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No. When trained police officers use a tazer someone it is because the perpetrator has increased the threat level to the officer or others. Here's a good rule of thumb: don't pick a fight with anyone who normally carries any of the following items: a loaded pistol, pepper spray, mace, a tazer and a billy club.

I realize that may be a tall order for some folks, but when you violate the rules of society you end up paying the price. As far as the citizen being unarmed, that is hindsight. When someone is acting in a threatening manner toward an officer, he or she does not have the time or the luxury to first check to see if the perp is armed or not. All of this caterwauling about the horrors of people being tazed just makes me sick. If you don't want to get tazed, maced, pepper sprayed or receive a close encounter with the pavement, you might consider obeying the law and not antagonizing the police.

Unfortunately, some of the people who are tazed are also high on illegal drugs and that makes their behavior even more dangerous and unpredictable - even if they are unarmed. Speaking of which, the idea that simply because someone is not armed means that they are not a threat is absurd. There are black belts in Karate and other martial arts who can easily take a life with one strike of the foot or fist.

What people have to understand is that the police are there to de-escalate the situation, such as the famous 'don't taze me bro' incident in Florida.

Learn more about this author, Tom Sutcliff.
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