Yesterday we commented on the Chronicle‘s editorial expressing concern about Tasers. The editorial also said there are no guidelines in place on how Tasers are to be used.
Today, a little something appeared in Corrections:
A memo by Houston Police Department Chief Harold Hurtt, circulated Jan. 19, warned officers to use Tasers only on combative suspects who posed a danger to officers and citizens. Nonviolent suspects fleeing or passively resisting arrest are not to be Tasered. HPD Lt. Robert Manzo said academy training materials discourage officers from using a Taser on children, the elderly, the disabled or the mentally ill, except in the most extraordinary circumstances. An editorial on Page B10 of Thursday’s City & State section urging HPD to develop detailed, written guidelines didn’t mention the existence of the memos.
Also, I noted a couple of days ago that a Chronicle editorial contained a couple of misspelled names. Those have been corrected; and in that stealth way we love so well, no hint of the fixes appeared in Corrections. There is a precedent for a misspelled name being mentioned in Corrections, because Drayton McLane merited it once.
