huh?

CASH STARVED FOREST SERVICE SPENDS $600,000 TO BUY TASERS — Devices Remain in Boxes Because Rangers Lack Training

Washington, DC — The U.S. Forest Service has bought $600,000 worth of “Electronic Control Devices” without any training program, rules for use or even a written explanation as to why the devices are needed, according to agency records posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The devices, known as Tasers, are sitting in storage and cannot be issued because the agency has yet to develop a training course.........

.......“There must have been a fire sale on Tasers, otherwise why would an agency buy 700 of them without a program, protocol or need?” asked PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the federal fiscal year ended September, around the time of the hurried single source purchase. “The Forest Service has many more pressing law enforcement priorities that should have received any end-of-fiscal-year surplus.”
In addition to the cost of training its entire law enforcement staff, the Forest Service may be assuming significant financial liability for injuries and deaths. In October, Amnesty International released a study estimating that 290 civilians have died from police use of Tasers since 2001..........

what would smokey say?

(smokey image from boingboing.net)