Is it torture to taser someone who is in restraints already?

Question

An officer in louisiana is accused of tasering a man 9 times while he was in handcuffs. The last two times he was already dead.

A family member told me of watching his fellow officer taser a man handcuffed to a chair awaitting booking because the man was verbally abusive to a female officer.

Let's disregard the lethality of the device and look at the excrutiating pain. If you inflict that level of pain on someone who is not a threat then are you torturing them?

If i used a taser on an officer what crime would I be charged with?? Is it a lesser offence than punching? Is that a fair basis for evaluating the force level of this device?

Answer 1

I have seen a man in handcuffs and shackles still combative enough to require extreme force. He was high on PCP at the time.  Still capable of inflicting injury on officers.

It depends on the case!  Even if the subject is restrained officers might still have cause to use extreme physical force to keep the person subdued.  Without knowing more about the cases you cite I won't "Monday morning quarterback" the officers involved.

Answer 2

Yes. As defined by the Federal Government definition of torture it is. Please report this to your local Federal Bureau of Investigation because the corrupt police department will conjure some fallacy about how the officer "acted within procedure".

It also goes against the regulations and policies of using tasers.

I hope this officer, among being fired, is sent to prison for a minimum of 25 years for unjustly torture leading to manslaughter.

Where I'm from this doesn't fly. We prosecute corrupt cops all the time, send him here.

Answer 3

Okay I have about 10 years of law enforcement experience.  I was the first person on my department to deploy the taser.  It was better than the other option of lethal force.  So...If I were to continuously deploy the taser on someone who was restrained....... I'd get fired.  No one wants to hire a fired officer.  Also, SOME male officers feel like they need to defend female officers just because.  Don't do me any favors and risk your career b/c you don't like the way someone is speaking to me.  He knew what he was doing.....I don't think the taser is what caused his death...it was most likely the narcotics he was using.  A big DUH...moment.

Answer 4

If you feel they deserve it then go ahead!!!! If you used a taser on a officer you would be charged with felony assault on an officer!!!

Answer 5

The answer is maybe.  If you are using the taser to assist in restraining a particularly violent criminal then it would be acceptable.  I have seen people who were in restraints permanently disable officers, kick out windows in patrol cars, kick sheriffs unconscious who were trying to remove them from the patrol car for booking and the list goes on and on.  So your quick assumption that someone who is restrained is not a threat is completely inaccurate.  I have seen California felons demonstrate how to get out of a complete sets of shackles and handcuffs in less that 60 seconds.  In cases such as these the use of a taser along with restraints would be perfectly legal and within acceptable guidelines for most departments.  Your statement that a family member told you makes me take anything that follows with a grain of salt so to speak.  For instance, unless the individual was a minor a family member is not even permitted to stay with a prisoner during the booking process, so how would they have a clue what really happened?  As to a taser being particularly lethal, that is a gross exageration at best.  By a margine of over 1000 to 1 simply wrestling or resisting officers have resulted in far far more fatatilities than being exposed to tasers.

The use of a taser becomes excessive or unecessary force when it is used only to cause pain.  If an officer uses it after he tells you to "shut up" then this would be excessive or unecessary force.  Even if the language was significantly worse it would still not be an appropriate use of a taser.

You asked what the punishment would be charged with if you used a taser on a Police Officer, it would be considered a felony battery.  The extent of the charge would depend on the totality of circumstances.  Say you taze the officer and he/she crashes her partol car and dies the charge would be murder in the second degree/with special circumstances.  If you just walked up and tased an officer and said "hey do these hurt?"  The charge would obviously be less.  It is not a good area to experament in on either side of the taser, believe me.  I hope this answered your question.