They Live Taser Saucer To Become A Reality

[alkemical]

They Live Taser Saucer To Become A Reality

UN declares stun guns to be instruments of torture while Taser rep says "it's not real pain" and puts drone craft into development

One of the biggest Taser representatives outside the US base has declared the company's intention to produce and sell internationally a small airborne drone version of the weapon that can administer electrical jolts of 50,000 volts.

Antoine di Zazzo has told the AFP that his French company is "developing a mini-flying saucer like drone which could also fire Taser stun rounds on criminal suspects or rioting crowds. He expects it to be launched next year and to be sold internationally by Taser."

The idea conjures up memories of the flying saucer spy drones from the 1988 dystopian cult classic movie They Live. The opening of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four also features the idea of police flying overhead and snooping into homes. Now this nightmare vision is set to become reality.

With 250,000 Taser stun guns in use all over the world from North America, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, to name just a few of 70 or so countries, it hardly takes a stretch of the imagination to foresee the take up of Taser's airborne drones.

In addition we have also seen moves by police forces around the world to test and use flying drones. Most recently controversy was raised after it was discovered that Houston police have been secretly testing spy drones that use a high-powered cameras designed to look into buildings or even follow people in moving cars.

Drone Planes are not new to the United States. The military has been using drones for secret war zone surveillance for years; drones were also used to put out the California wildfires last month. The drones used for the test in Houston weigh only 40 pounds, but can carry 15 pounds more in gear. They are able to stay airborne 15 to 24 hours without landing.

Reports from June indicated that the Department of Homeland Security used a spy drone to stake out the property of income tax protestors Ed and Elaine Brown before they were arrested in September. In April the British press reported on a British amateur inventor who won a contract with the US government for a 3ft-wide flying saucer contraption, a cross between a hovercraft and a helicopter, which is being considered as a surveillance tool.

We have also recently seen drones used to keep tabs on concert goers in Britain. Such devices have since been deployed by police in areas of the UK for "tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder". Other reports have highlighted interest in drones and testing by police departments nationwide. Some protestors are even adamant that they have witnessed tiny insect like drones in deployment at anti war rallies. Such creations are certainly in development if not already in deployment.

(Article continues below)

Taser has been mired in controversy, since the wide uptake of its stun guns by police forces, due to the level of pain the devices inflict and the amount of deaths that have occurred after their use. Last week a perfectly healthy 20 year old man died in police custody after being shocked with a taser. Another 36-year-old man died Saturday five days after an altercation with police who used a Taser to subdue him. Last month a Polish man was killed at Vancouver airport after being stunned up to 4 times.

Further questions have been raised over more frequent police use of tasers. The guns are supposed to be the last response before lethal action, however, we have increasingly reported cases where police use them without warning and in non threatening situations.

Amnesty International has said there have been about 300 deaths around the world after Taser use and has called for it to be suspended while a full investigation into the impact is conducted.

On Friday, a UN Committee said the stun gun "causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture".

Despite this Antoine di Zazzo of Taser International says that no death has been attributed to the use of the gun and that the controversy is caused by misunderstanding of new technology.

When asked about the UN verdict on the weapons di Zazzo replied "You cannot call it real pain," and added that far from causing death, the gun "saves lives".

How long will it be before small flying saucer drones are zipping around our cities zapping people in order to "save lives"?

[cutthemdown]

When it comes to cops I worry about this more.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/30/mis....ap/index.html

