http://www2.canada.com/child+advocate+wants+tasers/1249047/story.html?id=1249047

Ontario's child and youth advocate is calling for a ban on the use of Tasers on minors following an incident last summer where a 14-year-old girl was shocked with the conductive energy weapon (CEW) in a rural Ontario Provincial Police detachment.

``The use of CEW's in Ontario is a matter for public concern,'' said Irwin Elman of the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Child and Youth. ``They are being used on children and young people in situations where there is little risk of death or grievous bodily harm.''

In the news release issued Tuesday, the office said they have sent a letter to Rick Bartolucci, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, asking for a moratorium until ``independent and sufficient research into the safety of the devices has been completed.'' 

The proposed ban outlines that during this period, police officers should only use Tasers in situations which are life-threatening and where ``the only alternative is the use of deadly force or a gun.''

The office said that between December 2001 and January 2008, there were 90 incidents of conductive energy weapons used by another police force, the RCMP, on children under the age of 16. Statistics on the OPP's usagewere not available.

Elman said this was a troubling and the office became involved in the issue after watching a surveillance tape of a young girl being Tasered in the Sioux Lookout, Ont., OPP detachment last July.

The girl, now 15, who is identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, was hit once with a Taser in the leg after she dismissed a warning to stop peeling paint of the jail cell walls in the early afternoon of July 10, 2008.

The girl's father has now launched a $500,000 lawsuit against the OPPand Mark Zappitelli and Andrew Hampson, the two officers allegedly involved in the incident.

The girl, who is from the nearby Lac Seul First Nation, had initially been arrested the previous night for being drunk and disorderly. She eventually pleaded guilty to the charge. None of the allegations has been proven in court.

OPP spokesman Insp. Dave Ross said Monday the force's professional-standards bureau completed an investigation in December 2008 and cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

Saving lives

Law enforcement agencies customarily have policies requiring officers to file additional reports when force is used. Any time a Taser is drawn or deployed, a board reviews the actions, officials all three local departments says.

BCSO statistics show that of the 426 times deputies filed use-of-force reports since August 2005, 63 were Taser-related.

 "That is less than 15 percent," said Capt. Steve Harbuck.

Harbuck says that in six of those 63 Taser uses, "deadly force" would have been appropriate, and in two other cases, subjects were tased while threatening to commit suicide.

"You could say that eight of those deployments saved lives," he said.

Harbuck said BCSO polices itself "very closely," particularly on issues of force. He pointed to two officers who were reprimanded for excessive use of Tasers.

One of those officers was transferred to a separate division for deploying his Taser "five or six times" on a suspect. The other officer was suspended one month without pay for administering his weapon eight times on a suspect, Harbuck said.

Both officers are still employed at the BCSO.

"In most cases it takes one deployment to subdue someone," Harbuck said,  adding that individual tolerance to the weapon can vary.

 

Keeping close tabs

When to use a Taser on a suspect depends on department protocols.

Sheriff McKeithen said he was not satisfied with the BCSO policy and had it rewritten to make them more difficult to use.

PCPD Dep. Chief Joe Hall said his department acted similarly, changing its policy on Taser use in 2006 by placing the weapon further down on its "use-of-force continuum" scale.

 "There is the ability to abuse them...there will be times when officers don't do everything to the letter of the law," Hall said. "The key is, are you keeping tabs on things and are you looking for inaccuracies?"

Hall said collecting and analyzing reports and data helps departments locate abuses.

Since 2005, PCPD has used Tasers in 85 uses of force instances, about 34 percent of its use-of-force cases. Since 2005, no Panama City police officer has been judged to have used force improperly. This includes a 2006 incident involving Robert King of Okaloosa County.

A confrontation between King and officers ensued when the 64-year-old failed to hear a directive by EMS to move away from a woman he was assisting who had been hit by a car.

King was tased and cited for resisting arrest without violence but was acquitted of the charge in March 2007. In October 2008, King filed a $75 million lawsuit against the city for unlawful assault, electrocution, and false imprisonment.

Hall declined to comment on the case because it is active but says the review board determined the force was justified.

He recalled three incidents in the last year when Tasers were used in a situation where lethal force would have been deemed appropriate.

"Those were situations where officers were facing drawn weapons," Hall says. "Lethal force would have been justified."

PCBPD did not acquire Tasers until 2008, Humphreys says. The department had 17 deployments last year, including one on a pit bull.

Humphreys says each of the 17 tasings were approved by the critical review board, including the naked 29-year-old woman.

Humpreys says PCBPD takes use of force issues seriously and polices itself closely.

"We've had a history of being honest and up front with our mistakes," Humphreys says. "Officers have the power to take away your liberty. You install professionalism and training, but you've got to trust them to some degree."

http://www.newsherald.com/news/used_71678___article.html/tasers_right.html

Police defend increased Taser use

PANAMA CITY - Tasers are being used with increasing frequency to subdue criminal suspects, according to statistics, and local officials are defending the use of the weapons.

Tasers resemble a plastic handgun, but instead of firing bullets, twin steel barbs shoot out, delivering electric current.

"It's a perfect law enforcement weapon if it is used at the right time, under the right conditions," Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen said. "It protects both officers and suspects." 

Local law enforcement officers said the stun guns are misunderstood by the public, noting that all officers carrying Tasers have been tased themselves. They say the 0.004 amps administered is not a dangerous amount and is a preferred non-lethal deterrent to the night-stick or pepper spray.

"These guys have to show up in some rough places and face people who more often than not don't want them there," McKeithen said. "Putting on that uniform doesn't make these guys Superman."

On Dec. 20, Panama City Beach police and a BCSO deputy responded to a knife fight. According to police reports, a Beach officer arrived and saw a deputy confronting two men and a naked woman "covered in blood." The officer drew his X26 Taser and told the woman "to lie face down on the ground or she would be tased." The woman complied.

After the deputy entered the house, the woman allegedly rolled onto her rear, kicked at the officer and made a sound in her throat as if preparing to spit. The officer deployed his X26 Taser, striking the suspect with two probes "in the sternum and her left thigh," and delivering a 5-second shock. After a third officer arrived to assist, the woman attempted to flee, the report states, and the officer "again administered a 5-second stun to (the victim) and she went back to the ground."

When the woman refused to give officers her arm, she was threatened with a third shock. She complied and was arrested on a charge of resisting arrest without violence, authorities reported.

Such scenarios can lead to awkward headlines, officials admit, but they emphasized the context of arrests matter, and struggling with a bloody person resisting arrest poses risks.

 "You're asking an officer to expose himself to additional harm," said PCBPD Maj. David Humphreys. "You don't know the history of these people, or what they may be carrying."

 

More data needed

The number of times Tasers have been used has nearly doubled the last two years, up from 42 occurrences in 2006, to 80 in 2008, according to statistics from the BCSO, PCPD and PCBPD.

FSU criminology professor Bill Doerner said increased Taser use is a trend likely to continue.

"Previous generations often hired police officers for brawn more than brains," Doerner said. "As police forces diversify, people they will need more tools because they are often at a physical disadvantage."

The Taser also has its critics.

