Police have higher rates of suicide than the general public. Does the use of tasing, and the unintentional death of people from tasing have any connection?
Last year, a mentally ill man, Iman Morales, was tasered by police, and fell off a ten foot ledge to his death.
Mr. Morales, naked and with apparent signs of emotional disturbance, fell to his death from a building ledge after an officer shot him with the Taser, at the instruction of Lieutenant Pigott. Mr. Morales had been yelling at passers-by and swinging a long light bulb tube at officers before he fell.
When Ltd. Piggot committed suicide after Iman Morales death, my first thought was that Lieutenant Piggot felt depressed over the death of Mr. Morales. I felt empathy for both the family of Mr. Morales, as well as the family of Lt. Piggot. I thought to myself, it must be so devastating to know that a man died because of the orders that the policeman issued. After all, Mr. Morales was poking a long light bulb at the police, this didn't seem to justify the tasing which caused Mr. Morales to fall to his death off a ledge.
Police do have stressful jobs, according to heavybadgewebsite, rotating shifts, long term and repeated exposure to horribe things, the requirement to act in a manner that is beyond reproach coupled with the adrenaline and gut reactions that occur in human beings with little preparation or none for an unfolding event, all must contribute to a high stress for the police.
So I was really surprised to find out that Lt Piggot committed suicide because he was worried about his family seeing him in handcuffs, and going to jail. Yes, these are understandable feelings, but it did surprise me that Ltd. Piggot's family, who is suing the NYC, does not seem to have any focus on the fact that Lt. Piggot made a mistake that resulted in another person's death.
I recently read that the NYPD is not as interested in using tasers anymore, and again, I was surprised, I thought that possibly the unnecessary death of Mr. Morales, and the subsequent suicide of Lt. Piggot, might have been the reason, but again, this was not the case. The use of tasers by the NYPD is more to do with the fact that tasers can have an effect on the heart, and the easiest way to taser is at the chest, so I guess it wouldn't be very useful to taser someone if you can't use the chest area. Tasered While Blackhas the article about the use of tasers at NYPD.
I just can't help wondering if the viewpoint of the police that seems unable to have empathy for the victims, might somehow be responsible for the high rates of suicide seen in police nationally. This might explain why tasers are still being used, and still causing unnecessary deaths. Isn't it possible that the police need to review their viewpoint and approach to how their ranks feel about tasing and killing, to open up more dialogue, to allow their ranks to feel and express themselves. Lt. Piggot is dead, his family now speaks for him, but it is still possible that Lt. Piggot did feel depression over the death of Mr. Morales, but was unable to express that emotion in the police culture he was living in.