Vermont State Police: To Protect and Serve

Thanks to Morgan and Kestrel 9000 for pointing me to this story from today's Burlington Free Press:

 Vermont State Police say a man has died after being tased by a trooper during a confrontation Wednesday afternoon in Bradford.

 http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120621/news07/120621011/vermont-man-dies-after-being-tased-by-trooper

It happened yesterday, and the State Police responded to a call indicating that someone was suicidal and was threatening to harm himself or others.

 Troopers arrived with guns drawn but switched from guns to the “less lethal” Taser. The story has it that the man was “advanc[ing] in the trooper's direction”, although there was no indication that he had a weapon or attempted to assault the trooper.

 The autopsy is supposed to be done today, but I think we can all be glad that the state police were there to prevent this man from harming himself.

So I'm just curious: since the initial call came from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and since the victim was supposedly suicidal, what protection will mental patients at Central Vermont Hospital in Berliln have once the Berlin police get their Tasers?

 

27 thoughts on “Vermont State Police: To Protect and Serve

  1. but…

    “As the trooper spoke with the subject, the trooper transitioned from his firearm to his taser. The subject then advance in the trooper’s direction refusing to comply with the trooper’s directives. The trooper discharged his taser at the subject.”From the Free Press

    That’s all it takes to get tasered.

  2. Related press release(s), here.

    There is a press conference on the subject scheduled at 11:00 AM at the Department of Public Safety, Headquarters Building located at 103 South Main Street in Waterbury.

    For the time being I will have to choose to remain silent on the subject lest I be perceived by someone as foaming at the mouth or whatever and therefore perceived as being dangerous to myself or others and then have police armed with less-than-lethal weapons come to my aid and be subject to being tased and so on. Whoops, too late.

  3. law enforcement officers will discharge them far, far more readily than they would ever discharge a gun.

    Until their lethal nature is generally acknowledged, we will be in danger of economically strapped systems reducing the skilled manpower necessary to subdue an unarmed disturbed person and leaving the “heavy lifting” to tasers.

    What a sad way for this unhappy man’s life to end.

  4. It has been reported by two different news sources that the Vermont State Police have identified the Thetford man who died after being tased as 39 year-old Macadam Mason and, during their noon time broadcast, WCAX News reported that he was tased in the chest.

  5. Tell me something, my Little Dem friends, who would the person be to look into these mis-uses of tasers?  Would that come under the purview of the Vermont Attorney General’s office, or are the Vermont State Police a separate all powerful entity?  Gosh oh Golly Gosh, I think we have another issue on Bill Sorrell here.  Let’s see:

    The migrant and immigrant workers

    Missing women and couples

    The drug problem and the drug gangs

    Injustices and abuse upon the elderly and infirmed

    The mis-use of tasers by the Vt. State Police

    And you’re worried about Republicans?

    Come on!

    SORRELL MUST GO!

  6. Since it always helps to put a face to a name, view a photo of Macadam Mason, who had been alive up to the moment he was fatally-tased by Vermont State Police last evening outside his home, here.

  7. Troops needs to be tasered before they can use a taser? Do they have them set on ‘stun’ for the demos and ‘less than lethal’ for general deployment?

    When a trooper or cop dies during training, then we’ll see these questioned. Maybe. Or it will become an unfortunate freak accident.

    VY and Tasers. No immediate danger to public health.  

  8. just in case it is of interest (unrelated to any comments or blog posts on GMD regarding these matters; and with apologies to those who have already come across these items; am posting this link dump because someone asked a question elsewhere about “what are police to do?” and, in offering the information due to my belief it could better answer these and related question versus my trying to do so, I suggested they and others are welcome to do their own homework and reach their own conclusions), fyi:

    Montpelier Taser Committee Full Report:

    https://docs.google.com/open?i

    2010 Updated Act 80 Report from the Vermont Attorney General to the state legislature; note group recommendations beginning on page 4 (PDF version):

    http://www.atg.state.vt.us/ass

    Use of Force Preferences study (full text; via Schizophrenia Bulletin):

    http://schizophreniabulletin.o

    related article (to above report):

    Cardalls want mental health training for cops (via Salt Lake Tribune):

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/h

  9. Is VTs 911.

    Have to watch the later. Come on Gov! Some times the ‘good’ guys get it wrong. Especially when you’ve been trained that this little magic box will keep the bad guys away from you.

    Don’t the SP get trained in physical take downs? Or do they just learn how to push buttons? Or pull triggers?

