12-year-old tased by police officer

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

...but once that initial charge goes through the average person is good to go. Typically no negative after effects either as opposed to when you pepper spray or baton someone.

Researchers and law enforcement experts continue to debate and research the lasting impact of tasing. Based on the ongoing debate and research findings on both sides of the issue, it is not absolute certain that the average person is "good to go" and with no lasting impact. Police departments often do not conduct cohort studies in which people tased in a given year are studied over periods of time. Taser studies are coming from elsewhere and there are few studies on the physical and/or mental effects on people who have been tasered and the span of time through which to examine lasting effects is still being understood. This ongoing debate and research are regarding adults. The debate is stronger for children and there is little to any research on the impact of tasering on children. The research on adults is assumed to be applicable to all humans but that is not definite.

I know that you were giving a general response about tasers to christiangirl's post but baton and pepper spray are not deemed a necessary comparison unless the research question is how tasering compares to other methods--batons and pepper spray. Instead, the research questions in this instance would be (1) is tasing appropriate for people of a young age--children (or the elderly if we were talking about older age); (2) (in line with what you were talking about in your post) does tasering have any lasting impact on the body regardless of whether the person feels pain; and (3) can the impact of tasing be different for children (or the elderly) than adults.