Newsflash! Tasers Are Lethal, But Knives Are Harmless!

Concerns have been raised over extreme techniques used by police to arrest suspects after the deaths of three people in custody during the past eight days.

Raised, that is, by the sort of people who have never had to face the job of arresting and securing a person who doesn’t want to have that happen to him or her.

…Great Manchester Police officers were forced to use a Taser to subdue Philip Hulmes, a 53-year-old truck driver from Bolton, who had locked himself in his house. Mr Hulmes had reportedly begun stabbing himself in the stomach when police broke into his house; they stunned him because he was still violent, they said. He later died in hospital.

Should they have just waited until he bled out, then?

I guess the usual suspects would have been A-OK with that?

Sophie Khan, a London-based lawyer with GT Stewart Solicitors, told The Independent: "I believe Tasers are being used far too readily by police forces. There needs to be a recognition that Tasers are a lethal weapon and should only be used in very limited circumstances, if at all."

I’d have thought subduing a struggling self-harmer without further injury to himself or others certainly qualified, but what do I know..?

A spokeswoman for Amnesty said yesterday. "The tragic death of Philip Hulmes which has occurred just days after Dale Burns died after being shocked by a Taser reaffirms Amnesty International's concerns that these weapons are potentially lethal."

Well, yes. They are termed ‘less lethal’ for a good reason.

But hey, anonymous spokewoman, if you would prefer they just shot him with a real gun instead, please let us know…

Update: Shocker, eh? Or maybe not.

Call The Whaaaaaaambulance!

Paul McClelland was arrested in King’s Road, Brighton, after shoplifting from Sainsbury’s in Western Road, Brighton.

Footage revealed by The Argus showed that the 37-year-old of SiIlwood Place, Brighton, was kicked in the back of the leg by an officer after he had been stunned.

An internal investigation by the force into the officer’s conduct ruled that its employee was in line with its policies.

But lawyers acting on behalf of Mr McClelland have now issued a formal complaint to the force claiming the force was “excessive and disproportionate”.

'Lawyers acting for..'? What sort of lunatic ambulance-chasing, no-shame-at-all outfit could possibly think this case is a winner?

Sophie Khan, legal director of Police Action Centre...

Oh. Of course.

...said: “The Police Action Centre have lodged a complaint on behalf of the man tasered by Sussex Police on July 5.

“The use of force was excessive and disproportionate as he did not pose an immediate risk to the officers at the scene or the wider public.

“The police officers failed to carry out their duties to a requisite standard necessary to safeguard the man’s welfare and as a result the man suffered injuries to his face and arms.”

Let's hope this one finds a very unsympathetic judge.

H/T: InspGadget (now back on Twitter)

So, I Guess They Will Just Be Left With 'Harsh Language'?

Or with this:

Or this:

Or I guess about 10 of these (with body armour) could flatten the 'child':

I'm sure none of those methods are likely to cause 'potentially fatal health problems'...

...yesterday a campaigner condemned the use of Tasers on children, and called for an outright ban on firing the devices at under-18s.

And how are they supposed to tell if they are under 18..? Who could possibly come up with something so stu...

Oh. Of course.

Sophie Khan from McMillan Williams Solicitors...

No-one anyone needs to pay the slightest bit of attention to then.

Brandbekämpning...

....or 'Firefighting' (in Swedish):

The Swedish fire service is looking to hire more personnel with a foreign background in order to…

Oh, here we go, let me guess ‘reflect social diversity’, or some such nonsense, right?

… increase safety for fire fighters in big city areas, according to a report by Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT)

Oh.

OK, I wasn’t expecting that….

”At one point some kids were throwing rocks at us. I caught hold of a guy and spoke to him in his own language,” said Ilhan Demir of the South Stockholm fire service to SVT.

The diversity project is meant to widen recruitment, according to SVT, not in the least when it comes to attracting staff with a different background than the traditional Swedish.

It is hoped that it will overcome language barriers and increase security for fire personnel in the big city areas.

I…

I just…

The project will cost 7.5 million kronor ($1.1 million) and will be funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). Part of the money will go to the South Stockholm (Södertörn) fire service.

In other words, the EU’s paying to try to overcome a problem of its own making?

”We're about 300 on active call-out duty, of which only 18 are of a different background than Swedish. There needs to be more,” said Christer Flodfält, union representative for the fire service to SVT.

According to the broadcaster it has become more frequent that fire personnel are attacked with stones and other objects and it is hoped that the new initiative may bridge the gap between the fire fighters and the gangs of unruly kids.

How about ‘bridging that gap’ with criminal charges for the ‘unruly kids’ and maybe deportation back to their country of origin for the parents?

Meanwhile, in Malmo:

(Reuters) - A wave of execution-style shootings and a police station bombing in Sweden's third largest city have sparked fears that gangster violence is taking hold in a Nordic country widely seen as one of the world's safest places.

Only minutes into the new year, a 15-year-old was found with gunshots to his chest and one to his head outside an apartment block in one of Malmo's poorest and most troubled districts, where firefighters have occasionally sought police protection.

Eight killings have occurred across the city since a 36-year-old with links to organised crime was gunned down in a parking lot in May last year. The latest victim, a 48-year-old man, was found shot in a car at the end of January.

More vibrancy, it seems:

With a population of just 300,000, Malmo is one of Sweden's roughest cities, long a base for smugglers because of its proximity to Denmark, with which it has been connected by a bridge since July 2000.

Roughly 40 percent of Malmo's population are first- or second-generation immigrants and one in three is unemployed, compared with a national rate under nine percent.

Among young immigrants, the rate is nearly 40 percent.

Yes, well, if they raise their kids to throw stones at the fire engines that are coming to put out the fires in their slums, it’s not really any wonder, is it?

"I don't think murders will become more and more frequent in the near future, but there is nothing that indicates things will improve a bit longer-term," said Tobias Barkman, a crime reporter at regional daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

"Society has fallen behind - with regards to the police and to the social situation. It's hard to see any rays of hope."

Yes. It really is hard. No doubt should Swedish Police actually grow a set and decide to deal with it's out-of-control introduced population firmly, they can look forward to being vilified in the media in the same way our police are*:

Joanna said the family were very concerned about reports that George was a "crazed knifeman" from Ghana who was wielding a sword. She said they were also upset by reports of an anonymous Metropolitan Police spokesman saying that "a number of knives were recovered from the scene".

She added: "It is not clear to us or to the authorities what the truth is of what has occurred. We are very concerned about the accounts that are being put out in the media.

We don't recognise George in the descriptions contained in the press reports at all".

Sounds like a statement worked out with the help of ‘community leaders’ or those brave crusaders for justice (and a big payout) like Sophie Khan and her ilk, doesn't it?

And, right on cue:

Jules Carey of Tuckers Solicitors who is representing the family said it is less than a week since the IPCC published guidance on police communicating with the press and prohibited unattributed briefings. He said: "It appears that this guidance is already being ignored by the police".

Perhaps you'd be better off pointing out to your client that the national press has already printed large images of the scene showing - oooo, lookie here! - a knife lying in the street. And that it's better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than open it and remove all doubt?

*H/T: commenter 'Serf' at Inspector Gadget's blog