In
Dec 2014, a monkey who was terrorizing
citizens in the French city of Marseille was finally tackled by police, who used a taser gun to
subdue the animal. Authorities believed the monkey came from Algeria, Gibraltar
or Morocco, was raised illegally and then abandoned in the city, according to
reports in La Provence. It appears to have been maltreated and malnourished,
subsisting largely on Kinder chocolate bars.
That perhaps could have led to a
craving for sugar that turned nasty. It sparked panic in an elementary school,
biting and scratching some of the children on repeated occasions as it hunted
for sugary snacks. The police finally managed to capture the animal, which was
over 2 and a half feet tall, by tasering him into submission. During the
intervention, the monkey bit one police officer’s hand, but was captured.
It later recovered and was given some bananas too !
In
UK, this Aug (2016), a former Premier
League soccer player Dalian Atkinson died after he was shot by British police with
a Taser. West Mercia Police said in a statement that an independent investigation was launched
into the death. The deceased - Dalian
Atkinson, was a 48-year-old former striker for English soccer team Aston Villa.
Atkinson played in the early 1990s for the Birmingham-based club, which was
then part of the Premier League, and is remembered for having scored one of the
competition's great individual goals in 1992. Aston Villa released a statement
Monday saying it was saddened to hear of Atkinson's death, and recalling his
memorable moments playing for the club. During
his 16-year career, Atkinson, a talented striker, played for English teams
including Manchester City, Ipswich Town, Sheffield and his former clubs and
teammates were quick to pay tribute as news of his death broke. Aston Villa
lead the tributes, noting how although Atkinson's time at the club was
disrupted by injuries, "he still averaged a goal every three games."
Back
home in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh police chief Javeed Ahmed was incapacitated for
a few seconds before his subordinates helped him get back on his feet after he
volunteered to play target to a Taser shot on Sunday. The Indian unit of an American company that
supplies Tasers had held the demo to ascertain the effectiveness of the weapon
that is used against non-complaint aggressive suspects resisting arrests.
"Taare dikhne lage (I saw stars),'' Ahmed told his colleagues, who burst into a laughter. Ahmed said that he volunteered as it was about leading from the front. "Everyone present in the room was as human as I was; so there was no point in asking somebody else to do it," Ahmed told TOI. He said that the state police were ascertaining whether the gadget can be used lawfully. "We are trying to ascertain if the Union home ministry has permitted use of such weapons and thereafter we will purchase them. Initially, we plan to equip the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the state police with Tasers," he said. ATS inspector general of police Aseem Arun said they have sought Tasers for room entry operations and hostage situations. "We were going through a demo of the gadget when the DGP asked for a real-life test," he said. The news of the police chief taking the Taser shot went viral on the internet. The IPS association too hailed him on Twitter. He is hailed as the man leading from the front ! With regards – S. Sampathkumar
7th Sept. 2016.
