Saturday, November 10, 2007

Thug cop gets off on tasing, brags about it online

It's pretty clear from You Tube videos what tasering feels like. From victim accounts we know the immediate effects can include loss of muscle control, nausea, convulsions, fainting, and involuntary defecation and urination. Lasting effects reported include muscle stiffness, long-term damage to teeth and hair, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. I'd add helplessness, humiliation, and risk of secondary injury due to impeded respiration or falling or being beaten. Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be the shooter instead of the target? No need to wonder. One corrections officer was nice enough to boast about it online.

Eve Tushnet writes in Reason Online about a story broken by the Portland Tribune in Oregon on September 7 of this year. “The post suggests that the guy gets off on violence and he enjoys tasering people,” said Tribune reporter Nick Budnick.


Multnomah County Corrections Officer David B. Thompson bragged in a chat room of the City of Heroes MMORPG, an online game he played while on the county clock. Here's what he said: "Seeing someone get tasered is second only to pulling the trigger. That is money- puts a smile on your face."


Now, because of another post in the same chat room, authorities at the Justice Center Jail are investigating whether the same deputy also filed a false police report to cover up the beating of an inmate. Lieutenant Jason Gates, apparently not as big a fan of illicit taser fun as officer Thompson, regrets the incident. “All we have is public trust. What does that do to our public trust? It destroys it,” he said. Good, I say. It should be destroyed when this happens.