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Employees of a taser company getting tased doesn't seem that extreme, as long as you COULD opt out. My old employer asked men in the office to take a photo wea

Employees of a taser company getting tased doesn't seem that extreme, as long as you COULD opt out. My old employer asked men in the office to take a photo wearing red high heels as a photo of solidarity to idk.. #metoo or feminism or who knows. I imagine the men in that office felt more pressure to be in that photo than people felt pressure to get tased. And if it was up to me, I'd rather get tased than have a photo of me in high heels. Luckily I was gone by then. But I've seen the photo.

woodruffw 3y ago
The point of the story is the pressure. "Opting out" is not an option if the company's culture made it clear that everyone was expected to do it. The comparison to being asked to wear high heels (which is stupid) is distasteful: tasers kill people, and Axon is well aware that their product, in particular, has deaths attributable to it[1]. You might feel stupid in high heels, but they won't kill you. [1]: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-taser-911 https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-tase...
- vorpalhex 3y ago
  High heels kill people, usually by being the cause for a fall. Though if your argument is that your less-than-lethal product is safe.. testing it on yourself seems pretty on point. The alternatives to tazing someone are pepper spray (has it's own deaths caused by it) or 9mm which is quite a bit more fatal.
  - woodruffw 3y ago
    I don't think the GP was at significant risk of dying from a fall in stationary heels; this is a distraction. > The alternatives to tazing someone are pepper spray (has it's own deaths caused by it) or 9mm which is quite a bit more fatal. The alternative is none of the above. American police use "less-lethal" weaponry to a far greater extent (and with far more ease) than comparable countries.
    - vorpalhex 3y ago
      Talking about deaths is silly without talking about the rate of those deaths. That's the point of the high heels kill people. If you remove LTL options, then yes American cops will do what UK cops do and use unarmed strikes. That means repeatedly striking, hitting and keeping in a stress position a suspect. Striking people kills them. It kills them at a much, much, much higher rate than pepper spray or tasers.
  - rightbyte 3y ago
    You forgot batons. Has batons really gone out of fashion that much? In theory it is good to have a middle ground between batons and pistols for handling e.g. knife wielding mental patients or whatever. But I don't think these kind of special weapons like papper spray or tazers should be given to anything but designated units specialized in handling insane people. Ordinary cops are just too stupid to be given ways to "safely" hurt people. They will use it too much.
    - vorpalhex 3y ago
      Batons *really* kill people next to pepper spray and tasers. It's a steel rod (or wooden if very old). One of the selling points of a baton is that it can be used lethally. If you start engaging with a baton and the suspect pulls a knife, you still use the baton but use different strike areas. Pepper spray causes irritation and is corrected with water. Deaths usually occur in someone with compromised airways or who has heart issues. Tasers leave no impacts and cause deaths in those with heart issues. Batons break bones and disable joints. The old school method was to break the suspects collarbone which makes raising the arm very hard - but that is difficult for a smaller person so now they use disabling joint strikes. The side of the knee cap is a nice prime spot.
- GuB-42 3y ago
  I think there is a difference between getting shocked by the police, and willingly in a controlled environment. The police doesn't know or doesn't care about the conditions of their victims, who are often on drugs. In the article, the victim was "really, really, really bad” and wanted to go to the hospital before getting tased. Here, hopefully, the employees are most likely asked for medical conditions and they are not on drugs. They are shot from the back (probably safer than on the front), there are people next to them to cover their fall and they are wearing safety goggles. They are also not shocked repeatedly. These are ideal conditions that almost never happen in real life, and I guess that although there is a risk, it is very safe. And high heels have definitely caused (often minor) injuries to the wearer, like from falls. And maybe a death or two, who knows. I am no saying that getting tased is good, just that in these controlled conditions, you most likely won't die. It fact, it may be less dangerous than alcohol fueled "after work" parties, which is also the kind of thing where "opting out" may be difficult in some companies (which may also include Axon).
  - zarzavat 3y ago
    Do they at least give you an EKG first? The safest thing is to not get tased, there is no risk of death from that. It seems ridiculous to take on a risk of death for no benefit.
- User23 3y ago
  Unfortunately there aren’t any government statistics specifically on high heel mortality, but tripping and falling is certainly a very common cause of death and no doubt high heels contribute to it.
  - talldatethrow 3y ago
    The point wasn't that I could die in high heels. The point is that I dislike the idea vehemently, but I'm sure there was massive pressure inside the company to not be the one guy that doesn't want to take part in the red high heel pro women photo.
jrflowers 3y ago
> I'd rather get tased than have a photo of me in high heels. When it comes to being forced to do something for a job I’d personally rather be compelled to do the thing that creates evidence that I can later rely on in a lawsuit than get shot with the excruciating pain gun.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

woodruffw 3y ago

The point of the story is the pressure. "Opting out" is not an option if the company's culture made it clear that everyone was expected to do it. The comparison to being asked to wear high heels (which is stupid) is distasteful: tasers kill people, and Axon is well aware that their product, in particular, has deaths attributable to it[1]. You might feel stupid in high heels, but they won't kill you. [1]: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-taser-911 https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-tase...

vorpalhex 3y ago
High heels kill people, usually by being the cause for a fall. Though if your argument is that your less-than-lethal product is safe.. testing it on yourself seems pretty on point. The alternatives to tazing someone are pepper spray (has it's own deaths caused by it) or 9mm which is quite a bit more fatal.
- woodruffw 3y ago
  I don't think the GP was at significant risk of dying from a fall in stationary heels; this is a distraction. > The alternatives to tazing someone are pepper spray (has it's own deaths caused by it) or 9mm which is quite a bit more fatal. The alternative is none of the above. American police use "less-lethal" weaponry to a far greater extent (and with far more ease) than comparable countries.
  - vorpalhex 3y ago
    Talking about deaths is silly without talking about the rate of those deaths. That's the point of the high heels kill people. If you remove LTL options, then yes American cops will do what UK cops do and use unarmed strikes. That means repeatedly striking, hitting and keeping in a stress position a suspect. Striking people kills them. It kills them at a much, much, much higher rate than pepper spray or tasers.
- rightbyte 3y ago
  You forgot batons. Has batons really gone out of fashion that much? In theory it is good to have a middle ground between batons and pistols for handling e.g. knife wielding mental patients or whatever. But I don't think these kind of special weapons like papper spray or tazers should be given to anything but designated units specialized in handling insane people. Ordinary cops are just too stupid to be given ways to "safely" hurt people. They will use it too much.
  - vorpalhex 3y ago
    Batons *really* kill people next to pepper spray and tasers. It's a steel rod (or wooden if very old). One of the selling points of a baton is that it can be used lethally. If you start engaging with a baton and the suspect pulls a knife, you still use the baton but use different strike areas. Pepper spray causes irritation and is corrected with water. Deaths usually occur in someone with compromised airways or who has heart issues. Tasers leave no impacts and cause deaths in those with heart issues. Batons break bones and disable joints. The old school method was to break the suspects collarbone which makes raising the arm very hard - but that is difficult for a smaller person so now they use disabling joint strikes. The side of the knee cap is a nice prime spot.
GuB-42 3y ago
I think there is a difference between getting shocked by the police, and willingly in a controlled environment. The police doesn't know or doesn't care about the conditions of their victims, who are often on drugs. In the article, the victim was "really, really, really bad” and wanted to go to the hospital before getting tased. Here, hopefully, the employees are most likely asked for medical conditions and they are not on drugs. They are shot from the back (probably safer than on the front), there are people next to them to cover their fall and they are wearing safety goggles. They are also not shocked repeatedly. These are ideal conditions that almost never happen in real life, and I guess that although there is a risk, it is very safe. And high heels have definitely caused (often minor) injuries to the wearer, like from falls. And maybe a death or two, who knows. I am no saying that getting tased is good, just that in these controlled conditions, you most likely won't die. It fact, it may be less dangerous than alcohol fueled "after work" parties, which is also the kind of thing where "opting out" may be difficult in some companies (which may also include Axon).
- zarzavat 3y ago
  Do they at least give you an EKG first? The safest thing is to not get tased, there is no risk of death from that. It seems ridiculous to take on a risk of death for no benefit.
User23 3y ago
Unfortunately there aren’t any government statistics specifically on high heel mortality, but tripping and falling is certainly a very common cause of death and no doubt high heels contribute to it.
- talldatethrow 3y ago
  The point wasn't that I could die in high heels. The point is that I dislike the idea vehemently, but I'm sure there was massive pressure inside the company to not be the one guy that doesn't want to take part in the red high heel pro women photo.

jrflowers 3y ago

> I'd rather get tased than have a photo of me in high heels. When it comes to being forced to do something for a job I’d personally rather be compelled to do the thing that creates evidence that I can later rely on in a lawsuit than get shot with the excruciating pain gun.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]