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"A weapon initially conceived as a ‘less lethal’ alternative to firearms now presents a growing threat to life & public safety."
An important report by @ResLabMcr - 'A Growing Threat to Life - Taser usage by Greater Manchester Police' https://resistancelab.network/our-work/taser-report/index.html
An important report by @ResLabMcr - 'A Growing Threat to Life - Taser usage by Greater Manchester Police' https://resistancelab.network/our-work/taser-report/index.html
The statistics included in the report are damning, not just in Manchester but across the country.
> In Manc, ppl identified by the police as having mental or physical disability constituted 15% of GMP taser usage
> Elsewhere this figure was a staggering 46% of police Taser usage
> In Manc, ppl identified by the police as having mental or physical disability constituted 15% of GMP taser usage
> Elsewhere this figure was a staggering 46% of police Taser usage
> Figures show that Black people are nearly 4x more likely than white people to be subject to use of Taser by GMP
> Elsewhere, in London, Black people are 28.5x more likely to be subject to use of Taser by police
This is an issue of institutional racism.
> Elsewhere, in London, Black people are 28.5x more likely to be subject to use of Taser by police
This is an issue of institutional racism.
GMP fired a Taser at Howard Swarray - who suffers from epilepsy - twice in the aftermath of an epileptic fit.
Swarray said of the experience: "I nearly died. All I remember is waking up in intensive care. I wasn’t being violent, I was having a seizure.”
Swarray said of the experience: "I nearly died. All I remember is waking up in intensive care. I wasn’t being violent, I was having a seizure.”
As @sarahfovea from @UCLGlobalHealth @raceandhealth wrote for us:
"The argument that these weapons are a harmless alternative to guns must be dispelled. Tasers can and do cause harm." https://www.medact.org/2019/blogs/on-tasers-policing-and-imagining-new-responses-to-violence/
"The argument that these weapons are a harmless alternative to guns must be dispelled. Tasers can and do cause harm." https://www.medact.org/2019/blogs/on-tasers-policing-and-imagining-new-responses-to-violence/
