Thoughts

By Richard in Thoughts ⋅ November 27, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

In issue 2623 of New Scientist, for me dated 29th September 2007, there was an article about the correct usage of Tasers, and their safety. They raised several key points about the methods which are used to test the safety of Tasers, and the danger of these weapons.

"Critics, including Amnesty International, say these studies do not ask the right questions - pointing out that they were done on healthy volunteers at rest, not under the stress of a police encounter. Amnesty points to over 150 cases in the US between 2001 and 2006 where individuals have died in custody after receiving a Taser shock. Many of these people were either mentally ill, or in a state called "excited delirium" induced by very high doses of stimulants like cocaine, PCP or methamphetamine."

"More than 50 cases of wrongful death or injury have been brought against Taser International but so far the company has won each time or had the case dismissed."

New Scientist even points to a case in which a volunteer sustained a fractured spine as a result of a Taser shock. While more recent studies have attempted to reinforce the safety of Tasers by testing them on people who have undergone exhaustive exercise or are drunk, they cannot accurately replicate the stress and anxiety that Taser victims are invariably under when confronted by the police.

Here is an article is from July 2005, and documents the first time that shocks from a Taser were named as a primary cause of death: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0730taser30.html

"The death is the 18th case in which a coroner has cited Taser as a factor in someone's death and the fourth case where Taser has been named as a cause of death. But in all of those, Taser was secondary to other factors such as drugs, heart conditions or mental illness."

Clearly the signs have been here for a long time that Tasers are not simply stun guns. Since 2001 there have been hundreds of cases of Tasers causing serious injury and even death, and yet Taser International still started marketing Tasers to the public in 2004. They've sold 170,000 Tasers in the 42 states where they are legal to buy, and the frightening fact is that these Tasers are even more powerful than the Tasers that Law Enforcement officers use, delivering 30 second jolts, rather than 5 second ones.

The second focus of the New Scientist article is on the misuse of Tasers. The example it cites it that of Andrew Meyer, who was Tasered by police after he became particularly virulent in his language during a Question and Answer session with John Kerry. The incident took place on the 17th September. The video shows the harm that a Taser can cause. Rather than merely incapacitate the suspect, it acts almost as a torture device, evidenced by Meyer's screams.

Meyer did not sustain any injuries from this Taser attack, but the excessive force used by the officers against someone who was posing no threat of violence was the subject of much criticism. The Taser is deemed an incapacitant weapon, and is intended to be used to subdue aggressive behaviour. When introduced it was termed as a way to reduce firearm related deaths. In this case, it really should be used in cases where firearms would be justified. Not because a debate is getting a bit heated.

The real eye opener was the death of Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant, who on the 14th October was killed after being repeatedly stunned by police wielding Tasers: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/11/14/bc-taservideo.html

There is a 10 minute Youtube video in which we see him become progressively more agitated as he is stuck in Vancouver airport unable to communicate with anyone following a delayed flight and 10 hours in customs. This video is a key example of Taser misuse, where we can see Tasers used to subdue a man who is is agitated, not aggressive. Within a minute of their arrival the Police had stunned him between two and four times, reports vary, despite the fact that he had calmed down when they arrived and was being cooperative.

As New Scientist clearly stated, the effects of Tasers on highly agitated subjects are still unproven and undeniably dangerous. There were 4 officers on the scene who saw fit to stun this man, with a weapon that is known to cause death, up to 4 times when they could have easily contained him themselves. In many cases, the use of Tasers can be an unavoidable last resort, but there are serious issues when police officers turn to this device within 30 seconds of arriving on the scene. The rules surrounding Taser use are nowhere near strict enough and, unless we see a reduction of Taser usage in non-threatening situations like this, we are going to see a lot more deaths as a result of these devices.

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