75 year old Madeira Beach Man Tasered 3 Times by Deputies

In a story that ran today in the St. Petersburg Times, a 75 year old man who is blind in one eye was tasered three times by Pinellas County deputies in December 2005.  The deputies had been summoned to the Madeira Beach condo after friends of the man had called deputies saying they were concerned about him.  He was suffering from loneliness after the holidays and had threatened to shoot himself even though he had no guns in his condo.  After the deputies stormed his condo, the 75 year old man was tasered three times.  I wonder why these deputies who are supposedly professionally trained could not de-escalate the situation without the use of a Taser.  If the police can’t handle these situations without resorting to electrocuting citizens, we’re all in trouble.