I've worked at a gun range that also provides training to LEO agencies such as shoot houses, cs chamber for certification, etc.. One of the things we offered training on was deployment of tasers and the departments we worked with all had the policy to treat tasers as a lethal weapon and they should only be deployed under the same justified use of force conditions as you would use with your sidearm.
The flip side of that was that any situation in which a taser was used also would have been considered justified in the use of a firearm as well. Part of the rationale behind that logic was in case something like this did happen. Even if the officer thought they were deploying the taser, but pulled out the gun they'd be justified under the law in our state.
I find that madness. Just because a taser can potentially be lethal, does not mean that it is equivalent to something that is intended to be lethal. What is the point of having a taser at all, if no distinction is to be made?
The law ends where liability begins. Everyone thinks the banks are a secret cabal that runs the world but I assure you it's actually the insurance companies that pull the strings behind the scenes.
Qualified immunity be damned, I guarantee you the city leaders of Brooklyn Center got a call from a very senior person at whoever insures their police telling them to either give them charges or find another provider.
All departments I've ever worked with are self-insured with the tax payer on the hook ultimately. That's the one difference between governments and businesses is that governments can ultimately pass the buck literally back to the people...
Part of that is a municipality by municipality thing. Minneapolis is considering making INDIVIDUAL officers to get personal law enforcement liability as one of the reforms; they'd basically be like doctors in that sense. Doctors have to get personal liability for practicing medicine.
This would effectively outsource the vetting of police officers to insurance companies, because if you couldn't find a company willing to insure you, you can't take the job.
I've worked at a gun range that also provides training to LEO agencies such as shoot houses, cs chamber for certification, etc.. One of the things we offered training on was deployment of tasers and the departments we worked with all had the policy to treat tasers as a lethal weapon and they should only be deployed under the same justified use of force conditions as you would use with your sidearm.
The flip side of that was that any situation in which a taser was used also would have been considered justified in the use of a firearm as well. Part of the rationale behind that logic was in case something like this did happen. Even if the officer thought they were deploying the taser, but pulled out the gun they'd be justified under the law in our state.
I find that madness. Just because a taser can potentially be lethal, does not mean that it is equivalent to something that is intended to be lethal. What is the point of having a taser at all, if no distinction is to be made?
Because people complained when cops brained people with batons, so a new tool needed to be found.
Because it's about the laws in our state that govern justified use of force, not the tool used.
And I've worked in insurance for two decades.
The law ends where liability begins. Everyone thinks the banks are a secret cabal that runs the world but I assure you it's actually the insurance companies that pull the strings behind the scenes.
Qualified immunity be damned, I guarantee you the city leaders of Brooklyn Center got a call from a very senior person at whoever insures their police telling them to either give them charges or find another provider.
All departments I've ever worked with are self-insured with the tax payer on the hook ultimately. That's the one difference between governments and businesses is that governments can ultimately pass the buck literally back to the people...
Part of that is a municipality by municipality thing. Minneapolis is considering making INDIVIDUAL officers to get personal law enforcement liability as one of the reforms; they'd basically be like doctors in that sense. Doctors have to get personal liability for practicing medicine.
This would effectively outsource the vetting of police officers to insurance companies, because if you couldn't find a company willing to insure you, you can't take the job.