Stunning news from America. Police are using stun guns on psychiatric patients!! Here’s what the Taser website says about its top of the range device:
The TASER X26 uses a replaceable cartridge containing compressed nitrogen to deploy two small probes that are attached to the TASER X26 by insulated conductive wires with a maximum length of 35 feet (10.6 meters). The TASER X26 transmits electrical pulses along the wires and into the body affecting the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system. The energy can penetrate up to two cumulative inches of clothing, or one inch per probe.
Nice. We’re thinking of diversifying into a new range of protective clothing for our American co-loonies, consisting of three ‘cumulative inches of clothing’. Also helpful for those cash-strapped hospitals which are having to cut down on ward heating.
There’s a Jewish version of April Fool’s jokes at the festival of Purim. That was months ago, so the following is not a parody. Unfortunately. The Associated Press report that:
- Juveniles were shocked by stun guns once in 2003, twice in 2004 and once each in 2006 and 2007. All but one of the incidents occurred at Brattleboro Retreat, a private psychiatric hospital where police have been called to help with out-of-control patients.
– On several occasions, officers have drawn Tasers but not shot them because suspects suddenly complied with orders when faced with the weapons.
Of six Taser incidents involving juveniles dating to 2003, five were at Brattleboro Retreat and four resulted in patients being shocked with the device, according to the records.
Mental health advocates and others are disturbed by those numbers.
“Our feeling is that there should be other ways of handling situations that require de-escalation,” said Ed Paquin, executive director of Vermont Protection and Advocacy, Inc., a private not-for-profit agency that protects civil rights and human rights of people with disabilities.
“It’s rare or almost never that the Vermont State Hospital calls in an outside entity, and they handle folks that are of greater intensity or difficulty than the Retreat does,” he said.
Ken Libertoff, executive director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health, said his organization wants a moratorium on Taser use on minors.
“It should not be acceptable to use a Taser on a child in treatment,” he said. “It’s time for a public conversation about how to de-escalate situations so that we don’t have need for calling in the police.”
The names of the people who were shocked with Tasers weren’t released. According to a summary sheet provided by the Brattleboro Police Department, the behavior that precipitated the Taser deployments included assaulting police, threatening to commit suicide, self-mutilation and destroying property.
“We never plan on calling the police,” said Peter Albert, director of external affairs for the hospital, a private facility specializing in psychiatric and substance abuse treatment.
“The police are never part of any treatment plan intervention. We call the police when it’s deemed to have moved from a clinical crisis to a simple matter of safety,” he said.
Where to start with that? Using electrical shocks on mentally ill children in a psychiatric hospital?! Using them on people who are suicidal??!! Truly outrageous. And who’d have thought it from the country that created The Simpsons, hot fudge sundaes and lesbian softball leagues? (Oh. Well, they did also create the invasion of Iraq. Not an outstanding humanitarian triumph.)
To read the full gory details:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/09/08/police_records_show_how_and_when_cops_used_tasers/?page=1
There doesn’t seem to be a way to email the American Embassy in the UK, but you can ring them on 0207 499 9000. They’ll probably be pleased to hear someone furious about something that doesn’t include the words ‘civilian deaths’ or ‘unjustified imperialism’.
Alternatively, go straight to the top and try emailing Dubbya. The White House website says:
Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov. Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House cannot respond to every message.
But Bright does so do let us have your comments! And we have an unblemished record of not invading and occupying other people’s countries.
I find it quite breathtaking that violence is legitimized against people who are considered particularly vulnerable. I’m thinking of juveniles and people with mental ill health! How can that be right.