(Miami Herald) BRADENTON, Fla. — Authorities say a Bradenton man died after being stunned by a Taser as he attempted to flee arrest.

Police say an officer tried to pull over 38-year-old Derrick Humbert in a residential area just after midnight Monday, but Humbert jumped out of his vehicle and started to run away through the yards. An officer chased Humbert and stunned him with a Taser.

Officials say paramedics took Humbert to a nearby hospital, where he died.

Humbert was wanted on a warrant for possession of marijuana.

I can just hear the law and order crowd saying, “Well, if he hadn’t have run, he never would have been tasered!”  Sure, because we can’t have someone wanted on a marijuana possession warrant eluding police.  Think of the danger he presents to the community!  Had he escaped from police, he might have, uh, smoked a bowl?

What motivated him to run from a mere possession charge?  In one of the thirteen decrim states, he would have only faced a ticket for his marijuana possession, something he probably wouldn’t have tried to run away from, but in Florida, he could face a year in prison for a joint and a felony conviction and five years for three-quarters of an ounce.  Even the federal government won’t give you a felony for possession unless it is your third strike.

Even then, what is the justification for electrocuting a guy over a little weed?  (Let’s not mince words: tasering is electrocution.)  Remember when tasers were introduced and we were told they would be a non-lethal way of subduing a dangerous criminal and protecting police lives?  We were told that tasers would reduce the number of shootings of suspects because police could use the non-lethal taser instead?

Amnesty International remembers that, too:

Because Tasers are often seen as completely safe and non-lethal, they are often used as a weapon of first rather than last resort. They have become less an alternative to deadly force than an alternative to less-intensive policing techniques. In the more than 351 cases Amnesty International has tracked where individuals died after being shocked, in only a small fraction –about 10 percent — of the incidents was the individual carrying any kind of weapon.

In Houston, for example, department policy has allowed for Tasers to be used when an officer feels he or she is going to be physically threatened — but without an imminent danger. Houston officers have shocked more than 1400 individuals since 2004. Hundreds of those individuals were not charged with a crime. An audit found that police shootings of suspects had not decreased after the introduction of Tasers in the city — which had been one of the primary stated goals of using the weapons.

My friend Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend has been following these cases for years and there is also the excellent blog Electrocuted While Black that chronicles this horrendous abuse of police power.  This injudicious use of tasers must end!  The use of a taser should have to meet the same prerequisites as the use of a handgun in policing.  Police should not be allowed to use tasers on citizens merely because they are being argumentative, uncooperative, or fleeing, unless the citizen is armed or presents an imminent danger to the community.

Surely a guy wanted for smoking a little weed doesn’t fit those prerequisites.

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A young man – a Baptist preacher – stopped by Border Patrol.  Cops demand to search his car.  Preacher invokes 4th amendment rights.  Cops allege the K-9 unit alerted on drugs or humans secreted in the preacher’s car, though preacher doesn’t see dog react at all.  Cops claim dog equals probable cause and invoke hammers to smash preacher’s windows out, tasers used repeatedly on preacher, preacher’s face torn up into bloody mess as cops smash his face into broken glass.

Don’t forget these Border Patrol thugs are now conducting operations within 100 miles of the border.  This is how our government is going to protect us from the scourge of Mexican trafficking of marijuana that Americans want to smoke and cheap labor that Americans want to hire.  Is this how President Obama plans to “crack down” on drug use in America?

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Tonight: Interview with Kerlikowske predecessor Norm Stamper on Drug Czar appointment – 4:20pm

Download today’s Daily Audio Stash at 4:20pm Pacific when I discuss the potential appointment of Chief Kerlikowske as Drug Czar with his predecessor, former Seattle Police Chief and current member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Norm Stamper.

(Seattle P-I) Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has accepted a job in the Obama administration, most likely overseeing the nation’s drug policies, according to sources familiar with the chief’s plans.

Kerlikowske, who has led the department for more than eight years, has told the department’s top commanders he expects to leave to take a top federal position, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t officially authorized to disclose the information.

