Taser Death: Police Overuse a Lethal Weapon

Orlando, FLTaser International is getting hit again, and this time the company may feel itself stunned. According to WESH NewsChannel 2, an Orlando attorney is filing 10 lawsuits on behalf of people who've been hit with Tasers, claiming that local police agencies' policies allowed for the overuse of Tasers by officers and agencies have failed to set clear guidelines on what qualifies as excessive Taser force. However, in other incidents, both police officers and the manufacturer must be held accountable for Taser Death.

While the Orlando lawyer's clients have suffered permanent physical and psychological injuries, too many people have been Tasered to death in the US and Canada (In 2004, CBS News reported that the Taser was responsible for 70 deaths and there have been many more since). Worldwide, groups like Amnesty International are calling for a suspension on the use of Tasers pending a rigorous, independent inquiry into their use and effects.

Police Overuse and Taser Deaths
Tasers have become the "tool of choice" for police when the need arises to restrain someone without shooting them. Consequently, Taser Deaths are increasing.

According to Taser International, 86 percent of the time it only takes one shot to subdue a suspect and the overall success rate for stopping a person with a Taser is 94 percent. Yet in many incidents police use the Taser like they would a baton; people are stunned more than once and often at close range. For instance, a videotape shows the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport shortly after four RCMP shocked him repeatedly with Tasers.

In another incident, The Randolph County coroner has ruled that the August 2008 death of a man whom Moberly police shocked twice with a Taser during a traffic stop was a homicide. Currently, The highway patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control has almost completed its investigation into the police officer's behavior; incredibly the officer said he was unaware of any death directly attributed to Taser use, a defense that is often used by police departments.

Clearly, police officers need more training.

In an interim report issued last year, the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP criticized the force for allowing the use of Tasers to grow over the past six years. (There have been 19 deaths Taser-related deaths in Canada since 2001.) The report states that Taser use "has expanded to include subduing resistant subjects who do not pose a threat of grievous bodily harm or death and on whom the use of lethal force would not be an option."

This is what happens with one shot of a Taser M26 stun gun :

* Compressed gas cartridge fires electrode-tipped wires at 60 meters per second.

* Probes hook to skin or clothes (they can go through 2 inches of clothing) and deliver a series of short 50,000-volt shocks at 162 milliamps over five seconds.

* The target is debilitated in about half a second.

* The electrical signal causes an instant loss of neuromuscular control and any ability
to perform coordinated action.

* Once the device is shut off, the target may feel dazed for several seconds but recovers
quickly. It can momentarily stun or render the victim immobilized.

This weapon is effective. The pistol-shaped device is made of polycarbonate, with optical and laser sights and powered by 8 AA batteries and can be purchased for less than $2,000—by the public.

Taser International Inc., based in Arizona, argues that the device has never been directly blamed for a death, though it acknowledges it has been cited repeatedly as a contributing factor.