The Police Commission will be hearing a presentation about a pilot program for the use of Tasers by the SFPD (see details in attachment) at their upcoming meeting August 15th at 530pm in Room 400 of SF City Hall (corner of Polk & Grove streets).
Civil liberties advocates generally oppose the use of Tasers by police departments, as they have been frequently used gratuitously by officers armed with them, and their use can cause serious, lasting injury or even death. Hundreds of people in the United States have died from being Tasered. Here are a few links with more information:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/19/us-stunguns-newyork-idUSTRE79I82U20111019
http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/taser-abuse-lawyers.html
http://www.geaugaconstitutionalcouncil.org/view.cfm?post=85
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser
http://www.nyclu.org/oped/op-ed-get-grip-taser-overuse-albany-times-union
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=032125dd-c177-43e7-9de7-61d18518e40b
Please try to come to speak during public comment at the Police Commission hearing to oppose this pilot program, and/or send a letter to the Police Commission, <SFPD.Commission@...>, or call them at (415) 553-1667. Opposition from the public has stopped past attempts to get Tasers into the SFPD, but they keep trying.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
noon8window.pdf (36 Bytes)
noon8window.pdf (36 Bytes)