The community, Clergy, leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and several family members of victims of taser shock deaths by Fort Worth Police came together to pray for peace and ask the City of Fort Worth, State of Texas and the USA Government to Toss the Tasers in our disadvantaged and under-served communities.
WFAA NEWS 8:
http://www.wfaa.com/video/chawes-index.html?nvid=358374
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
DEAD IN SIXTY TWO MINUTES
Michael Patrick Jacobs died in 62 minutes after his mother called for help. Here is the WFAA News 8 Video
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090420_mo_taser.f4cd769c.html
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090420_mo_taser.f4cd769c.html
Monday, April 27, 2009
TOSS THE TASER RALLY!
Dear Beloved Community:
We are currently planning a May 4, 2009 "Toss the Tasers" Rally at Fort Worth City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street at 5:30 pm to support Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bob Ray Sanders' call for a moratorium on the use of Tasers until there is another thorough review of the department's policies on the stun guns and until there can be more independent analyses of theireffectiveness versus their danger. As Brother Sanders has stated, "for the most part, we've depended on the manufacturer's analysis."
I agree with Brother Bob Ray 100% and encourage the entire community to do the same.
That is the least we can do for the family of Michael Patrick Jacobs, Jr., who died after he received a taser shock by Fort Worth Police on April 18Th. Some rally for a tea party, we will rally for justice. Dr. King was right when he said, "the time to do right is now, and the time is always RIPE to do right." Hope to See you all on May 4th at City Hall.Michael Patrick Jacobs, Jr., who was mentally challenged, did not have to die this way. Lets "Toss the Tasers - There Must Be A Better Way."
In Harmony,
Rev. Kyev Tatum
7510 John T White Road
Fort Worth, Texas 76120
817-966-7625
New Fort Worth police chief has critical test with handling Taser death
WFAA Video:
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090420_mo_taser.f4cd769c.html
SANDERS: New Fort Worth police chief has critical test with handling Taser death
BOB RAY SANDERSbobray@star-telegram.com
Fort Worth’s new police chief, Jeff Halstead, has been receiving high marks while making himself known in the community since taking the job last December.
But the chief needs to understand that no matter how well he has been personally accepted, and even praised, over the past few months, he will be graded meticulously on his handling of an incident last weekend in which a 24-year-old mentally ill man died after a Fort Worth police officer shocked him with a Taser.
That grade might haunt him, or bolster him, for the remainder of his career here.
With that in mind — forgetting, for the moment, the simple demand for truth and justice — the Police Department must be as forthcoming and as transparent as possible in this matter, not retreating to the old fortresses of "code of silence," delay tactics or, as one community activist put it, "the old Cowtown cover-up."
I understand the need for caution and for deliberate analysis of what happened Saturday morning after the parents of Michael Jacobs Jr., a known sufferer of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, called for help.
It may take a while for us to know all of the facts.
What we do know is that the 5-foot-5-inch, 150-pound Jacobs is dead, and that he died after a police officer used a Taser on him. He was unarmed.
Authorities are saying that it might take from 60 to 90 days to determine the exact cause of death.
While that seems like a long time, we do want the medical examiner’s office to get it right.
Halstead promised Tuesday that "this matter will be fully and fairly investigated by our department."
Good, but in the meantime, the police chief should do something I’ve been calling for since 2004, after a rash of deaths involving Tasers.
He should issue a moratorium on the use of Tasers until there is another thorough review of the department’s policies on the stun guns and until there can be more independent analyses of their effectiveness versus their danger. For the most part we’ve depended on the manufacturer’s analysis.
Since 2001, according to Amnesty International, 351 people have died after being shot with a Taser, which emits a 50,000-volt charge to the body.
The Rev. Kyev Tatum, a community activist speaking for the dead man’s family, said that Jacobs was handcuffed when police used the Taser on him. (I have not seen the official police report and, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not received a return phone call from the police spokesman.)
Some departments have policies that forbid Taser use on handcuffed people.
Four years ago, I asked Fort Worth police several questions, and I still don’t have answers:
At what point in a confrontation should police use a Taser?
Is it a weapon of first resort or last resort?
Should any person be shocked more than once?
Has the Taser become a substitute for calling for backup?
Is the Taser more lethal than some police admit?
Should a person in restraints ever be shocked?
Tatum said most police officers are good, but that some have "the mentality of being judge, jury and executioner."
The Jacobs family and the community, he said, are most upset because emergency medical technicians arrived at the east-side home at the same time as police, but the police sent them away.