Eighteen times in two years, Bolingbrook police were called to fellow officer Drew Peterson's home because of trouble between husband and wife.
But Peterson's wife could never get authorities to arrest him. In fact, she was the only one ever charged.
Now residents of this Chicago suburb are wondering whether police were protecting one of their own -- and whether they bear some responsibility for what happened next.
Peterson's wife at the time of the domestic disturbance calls, Kathleen Savio, was found dead in 2004 under mysterious circumstances. And now his current wife, Stacy, is missing and feared slain.
The way police dealt with Peterson "makes it kind of hard to trust cops," said Pablo Delira, a 59-year-old construction worker. He said he has no doubt he would have been led away in handcuffs if police had been called to his house 18 times.
Kim Camplin, who works in the clothing business, said Bolingbrook police should have taken the domestic disturbance calls more seriously.
"It doesn't matter if it's a fireman, a policeman or a clergyman -- all it should take is one call and it should be taken seriously," she said. "What faith can we have in the system?"
Peterson, 53, was a police sergeant and 29-year veteran of the force, resigning earlier this month after he came under suspicion in his current wife's disappearance in October. Watch what Stacy Peterson reportedly told a priest »
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In a roughly two-year period beginning in 2002, police responded to 18 domestic disturbance calls at Peterson's house. Savio accused Peterson of beating her and threatening to kill her, but no charges were ever brought against him.
Instead, Peterson twice persuaded prosecutors to charge Savio with domestic battery. She was acquitted both times.
Police Lt. Ken Teppel said that in all 18 instances, police conducted a thorough investigation. He said a department inquiry found no indication officers did anything wrong or violated procedure.
But Teppel acknowledged the case has damaged the department's reputation.
"There is a distrust ... that this is going to be covered up," he said. "It's so hard to get over that."
Savio was found dead in her bathtub in 2004, and a coroner's jury ruled it an accidental drowning. But since Stacy Peterson's disappearance, investigators have re-examined Savio's death and exhumed her body, and said they now believe it was a homicide made to look like an accident.
Peterson has not been named a suspect in Savio's death. But authorities said he is suspected in Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Peterson has denied any wrongdoing in either case and said he believes his current wife left him for another man and is still alive.
The Bolingbrook department has handed the investigation over to the Illinois State Police -- standard practice in criminal cases involving a member of the force.
Not everyone in the community of about 70,000 blames the department.
"I haven't lost one iota of trust in the police department," said Stephen DeFreeuw, a 16-year resident. "One rogue cop."
Teppel said street cops in the 122-member department are being reminded about the proper way to handle domestic calls and are being told they are expected to adhere to the rules, no matter who answers when they knock on the door.
Teppel said Police Chief Ray McGrury has made it clear: "There are no favorites."
Savio and Stacy Peterson were Peterson's third and fourth wives. He and wives No. 1 and 2 divorced.

Vicki Connolly, Peterson's second wife, has said that during their marriage, an increasingly controlling Peterson hit her and told her he could kill her and make it look like an accident.
Connolly said police sometimes came to the house when the couple were having problems, but she said the officers were friends of theirs and no reports ever were filed. E-mail to a friend

[Spider]

I dont know how strong a cattle prod is , but that **** is real pain , not to mention numbing of the are where you were hit shortly after the intense pain ....the cattle prods we used ran off of a 6 volt battery ........ you damn near piss your self when someone tags you ......

[Hotrod]

Im not really sure where I stand on Tazers but I do know I'd rather get tazed in the chest then shot there.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

Im not really sure where I stand on Tazers but I do know I'd rather get tazed in the chest then shot there.

and could that be the root of the problem ?
Cops says hell tazer the b**** he will be ok , making the cops more aggressive ?

[Hotrod]

Originally Posted by Spider

and could that be the root of the problem ?
Cops says hell tazer the b**** he will be ok , making the cops more aggressive ?

Good point. They know (or think they know) that they can tazer someone and it aint a huge deal.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

Good point. They know (or think they know) that they can tazer someone and it aint a huge deal.

yep ....... Kinda like Air bags , I know far reach but , Air Bags give people a false sense of security , they dont pay attention to the way they drive .......

[alkemical]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...frontline.html


Flying saucer that can plant explosives or bugs set for frontline
A flying saucer that can sneak into buildings to spot enemy gunmen or plant explosive devices or bugs could be used by British troops on the frontline within a year.

[Spider]

I have never been hit with a taser . but I have been hit with a cattle prod , and I guess the taser is stronge ...........and the cattle prod hurt like hell

[kappys]

Cops may be more aggressive - but the problem is that in situations where they need to be aggressive having taser may be the difference between receiving a bullet or 50,000 volts. In that circumstance the taser is clearly superior.

Its a fine line - but I don't support sweeping taser bans. They are effective and far better than most non-lethal weapons and I would rather see cops who misuse them getting disciplined or dismissed from the force or prosecuted rather than banning the tasers themselves.

