Tasers are supposed to be a step toward more humane policing, but because they are (usually) non-lethal, tasers might actually make excessive force more likely rather than less. In Virginia, a man was burned alive by a cop who may have been too quick to use a taser.
A. Barton Hinkle writes:
Let’s get one thing clear at the outset: Miles November acted like an idiot.
November could have killed someone the night of February 7, 2015, when—driving on a suspended license, with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit—he led police officers on a high-speed chase in Chesterfield that ended when he rolled his car several times and crashed. A few months ago he pleaded guilty to drunken driving, running away from the cops, and driving on a suspended license.
For such behavior, he deserved a long stretch in a hard cell—especially given his long record of prior offenses for DUI and assaulting officers. Rosa Parks he ain’t. Few people would dispute that. But only a demented sadist would contend that, for his crime, November should have been burned alive.
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