A resident of Mayville, Alaska plead no contest to possession of an electric weapon when the charge came up in Dodge County Circuit Court this week.
The charge has a maximum penalty of six years in prison but the judge granted the Mayville resident, a 24 year old woman, a one year deferment of prosecution in this case.
The woman, who works at the Silk Exotic Gentlemen’s Club in Juneau, Alaska, has entered into a plea agreement regarding the charges.
The woman was speeding through downtown Juneau streets at about 2:30 am in early November when she was pulled over by a police officer. The woman was on her way home from work at the Gentlemen’s Club and was driving with a suspended license.
The police officer conducted a routine search for weapons and found a stun gun inside the woman’s purse. The woman first argued that the stun gun “wasn’t a weapon” but then said to the police officer, “You have a gun and can defend yourself, why can’t I defend myself?”
In Alaska, stun guns are classified as a defensive weapon, meaning that they are not designed to cause death or serious physical injury. Defensive weapons, however, are still subject to licensing laws and other laws regarding misuse.
Carrying a stun gun can be a good form of self defense, as the woman said, but those who choose to exercise their rights in this manner must also be familiar with local statutes and follow the laws of the state in which they reside.
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An Austin woman called 911 on Monday to report a domestic violence incident. She had locked herself in a bathroom to hide from her violent boyfriend.
Police officers from the Austin Police Department were dispatched and Travis County Sheriff Deputies were also called to assist in the domestic dispute confrontation. The incident occurred in the 11000 block of Johnny Weismuller Lane in Austin, Texas.
When the law enforcement officers arrived, the woman’s boyfriend walked out of the residence with a revolver. He acted aggressively, pointing the revolver at police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Two officers, one from the Austin Police Department and a deputy from the Travis County Sheriff Department, each fired a round in self defense at the woman’s boyfriend.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy fired the shot that killed the woman’s boyfriend. His shot hit the man in the chest. The incident occurred just after 3 a.m. in South Austin.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy was put on administrative leave pending an investigation, which Austin Police Department officials say is routine following a shooting involving a police officer.
The Austin Police Chief said, “It was a tragic incident where someone’s life is taken. Unfortunately in law enforcement, you have to defend yourself and in this instance, from what we’re seeing so far, it appears it was a lawful shooting.”
Audio and video tapes taken at the scene of the incident are expected to be released shortly.
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A 46 year old former Royal Marine dressed as Santa’s elf was selling mistletoe without the proper license in Eastbourne, England when he was approached by a police officer.
He refused to give his name and address when asked and also refused to show his peddler’s license, which he did not, in fact, possess. The police officer, who was on foot patrol, states that the man pushed him and a struggle ensued.
Christmas shoppers were shocked to see the elf, dressed in poofy red pants and a “Christmas pudding hat,” rolling around on the ground fighting the uniformed police officer.
The police officer used his night stick and his pepper spray to subdue the man. The man claims to be covered with bruises but the police officer reports being unhurt by the struggle. The man was arrested on the scene and spent nine hours in jail.
The man was convicted of obstructing a police officer after a brief trial and was fined GBP 200. He was also ordered to pay court costs, which amounted to GBP 100. He is appealing the conviction even though a Lewes Crown Court Magistrate has branded the case “a waste of money” and adjourned the appeal until February.
The man said, “Lots of people were buying from me and I was doing my best to make them feel festive.” The Sussex police declined to comment, simply stating that the man “was convicted and that the conviction stands at this time.”
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A 27 year old man attacked his family with a knife on Sunday in the Canadian city of Calgary. The man stabbed his 24 year old sister several times before police officers were summoned to the scene on a domestic violence call. The man was choking his 52 year old mother when police officers arrived.
According to police officers, the man was in “a highly emotional, agitated, and violent state.” The police officers who arrived on the scene felt that there was a significant risk of injury or fatality so they responded proactively.
The police officers used a TASER gun on the man and, as a result he ceased his attack on his mother and let her go. The police officers immediately arrested him.
The man has had encounters with local police officers in the past and is known to them. Drugs and alcohol were not deemed to be factors in this incident. The man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for intimidation for a dangerous purpose, and uttering threats.
Both the mother and the sister were transported to a hospital in stable condition.
Police officers cite this as a classic example of why TASER guns are available to law enforcement as tools to keep the peace. Agitated, uncooperative, irrational and violent, the man in this incident needed to be subdued and, if a TASER gun had not been available, could easily have been shot with a lethal weapon.
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A meat dealer at the Carbon Public Market in the Phillipines was traveling to the market on M.F. Escano Street as he had for the past twenty three years when he was confronted by a 19 year old young man hurling rocks at passing vehicles.
This allegation is supported by the testimony of two 18 year old neighbors of the young man. They testified that they were walking in the area and saw the young man throwing empty bottles and rocks at vehicles as they passed by.
The meat dealer, a resident of Tabunok, Talisay City, was traveling into the night on his way to the Carbon Public Market. The meat dealer’s white delivery truck passed by the young man at about 2 a.m. and was hit by a rock that the young man had thrown. The left side mirror of the vehicle was damaged by the rock.
The meat dealer stopped the delivery truck and confronted the young man. He asked the young man what his problem was or what was wrong with him, wanting to know why the young man was foolish enough to engage in destructive pranks.
The young man refused to respond, however, and instead proceeded to attack the meat dealer. This prompted the meat dealer to shoot the young man 4 times. He hit the young man twice in the right chest.
The meat dealer surrendered himself to the police in the San Nicolas Police Station and also surrendered his .40 caliber pistol with 8 live bullets and 1 magazine, a firearm license card and a permit to carry card.
