I read your little artical, Gill. I wouldnt rush to judgement unless I'd seen the video and read the police report.
"Torture" ...based on the short blurb you linked us to... I wouldnt classify being tazed as tourture. It was not done repeatedly, nor were the police trying to extract information from this woman. This story comes now where near being prove that "inmates are running the asylum" and has nothing to do with your British police getting 10,000 units
The tasar is a tool that falls between hitting with a stick (the baton was the only street cop weapon in the UK for years) and a firearm in the force continum. It makes dangerous people compliant without beating them or shooting them
To use a tasar police get trained and department issue guidlines and orders concerning when they should be used. Like the baton ..sometimes the tool gets mis-used and folks may die.
Some police officers make bad judgements... suspects have been beaten to death on the street. It' makes the new because the other 99.9% of police work it to boring to speak of.
That being said 99.9% of street stops are polite and well executed events ... people are taken into custody and the officers stay safe. Every day.
Tazing a woman at a college ball game ..you say she was non-violent. How do you know that ... were you there? From my experience she would have likely been a bit drunk... and maybe verbally abusive and physically non-co-operative when confronted. If she was in the wrong seat the ushers would have dealt with her first...what escalated that situation to the point that peach officers were needed? Was she sitting with people who had enough of her bad behavior? WE dont know do we? The police just dont roust folks out of seats at sporting events for the hell of it.
If she was on the ground ...how did she get there? Probably a takedown ...maybe she fell? Most of us would just get still in either case... and comply with orders...The first one was probably something like this "Ma'am can we help you get to the right seat?" or "Ma'am lets go down these stairs so we can help you with this problem..." Police just dont start wailing on 54 year old women in public to torture them.
Gill... if you have a bad heart what ever on earth would you be doing to invoke the wrath of your police anyway? If you are that paranoid about your charming Bobbies maybe you need to rethink your countries position about unarming it's people.