Some folks don't seem to understand why I have such an issue with police using Tasers.  For instance, there is the now infamous case of the "Don't Tase Me Bro" guy.  I still don't think he should've been tased.  Period.  Was he acting like an ass?  Absolutely.  Has he admitted to resisting police?  Absolutely.  But acting like an ass doesn't give the police free reign to use a potentially deadly weapon on a person.  But I understand that many disagree.  My fear has always been that police will begin to treat tasers as a normal police tool, and use it more and more.  These things aren't Star Trek phasers set to stun.  They have killed, they cause severe pain, and can have long lasting effects.  With that said... how would you like it if the cops tased you in your own home... when you did nothing wrong?

When Shawn Hicks returned to his North Braddock home on Stokes Avenue after a Saturday night out on the town with friends, he didn't bother turning on the lights.

Instead of heading to his bedroom, Mr. Hicks, a 29-year-old business major at Point Park University, plopped himself face down and fully dressed on his cream-colored leather sofa in his living room. He also neglected to deactivate his home security system, which has a silent alarm.

Surrounded by the darkness and familiar comforts of his home, Mr. Hicks was asleep within five minutes. He didn't know it at the time, but he was not destined to have sweet dreams that night.

"I felt a lot of voltage going through my body," Mr. Hicks said recalling the events of that late July weekend. "That's what woke me up."

After he was tased while asleep, he tried to stand up, and was tased a second time.  He then showed the cops his identification proving he lived there.  They tased him a third time, then cuffed him, took him to jail despite the fact that his back was bleeding and he needed medical care.  He was held overnight, and then released without being charged.  Read the entire story with all the gory details.  The two officers involved were just cleared of any wrong doing.  The victim is considering a civil suit.

That is police abuse.  Via The Agitator.