Man dies after Moberly cops fire Taser at him

I read this article in the St Louis paper today. Please read it too. I will leave my input on it at the end.


ASSOCIATED PRESS
08/28/2008

Police say a 23-year-old suspected drunken driver is dead after an officer fired a Taser at him during a traffic stop in Moberly.

Moberly police say Stanley James Harlan was pronounced dead at a hospital after the incident at 12:30 a.m. Thursday.


Police Commander Kevin Palmatory said the officer who made the stop suspected Harlan was driving drunk and placed him under arrest. He said when Harlan resisted, the officer deployed his Taser twice in an effort to subdue him.

Palmatory said moments later Harlan became unresponsive and officers started CPR until paramedics arrived and tried to revive him.

Moberly police have asked the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control to investigate.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

Here is my input. The people that know me are aware that I have a degree in Law Enforcement and have done some work in it. My opinion is this, I believe that the use of the taser has become excessive. a lot of the deaths that have occurred (from my readings)after the subject had been handcuffed and or drunk. The use has been justified my saying that the subject is resisting. How many times have you seen someone handcuffed ever able to inflict serious harm on someone? I feel that the taser should be used like the sidearm only when there is no other choice. What do all of you think?