Misuses of the weapon have sparked controversy among Internet and television audiences.

Civil liberty organizations condemn the Taser and a United Nations committee declared them a form of torture in 2007. An Amnesty International report released in December 2008 claimed 334 people have died after being tased since 2001. About 80 percent of those victims died unarmed, the report says, including Nicholas Cody of Marianna.

In June, Cody, 27, was pulled over in Alabama for not wearing his seat belt. Police said Cody resisted arrest on outstanding warrants and was tased three times. An Alabama medical examiner determined Cody died because of a fatal illness related to cocaine.

Taser International has long maintained the Taser has not been cited as the primary cause of death in a single case.

Doerner says the voltage discharged by Tasers is low enough as to not inflict system damage on a person, but existing health conditions or the presence of drugs in a person's system could change that.

He says a dearth of independent scholarship has made it difficult to accurately gage the affects of Tasers.

"Tasers are relatively new in the market. It takes time to gather data and build up a sufficient number of relevant cases," Doerner said. "I think it is fair to say we are still learning what all the affects are."

 Cell Phone Stun Guns: The Secret Protector
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EDITORIAL: Patterns of force

NAACP speakers bash Bush, Tasing

By Jessica Brown • jlbrown@enquirer.com • July 13, 2008

Local NAACP President Christopher Smitherman told delegates to the national NAACP convention that despite Cincinnati's progress, "We want to send the strongest message possible that we still have work to be done," he said.

He told the audience that Cincinnati's infant mortality rate is worse than third-world countries. He also said that, although the Cincinnati police have done a great job of rolling out the red carpet for the delegates, the local NAACP wants to focus on the department's use of force.

"We are incredibly concerned about the frequency of Tasing of our young men and women here," said Smitherman.

Smitherman has been a critic of Tasers since he was on Cincinnati City Council, where he tried repeatedly -- and unsuccessfully -- to enact a ban on police use of Tasers for children under 12. At one hearing, he had two 6- and 7-year-old witnesses -- his children -- testify to City Council that they were afraid that police would shoot them with stun guns.

According to one Police Department analysis, 80 percent of those stunned by police were African-American, and 8 percent were under 18. None were under 12.

Police say they're trained to use other methods to disarm a juvenile. But when a juvenile is struggling with an officer or armed with a lethal weapon, police say, the Taser is often the safest option.

Cincinnati Police equipped all of its officers with Tasers after the 2003 beating death of Nathaniel Jones at a North Avondale White Castle. That incident -- videotaped on a police cruiser camera and broadcast around the world -- happened two days before Smitherman started his two-year term as a City Councilman.

The NAACP chapter's president at the time, Calvert Smith, said the Tasers were useful "but the issue is what is the attitude of the person who's using it."

Smitherman also lauded the accomplishments of the Cincinnati chapter in stopping a proposed tax increase to build a new jail and in fighting the installation of red light cameras here.

And he praised the prior chapter president, who he beat in a contentious election about a year ago.

"Edith Thrower: We love you, respect you and value you and you will always be president of the NAACP in Cincinnati."

After Smitherman, Julian Bond, chair of the national board of directors for the NAACP sharply criticized the Bush administration during his address as keynote speaker Sunday night.

"President Bush said he wanted to be a uniter," Bond said. "It took him seven years, but boy has he succeeded. He has united Americans around a desire to change." The audience applauded.

"We need to reclaim our democracy for all, not for oil, to put mutual obligations over mutual funds and the public interest over private wealth."

"A change is coming," he said. "The current administration is going, and not a moment too soon."

Bond is no fan of Bush for other reasons too. In 2004 the IRS threatened to revoke the NAACP's tax exempt status because Bond criticized President Bush, Bond said.

He said blacks will have no power unless they vote. And "the NAACP will continue to speak truth to power until this administration leaves town."

Bond noted the national NAACP is making do with less.

“In all our 99 yaers we’ve never had enough members or enough money. And we do not have enough of either today. But I know that if we keep our collective shoulders on the wheel, we can and will overcome.”

“We’re healthy, we’re alive, we’re well,” he said.

Bond also praised Christopher Smitherman’s “dynamic leadership” in growing the membership of the Cincinnati chapter and said he intends to ask the board of directors to give the branches “adequate resources to build and increase their capacity to carry on the fight for civil rights,” though did not say exactly what that will entail.

“I am sure that they will say yes.”

The Cincinnati chapter is asking the national organization to let local chapters keep a larger percentage of their membership dues.

Gregory Korte contributed

Thu, June 19, 2008 By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA -- The head of the public RCMP watchdog is calling on officers to seek immediate medical attention for people they zap with a Taser.

Paul Kennedy, the RCMP complaints commission chairman, also said in a final report yesterday the Mounties have failed to comprehensively track how they use the 50,000-volt weapons.

Kennedy said the quality of the RCMP's own Taser report data is so poor that the force's policy changes on stun gun use since its introduction seven years ago "cannot be factually supported" - what he calls a dangerous practice.

Kennedy echoed his interim call last December for the force to restrict Taser use to situations where the subject is combative or poses a risk of serious harm to themselves, the police or the public.

"I want it boxed in, I want constraints," he said.

But he stopped short of calling for a moratorium on RCMP use of the weapons, saying the risk of being hit with a Taser is less than being shot in the chest with a conventional gun.

"No one is calling for the police to be disarmed and not use weapons," Kennedy said.

However, he wants limits that would leave Tasers in the hands of only experienced officers.

Kennedy recommended immediate medical attention for people Tasered by RCMP "in all circumstances."

"This mirrors the policy directive currently found in several municipal police forces, and in my mind ensures that individuals who are Tasered, and about whom the police have no knowledge of underlying medical conditions, receive prompt medical attention, thereby possibly saving their life," he said.

"This is particularly relevant for at-risk populations, such as people with mental health issues, substance-abuse problems, health and homelessness challenges and other marginalized groups in society."

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day asked Kennedy to study the RCMP's Taser use amid a public uproar over the stun guns last year.

In a statement yesterday, Day said the government "accepts the report and its recommendations in principle," including further restrictions on how Tasers are used. Day added he had already met with RCMP Commissioner William Elliott to discuss the implications.

"He has indicated to me that he intends to act on the recommendations in a manner that takes into consideration the operational requirements of the RCMP," Day said.

"We agree on the need to move forward in ways that will help to maintain the safety of the public and the men and women that protect our communities."

Twenty people in Canada have died after being Tasered.

 

Two University students and a Eugene man were arrested at a downtown rally Friday afternoon on various charges, including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, after police officers’ use of a Taser on one provoked angry reactions from the other two.

Ian George Van Ornum, 18, and Anthony Jameson Farley, 22, both students, were arrested. Friends paid their bail and they were released from Lane County Jail on Friday. The Eugene man, David Alexander Owen, was also released.

Ornum organized the rally as a demonstration against the Oregon Department of Transportation’s use of pesticide spray on the highways. Ornum was marching with a sign in Kesey Square at the corner of West Broadway and Willamette Street dressed in a white hazardous materials suit, spraying water from a pesticide can and asking onlookers, “Do you know you’re being poisoned?”