The family believes that police should have allowed the EMT personnel to remain and help out and that, with several officers on the scene, Jacobs should have been subdued without being shocked.
"It was a case of incompetence and poor judgment at the minimum," Tatum said. "Some in the community are calling it murder."
He said representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a national civil rights organization, would be looking into the case. In addition, he said, a wrongful death and excessive force complaint would be filed with the U.S. Justice Department under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I don’t like to think it necessary for outside forces to come to town to deal with an issue that we ought to be able to handle here.
But, as Tatum said, at the moment the community is not trusting police and city officials to deal fairly with this situation. He criticized the police for not apologizing to the family for the incident — "or at least offering regrets."
The police chief must know this is one of those cases that can easily escalate out of control. We expect him to handle it honestly, openly and with all deliberate speed.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090420_mo_taser.f4cd769c.html
SANDERS: New Fort Worth police chief has critical test with handling Taser death
BOB RAY SANDERSbobray@star-telegram.com
Fort Worth’s new police chief, Jeff Halstead, has been receiving high marks while making himself known in the community since taking the job last December.
But the chief needs to understand that no matter how well he has been personally accepted, and even praised, over the past few months, he will be graded meticulously on his handling of an incident last weekend in which a 24-year-old mentally ill man died after a Fort Worth police officer shocked him with a Taser.
That grade might haunt him, or bolster him, for the remainder of his career here.
With that in mind — forgetting, for the moment, the simple demand for truth and justice — the Police Department must be as forthcoming and as transparent as possible in this matter, not retreating to the old fortresses of "code of silence," delay tactics or, as one community activist put it, "the old Cowtown cover-up."
I understand the need for caution and for deliberate analysis of what happened Saturday morning after the parents of Michael Jacobs Jr., a known sufferer of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, called for help.
It may take a while for us to know all of the facts.
What we do know is that the 5-foot-5-inch, 150-pound Jacobs is dead, and that he died after a police officer used a Taser on him. He was unarmed.
Authorities are saying that it might take from 60 to 90 days to determine the exact cause of death.
While that seems like a long time, we do want the medical examiner’s office to get it right.
Halstead promised Tuesday that "this matter will be fully and fairly investigated by our department."
Good, but in the meantime, the police chief should do something I’ve been calling for since 2004, after a rash of deaths involving Tasers.
He should issue a moratorium on the use of Tasers until there is another thorough review of the department’s policies on the stun guns and until there can be more independent analyses of their effectiveness versus their danger. For the most part we’ve depended on the manufacturer’s analysis.
Since 2001, according to Amnesty International, 351 people have died after being shot with a Taser, which emits a 50,000-volt charge to the body.
The Rev. Kyev Tatum, a community activist speaking for the dead man’s family, said that Jacobs was handcuffed when police used the Taser on him. (I have not seen the official police report and, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not received a return phone call from the police spokesman.)
Some departments have policies that forbid Taser use on handcuffed people.
Four years ago, I asked Fort Worth police several questions, and I still don’t have answers:
At what point in a confrontation should police use a Taser?
Is it a weapon of first resort or last resort?
Should any person be shocked more than once?
Has the Taser become a substitute for calling for backup?
Is the Taser more lethal than some police admit?
Should a person in restraints ever be shocked?
Tatum said most police officers are good, but that some have "the mentality of being judge, jury and executioner."
The Jacobs family and the community, he said, are most upset because emergency medical technicians arrived at the east-side home at the same time as police, but the police sent them away.
The family believes that police should have allowed the EMT personnel to remain and help out and that, with several officers on the scene, Jacobs should have been subdued without being shocked.
"It was a case of incompetence and poor judgment at the minimum," Tatum said. "Some in the community are calling it murder."
He said representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a national civil rights organization, would be looking into the case. In addition, he said, a wrongful death and excessive force complaint would be filed with the U.S. Justice Department under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I don’t like to think it necessary for outside forces to come to town to deal with an issue that we ought to be able to handle here.
But, as Tatum said, at the moment the community is not trusting police and city officials to deal fairly with this situation. He criticized the police for not apologizing to the family for the incident — "or at least offering regrets."
The police chief must know this is one of those cases that can easily escalate out of control. We expect him to handle it honestly, openly and with all deliberate speed.
Fort Worth police use of Taser questioned after man's death
WFAA Video:
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090419_mo_taserdeath.f07b919f.html
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By MITCH MITCHELLmitchmitchell@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — Relatives are questioning the actions of Fort Worth police officers after a 24-year-old mentally ill man died Saturday shortly after being subdued with a Taser stun gun.