  10. Family attributes tased man’s behavior to epileptic seizure the night before his death (via vtdigger; 6/23/2012)

    http://vtdigger.org/2012/06/23

    Excerpt from bottom of article:

    Editor’s note: A service for Mason is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 24, at the Thetford Methodist Church in Thetford Center, followed by a reception at the community building.

  11. Taser Incident Reignites Debate:

    http://www.vpr.net/episode/538

    The death of Macadam Mason after a Vermont State Police officer shot him with a Taser is being reviewed by a medical examiner and will be investigated by the Attorney General’s office. And while the precise cause of Mason’s death is yet unknown, the circumstances has stirred debate again about the use of Tasers by Vermont law enforcement. We get an update on the Mason story from Valley News local editor John Gregg, and we hear comments on the incident from Vermont State Police Captain Rob Evans. Then Allen Gilbert of ACLU-Vermont and former Public Safety Commissioner Tom Tremblay discuss whether and how Vermont police should deploy Tasers.

    One can listen to Vermont Public Radio (VPR) VT Edition during the noon hour on weekdays via local radio ( http://www.vpr.net/listen/radio/

    ) as well as via live online streaming ( http://www.vpr.net/listen/stream/

    ) as well as, after the archived audio of a given episode is posted sometime around mid-afternoon following the original broadcast, which is found on the episode page. The episodes of a show are also re-aired at 7:00 PM (EDT) in the evening.

    If one is inclined to do so, one also can opt to post questions or comments on the page for the episode as well as submit comments by e-mail or otherwise call-in during the live noon time broadcast (shortly after the news and, then, during the noontime broadcast only):

    1-800-639-2211

    related links:

    ACLU-VT: http://www.acluvt.org/

    Valley News: http://www.vnews.com/

    By the way, speaking about the Valley News (whose editor will be providing an update at the beginning of the VT Edition broadcast) and the death of Macadam Mason, here is a screenshot of a portion of the front page of the newspaper’s Website on Monday, June 25th (there was a memorial service held for Macadam Mason on Sunday, June 24th):

    http://twitter.com/vtwatch/sta

  12. Although there can be several different contributing factors — including combined ones — leading to why someone might die after having been subjected to being tased, and this is not to speculate as to the specific medical cause(s) of death after Macadam Mason was tased by Vermont State Police last week either, among the factors that can sometimes contribute to death in certain persons after having been tased, however, include “Metabolic Acidosis“.

    Whatever the actual medical cause(s) of death after one has been tased, one of the problems — besides the police officer not always being able to easily ascertain who might have certain underlying conditions that can increase the likely risk of serious injuries or even death — can be that police officers are often not informed or trained enough about these potential dangers and, additionally, they also have been led to believe that Tasers pose little, if any, harm or danger to the subject they are about to employ their Taser against.

    That said, the truth is such training would never be enough, given how the ever present risks and dangers would still exist that could easily lead to serious injuries or death due to the use of a weapon with apparently greater lethal potential, particularly among certain vulnerable populations, than is commonly enough advertised or acknowledged by most of those using the device as well as the general public.

    As far as understanding “Metabolic Acidosis” goes, Polly Ellerbe, a member of the 2011 Montpelier Taser Committee and someone with a scientific background, provided the committee with a brief chemistry report in relatively easy to understand layperson’s terms as follows:

    Acid-base balance in the body [short version: 9/22/2011]

    Basics

    The acidity in the body, which is how much hydrogen ion is present, must be kept between very narrow, very sharply defined limits, or the person dies.        

    As part of normal metabolism, acids enter the blood, so a mechanism in the body exists to keep the level of acids in blood within those very narrow limits.

    What happens when a Taser is used on a person

    When a person receives a Taser shot, all the muscles contract. This is the point of a Taser shot: to contract the muscles so the person cannot move. The muscle contraction produces lots of acid, well beyond the normal metabolic level.        

    If the person can breathe easily, that mechanism can get rid of the excess acidity, and there is no danger to the person from the extra flood of acidity.        

    But what if the person can’t breathe fast enough?  Perhaps because of restraints which police are advised by Taser International to apply immediately after Taser use? [Taser International warning October 2010, p. 2] If the subject is lying face down, if pressure is applied to the chest or neck area, or if the officers’ attempt to restrain the subject results in the subject struggling, breathing out enough can be blocked. [Braidwood]        

    Then the acidity remains high, and the person dies.

    Read the 2011 Montpelier Taser Committee Full Report, here.

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