At about 12:15 p.m., two police officers approached him because he was “in the intersection, blocking traffic, and spraying liquid out of the can on the ground,” said Eugene Police Department Capt. Pete Kearns, who did not witness the incident.

According to a police release, Van Ornum said, “Do you want poison in your face?” when an officer approached him, and according to Kearns, the officer then told Van Ornum he needed to leave the street because blocking traffic was considered disorderly conduct.

The release said Van Ornum “was blocking and impeding traffic for more than two blocks,” but onlookers and friends of Van Ornum told a different story.

“He stood on the corner holding his sign and not doing anything,” said fellow student David Parziale, who was participating in the rally and saw the scene. He said Van Ornum was crossing the street when the police officer came up to him and “dragged him to the other side of the street.”

Van Ornum tried to resist arrest and told the officers he was 17 to avoid charges, said Kearns. Police escorted him across the street, and when he continued to try to push himself away, they wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him.

“He pulled away and was swinging the handcuff around,” Kearns said, “so they Tasered him. After the first Taser, he continued to struggle. The Taser was used one more time, and they were able to control him.”

Parziale said he didn’t see the same struggle police saw. He said Van Ornum “kind of just had adrenaline and was kind of moving around a bit.” The Tasers seemed to come out of nowhere, said Parziale, who added that watching the two hits was frightening. “They Tased him once and he screamed and he started having seizure-ish movements,” Parziale said. “I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head. He was in so much pain.”

Farley and Owen tried to protest against Van Ornum’s arrest, police said. According to the police release, Owen “ran at the officers in an attempt to interfere with the arrest” and Farley “swung his fists at the officers.” Because Farley was reportedly acting violent, police deployed a Taser once to try to subdue him. About 20 minutes later, police arrested Farley and Owen, said University student Isobel Charle, who witnessed the incident.

Parziale and other friends of Farley and Van Ornum went to Lane County Courthouse later that afternoon and said they posted a $3,040 bail to release the two.

The University’s Survival Center has organized a rally for this Thursday in support of Van Ornum and Farley, to take place in the EMU amphitheater at noon. By Sunday, nearly 100 people had confirmed attending on a Facebook event page for the rally.
News reporters Talia Schmidt and Jessie Higgins contributed to this report.

© 2008 Eugene Daily Emerald

http://tinyurl.com/4rxk8t

Tasers can cause fatal cardiac arrest and are even more dangerous if the subject is agitated, stressed and experiencing pain from the high-voltage device, two top Vancouver heart specialists said Tuesday.

Dr. Michael Janusz, a heart surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital and UBC told the Braidwood Inquiry into Taser use Tuesday that "Tasers almost certainly can cause cardiac arrest in humans, particularly in people with underlying heart disease."

Janusz told retired judge Tom Braidwood that the risk of dying after being Tasered is similar to the chances of dying after major heart surgery.

Janusz quoted San Francisco cardiologist Dr. Zian Tseng's findings of about "1.4 per cent mortality for individuals subdued by police using a Taser.. (which) is similar to the mortality risk of a coronary artery bypass operation."

And Dr. Charles Kerr, a "cardiac electrophysiologist" at St. Paul's and UBC, said that police should routinely carry defibrillators if they plan to employ Tasers and should be trained to initiate resuscitation after using the Taser on someone who is then unresponsive.

Kerr said that although the Taser may be "better than a bullet" and may have its place in policing, he is also concerned about the potential effect Tasering could have on the approximately 35,000 British Columbians who have either a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

 Outside the inquiry, Janusz said he had viewed the bystander video of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski being Tasered at the Vancouver airport and dropping to the floor seconds later, jerking his legs spasmodically and then falling motionless.

"That was really awful, a tragedy," said Janusz.

The inquiry continues Tuesday afternoon with the evidence of a New Westminster police sergeant.

Braidwood is inquiring into Taser use by municipal police, sheriffs and corrections officers and in the fall, will hold a further inquiry into Dziekanski's death, once the RCMP investigations are complete.

Dr. Tseng said tasers may be able to play a role in law enforcement, but the way they’re used should be re-examined. He recommended police avoid tasering subjects near the chest area and carry “dummy-proof” automatic external defibrillators with them to ensure they can aid anyone who goes into cardiac fibrillation.

Just like a bunch of idiots, 'let's make them carry life savers now WITH the tasers, just in case of caridac arrest... geesch...

"Dummy-proof" is definately right word.

Everytime I see it on tv., or read it on the news here... it makes my blood boil. I know for a fact I would die, if I were to be tased by a crazed cop.

50,000 volts going thru you is short of a miricle if you live. 

= Police brutality 4sure

Dixie

Many of these studies use simulated stun guns rather than tasers themselves, and a study on humans monitored only the subjects’ heart rate before and after the shock - not during it, which is when other studies have shown that heart rates were most dramatically disrupted.

The ability of tasers to disrupt a person’s heart rate fatally increases if the weapon’s barbs are embedded close to the heart or if the subject is affected by high adrenalin, heart disease, drug use or high blood acidity, Dr. Tseng said.

Several people have died after taser-related incidents in Canada since the devices were introduced in 1999, but no autopsy has found them responsible. Dr. Tseng said a fatal arrhythmia caused by a taser wouldn’t show up in an autopsy.

“If somebody dies and they find no cause of death, it’s almost certainly an arrhythmic death,” he said, adding that tasers can affect a person’s heartbeat long after the event.

Dr. Tseng said tasers may be able to play a role in law enforcement, but the way they’re used should be re-examined. He recommended police avoid tasering subjects near the chest area and carry “dummy-proof” automatic external defibrillators with them to ensure they can aid anyone who goes into cardiac fibrillation.

B.C. sheriff services Superintendent Paul Corrado and senior use-of-force instructor Greg Ducharme presented the B.C. sheriffs’ policy on taser use. They’ve been using tasers to assist in prisoner management since 2001.

Sheriffs don’t routinely carry tasers and have to be trained beforehand, Supt. Corrado said, but they aren’t told of any safety risks.

The presentations were part of a “study commission” headed by former Appeal Court judge Thomas Braidwood looking into taser use in the province. It’s the first part of a provincial taser inquiry; the second part will focus on the death of Robert Dziekanski after he was tasered in Vancouver International Airport in October, 2007.

© 2008 The Globe and Mail

http://tinyurl.com/6dd5fk

Tasers pose potentially fatal health risks that studies proving their safety don’t take into account, a U.S. doctor told the B.C. taser inquiry yesterday.

San Francisco cardiologist and electrophysiologist Zian Tseng became interested in the use and effects of tasers after a taser-related death in San Francisco in January, 2005. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Tseng suggested tasers could induce cardiac arrhythmia.

“Shortly thereafter I was contacted by [Taser International, Inc.] directly to reconsider my statements to the media,” he said. “They even offered to … give me grant money for research.”

Much of the scientific justification for the safety of tasers is based on formulae that don’t examine their use in the “real world,” Dr. Tseng said.

“What’s not allowed in these theoretical calculations are worst-case scenarios,” he said. “Tolerability in healthy volunteers under optimal conditions does not mean safety.”