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A community Christmas show and caroling event at Five Dock in Sydney, Australia’s inner-west area turned from a peaceful holiday event to a dangerous and unruly incident.
Nearly 4000 people gathered at Halliday Park on McGrath Street for the event on Monday. Police officers patrolling the crowd broke up many arguments and minor scuffles.
At one point a police sergeant was dealing with two young men who were being abusive towards other members of the community in attendance. One of the young men punched the police sergeant, resulting in a gash above the officer’s eye.
At this point the surrounding crowd became unruly and, as the police sergeant described it, “volatile.” The police sergeant shot his stun gun at his assailant, an 18 year old young man, and was able to subdue him.
The young man was arrested and taken to the Campsie police station. He was charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, and affray. He made bail and is scheduled to appear in the Burwood Local Court on January 14.
Thanks to the quick use of his stun gun, the police sergeant suffered no further injury other than the gash above his eye. He received treatment for the gash from paramedics on the scene. Knowing how quickly things can get out of hand, the police officer was wise to subdue the volatile young man as quickly as possible. By subduing the young man, the momentum was taken out of the unruly crowd. This prevented an escalation of violence in the agitated crowd, eliminated the need for more drastic actions.
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A 27 year old man forced his way into his former girlfriend’s apartment in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on Tuesday. He assaulted the woman causing her to flee with her young child to a nearby car. It is unknown whether she was able to leave the scene.
The man apparently thought that his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had had a 5 month relationship that ended approximately 2 weeks ago, was with another man in her apartment.
Police officers arrived at the woman’s apartment on Lincoln Street at approximately 1 am and found the suspect on the porch. He failed to comply with police instructions to drop to his knees. Instead he shouted “Go ahead and shoot me” prior to being sprayed with pepper spray.
While he was stunned momentarily, he was still able to flee to a nearby street on foot (Wellington Avenue). Within a few moments he had surrendered to a local officer.
The suspect has a record of convictions and was arraigned on Wednesday in Central Berkshire District Court. He was held at the Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction with bail set at $1000 cash or $10,000 bond.
He was charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and single counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, possession of an electric stun gun, and breaking and entering during the nighttime to commit a felony as well as other charges.
The suspect was highly agitated and confrontational. The use of pepper spray helped subdue a dangerous and violent man with minimal force and lessened police exposure to the dangers of traditional weaponry.
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The funeral for a 17 year old young man was held on Friday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. An estimated 850 people showed up at Gabaldon Mortuary, more than double the mortuary’s capacity. Attendees were fainting inside the overcrowded building and the Mortuary’s manager called the police for help with crowd control.
The deceased’s mother said that they weren’t expecting such a large crowd but noted that the young man was well loved and that his friends and family were there for him. She was upset that so many of her son’s friends and family members were unable to see him and pay their final respects.
When the police attempted to control the crowd, the funeral attendees became violent with some participants throwing rocks at the police officers. The attendees appeared to be upset that they were denied entrance into the rosary service and had been asked to leave.
Bernalillo County Deputies shut down an entire stretch of Old Coors Road and began to shoot pepper spray balls into the crowd. The services continued inside the mortuary despite the chaos.
As upset as the mother was, it would have been more disruptive if the crowd had continued to get out of control. The dangers associated with a crowd that was significantly over-capacity seemed to be overshadowed by her grief, and the dangers related to resorting to violence when dealing with a frustrated crowd were not minor either. Luckily the police were able to avoid further incident with the use of a non-lethal agent to subdue the crowd.
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Police responded to a call placed in the late afternoon on Saturday from the 1300 block of Seward Avenue in Akron, Ohio. The call indicated that a man was firing shots from a gray Chevy Impala, reported Akron Police Department spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards.
The man drove off and was pursued by police officers onto I-77 at Diagonal Road. The chase continued with suspect and police driving south alongside the northbound lanes.
As he approached Route 59 the suspect spun out his car and headed in the correct direction on the highway. The suspect rammed the vehicle of the police officer that was pursuing him.
After exiting the highway at East Avenue, the man drove through Kenmore and tried to drive through the front yard of a house in the 1800 block of McTaggart Drive. At this point he was apprehended but he remained aggressive towards the police officers and fought with them. He was subdued with the use of a TASER and arrested at 4:48 p.m.
The man was injured in one of the accidents associated with the police chase and he was treated at the Akron General Medical Center. His injuries were not life-threatening. The man’s name was not released and the charges he is expected to face were not enumerated.
The man’s aggressive behavior made the use of the TASER optimal because he was a flight
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After five years of discussions on the topic, campus police officers at the University of Windsor are more than ready to carry pepper spray while on duty.
Frustrated by the lack of action on the subject, pepper spray became a part of the last round of contract negotiation between the university and the union that represents the campus police officers. The union represents the 22 officers currently employed. The university hired an independent consultant as a result of these negotiations. The consultant recommended pepper spray as “a use-of-force option.”
The policy still needs to be approved by local area police, however, and that approval appears to be stalled. A request was sent to the Windsor Police Service Board in June and there has been no action on the request in the intervening months.
University of Windsor campus police feel that every day they are further delayed is another day of being subjected to increased risk. “It’s a safety concern for us,” says one campus police officer.
The campus police officers cite other campus police security forces that authorize the use of pepper spray for their officers: the University of Western Ontario, McMaster, Waterloo, and Guelph.
Currently the campus police officers at the University of Windsor carry handcuffs, batons and bulletproof vests. They are at a disadvantage when unruly visitors get out of control because the only tool they have to subdue such a person is brute force.
“This university is not a gated community,” one campus police officer said. “From time to time, undesirables come onto our campus…violent individuals.”
Hopefully they will not have to wait too much longer to carry pepper spray.
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