COMM 207: 'Gray lady' and Taser death head

The New York Times isn't called the "Gray Lady" for nothing. Its headline for the story we looked at in class about the death of a Brooklyn man who was Tasered by police and fell from a ledge to the pavement below.

The Times' head:

Taser Use in Man’s Death Broke Rules, Police Say

It gets the job done, I think. The story begins:

By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: September 25, 2008
The firing of a Taser stun gun that led a man to fall from a building ledge to his death on Wednesday in Brooklyn appeared to have violated departmental guidelines, the police said on Thursday.

The department said in a statement issued by the chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, that according to policy, a Taser should not be used when a person could fall from an elevated surface.

The lieutenant who gave the order was placed on modified assignment, the statement said, while the officer who fired the device was given administrative duties.

The statement said that the officers at the scene had called by radio for an inflatable bag as the events unfolded, but it had not yet arrived when the man, Inman Morales, 35, was struck with the device and fell.

And so on.

It's complete, and accurate ... and a little gray? But they don't call the New York Times the gray lady for nothing.

Some other heads, courtesy of a Google news directory:

• NYPD Officers Involved in Taser Death of Nude Man Disciplined -- FOXNews
  
• Readers' Comments: Tasered naked man plunges to death -- Melbourne [Australia] Herald Sun
  
• Cops: Taser on nude man apparently violated guidelines -- Newsday
  
• Naked man falls to his death after cop uses stun gun -- USA Today