Many of the most commonly cited studies that show the devices are safe were financed by Taser International, Dr. Tseng said. Several of the authors of a 2005 study are Taser employees.

http://tinyurl.com/4datz6

Posted by Patrick O'Donnell April 24, 2008 19:37PMUpdated at 9:10 p.m.

A former Walton Hills man who was hit with a Taser by Oxford police after a bar fight last week died just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

Kevin Piskura, 24, had been in critical condition at University Hospital in Cincinnati since the incident early Saturday morning.

Piskura was a 2002 graduate of Benedictine High School and a 2006 graduate of Miami University. He had moved to Chicago after graduating from Miami.

Hospital spokesman Don Crouse said he could not release details of Piskura's injuries. In a statement released through the hospital, Piskura's family requested privacy while thanking people for their support.

"Today, we lost a son, a brother, a family member and a friend," the family said. "The medical staff and everyone here at University Hospital were heroic in their efforts to save Kevin, and for that we are eternally grateful."

"In the end, it seems there was simply nothing more anyone could do," the family statement continues. "No one feels this loss more deeply than we do, however we still request that people refrain from rash judgment and wait until the independent investigation of this event is complete, lest tragedy lead to more tragedy."

In a written statement from Oxford Police, the city manager and police chief, "expressed their deepest sympathy" to the family and noted that the Butler County sheriff and prosecutor are investigating the incident.

A police report states that officers responded to the Brick Street Bar on High Street to help staff remove patrons about 2 a.m. Saturday. Though a companion of Piskura backed down when ordered to by officers, the report states, Piskura fought with police and bar staff.

He was warned that the officer had a Taser, then was hit with the weapon for several seconds. He was taken to a local hospital when he was unresponsive and later sent to University Hospital. Piskura's companion, Kevin Smith, also 24 and of Chicago, was cited for disorderly conduct.

Police used a X26 Taser model, which transmits electrical pulses through wires and into the body affecting the sensory and motor functions of the peripheral nervous system, according to the company's website. The energy can penetrate up to two cumulative inches of clothing, or one inch per probe.

Piskura's father Charles is a retired Bedford Police officer and his mother Mary teaches at St. Barnabas elementary school in Northfield.

Previous story:
Benedictine graduate in critical condition after being tasered

(Half a million for tasers, sounds like a blantant misuse of police funds... )

DeKalb Police Chief Requests Nearly $500K for Officers to Carry Tasers Last Edited: Tuesday, 01 Apr 2008, 12:46 PM EDT

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5) -- DeKalb police chief Terrell Bolton asked the county for a half million dollars to buy tasers for police officers. The request comes just days after a grand jury report that says two officers were involved in an unjustified shooting in 2006. Click on video for more information. Stacey Elgin reports.

The Waxahachie police department conducted an internal investigation into the matter, and informed Nelms: "A review regarding your written complaint dated May 3, 2007, was conducted. After careful consideration of your allegations we have found that the officers were within our departmental policies regarding the use of a less than lethal force option (TASER) on you during an event at your residence on April 28, 2007."

Litigation is now likely, and due to a provision of the Open Records Act, which "allows governmental agencies to withhold otherwise releasable materials under an exception of pending litigation", documentation relating to the incident is not currently available for public scrutiny. Ramsey warned: "They better have everything they have on this. There had better not be one piece of evidence that is shredded in this case."

Police Chief Chuck Edge said: "We acknowledge an incident occurred and allegations of excessive force made. We have looked into the incident and [due to the "pending litigation Open Record exception"] cannot talk about it any further."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/20/diabteic_tasering/

*fair use*

'We just took care of him'

http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/2008/02/texas-man-dies-after-police-taser-him.html

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

It is inhuman to tase, just like using a cattle prod, which many "law enforcers" have over many decades.

Tasers should be completely outlawed - or police, law enforcments should start a taser death account for the missuse and suits filed by families of these poor people.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/08/6920/ Published on Friday, February 8, 2008 by The Globe and Mail (Canada) Calls For Taser Moratorium Across Quebec by Rheal Seguin QUEBEC CITY — The Quebec government is under increasing pressure to impose a moratorium on the use of tasers until an independent study can verify whether the weapons are safe for use by the province’s police forces.0208 01 The Parti Québécois said yesterday it will use parliamentary tactics to force Premier Jean Charest’s minority government to reverse an earlier decision and impose a moratorium. “At the opening of the session, we will deploy a precise strategy to make sure all the light can be shed on this issue,” said PQ House Leader François Gendron. Furthermore a new coalition that includes Amnesty International, the Ligue des droits et libertés, various politicians and advocacy groups demanded a moratorium yesterday citing the deaths last fall of Quilem Registre in Montreal and Claudio Castagnetta in Quebec City as examples of the unsafe use of the weapon. Tasers were used in separate incidents during the arrests of Mr. Registre and Mr. Castagnetta. Three other Canadians died last fall following multiple discharges of the electroshock weapon, including the well-publicized case of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport. “People are worried and we need a moratorium while independent experts study the safety of this weapon,” said Dominique Peschard, president of the Ligue des droits et libertés. “We also need an inquiry to determine if the taser gun contributed to the deaths of Mr. Registre and Mr. Castagnetta.” Friends and relatives of the Registre and Castagnetta families have urged the government to release all information from the Sûreté du Québec’s investigation into the deaths of the two men. “It’s been five months since Mr. Castagnetta died and we’ve received nothing from the police investigation,” said Jesse Zimmer, a close friend of Claudio Castagnetta. “In Ontario, independent inquiries are conducted into deaths involving police officers. Here in Quebec the police investigate the police. That has to change.” Jacques Dupuis, the Quebec Minister of Public Security, reiterated yesterday that his government was open to all new information regarding the safety of tasers, but categorically refused to impose a moratorium. A study released last December conducted by experts and senior members of Quebec police forces recommended improved training on the use of tasers, but stopped short of recommending a moratorium. The coalition questioned the report’s neutrality noting that new information from tests conducted on animals have shown that tasers could cause heart damage. “It is a weapon that has been denounced as a weapon of torture by a United Nations committee,” Amnesty International spokeswoman Anne Sainte-Marie said yesterday. © 2008 The Globe and Mail *fair use*

http://tinyurl.com/38lhh9 Published on Thursday, February 7, 2008 by The Toronto Star ‘Why Talk When You Can Shock,’ says Taser Opponent by Robyn Doolittle TORONTO — Tasers are not a replacement for guns; they’re a replacement for talking, said author Naomi Klein at a town-hall meeting last night. “If it happened in a cell, we would call it torture and if it happens on the street we should not be afraid to call it torture,” said Klein, who is the author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The discussion on the police use of shock and stun guns was held at the University of Toronto in response to Toronto police Chief Bill Blair’s request that 3,000 officers be armed with electroshock guns. When RCMP officers used a Taser on Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver International Airport last October, they did so within 25 seconds of their arrival on the scene, Klein said. Dziekanski died shortly after. “Why talk when you can shock?” she said. “Tasers are not a replacement for guns. They’re a replacement for everything else …they’re a replacement for talking; for negotiating.” As many as 20 people in Canada and 290 in the United States have died after being shocked by a Taser, said the chair of Toronto’s Amnesty International chapter, Andy Buxton, who also sat on the panel. Taser International has said the weapon it manufactures is safe. But during clinical trials, people who are zapped are in a calm, healthy state. “That’s not how it is in real life,” Buxton said. Of the 310 people in North American who died after being shocked with a Taser, people were often intoxicated or high on some kind of drug, such as cocaine. The majority had been in an altercation with police, had had force used on them and many were tied up in some way. “Something in that whole witches’ brew all together (is unsafe) and we don’t know what,” Buxton said. “And until all the facts are on the table, (Amnesty International) is asking police in Canada and the United States to put a moratorium on the use of Tasers until we know whether or not they’re safe,” he said. Buxton also cited statistics that show officers can become addicted to using Tasers. He used the example of the Edmonton police force, where Taser use increased from an average of once a week to once a day. © 2008 The Toronto Star *fair use*