Sources say Kerlikowske is expected to be named head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a Cabinet-level position otherwise known as the drug czar. The office, established in 1988, directs drug-control policy in the U.S. It’s subject to Senate confirmation.

Kerlikowske had also expressed an interest in the top job at the federal Drug Enforcement Administration but apparently has not been tapped for that post, one source said.

Kerlikowske won credit for stabilizing the police department after the stormy departure of Norm Stamper as chief in the wake of the 1999 World Trade Organization riots in Seattle, as well as the department’s initial failure to unearth a detective’s alleged theft of money at a crime scene. A genial Kerlikowske reached out to citizens. In addition, crime rates dipped during his time as chief, reaching historic lows in recent years.

Kerlikowske lists one of his accomplishments as the development of less-than-lethal force options for officers, equipping dozens of officers with Tasers. He also oversaw the installation of cameras in the department’s patrol cars.

He has been an advocate of gun control and fought to pass the assault-weapons ban and has championed closing the background-check loophole at gun shows.

Kerlikowske’s possible role in shaping drug policy for the Obama administration was applauded Tuesday by local medical-marijuana advocates.

In 2003, Kerlikowske opposed a city ballot measure, approved by voters, to make marijuana possession the lowest law-enforcement priority, saying it would create confusion. But in doing so, he noted that arresting people for possessing marijuana for personal use was already not a priority.

“Oh God bless us,” said Joanna McKee, co-founder and director of Green Cross Patient Co-Op, a medical-marijuana patient-advocacy group. “What a blessing — the karma gods are smiling on the whole country, man.”

McKee said Kerlikowske knows the difference between cracking down on the illegal abuse of drugs and allowing the responsible use of marijuana.

Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney and advocate for medical-marijuana patients, said his first preference would be for a physician to oversee national drug policy.

But Kerlikowske would be a vast improvement over past drug czars, who have used the office to carry out the so-called “war on drugs,” Hiatt said.

Kerlikowske is a “very reasonable guy” who would likely bring more liberal policies to the job, Hiatt said.

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Durango Herald Online
The Michigan wedding of Durango newlyweds Andy and Ania Somora came to an abrupt end last weekend after the bride and groom were tasered by local police and spent their wedding night in jail.

According to a news release from the Chikaming Township (Mich.) Police Department, Officer Jeff Enders responded Saturday to the Burnison Art Gallery in Lakeside, Mich., after gallery owner Judi Burnison asked for assistance with unruly guests at the Somoras’ wedding reception.

Burnison, who rented the gallery to the Somoras for the reception, told Enders the party had gotten out of hand, and there were broken glasses and spilled drinks.

Enders told the assembled guests to leave, but many became upset, police said. Enders called for backup, and 14 law-enforcement agencies responded to help clear the crowd. Police said that many of the 100 guests left peacefully, but several continued to be disorderly and to swear at the officers.

Skowron said the crowd got particularly unruly after police handcuffed Andy Somora’s father and put him in the back of a police cruiser. He said the elder Somora, whom he described as “a distinguished older gentleman,” was trying to talk to Enders to defuse the situation.

“I didn’t believe it, but I witnessed it. It was brutal, and that’s when Andy got really mad,” he said.

Skowron said Andy Somora had to be restrained by police and was tasered at least twice. His wife also received a shock because she was touching her husband during one of the incidents. Skowron said husband and wife were both arrested, but Chikaming police would not confirm that claim, and no mention of the use of a taser is included in the news release.

Snarky Observation #1:  unruly guests… broken glasses… spilled drinks… ah, so it was a room full of people intoxicated on the legal drug alcohol.  It’s good thing they weren’t all using some of that deadly potent “Pot 2.0 – Not Your Father’s Woodstock Weed!™”, or it could’ve been mass hysteria!

Snarky Observation #2:  Elderly fathers of grooms can be so extremely dangerous. Thank god Officer Enders had backup!

