Crap - there goes the "Stun-A-'Tard 3000"

From Drudge:

HOUSTON (AP) - Advocates for the mentally ill are questioning Houston police officers' use of stun guns on suspects with mental problems, many of whom were unarmed and then never charged with a crime.

Since officers started carrying Tasers in December 2004, nearly 130 people known or suspected to be mentally ill were shocked by officers responding to calls, according to a Houston Chronicle review of more than 1,000 incidents involving the stun gun.

The department also had its first Taser-related death recently that involved a mentally ill man, the newspaper reported Sunday.

Often, police knew they were responding to calls involving people with mental health issues but rarely called officers who are specially trained to deal with the mentally ill, according to police records.

"Using a Taser is easy," said Arlene Kelly, who became an outspoken advocate for the mentally ill after her daughter was shot and killed by a Houston police officer in 1999. "There's no waiting. There's no need to be patient with someone who may not understand orders. The Taser has represented a step backward in how police deal with the mentally ill."

Some of those stunned had committed violent crimes, threatened others or harmed themselves. But most were people who failed to follow officers' orders in the fog of their mental confusion, records show.

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