I have a weird feeling that when they train police to use these gawd awful tasers, they use desensitizing techniques.. brain numbing techniques.. something that must give them the feeling that what they're doing is just another day on the job.. whatever that job training consists of, it must be blood-chillingly, soul-chillingly horrific. There's a You Tube or Google video on water-boarding that seems the very soul of "cheerful, smiling Evil"- banal, Evil.. as this well-dressed man in uniform instructs soldiers how to torture other human beings.. it turns my stomach.. I see they've pulled this video off google... I'm both relieved and disturbed... it's truly sickening.. and yet, how good is it to live in denial?

QUOTE FROM BELOW
There's the hundreds who died from being tasered. They died screaming. Isn't this the precise definition of the worst death imaginable? Never mind the visceral experience of standing there listening to it - afterwards comes the loop-tape knowledge. The knowledge that a man died screaming at your hands. And for nothing. For talking back. For not being able to speak English. For being broke and going off their medication.

Everybody should read this man's blog, "Screams of Perfect Agony" second post down from this one, posted by Harmony.

This is just so horrible! How can human beings hear those kinds of screams and still continue to yell and taser again and again. Tasers need to be outlawed as extreme torture. This is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed immediately, before more people die of torture over trivial offenses, or are mentally scarred for life, inluding those who are only witnesses.

I did not actually listen to the screams myself, as I have PTSD from childhood abuse and things like this can trigger subconcious memories of being left alone to cry for many hours at a time as a tiny baby. But I encourage anyone who thinks tasers are okay to listen to the screams and read this man's blog (a man who witnessed tasering) and see if you still think tasering is okay!

What are we doing in a civilized world with police carrying weapons of extreme torture and using them so freely, with so little oversight, so few considerations?!!!! The police are becoming more dangerous than those they claim to be saving us from!


This post was modified from its original form on 31 Jan, 15:06

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/30/6721/ Published on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 by CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/01/30/taser-study.html Chicago Study Calls Taser’s Safety Claims Into Question Taser stun guns may not be as safe as their manufacturer claims, according to a study carried out by Chicago researchers, CBC News has learned. The team of doctors and scientists at the trauma centre in Chicago’s Cook County hospital stunned 11 pigs with Taser guns in 2006, hitting their chests with 40-second jolts of electricity, pausing for 10 to 15 seconds, then hitting them for 40 more seconds. When the jolts ended, every animal was left with heart rhythm problems, the researchers said. Two of the animals died from cardiac arrest, one three minutes after receiving a shock. The findings call into question safety claims made by Taser International, the Arizona company that makes the stun guns, which are used by dozens of police departments across Canada. According to Taser International’s website, “independent medical and scientific experts have determined Taser devices to be among the safest use-of-force options available.” Taser director Mark Kroll has also published a paper called Safety of Taser Electronic Devices, in which he says when electricity kills, it is an immediate death that occurs within four seconds because electricity can’t linger in a living being’s body “like a poison.” But Bob Walker, one of the lead researchers on the Chicago study, said the fact that one of the pigs died three minutes after being stunned is significant. “It says that the effect of the Taser shot can last beyond the time when it’s being delivered,” he said. “So, after the Taser shock ends, there can still be effects that can be evoked and you can still see cardiac effects.” Thomas Smith, the co-founder of Taser International, is set to testify before the parliamentary committee on public safety and national security in Ottawa on Wednesday, where he’ll face questions on the safety and use of the weapons. Officers need to ask questions: researcher Dr. Andrew Dennis, a trauma surgeon and ex-police officer who worked on the study, said if Tasers can affect pigs, more research needs to be done to study how safe the stun guns are. In the meantime, police should question when, and on whom, they use the devices, he said. “The officers need to question themselves and ask themselves, ‘Is this the appropriate situation for this device?’ ” Dennis said. “They need to have the understanding that this is not a truly benign device. “What I would not want to see is an individual police officer thinking that this device can [be] used with impunity, because I think there are certain risks to this device.” Stun gun safety was called into question after Robert Dziekanski, a 40-year-old Polish man, died at Vancouver International Airport after being shocked with a Taser by police on Oct. 14, 2007. Dziekanski’s death renewed calls for a moratorium on Taser use. ‘The human studies are clearly much more relevant’ Other Taser studies have been done on pigs and humans in the past - some finding medical problems with the stun guns, and others not - but the Chicago researchers said they wanted to do a study where subjects were exposed to longer bouts of the guns’ electrical currents. Because the researchers opted for 40-second jolts, their ethics board wouldn’t allow them to use human subjects. Rick Smith, the CEO of Taser International and company co-founder, doesn’t think much can be concluded from the Chicago study because it focused on pigs that weigh less than 100 pounds and have a very different physiology from humans. Smith said studies done on humans have shown Tasers don’t pose a serious health threat. “The human studies are clearly much more relevant to policy-makers, and to people that are interested in the science of how Tasers affect people,” he said. Dr. Jeffrey Ho, a researcher who has studied stun guns in the past, but was not involved in the Chicago study, stressed that the guns may not have the same effect on people as they did on the pigs in Chicago. “I think animals are good surrogates for research models in some situations,” said Ho, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Minnesota. “In my modelling, I prefer to use humans.” However, pig studies have been used as evidence in arguments for and against stun guns in the past. Even the Taser International website points to studies on pigs in which the outcomes suggest the stun guns aren’t a serious safety risk. © 2008 CBC news *fair use*

