[suebee]

Second example: A woman is running around a shopping mall threatening anyone who comes close to her with a knife. She's disoriented - in fact, she's suffering from a psychotic break. The police follow her into a store and using their tasers, immobilize and disarm her. Nobody was hurt. This happened last year in a small city a couple of hours' drive away from here. I believe the woman had attacked her husband before going to the mall. Can't remember the details. She was hospitalized - for the psychosis, not injuries related to the tasering. The officers involved received public praise for the restraint shown in their intervention.

I think this is an appropriate use of the taser, though I still think it can be dangerous. This situation could have ended much differently, and deadly force probably would have been justified.

As for tasering someone for being a nuisance? .....the man doesn't have the right to call himself a law enforcement professional. Their training includes the psychology of intervention, not simply the physical dynamics of it. Was the kid on the field an asshat? He certainly was. But tasering for conveniance......not cool. Not cool at all. In fact - sometimes it's deadly.