Snarky Observation #3:  Officer Enders only had the backup of fourteen law-enforcement agencies.  If fifteen agencies had shown up, then he wouldn’t have had to resort to a taser.

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I also blog for an award-winning LGBT site called Pam’s House Blend. She has been doing a fantastic job keeping up with all the stories of police misuse of tasers. Here is another entry for the taser files, courtesy of Loretta Nall down in Alabama.

Arrest raises questions about excessive force – NBC 15 Online
McINTOSH, Ala.) March 25 — Dramatic video caught by NBC15 News is forcing local police to answer some tough questions about proper procedure. The actions of a police officer captured on video are under review by the District Attorney for Washington County. Our news crew was in McIntosh for a different story when it caught the scene on camera. NBC 15’s Andrea Ramey witnessed the arrest.

McIntosh Police say the chase started as a routine traffic stop and quickly accelerated when Ronald Lee Reed would not stop his truck. When the police caught up with Reed, Officer Blaine Barnett fired a taser into Reed’s truck. Barnett then pulled Reed out, threw him to the ground, and punched him one time on the side of the head. The video also shows Barnett slamming Reed’s face into the asphalt street three times.

Reed didn’t spend the night in jail, though. He walked away with two misdemeanor citations for reckless driving and possession of marijuana.

Officers searched Reed’s truck, but according to a court clerk, the citation says only a “small amount of green substance (was found and) presumed to be marijuana.”

So, why use of the taser, the punch and the suspect’s head being slammed to the street when Reed was cited for minor offenses?

For more than a week, NBC15 News has been trying to get someone from the McIntosh Police to talk about the tape, to see if proper procedure was followed. The chief wouldn’t talk. The chief’s name is Michael Barnett… and he’s Officer Blaine Barnett’s father.

50,000 volts, a punch to the head, and slamming his head on concrete three times, all for a traffic violation and misdemeanor marijuana possession. We really need to get control over this increasing misuse of tasers by police – if your suspect doesn’t have a gun, a knife, or an overwhelming physical advantage, there is no excuse for the use of a taser!

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Charlotte Local News | Charlotte Observer
A 17-year-old who died after a police officer shocked him with a stun gun last week had marijuana hidden in his socks. And according to a search warrant, he’d been asked to leave the Food Lion where he worked before police arrived.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Jerry Dawson Jr. used his Taser after police received a disturbance call about 1:15 p.m. Thursday from the grocery store on Prosperity Church Road. Darryl Turner had worked in the University City store for about a year as a cashier and bagger.

Family members and co-workers said Turner, who graduated last year from a charter high school and planned to attend college, was a good student and reliable employee. His court record consists of three traffic offenses.His mother said her son had a temper but was not violent. She did say that Turner had come home for lunch Thursday and told her he had stolen a couple of Hot Pockets from the store. He was afraid of getting in trouble, she said, but she told him to go back to the store and admit what he did.

Police received the disturbance call soon after. As Dawson arrived at the store, police said, an “agitated” Turner threw something at a manager. Turner ignored Dawson’s commands and advanced toward him. Dawson then used the Taser to get him under control, police said.

Turner was later pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center-University. His death is the first Taser-related fatality in CMPD’s history.

Co-workers and friends said they never knew of Turner being reprimanded at work. Customers described him as “mannerly” and “pleasant.”

Another person’s life ended by the indiscriminate use of tasers by police.  We were introduced to tasers as a “non-lethal” method of force to subdue a violent criminal and protect police.  But lately, the taser is being used as a method of compliance even when an officer is not in any grave danger.  I encourage you to check out the Taser Files at PamsHouseBlend.com, where you can review too many of these incidents where tasers are misused and people die.  Unless a perpetrator is wielding a gun or a knife or other significant physical advantage, there is no reason for an officer to use a taser, which is a 50,000V roll of the dice.  The officer doesn’t know if that person has a heart defect or is under the influence of drugs that would make the taser an instrument of death.

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