Taser Time on America's Public Lands

Taser time on America's public lands

The U.S. Forest Service 'is experiencing confusion and drift in its
central identity and direction, and ambiguity in the way it allocates
power and responsibility,' a recent survey of Forest Service workers
found

Bill Berkowitz, Media Transparency, October 29, 2007

http://www.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=217

At about the same time University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was
getting tasered by overly heated campus security guards during an
appearance by Sen. John Kerry, TASER International Inc. announced that
it had received an order from the United States Forest Service for 700
TASER (r) X26 electronic control devices and related accessories.

"We are excited about this new additional federal agency purchasing
TASER technology to protect life," said Tom Smith, Chairman and
Founder of TASER international, a market leader in advanced electronic
control devices. "Traditionally, we have focused law enforcement sales
at the local and state level, but we are now seeing acceptance of
TASER technology at various federal law enforcement agencies."

John C. Twiss, director of the service's law-enforcement branch, said
that after years of studying the devices, it would give its 700
officers, who police 153 national forests, "an option other than
deadly force in certain law-enforcement situations."

Is the Forest Service expecting an influx of anti-war protesters?
Will the tasers be used against environmentalists protesting excessive
logging? Are the animals in the wild in for some stunning surprises?

"The Forest Service will likely justify this order by saying that the
forests are a dangerous place filled with marijuana growers, meth lab
workers and illegal aliens," Scott Silver, the executive director of
Wild Wilderness, an Oregon-based grassroots environmental
organization, said in an e-mail interview.

"I'd say that the Forest Service is simply looking to further build
up its police capabilities and to be better positioned to act
violently, albeit non-lethally, when it feels justified in so doing,"
Silver pointed out.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: U.S. Forest Service buying TASERs
    ... Taser Time on America's Public Lands ... The US Forest Service "is experiencing confusion and drift in its central ... electronic control devices and related accessories. ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • Re: hmmm ... looks like the LEOs are gearing up for the Annual next summer ...
    ... Taser transformation pills... ... sitting in storage and cannot be issued because the agency has yet to ... Service law enforcement program is hobbled by more than 200 vacant ... Forest Service is currently developing the required training and law ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • Re: Taser Time on Americas Public Lands
    ... The U.S. Forest Service 'is experiencing confusion and drift in its ... TASER X26 electronic control devices and related accessories. ... Wild Wilderness, an Oregon-based grassroots environmental ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • U.S. Forest Service buying TASERs
    ... Taser Time on America's Public Lands ... The US Forest Service "is experiencing confusion and drift in its central ... An Agency Losing Its Bearings ... Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell - who, unlike the heads of most other ...
    (alt.gathering.rainbow)
  • US Forest Service Buys 700 Tasers!
    ... The U.S. Forest Service 'is experiencing confusion and drift in its central identity and direction, and ambiguity in the way it allocates power and responsibility,' a recent survey of Forest Service workers found ... At about the same time University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was getting tasered by overly heated campus security guards during an appearance by Sen. John Kerry, TASER International Inc. announced that it had received an order from the United States Forest Service for 700 TASER X26 electronic control devices and related accessories. ... "We are excited about this new additional federal agency purchasing TASER technology to protect life," said Tom Smith, Chairman and Founder of TASER international, a market leader in advanced electronic control devices. ... Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell -- who, unlike the heads of most other land-management agencies, did not need Senate confirmation and serves at the pleasure of the administration -- said the Dialogos report "is not easy for most of us to hear" but urged senior officials to distribute and discuss the findings in a June memo. ...
    (alt.politics)