So, Which Is It?

When I heard that the officers of the Atlanta PD were experiencing a severe outbreak of "blue flu", I thought that there might be more to the story than I had heard.

It seems that several weeks ago, The Fulton County DA held a press conference where he explained the prosecution of several officers  resulting from an incident where tasers were used.  During that press conference linked above, at the 17:00 mark, he says "As may of you know, under Georgia law, a taser is considered as a deadly weapon."

Really?  A taser is a deadly weapon.  Okay.  You can believe that every police officer on the force heard that, loud and clear.

Fast forward to last week.  Two fine officers get involved with a drunk in a Wendy's parking lot.  The incident goes sideways.  The perp resists, grabs a taser and fires it at the officers.  The DA charges the officers with murder, claiming now that the taser posed no threat to the officers.

So, which is it, Mr. DA?  Is the taser deadly force only when used by police officers?  It magically loses lethality when used by a perp against police officers?  That seems mildly inconsistent, especially  when you have charged officers in both incidents.

The fact that the DA is now in a political race, and in the losing position may have affected his judgement.  He's pandering, and doing it in the most blatant manner possible.

It's no wonder that Atlanta has the blue flu.  The officers are not sure where the force continuum lies, but they know that if they choose wrong in a moment of crisis, they ill be fired and charged before the investigation is complete.