead used lethal force.

Guns, knives, batons and even less-than-lethal weapons like pepperspray, water cannons, tear gas and tasers are offensive weapons.

For example, would it be ok for the teachers to carry tasers to protect themselves in case a child attempts to assault them?

Yea, tasers seem superior by pretty much any measure to shooting to immobilise.

Police carry weapons (truncheons, pepper spray, sometimes tasers), just not firearms by default.

The point was that white people don't get to run away from traffic stops and knock tasers out of cops hands without getting shot.

Police do not routinely carry pepper spray and tasers in every country.

We're seeing the same stuff in play right now with tasers.

If anything, that justifies to me why tasers aren't good enough.

It's a really hard problem, and even current Tasers are only "less lethal" like every other vaguely effective alternative I'm aware of.

The next thing you learn is that we really need to do something about tasers, because if there's a top 3 set of circumstances for death involving police officers, "death after tasing" is at least #3.

> The next thing you learn is that we really need to do something about tasers, because if there's a top 3 set of circumstances for death involving police officers, "death after tasing" is at least #3.

Tasers have the limitation of a slow-moving (harder-to-aim) projectile that may-or-may not penetrate clothing (it certainly won't penetrate heavier leather, etc.).

Tasers and pepper spray would probably not be considered non-lethal against babies.

Tasers have devolved from a less-lethal gun alternative to an electro shock based compliance tool, nothing more than a cattle prod used on humans.