Cincinnati Mayor Recommends Stun Guns
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By TERRY KINNEY

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati's mayor on Sunday urged the city to buy stun guns for its police force in response to the death of a man following a struggle with six officers a week ago.


AP Photo


Reuters
Slideshow: Police Probed In Death of 350-Pound Man

FOP President: Officers Justified in Beating
(AP Video)



"I am looking for any avenue to avoid another struggle," Mayor Charlie Luken wrote in an e-mail to City Council members Sunday that asked them to find $1 million in the 2004 budget to pay for the non-lethal weapons.


"While it is unclear whether the incident would have changed if our officers had the latest technology in Tasers, I believe we must equip our police with the very best equipment," Luken wrote.


Nathaniel Jones, 41, died Nov. 30 after the scuffle in a restaurant parking lot. A police cruiser videotape showed the 350-pound man lunging at one officer before he was brought down and struck repeatedly with metal nightsticks.


The coroner ruled Jones' death a homicide but cautioned that the designation did not imply police used excessive force. The direct cause of death was the struggle, the autopsy showed, but Jones also had an enlarged heart and had drugs in his blood.


Jones' family and activist groups have said they will commission independent investigations, adding to probes by police, prosecutors and a citizens' panel. The Justice Department (news - web sites) also is gathering information.


About 500 people attended a memorial Saturday for Jones, who was black. His death has focused attention on the racial divide in this city torn by riots in April 2001 after a white police officer shot an unarmed black man who fled arrest.


A new model of the Taser was demonstrated to city officials about five months ago, Luken said at City Hall on Sunday.


"We have been waiting on a federal grant," Luken said. "Because of what happened a week ago, the city manager and I have concluded that we cannot wait."


Police Chief Thomas Streicher told council members on Wednesday that he stopped use of the older Tasers because he considered them unreliable. They required an officer to touch a person to activate the stun capability — not practical in a case where the suspect is lunging and swinging at officers, he said.


The newer models fire small, needlelike projectiles that can shock a person who is up to 25 feet away, Luken said.


The mayor said enough money to buy 1,000 of the new stun guns for the 1,050-officer department could come from not filling 34 middle management city vacancies that he expects within the coming year.

a shame!!
 

for my gc'ers who live in the cincy area, i pray that your city gets through this!!


i have seen the video on my local news and this issue has me a bit torn. although it was a horrible thing to see this man being beaten, i am feeling in some ways that he did it to himself. according to what i have heard and read, he was intoxicated/high. in addition he was a large man. most people with sound judgement know that when you are stopped a cop, you do not resist! yes sir and no sir should be the only things you say unless you are asked a question by the officer.

from what i saw of the tape, at one point, he looked as of he was attacking one of the cops. why? why would you knowingly put yourself in more harms way unless your faculties were impaired?

this undoubtedly will cause additional tension in this city and the race card will be used. but i am afraid that in this instance this poor man has no one else to blame but himself :( .

so senseless!

yup.....
 

this is why, this situation is so troubling! i wonder will anyone really know what happened in those first few seconds? unfortunately based on what i have seen and read, i am not sure if i agree that the cops were fully out of line :( .

I am in agreeance with ClassyLady. Like I've mentioned before, I want to join the police force, and things like this are things that I think about all the time. Just because someone swings on me does not mean I should beat them down with my nightstick, especially when I have 5 0r 6 other officers to help me. Even if he had to use it, he didn't have to continue to beat him down after he was on the ground, which is what I got from the video. Police officers know the potential situations thay may get into, and they are paid to deal with things like this. Even now, when I have to restain my residents, I try to make sure I do not hurt them.

I actually think that stun guns/tasers are a good idea, as long as they used properly. If the police officers do not get giddy and stun a man to death, then it will avoid a lot of physical confrontations. I hope they get it together, because I thinking about going back to Cinci...

Officers Cleared In Death of Black Man
Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2004
By: Associated Press

The Cincinnati police officers involved in the deadly struggle with Nathaniel Jones will not face any criminal charges, Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen announced Monday.

