Just behave if you don't want to be Tasered!

I can't believe the attention some segments of our population and media are giving lately to the Taser and its use. The story seems to have started with the unfortunate death of a Polish man in British Columbia, but I heard at lunch today that Customs officials will be releasing some possibly enlightening information about the incident on Friday.

Too bad it's too late to reserve judgment on the RCMP officers who "pulled the trigger" and on the weapon itself... but with the instantaneous nature of how news propagates itself from coast to coast and into people's homes, knee jerk reactions are becoming commonplace these days.

Take today's Ottawa Sun, for instance. Some poor "30-year-old mother of two" feels "lucky to be alive" and hopes that witnesses will come forward to, I guess, enlighten her as to why she was Tasered the other night.

Well, Marlena Sarazin, how about you read the police report?

According to the Sun article, a vehicle she was driving was pulled over as police suspected she was driving while impaired. She took off, running over a police officer's foot and managed to hit a taxi and another police cruiser before deciding to stop for good. If police had to break the vehicle's windows and pull her out of the car, she clearly did not obey orders to exit the vehicle. If she had to be subdued by being hit with a Taser shot after being removed from the vehicle, she clearly wasn't obeying any commands issued by the police and was likely agitated and possibly appearing to the police as posing a potential hazard to herself and those around her.

Harsh treatment? Has anyone ever watched COPS on American television before? If you lead the police on a chase after running over an officer's foot and sideswiping two cars (including a police cruiser), you get pulled out of a car by an officer who's surrounded by countless colleagues with drawn guns.

This woman is trying to pass herself off as being a victim... here are the charges she's facing: impaired driving, dangerous driving, failing to remain, failing to stop for police, resisting arrest (maybe that's where the Taser came into play, wouldn't you think, ma'am?) and driving with a suspended license. I guess they didn't charge her with causing bodily harm or something for running over the cop's foot, but the fact she did so will likely figure prominently when the Crown presents its evidence.

The Polish man in BC was clearly shown throwing tables and chairs around. He was in a fit of rage minutes before RCMP officers tried to subdue him. Marlena Sarazin ran over a police officer's foot, hit a taxi and a police cruiser while fleeing from the police and (likely) refused to obey commands to exit her vehicle.

She can't remember being Tasered and hopes witnesses can help her out. She was (allegedly, right?) drunk! She clearly had no ability to think properly but had she not had those drinks or driven while under the influence, she wouldn't have been in the situation that eventually led the police to Taser her. The Taser wasn't wrong. The police weren't wrong.

But it's their fault. Sure... save the tears for court.

Before we are so quick to indict the police and the Taser (would we prefer that these people be shot?!), let's wait for all the facts to come out. The Sun story makes it clear that Ms. Sarazin was no angel on Saturday. The report that Canada Customs will release on Friday might shine a whole new light on what happened in BC when a man died after being Tasered twice.

Odds are good that all people who get in confrontations with police were breaking the law. The way to avoid getting Tasered or shot is pretty clear to me. Obey the (*$#@(*@) law! Pure and simple!

What's so complicated?!