News sources today reported on a very sad, and very unnecessary, post-script to a story I commented on in my journal entry Don’t tase me bro! Tasers make news, but (thankfully) not in Renton . Today, it was reported that the officer killed himself in his grief over his decision to use a taser on a mentally ill man who then fell from a ledge.
While the officer made an error in common sense, and the department’s new added training is a good idea, there was no reason in the world for the distraught officer to take his own life. This illustrates how conscientious New York’s officers are. But it’s terribly, terribly sad, and I wish the New York officer had received more post-incident counseling.