Tasing for Kicks?

One of the signal contributions of the African-American blogs has been their efforts to follow the story of taser abuse by American police.

Today, African-American Political Pundit carries a story about the death of Barron Scooter Collins in Louisiana as a result of multiple taser hits. Heading his post with "They Could Not Get The Jena 6 So They KilledThe Cousin, AAPP notes that Collins was the first cousin of Mychal Bell who was at the center of the Jena Six controversy and that his death was listed as a "homicide" on the death certification. Unsurprisingly, the police officers involved haven't been subject to any disciple or seemingly any investigation.

On Tasered While Black, there's an account of a man who died as a result of being tased for riding without proper lighting on his bike.

Tasered While Black reports that a nationwide effort to more strongly regulate the use of tasers by police. That's an effort well-worth supporting. It's also important to come to an understanding of the extent to which the availability of tasers has created more opportunities for police abuses.