"Don't tazer me, bro" has come to the UK

[jumpy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/7251008.stm

Police use stun gun on youth, 15

A youth court in Dolgellau was told police were left with no alternative as the youth smashed furniture at his Blaenau Ffestiniog home.

So, tazers are an alternative method to lethal force, eh?

The article reads like the device was used as a means of enforcing compliance to a minor who would 'not be reasoned with', rather than being used to subdue a dangerous individual who presented a threat that couldn't be dealt with by a couple or burly chaps and a pair of handcuffs.

Whilst I understand that there may be certain particulars of this case that are not available, I still reject in the strongest terms, the use of tazers as 'human cattle prods' in order to deal with people who represent no lethal threat to themselves and others.
Are they saying that had officers with firearms been present, the situation was serious enough that they would have shot this youth? If so then perhaps the use of said tazer was correct. I believe otherwise.

I cannot help think that there is the potential for a fundamental shift in the relationship between the public and their servants. The use of such a device in any but the most extreme circumstances demonstrates a lack of will on behalf of the authorities to deal with individuals and cases on the basis of anything other than the most expedient means available. I do not believe this is a good thing for anyone concerned.
Fear can be a useful extension to managing people - in these cases the threat of electrocution if you fail to comply - but respect is something which has a foundation in something much more reliable and lasting; trust.
Unfortunately I trust neither the state or its guardians when it comes to matters of my own safety and well-being; and make no mistake, they are the states guardians, not ours.

It would seem that we are to join our colonial brothers and can expect the penalty for refusal of immediate compliance in (for example) a routine traffic stop is to be sent to the floor with 50000 volts, to become an inevitability.

Not a good day for us britons, but in the last 10 years what is?