There’s a well-balanced, thoughtful editorial in the Palm Beach Post this morning that is worth a read on tasers. The upcoming legislative debate over taser use comes in light of the tragic and unnecessary death of a Ft. Pierce man. Samuel Hair of Fort Pierce was suffering from mental illness not criminal behavior at the time of his death. He was also wearing a pacemaker. Hair had called police for help and they brought him to the emergency room for treatment. That’s when everything went awry.
As Sam Hair got up to greet his aunt, police, mistaking his action for aggressive behavior I suppose, tasered him twice. He never recovered. Now, I’m not saying the police acted improperly, I wasn’t there at the time of the incident. However, what appears clear to all who have heard the various accounts of the incident, is that using a taser wasn’t appropriate with a man suffering from mental illness and using a pacemaker.
