tasers coming to a national foreat near you

this is reposted from clearwater on the mytribe rainbowfamily tribe

U.S. Forest Service Purchases 6,000 Tasers


What would be the real reason why the Forest Service has purchased and are warehousing Tasers?

Check out this press release by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)(December 4, 2007):
Cash Starved Forest Service Spends $600,000 To Buy Tasers — Devices Remain in Boxes Because Rangers Lack Training

Washington, DC — The U.S. Forest Service has bought $600,000 worth of "Electronic Control Devices" without any training program, rules for use or even a written explanation as to why the devices are needed, according to agency records posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The devices, known as Tasers, are sitting in storage and cannot be issued because the agency has yet to develop a training course.

Due to an intense fire season, the Forest Service is now staggering under a more than a quarter-billion dollar deficit, causing it to begin jettisoning core programs. For example, the agency lacks enough funds to draw up new timber sales. At the same time, the Forest Service law enforcement program is hobbled by more than 200 vacant positions, leaving only one officer to cover each 300,000 acres of National Forest and 750,000 annual million visitors.

In late September 2007, the Forest Service purchased 700 weapons and "related accessories" from Aardvark Tactical, Inc. of Azusa, California, a subsidiary of Taser International, at a cost to taxpayers of $600,001.52, according to agency records obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act. This represents enough to equip every single Forest Service special agent and law enforcement officer with an Electronic Control system at a cost of $857 apiece.

The reason for this purchase is unknown since the Forest Service was unable to produce any document justifying the need for these weapons. John Twiss, the Director of Law Enforcement and Investigations and the official who made the decision to buy the Tasers, wrote PEER in a letter dated November 7, 2007:

"n the interest of customer service, we can tell you that the Forest Service is currently developing the required training and law enforcement officers will be required to attend prior to the issuance of, or authorization to carry or use, an Electronic Control Device."

"There must have been a fire sale on Tasers, otherwise why would an agency buy 700 of them without a program, protocol or need?" asked PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the federal fiscal year ended September, around the time of the hurried single source purchase. "The Forest Service has many more pressing law enforcement priorities that should have received any end-of-fiscal-year surplus."

In addition to the cost of training its entire law enforcement staff, the Forest Service may be assuming significant financial liability for injuries and deaths. In October, Amnesty International released a study estimating that 290 civilians have died from police use of Tasers since 2001.

Tasers are touted as a non-lethal alternative to the use of deadly force. Since Forest Service rarely is called upon to apply deadly force, the role of these electronic devices on national forest visitors is problematic. Nonetheless, Taser International now also equips the National Park Service.

"The proliferation of Tasers within federal land management agencies has all the earmarks of a mindless arms race that has eluded any thoughtful public or congressional review," Ruch added. "As a result, in addition to the howl of the coyote and the hoot of the owl, the plaintive cry of 'Don't tase me, bro' may soon echo through the forest night."


Here is the invoice
and The only documented Justification for this purchase

Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo better watch their backs when those rangers get trained.

It's another fine example of your hard earned tax dollars hard at work. But seriously, I'd like to know what they really have planned with regard for use of those weapons. Posted by Judy Aron at 8:00 AM

 

I think this years nationals are gonna be one hell of a ride...

don't wanna do nothin to end up in jail
but don't want no leo stickin a shocker strait to my stomach

 

do what i do....when i see them coming i walk slowly into the trees...and duck down.

 

yeah seems to work...or just stand there if you're not doin nothin wrong...
but some times that don't seem to work too well either....

 

yeah and there is always the "oh shit" surprise they are right there...i was wander'n down the trail in the dark at the west virginia gathering and felt a disturbance in the force...so i flicked my lighter and sure enough there was three leo types standing right there...luckily it was the ones i saw doing cartwheels earlier...whew!...but you just never know what to expect. at the michigan gathering(annual/national), we were told by the leos that we would all have to move back from the otherside of the river. i went to council and we decided as a family not to move. we all stood together holding hands and when the leos came out of the woods (in through a backdoor they created) on horseback the family stayed and kept telling them "we love you". all of a sudden the leos took off in a full gallop down the trail and pretty much everyone chased after them (worried that they might stampede others along the trail)...this left me and my two friends and one brother from nerf. we stayed because our camp was right there and so was nerf's kitchen. well i heard this low rumbeling sound and more leos came riding out of the woods on atvs and headed right for us. they got in our faces and were screaming how we were going to be arrested...my two friends took off...and this super agro fed asked me what i was going to do...so i said, "i guess i'm packing up our camp and moving it" so i started packing up all my friends gear and taking down four different tents...luckily a friend came out of hiding to help me...but it was really scary cuz the leos were screaming how we were going to get arrested the whole time i'm trying to peacefully comply. meanwhile they were ransacking our neighbors camp and searching through all of their gear. more rainbows came out of the woods and helped us relocate all of our stuff across the river. so, my point is...be careful around leos...even the somewhat "friendly" ones cuz you just never know. also, they are FEDS cuz the national forest is FEDERAL LAND so getting busted there for anything is a FEDERAL OFFENSE.

be careful family
love you!