... methinks a high pressure hose would have been more appropriate.

...err, well yes shit!

seems he was reverting back to his primate insticts and flinging some poo.. although I don't know if he actually flung some. It's safe to say the link between man and primate seems to be more and more evident with people like him.

Tasers and the like should be kept in reserve to use for occasions when police officers would be in SERIOUS danger to tackle offenders by other means.

Using them unnecessarily, such as occasions like this, only brings the police into serious disrepute. Whenever a taser is used it needs to be followed up with an investigation exactly the same as if a firearm had been used, and the officers concerned subject to automatic dismissal if they cannot prove their lives were in danger.

Where did he get enough crap/blood from to smear his body? My imagination is running wild -- I need answers!

Not being one to take dubious substances I have a question:

How far off your head do you have to be before smearing yourself in blood and shit seems like a good way to put your point across?

Shit and blood are potentially lethal substances-especially if they get into an open wound. Which almost certainly would occur while wrestling with someone drunk/crazy enough to smear themselves with those substances. I would consider that a "SERIOUS danger".

How can you honestly say that the cops should have to physically handle a presumably intoxicated and possibly irrational offender (I’m making this judgment call based on his choice of attire … ie crap and blood) when they are in this state.

What a ridiculous comment – how could they have verified that the blood “clear” (a swab on a pole perhaps) and since there would be a risk of possible contamination let alone having to spend the rest of your shift covered in crap I don’t think it is fair to criticise them for their actions.

The cops are people too, they have families and they have rights, the rights of the perpetrators should always be upheld but I don’t see why it should be at the cost of the people upholding the law.

By “other means” is a lovely phrase but doesn’t offer a solution – how would you have handled the situation. I doubt that a rousing chorus of com-by-yah would have resolved the situation

So tackling an offender whose covered in excrement, blood and could be HIV positive, infected with Hepatitis (choose your letter) or other nasty disease, could be done safely with a baton and hand cuffs then?

Don't be so narrow minded. I think the taser was probably the safest option for all involved.

That and a bloody good wash as suggested by Nev.

mmmm... somehow I don't think he'll try that method again.

"The cops are people too, they have families and they have rights, the rights of the perpetrators should always be upheld but I don’t see why it should be at the cost of the people upholding the law."

Totally agree. Yet the rights and indeed the humanity of the law abiding/enforcing always seem to be pushed in to 2nd place or forgotten altogether.

Which is just one reason your society, in fact your whole civilisation, is going down the pan.

Plenty of diseases to go around from that kind of behavior. e. coli, norwalk, hep, HIV, etc. To say nothing of an officer or three getting smearing in the substances. He was obviously inches away from alcohol toxcicity and those people are incredibly difficult to contain.

In Tejas, LEOs and health care providers (which includes all EMTs, which means all firefighters and EMS) are required to be vaccinated for Hep A&B.

I hope they remembered to clean the Taser prongs afterwards...

Good point... (yes, I'm on my way out)

I had also wondered about the possibility of the man being injected with his own e-coli infested feces by the Taser.

There were better solutions than tasering him. Personally, I'd suggest a set of long sticks to beat him down with.

You have to get closer to taser someone than to whack 'em with a long club. Why don't they just issue these gladiators with nets and tridents? Or give the cowboys bolas or lassoos? Or just issue bouncers with harpoons or guns?

Western culture, our great and hallowed traditions of justice and equity - don't you love 'em...

Taser? I'd have ued a water cannon!

I'm sorry he was drunk and stupid and deserved to be pepper

gassed , tasered and washed with a fire hose. I'd have had to wash him

anyway you can't stick something like that in your cruiser without

touching it hopefully they had a paddy wagon there to transport him.

So the cops are supposed to risk who-knows-what infection wrestling with this bloke?

Such great advice from some dork who's too gutless to sign a name.

Tell you what, have the guts to post your name and we'll send some violent drunk smeared with faeces and blood around your place and you can subdue him armed with nothing more than a pair of handcuffs.

Just write your will out first and ensure your life insurance policy covers you for lethal diseases, especially if you knowingly exposed yourself to the risk - some companies can be right "arseholes" about not paying out if you did not take due care in protecting yourself from risk.

Willing to give it a go?

What am I thinking, you're not even prepared to put your name to your diatribe against the police.

And I bet you'd be the first to put in a "serious assault" complaint if someone spat in your face owing to the danger of possibly infectious saliva.

Not deriding the "serious assault" charge as there are real health risks involved - just making the point that you're a hypocritical twat.

Umm... the pharmacy was out of laxatives... wonder why?

Just slash yourself and relax your spinchter and there will be a crap flood of crap/blood. Head butting a brick wall also works if there is no knife to hand.

"How far off your head do you have to be before smearing yourself in blood and shit seems like a good way to put your point across?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GG_Allin

Pretty far off your head, I reckon ...

Does it matter. No one died and hey, this all happened on the other side of the planet anyway.

"Which is just one reason your society, in fact your whole civilisation, is going down the pan."

which civilisation or society do you belong to then?

where do i sign up for this alternate civilisation, i want in :P

"Does it matter. No one died and hey, this all happened on the other side of the planet anyway."

Don't forget that many Australian's visit el reg, sure it may be a british site but somehow your country still owns mine.

That this sort of situation was almost tailor made for the Taser. Some of my rationales....

As a taxpayer I'd rather buy a couple of AA batteries than pay for the cleaning of a couple of police uniforms.

Why should the punishment wait until after sentencing, let it start as soon as possible. This has the added benefit that psychologically the offender will relate acting like a twat with being Tased (or is it Tasered, or Taserised or.. or). I know, innocent until proven guilty and all that, but just how many people covered in crap and blood were there running amok that night?

If I were a copper I'd study my contract to see what it said about wrestling with self destructive toilet brushes and then probably phone in sick. As a member of the public I want the police to protect me. If they choose not to wrestle but to zap, I'm not going to argue.

I for one am quite looking forward to the video appearing on YouTube.