Reflecting on Nick Berardini's “Killing Them Safely” on the night of
Chicago protests for another death of a civilian due by excessive police
force, the tension between civilians and law enforcement remains
thoroughly despairing. Both sides, regardless of power, have a very
human but potentially destructive fear. In the scenarios where a police
officer may initially desire humanity, there have to be better methods
for cops to properly engage civilians. Berardini’s doc vigorously proves
that despite their marketing, Tasers are not the answer. They are only
means to a bigger, deadlier problem.
But then, very human elements began to unravel the Taser's perfect
facade. As detailed in Berardini's collected news reports, the Taser is
revealed to be a type of police crutch, an easier option than physically
detaining someone (like a six-year-old at school, or a 56-year-old in a
wheelchair as in 2006). Despite its intent as a self-proclaimed,
"non-lethal" instrument meant to snuff a disturbance, Tasers aided such
excessive police force to the number of 300 Taser-related deaths by
2008. The power of “Killing Them Safely” is that it brings to light some
of these cases that may be swept under the rug. It heroically questions
that even if the Taser doesn't always kill, why should even one
unfortunate loss be acceptable?
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