http://tinyurl.com/3643v4 Wednesday, January 23, 2008 screams of perfect agony Do people get used to that screaming? The screaming you hear on all those taser videos on youtube. Maybe they do. If you read the comments at the bottom of each one, a majority seem to congratulate the police and heap %#&!*% on the victim. There's a thesis in that alone I reckon. 'Just do what the police say' they tell us. I don't know how that would have helped that fellow standing next to his shiny 4WD, wife inside, in New Mexico or somewhere like. As best as I could tell he was just standing there wondering what the cop was on about. I was with him - made no sense to me. But boy, did he %#&!*% scream. Like Robert Shaw getting eaten alive. Only more real. All the taser victims scream the same. It's unbe-%#&!*%-lievable. Nails on blackboards ain't in it. One wonders at the cops yelling at them - DO THIS! DO THAT! 99% of their brain is focused on screaming, boys. The remaining 1% is struggling to breathe. Never did a punishment so absurdly outweigh the crime that may or may not have been committed. This is beyond obvious, but screaming like that doesn't happen in the world of humans, outside of battlefields and torture chambers. And being eaten alive, of course. Hands up all the people who've heard screaming like that in real life? Not me. I've crashed motorcycles, and watched others crash, till I lost count. Mad Max ain't got nothing on me. I spent years in workshops and saw extremities cut off and blood run like water. And I never heard screaming like that. These are warfare screams. Torture screams. Getting eaten alive screams. God help us. The cops in that video carried on like nothing had happened. No, 'Jesus Christ! What the %#&!*% was that?!'. Just another day at the office. 'Good for you buddy.' But did they dream afterwards? Did they hear those screams? Did they not ever twig that all those cops they know on stress leave might have a variation of PTSD, which is to say, a shattered mind? You hear enough screaming like that and it'll get you there. It's not natural. That sound is perfectly pitched to hit the reptilian part of your brain that floods your head with fear. Tough guy or no, you can't stop it. They don't play screaming tapes to torture victims for no reason. It's to break them. And cop's brains will do that thing too. The chemicals flooding through their heads will eventually break them. Troops have only 90 days of real combat in them. After that they're no longer tough guys. Only the insane can cope. Cops are no different. Their brains fry just like anyone else's. They know perfectly well that this is true. And that's not all. There's the hundreds who died from being tasered. They died screaming. Isn't this the precise definition of the worst death imaginable? Never mind the visceral experience of standing there listening to it - afterwards comes the loop-tape knowledge. The knowledge that a man died screaming at your hands. And for nothing. For talking back. For not being able to speak English. For being broke and going off their medication. The only way to deal with knowledge like that is with madness, alcohol or drugs. Better still, all three. Humans aren't meant to do this to each other. I say this to police - The people who tell you it's fine are deluded or liars. The only person who can save you from this, is you. You must listen to that voice that is not wrong. Not the bullshit voice that makes self-serving excuses. You know that saying - To thine own self be true? It's talking about those two voices. The one that lies and the one that's true. And you do know which is which. The voice in your head that justifies your part in the death of a person who died screaming is obviously bullshit and you know that. Wake up! Say no and hang tough. Otherwise, who are you? Who, or what, will you become? Posted by nobody at 4:09 PM *fair use* Harmony- I utterly and forever oppose torture and violence- waterboarding IS torture. The use of tasers IS torture.

http://tinyurl.com/26yfyo Most of you have heard of the UF student who asked John Kerry some questions the other day. Andrew Meyer was publicly tortured by tasers in front of his class by police. CNN and FOX tried to whitewash the event, but on close examination of the audio and video, you can see that the student did not resist, but begged the officers to not taze him. Then in response a sadistic officer spitefully said, “Taze him!” and so the police attacked. Josh Goldman, a close friend of the torture victim has gone public on radio here and defended his free speech. “I couldn’t believe the injustice that was happening to him,” said Clarissa Jessup, one of the people who recorded the public torture and uploaded it to YouTube. But a more well-known incident happened in a UCLA library, where a student was constantly tasered for several minutes, even in spite of cries of a woman begging the police to stop the shocking torture on the innocent victim. What has society come to? Must police use electrical weapons to limit free speech and force people to submit to their every whim? Decades back, mental patients were abused by “shock therapy,” one of the techniques practiced in programs run by the CIA and used in various institutions. Today, the death penalty sometimes means death by electrocution. But the reality today is police are now becoming judge, jury and executioner with these electric weapons that can cause injury and death. But the UF torture incident is just the tip of the iceberg. The taser was designed primarily for torture. “Taser devices are frequently used to torture and interrogate people such as political prisoners and that tasers are used by police in the U.S. particularly for torture to gain compliance.” As a test of the device, the US Air Force tasered fully conscious animals. Even traffic cops use tasers to torture women for speeding. How about 56-year-old Emily Delafield who was murdered by police using tasers? “Family attorney Rick Alexander said Delafield’s death could have been prevented and that there are four things that jump out at him about the case.” “One, she’s in a wheelchair. Two, she’s schizophrenic. Three, they’re using a Taser on a person that’s in a wheelchair, and then four is that they tasered her 10 times for a period of like two minutes,” Alexander said. Police are arbitratily redefining free speech and engaging in rampant criminality worldwide, asserting their powers with tasers. Robert Guerrero died by police taser because he wouldn’t come out of a closet. Apprehensively I discovered that even the United States Forest Service is stocking up on tasers. Their recent purchase of 700 tasers for the purpose of “law enforcement” shows just how sold out America is already on torture. We see it all the time on the tube: Cop dramas and terrorism-themed made-for-tv movies endorsing even the torture of children for the sake of justice. It gets worse. In Los Angeles, police were exposed in this video repeatedly tasering a defenseless senior citizen. A woman in Halifax, Canada, was tortured in a cell by two officers with tasers. The Canadian Criminal Code clearly defines torture as “intentionally inflicting suffering on another person in order to coerce or intimidate them.” Another woman was hogtied and tortured with tasers in Butterfield. Even sexual torture with taser devices has been reported. There is no doubt that police are using the taser as a torture device on a widespread basis. New technology will surpass tasers in the ability to torture and quell free speech. Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a projectile that can be fired from a shotgun or 40-millimetre grenade launcher. Grenade launchers are already used by riot police to fire tear gas and baton rounds. On impact, the device sticks to the target and delivers an 80,000-volt shock for 7 seconds, using a pulsed delivery similar to that used by tasers. Further shocks can be triggered via remote control. Most cops these days have no qualms about tasing children either. Scum who do this are no morally better than perverted senators. Like in this video: Too many cops think that brutality is the quickest way to justice. Unfortunately, torture never begets anything good, nothing except sudden death, false confessions and tyranny. *fair use* Harmony- visit link posted at top in order to be able to view, and click on, dozens of intext links.

Okla. homeless woman dies after Tasered http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=780&pst=540234&archival=&posts=3

http://tinyurl.com/3d2wdz Training is answer in a crisis By Graham Lewis Published: Thursday, October 11, 2007 Many people in Oregon were extremely troubled by the tragic shooting death of young Ryan Salisbury in Eugene last November. Some among us were moved to step up and turn that unfortunate incident into a positive outcome for our community. We began by looking for alternatives to use of deadly force. Taser “stun gun” deployment is generating a useful controversy; however, there are less hot-button alternatives available that also bear investigation. It is one thing for a police officer to be faced with a desperate person who is aiming a gun. He or she must protect him or herself and, possibly, others. It is quite another to be faced with someone without a gun exhibiting frantic, bizarre behavior. De-escalation is a useful skill that is not taught in most police academies. Oregon is apparently stepping up now, but what of police veterans already on the beat? The Crisis Intervention Team model originated in 1988 in Memphis, Tenn: http://www.memphispolice.org/Crisis%20Intervention.htm It teaches important de-escalation techniques to new and seasoned police officers. The Crisis Intervention Team model has been shown to increase safety for citizens and officers alike, to decrease arrests, and to foster community partnerships. Training focuses on how to recognize indicators of mental health crises, de-escalate potentially volatile situations with unthreatening body language and words, listen actively and guide people to community resources instead of to jail. We members of Lane County’s grassroots ASSERT project (Approved Steps to Supplement Emergency Responder Training) are lobbying community leaders to establish CIT training so that others like Ryan may live. Founded last December by Sue Archbald and me, ASSERT is now part of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. To date, we have received donations of more than $7,200 for ASSERT. In April, we presented a one-day symposium for Lane County emergency responders devoted to crisis de-escalation skills. Generating local training is our main priority now — however, early this year, we received a request from Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner to help find good training tools relating to mental health crises. Therefore, ASSERT also hopes to produce a set of crisis de-escalation videos pertinent to Lane County. Early this year, the Eugene Police Commission appointed a special subcommittee to learn as much as possible about all aspects of how police officers interact with citizens experiencing heightened behavioral episodes. A high point was a subcommittee meeting that featured two trainers from Clackamas County’s excellent 40-hour CIT training program. Now two years old, it is based on the Memphis model. The trainers gave a comprehensive overview of their program and encouraged us all to “just get it started” here. Subcommittee members voiced unanimous enthusiasm for recommending the CIT model to the Eugene Police Department. In July, ASSERT and NAMI Lane County offered to help pay for sending two representatives of local law enforcement agencies to the national conference on the CIT model in Memphis in August. This opportunity was deemed “premature” by the Eugene Police Department, but was accepted by the Lane County Sheriff’s Department — which sent three personnel, one at its own expense. They returned enthusiastic about establishing CIT training locally and about working with other jurisdictions in Lane County. There is much to feel hopeful about, yet we need more than just the CIT model in Lane County. Funding continues to dry up for mental health services statewide. Mental health facilities in the Willamette Valley continue to close or reduce services due to funding shortages. Until our community realizes these critical needs and speaks out, the problem will persist. Graham Lewis of Eugene is a free-lance writer and caregiver who helped found ASSERT. At its meeting today, the Eugene Police Commission’s mental health crisis subcommittee will present its recommendations. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the McNutt Room of the Eugene City Hall. *fair use*

Additional recommendations include: · Governments should establish benchmarks for the safety of conducted energy devices based on empirical research and should regulate the marketing of such devices appropriately. · Tasers should be recognized as potentially lethal, particularly for people suffering heart or breathing problems, and their recommended use restricted to a high threshold -- that of preventing use of recourse to firearms in response to a threat of violence. · Tasers should not be used as a routine weapon to enforce compliance in the absence of a threat of serious injury or death of the subject, a member of the public or a law enforcement officer. · Clear terms of reference for the use of conducted energy devices should be disseminated to all forces using such weapons. · Tasers should not be used by untrained officers. · Tasers should not be exported to countries having a record of torture or other ill-treatment. *** ******** (1) In this document use of the word Taser refers to one or more products of TASER International under the TASER® trademark (2) CEDs are high voltage, low current electrical weapons designed to cause temporary incapacitation through involuntary muscular disruption and include traditional stun guns and projectile weapons, the latter sold in the USA as TASERS® and Stinger® Handheld Projectile Stun Guns. (3) The briefing was prepared by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London and presented by a staff member of AIUSA. (4) The NIJ is the Research, Development, and Evaluation Agency of the US Department of Justice. (5) AI's concerns are described in its reports USA: Excessive and Lethal Force? Amnesty International's concerns about deaths and ill-treatment involving police use of Tasers published in November 2004 (http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr511392004) and USA: Amnesty International's continuing concerns about Taser use, published March 2006 (http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510302006) (6) Most of the deaths involve use of Tasers, but the study is looking at the impact of other CEDs and it reportedly includes review of at least one death from an earlier Taser model in the 1980s. (7) http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/technology/less-lethal/conducted-energy-devices.htm (8) For example, most US police departments have professional codes of conduct and written guidelines on the use of force, although not all of the latter are fully consistent with international standards. (9) See reference at footnote 4 (10) O'Halloran RL, Frank JG. Asphyxial Death During Prone Restraint Revisited: A Report of 21 Cases. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 2000; 21(1): 39-52; Pollanen MS, Chiasson DA, Cairns JT, Young JG. Unexpected death related to restraint for excited delirium: a retrospective study of deaths in police custody and in the community. CMAJ 1998;158:1603-7. (11) "Statement on the comparative medical implications of use of the X26 Taser and the M26 Advanced Taser", Defence Scientific Advisory Council Sub-committee on the Medical Implications of Less-Lethal Weapons, Dstl/BSC/DOC/803, 7 March 2005. (12) The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Human Effect Center of Excellence suggested that if long periods of Taser activation occurred, "the risk of unintended adverse effects such as cardiac arrhythmia, impairment of respiration or widespread metabolic muscle damage could be severe". Equally, it noted that "the effects of multiple simultaneous exposure" or "sequential exposure" to Taser shocks on the heart needed additional evaluation. The Police Canadian Research Center, reporting in 2005, noted that "police officers need to be aware of the adverse effects of multiple, consecutive cycles of a CED [Conducted Energy Device] on a subject" because "the issue related to multiple CED applications and its impact on respiration, pH levels and other associated physical effects, offers a plausible theory on the possible connection between deaths, CED use and people exhibiting symptoms of CED". (13) The autopsy in this case found "The cause of death is attributed to an arrhythmia following multiple blunt force injuries and use of electromuscular incapacitation devices during a state of excited delirium". (14) Ronald Hasse, 10 February 2005, Chicago. (15) http://www.nipolicingboard.org.uk/human_rights_advisors_report_on_Taser-2.doc (16) Out of 291 cases, AI has identified only 25 who were reportedly armed with any sort of a weapon when they were electro-shocked. Such weapons did not include firearms. *fair use*