[Hotrod]

I put a new battery in my pickup a couple of weekends ago. I managed like a dumbass to touch my crestent wrench to both the positive and neg at the same time. Holy **** sparks were a flying. Actually burned the metal wrench.

[alkemical]

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/sh...nting%20robots

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".

One thing that really bugs defence chiefs is having their troops diverted from other duties to control robots. So having a pack of them controlled by one person makes logistical sense. But I'm concerned about where this technology will end up.

Given that iRobot last year struck a deal with Taser International to mount stun weapons on its military robots, how long before we see packs of droids hunting down pesky demonstrators with paralysing weapons? Or could the packs even be lethally armed? I asked two experts on automated weapons what they thought - click the continue reading link to read what they said.

Both were concerned that packs of robots would be entrusted with tasks - and weapons - they were not up to handling without making wrong decisions.

Steve Wright of Leeds Metropolitan University is an expert on police and military technologies, and last year correctly predicted this pack-hunting mode of operation would happen. "The giveaway here is the phrase 'a non-cooperative human subject'," he told me:

"What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous and become armed.

We can also expect such systems to be equipped with human detection and tracking devices including sensors which detect human breath and the radio waves associated with a human heart beat. These are technologies already developed."

Another commentator often in the news for his views on military robot autonomy is Noel Sharkey, an AI and robotics engineer at the University of Sheffield. He says he can understand why the military want such technology, but also worries it will be used irresponsibly.

"This is a clear step towards one of the main goals of the US Army's Future Combat Systems project, which aims to make a single soldier the nexus for a large scale robot attack. Independently, ground and aerial robots have been tested together and once the bits are joined, there will be a robot force under command of a single soldier with potentially dire consequences for innocents around the corner."

What do you make of this? Are we letting our militaries run technologically amok with our tax dollars? Or can robot soldiers be programmed to be even more ethical than human ones, as some researchers claim?

[gyldenlove]

Originally Posted by kappys

Cops may be more aggressive - but the problem is that in situations where they need to be aggressive having taser may be the difference between receiving a bullet or 50,000 volts. In that circumstance the taser is clearly superior.

Its a fine line - but I don't support sweeping taser bans. They are effective and far better than most non-lethal weapons and I would rather see cops who misuse them getting disciplined or dismissed from the force or prosecuted rather than banning the tasers themselves.

It is true that the Taser is clearly superior in situations where the alternative is a bullet. However the Tasers are used far more often than guns ever were, so the question is what is the alternative in the other cases (and these are the majority of cases) because I believe that calming down a suspect is superior to tasing them.

I think in a lot of cases the taser is used because it is quicker and easier than calming people down by talking. It was has been demonstrated in multiple recordings that several police officers have used tasers on people who are already subdued.

A sweeping ban is clearly too easy and simplistic to address the issues of misuse and fatalities caused by tasing, but I think thourough education and certification is needed to ensure that the taser doesn't become a replacement for talking and handling situations non confrontationally.

The taser should be used mainly in situations with armed people where going near the suspect would be dangerous. Against unarmed suspect or suspects who are subdued it should virtually never be an option.

[alkemical]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...TV-camera.html


Police launch 'Flying Saucer' CCTV camera
Police used a remote-controlled "flying saucer" to monitor the BNP's Red, White and Blue festival in Codnor, Derbyshire, where anti-fascist protesters have assembled.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Good lord...and I've been worrying about red light cameras.

[Rohirrim]

I wonder how that thing holds up to some .00 from a 12 gauge?

[footstepsfrom#27]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

I wonder how that thing holds up to some .00 from a 12 gauge?

Maybe it's equipped with a forcefield and defensive death ray technology.

[loborugger]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

Good point. They know (or think they know) that they can tazer someone and it aint a huge deal.

They really need to start referring to tazers as 'probably-not-lethal-weapons' instead of 'non-lethal weapons' 'cuz that is what they are.

[watermock]

It's 1 step away from lethal autonomous weapons.

Oh yeah, we allready got those too.

[orinjkrush]

gimme a chance, coach. i know i can tazer that fricking flying tazer.