There is a huge lack of understanding, or even common sense when it comes to all these taser naysayers.

Let's look at the facts:

There are two youths fighting ferociously on the sidewalk with lack of regard for the safety of themselves or others.

There is one police officer who arrives and needs to break up the fight.

His options are:

Use pepper spray which is highly inaccurate, will have effects on bystanders and the officer himself when carried by the wind, slow to deploy and easy to evade, and sometimes completely ineffective. (It just creates a burning sensation, you can still "fight" through it's effects.

Use a baton, which requires getting into close proximity to the agitated, aggressive individual. Could potentially break bones of the kid and the officer, including femurs, and can result in serious injury, including death if the suspect is struck in a bad area... which can be likely if they are dodging and ducking... and can be wrestled away from the officer (being so close to the suspect) and used as a weapon by the bad guy.

Use a taser, which is fast to deploy, accurate (it targets and individual instead of a crowd like the spray could), completely incapacitates the subject (can't "fight through" the effects) and allows the officer to have some stand off distance and then re-deploy a shock if the person decides to continue to fight.

Yes, it is unfortunate that the suspect got the barbs where he did, but considering the options, and the potential for more serious injury, the officer's actions in my book were the best possible ones.

Did you not see how quickly that fight ended and how no one else sustained any further injuries?

And remember, the suspects injuries were a consequence of his own actions, no one else's.

I really fail to understand why the author is so appalled by this video.

$0.02