Reason #8 Why I Live in Misery: Taser-Happy Police

Flipping through my Facebook feed revealed that someone was tasered at Cafe Berlin last night. While I'm sure somebody got a little out of control last night, I'm not convinced it wasn't a police officer. I wasn't there, but anytime I hear the terms "Columbia police officers" and "taser" in the same breath, I get a shiver down my spine.

There was that kid who died in Moberly and the guy here in COMO near the I-70 overpass to name a few examples of over zealous tasering my MO law enforcement. (And this and this.) This place is taser happy. Of course, there are no University of Florida students around to take all the taser heat, so the po-po has to shock somebody.

I realize that a taser is better than a gunshot or are nearly the equivalent of a Rodney King-style beatdown (sans legal ramifications), but sometimes they are overused. Is it not enough for 3-4 burly dudes with guns and nightsticks to subdue a suspect that they need to electrocute another human being? Are tasers really that necessary?

Anyway, it turns out that somebody may or may not have used the outside of Berlin Cafe Saturday night as a toilet. (I can't say that I blame him. That place only has like one toilet for all that coffee and beer they serve.) His public urination was cause for the taser and a trip to the emergency room. This seems a little heavy handed to me.

Update: It seems the link I provided to the original story has been taken down. Here's an updated link, complete with some video after the incident.