Here at GMD we've spent quite a bit of time on Tasers, and especially the Taser issue in Montpelier.
We're not going to stop because we think this is an important issue. Tonight I have just a quick update on what's been happening.
Last week I testified before Montpelier's Taser Advisory Committee and the testimony was covered by the Times Argus. You know the drill: the story's behind the paywall.
Here's the lede:
MONTPELIER — On Tuesday, the City Council’s Taser committee heard testimony from a Vermont Legal Aid attorney who said police in Vermont have used stun guns to torture people.
Jack McCullough, an attorney and director of the Mental Health Law Project at Vermont Legal Aid, pulled no punches in his assessment about whether Montpelier police should carry Tasers — they shouldn’t, he said.
Then today Mark Johnson covered Tasers on his program on WDEV. I know, this is sounding like the Jack McCullough show, but here's the link to me on the show.
I've lived in Montpelier since 1983 and I've been involved most of that time but I haven't had as many people wanting to talk to me about any political issue as this year with the Tasers. I don't think I've talked to a single person in Montpelier who supports Tasers for our police department.
It will be interesting to see what the Council does when it receives the committee's report in October.
Montpelier somehow manages to survive without McDonalds; this is a far more important test of what city residents value in quality of life.
they were first marketed as an alternative to lethal force.
they are now used as a tool of compliance.
we have moved to a law enforcement model that gets more and more banana republic in nature each year.
we get more and more cops who think they are sonny crocket then joe friday, and throwing a lot of lead is the dream of most of them.
Our capital city should set the example, and this isnt the one to set.
And I haven’t talked to or met anyone in Montpelier who wants tasers. And I do hope this will be the end of it. I hope we don’t need a ‘sign campaign’ like the anti-biomass people did–“FORGET TASERS! FIX THE STREETS!”