Mississippi Police Use Tasers Freely, and Injuries Follow

In many places across the nation, the repeated shocking of Ms. Vivian Burks—a 65-year-old great-grandmother with no criminal record who was not acting aggressively and was largely under the officers’ control—would be considered an improper and dangerous use of a Taser by the police.

Not in Mississippi.

Here, police agencies set their own rules about Taser use, and many departments have held on to vague, outdated policies that allow officers to shock virtually anyone, for any behavior they see as threatening, with little fear of repercussions. As a result, cases like Ms. Burks’s have occurred all over the state without raising alarms, an investigation by the New York Times and Mississippi Today found.

Full story: Mississippi Police Use Tasers Freely, and Injuries Follow

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *