Tasers, Policing, & Civil Liberties

Last month, a Charlotte jury awarded $10 million to the family of a teenager who died after a police officer used a Taser on him. Hundreds of people have died over the last decade in similar situations involving police and Taser use. Opponents of the electroshock devices say they've led to an epidemic of police brutality; police say they're effective tools that reduce injuries and deaths caused by more traditional weapons. Host Frank Stasio discusses Tasers, policing, and civil liberties with Sam Walker, an emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and author of several books on policing and accountability; Katy Parker, Legal Director of the ACLU of North Carolina; Darrel Stephens, former chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department; and David Cole, law professor at Georgetown University and author of "Less Safe, Less Free: Why We Are Losing the War on Terrorism." (The New Press/2007).