Police were called to a house in the 6200 block of Ava Court Drive in east Fort Worth about 10:30 a.m. by the parents of Michael Jacobs Jr., who said their son was causing problems, according to a statement from police.
When they arrived, Jacobs was in the front yard and uncooperative. When he became combative, an officer stunned him with a Taser, police said.
The officers planned to take Jacobs to John Peter Smith Hospital for a mental detention. He was handcuffed but began to have difficulty breathing, police said. He was taken to JPS, where he was pronounced dead about noon, according to the police statement.
Police are investigating the incident, and the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office will determine what caused Jacobs’ death.
Family members said police officers used excessive force to subdue Jacobs, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Charlotte Jacobs, Michael’s mother, says that her son was writhing on the ground and foaming at the mouth while he was being stunned and that she begged the officers to stop. Charlotte Jacobs also told police that her son was taking medications for his mental illness, relatives said.
"They have been to the house many times before, and they know Charlotte," said Helena Wigfall, 37, a cousin of Michael Jacobs. "That’s why we don’t understand why today was so different."
Kyev Tatum, pastor, said the Jacobs family would like an outside investigation as well as an autopsy from someone unaffiliated with the medical examiner’s office.
"The family believes it was a wrongful death," Tatum said. "The mother was making a cry for help, and it has turned into a Tasing death. There have been no answers as to why police used a Taser instead of the manpower that was available to them."
Wigfall said her cousin Michael was a small man, about 5 feet, 5 inches and about 150 pounds. The police had nothing to fear from him, Wigfall said.
"He was a very loving person," said Carol Morris, another cousin. "He was about my size. They could have thrown him to the ground and handcuffed him."
Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead said Saturday evening that he could not comment on the incident until he is briefed by investigators, which he expects to happen Monday.
The use of Tasers, which deliver a 50,000-volt charge, has been controversial in Fort Worth and around the country.
Amnesty International reported this year that 351 people have died after being stunned with Taser guns since June 2001.
Taser International has been sued at least three times in Tarrant County for wrongful deaths. In two of those deaths, Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani has said he could not rule out the weapon as a contributing factor.
Peerwani has said he believes that Taser devices are safe when used on healthy people, but he has called for more studies of their effect on those who are on drugs, agitated or having heart problems.
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Man dies after being subdued by police with stun gun
Fort Worth Star-TelegramApril 18, 2009
Mitch Mitchell
FORT WORTH -- Parents were grieving the death of their 24-year-old mentally impaired son who died on Saturday after being subdued by Fort Worth police with a Taser stun gun.
Police arrived at a house in the 6200 block of Ava Court Drive in east Fort Worth about 10:30 a.m. after receiving a call from the parents of Michael Jacobs Jr., who said he was causing problems, according to a statement from police.
Jacobs met officers in the front yard, and was described by officers as uncooperative and agitated. When he became combative, an officer stunned him with a taser device, the police said.
The police planned to take Jacobs to John Peter Smith Hospital for a mental detention. But after he was stunned, Jacobs was handcuffed and began to have difficulty breathing, police said. He was taken to JPS, where he was pronounced dead about noon.
Police are investigating the incident and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office will make a determination of what caused Jacobs' death. Family members said they believe that police officers used excessive force to subdue Jacobs, who had been diagnosed with mental illness.
Charlotte Jacobs, Michael's mother, told relatives that her son was writhing on the ground and foaming at the mouth while he was being stunned, and she begged for the officers to stop.
Charlotte Jacobs, Michael's mother, told relatives that her son was writhing on the ground and foaming at the mouth while he was being stunned, and she begged for the officers to stop.
"They have been to the house many times before and they know Charlotte," said Helena Wigfall, 37, a cousin of Michael Jacobs. "That’s why we don’t understand why today was so different."
Kyev Tatum, a Fort Worth pastor who spoke for the family on Saturday, said the parents are asking for an outside investigation as well as someone other than the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office to perform an autopsy.
Kyev Tatum, a Fort Worth pastor who spoke for the family on Saturday, said the parents are asking for an outside investigation as well as someone other than the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office to perform an autopsy.
"The family believes it was a wrongful death," Tatum said. "The mother was making a cry for help, and it has turned into a tazing death. There have been no answers as to why police used a Taser instead of the manpower that was available to them."
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative
The Insight Center for Community Economic Development (www.insightcced.org) has produced an excellent report on the wealth gap between the races.
Hopefully the current administration will be able to correct the many years of bad public policy that has created such a wide gap in the land of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We can and we must do better as a nation.
Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative:http://www.insightcced.org/index.php?page=Closing-RWG
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