You might not want to bet the ranch on your taser shares
With the camera option - that'll drive sales margins.
seattletimes.nwsource.com
Oregon buys Tasers for its prison guards
By The Associated Press
SALEM, Ore. -- Tasers equipped with digital cameras are being distributed to prison guards to help control an inmate population that has reached about 13,500.
But inmates and civil-rights activists say they are concerned the Tasers could be used to punish inmates, including mentally ill prisoners.
Nearly 100 corrections officers are being trained on how and when to use the shock-inducing weapons, intended to help prevent injuries to both guards and inmates.
"The officers are able to quickly subdue the [inmate] versus wrestling with him for some time," said Paula Allen, Department of Corrections chief of security.
Under proposed department rules, approval for Taser use would have to come from a supervising officer in charge, along with the prison superintendent.
Trained officers and commanders will make judgment calls on when to employ the weapons, Allen said.
"I can't give you a number for how often we're going to use it," she said. "In our world, there are a lot of different variables."
More than 70 people, including inmates, civil-rights activists and other concerned citizens, recently filed written objections in response to the proposed rule changes.
"Prisons already have plenty of means to control inmates, and this is an unnecessary, deadly and expensive weapon," wrote Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Eugene.
Taser shocks, if administered to mentally ill convicts, would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, she added.
The Rev. Sarah-Andrea Morrigan of the Church of Divine Heart in Portland said Tasers are considered torture devices by some countries.
Corrections Director Max Williams defended the new Tasers in a letter to a critic.
"When [Tasers are] used properly, medical experts have concluded that Taser technology is among the most effective and safest use-of-force interventions available to law-enforcement and corrections officers to halt violent situations that pose a safety risk to an inmate and the officer," the prison chief wrote.
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