Jones, 41, died after the confrontation with six officers in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant in Avondale in November. The officers needed three sets of handcuffs to subdue Jones, whose behavior inside the restaurant prompted a call to police about his disorderly conduct.

Much of the struggle was caught on a police cruiser camera, and the video's contents prompted outrage on both sides of the community once it was released publicly.

"The only crimes committed were committed by Nathaniel Jones," Allen said at a press conference Monday evening. "My office finds that no crimes were committed by any police officers. It is my decision that this case is now closed and will not be presented to a grand jury."

Read the rest here

I'd feel better if an independent agency came to this conclusion.

I just hope my city stays calm behind this....again.

**slowly backing out of thread** Don't want my views to start a race riot. :rolleyes:

Next step: civil lawsuit. The city fathers and mothers will just shell out the caiche-foo, and probably not look at real reforms.

...and it's so stupid because this foolishness is cyclical. There are blue-ribbon reports sitting in City Hall gathering dust, because these mo-fos don't have the stones to reform this particular police deparment.

so far it's been pretty quiet here, perhaps a little too quiet. i wouldn't look for any real reform until Mike Allen, city prosecutor, PD Chief Striker, and the mayor are out plus a new way of electing city council members is voted on and enacted.
as for a civil lawsuit, we'll see about that...

update...
 

Ohio Cops Urged to Work with Monitor
April 4, 2005
Associated Press
Black America Web


CINCINNATI -- Three years ago, after riots rocked the city, the mayor stood with the nation's attorney general and promised to tighten police procedures and improve relations with blacks. Last week, a federal judge ordered police to stop butting heads with the monitor overseeing the reforms - or else.

Among other things, the monitor has complained that police are not documenting in full detail all instances in which they stopped people or used pepper spray, dogs or stun guns. Also, the police chief has clashed with one of the monitor's staff members, questioning her competence, refusing to let her ride along to observe drug trafficking and escorting her out of police headquarters.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site....es/ohiocops405

The police were WRONG? This is pretty audacious thing to say, and let me tell you I'm NO fan of the Cincinnati Police!

The guy lunged at police. They told him 16 times to put his hands behind his back, and he continued to resist.

I ask you this. The guy was hyped up on drugs, was beligerent, and attacked a police officer. What if he got a hold of the officers gun? Sound outrageous? Well it happened with a female officer who was on patrol in her car. A man forced his way in, got her gun and shot her.

Nathaniel Jones put the police in a no-win situation, then we have ridiculously thoughtless comments such as yours.

If they used a gun to subdue him, they were screwed. If they used a taser to subdue him, they were screwed (in his state, that probably would've killed him, too). Batons are pretty much all that's left, and those tend not to work too well on a guy whose 350 pounds. The autopsy showed only a few bruises and no internal organ injuries. There were no blows above the shoulders.

It's mind-numbing what you just said. Simply mind-numbing. Maybe it's because Mr. Jones lived blocks away from my house (his street crosses mine) and this situation is personal to me, and I see the sht the police have to put up with here.

If it's so personal to you, you need to deal with it on your own -- not by googling the man's name and dredging up a five year old post. Seriously, get real.

Funny thing about a message board is that no one forces anyone to read anything. It's kind of a free will thing. I mean no one forced you to read my post, much less respond. I don't have that power over you. No one does. Yet you chose to spend your time doing so.

That's no one's fault...but your own. Work on your rationality...please.

And you make a good point, albeit unintentionally. The internet lives forever. People still write articles on this topic and come upon these boards much the same way I did.

Quite frankly, I was having a discussion about this very topic elsewhere, which to this day is very relevant, very important.

Seriously...get real.

The internet lives forever, but if you buy a clue today, you'll get a cookie.

Yayyyyyyy

http://www.comedycentral.com/images/...ecialed_m4.jpg

And by the way...

Your mother.

LOL.

You keep winning the keyboard battles.