· A related concern is that many of those who died were subjected to multiple and/or prolonged shocks. This continues to be the case despite warnings by several studies of potential adverse effects from exposure to prolonged or multiple shocks.(12) Our records indicate that most of those who died were shocked more than once and 94 were subjected to between three and 21 shocks. They include Martin Tyler Shaw where, according to the autopsy report, one of the devices had a total firing cycle time of 19 seconds, a second of 12 seconds and a third 10 seconds.(13) Another man died after being shocked for 57 continuous seconds.(14) One officer reportedly used a Taser nine times for 160 seconds against Emily Delafield, a 56 year-old, mentally ill woman in a wheelchair. We believe that the ability to prolong the electrical cycle beyond five seconds, for as long as the officer keeps his or her finger depressed on the trigger, may dangerously increase stress levels, and that the psychological and physiological effects of prolonged or repeated shocks requires urgent review by relevant independent experts. These should include experts in the fields of cardiology and electrophysiology. · In most of the cases recorded thus far, the deceased is reported to have gone into cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest at the scene, even if death was pronounced later. In many cases it appears that the suspect collapsed immediately or very shortly after being struck by a Taser. Several medical examiners have noted a temporal relationship between taser shocks and the cardiac or respiratory arrest. In at least three cases medical examiners have found Taser shocks were a direct cause of a cardiac arrhythmia; in others that it was a contributory factor leading to sudden collapse. We also note that in some cases the deceased had no drugs or underlying health problems and collapsed after being struck by a Taser, raising a further question about the possible role of the Taser. These cases should form part of studies into Taser safety. · Many of the deaths have also involved the application of mechanical or other physical restraint and/or pepper spray. We believe that an inquiry must also examine the potential health risks from electro-shocks when used in combination with other restraints, particularly those which could impair breathing. · AI's research has pointed to the need for further study in a number of areas, including the possible effect from Tasers on metabolic acidosis and on the condition described as "excited delirium". TASER International has suggested that Tasers can actually work to prevent metabolic acidosis because its instant incapacitation cuts short the struggle and thus any dangerous build-up of acid in the blood. However, as we have noted, many people have been subjected to multiple shocks. There is evidence in some of the death cases we have reported on to suggest that the Taser either had no immediate effect on, or increased, agitation. · A recent report prepared for the Police Service of Northern Ireland noted that the limited research available on the effects of the Taser on children identifies a heightened risk of cardiac arrest resulting from ventricular fibrillation, and a greater risk of injury from the penetrative effects of darts, and notes also the limited research on risks of Taser on women during pregnancy.(15) Amnesty International is concerned that police officers have used Tasers on pregnant women and on children, including children as young and six and nine. We believe that these areas, too, require further study. · Finally, the degree of tolerable risk involving Tasers, as with all weapons and restraint devices, must be weighed against the threat posed. It is self-evident that Tasers are less injurious than firearms where officers are confronted with a serious threat that could escalate to deadly force. However, the vast majority of people who have died after being struck by Tasers have been unarmed men who did not pose a threat of death or serious injury when they were electro-shocked.(16) In many cases they appear not to have posed a significant threat at all. We are aware that police officers may face difficult challenges when dealing with people who are disturbed or intoxicated, who resist arrest or who fail to respond immediately to commands -- all instances in which Tasers are commonly employed by US law enforcement officers. However, we find it deeply disturbing that any individual in such circumstances might die unnecessarily from a police weapon that has not been fully tested or strictly controlled and may carry an inherent risk in the case of vulnerable groups. It has been shown that measures such as stricter controls and training on the use of force and firearms, and in dealing with the mentally disturbed, have been effective in reducing unnecessary deaths and injuries from any type of force. AI acknowledges there may be situations where Tasers in dart-firing mode can effectively be used as "stand-off" defensive weapons as an alternative to firearms to save lives, where no lesser alternatives are available. However, the potential to use Tasers in drive-stun mode -- where it is designed primarily as a pain-compliance tool -- and the capacity to inflict multiple and prolonged shocks in our view makes the weapons inherently open to abuse. Because of safety concerns and potential for abuse, we do not believe Tasers should ever be used as a low or medium level force option by police officers. Nor should they be permitted for sale to the general public. As a general policy, AI calls on all governments and law enforcement agencies to either cease using Tasers, and similar devices, pending the results of thorough studies into their use and effects, or to limit their use to situations where officers would otherwise be justified in resorting to firearms where no lesser alternatives are available. (more)

However, we have serious concerns about the use of electro-shock devices in law enforcement, both as regards their safety and their potential for misuse. Portable and easy to use, with the capacity to inflict severe pain at the push of a button without leaving substantial marks, electro-shock weapons are particularly open to abuse, as our organization has documented in numerous cases around the world. While in the United States police operate under professional standards,(8) we are concerned that many U.S. police departments are using Tasers to subdue non-compliant or disturbed individuals who do not pose a serious danger to themselves or others. As our reports have documented, there are many cases where we believe use of Tasers has contravened international standards which require that police use force only when strictly necessary, in proportion to the threat posed, only for as long as the threat exists and in a manner designed to minimize pain or injury. We have documented disturbing instances where we believe that Taser use has amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment which is absolutely prohibited under international law. The U.N. Committee against Torture has called on the United States to deploy Tasers only as a non-lethal alternative to using firearms. We are particularly concerned about the capacity of Tasers to be used in close contact situations as a stun weapon -- including in situations where individuals appear to be already effectively in custody -- and to inflict repeated shocks over a relatively prolonged period. While we believe the drive-stun mode is especially open to abuse, we note that in dart-mode also there have been instances of alleged abuse, with officers able to inflict repeated shocks once the darts have taken hold. We are also concerned that Tasers are being widely deployed in the United States before the results of rigorous, independent and comprehensive testing of their safety and potential health risks. While existing studies have found the risk of adverse effects from Tasers generally low in healthy subjects, they have pointed to the need for more understanding of the effects of such devices on vulnerable subjects and those compromised by substance abuse or poor health. Our data suggests that many of those who have died following Taser use fall into these potential at-risk categories. Thus the need for full evaluation and guidance on usage is of urgent concern. AI has collected data on more than 290 cases of individuals in the United States and Canada who since 2001 have died after being struck by police Tasers. 15 of these were in Canada, the rest in the United States. Our sources include media reports, information from families of the deceased, and police and autopsy reports. While in most cases medical examiners have attributed death to other factors, such as "excited delirium" associated with cocaine intoxication, AI has identified at least 20 cases where coroners have found the Taser served as a causal or contributory factor in the death and other cases where the Taser was cited as a possible factor in autopsy reports. The organization is seeking more information on more than a dozen further cases where coroners are reported to have found a link between the TASER and death. AI continues to record all reported deaths, pending the results of a comprehensive, independent study, because the role played by the Taser often remains unclear. While we are not in a position to reach conclusions on the cause of death in each individual case, we believe there may be more cases among those reported where the Taser cannot be ruled out as a factor. We recognize that it can sometimes be difficult to identify cause of death in such cases by autopsy alone. However, the circumstances of the cases raise issues we believe merit thorough investigation by the Justice Department inquiry. These have been outlined in our November 2004 and March 2006 reports(9), and I summarize them briefly here today. While a number of studies have been reported or are ongoing, none we believe has yet fully answered the safety concerns raised in our reports. · Most of the individuals who died were agitated, disturbed and under the influence of drugs, and/or had underlying health problems such as heart disease. These characteristics are seen in sudden custody deaths occurring without the use of Tasers.(10) It is recognized that multiple factors can play a role in such fatalities, including the level of force deployed and certain types of restraints. However, there is a serious question whether taser shocks, together with positional stress, may exacerbate breathing or other difficulties caused by drug intoxication and exertion, as has been found to be the case by some medical examiners. Studies, such as the study commissioned by the United Kingdom's Defence Scientific Advisory Council, have not excluded the possibility that drug or alcohol intoxication and pre-existing heart disease may modify the threshold for cardiac arrhythmias following Taser use. The U.K. study also pointed to the possibility that electro-shocks could have adverse effects beyond direct effect on the heart rhythm, by increasing stress levels more generally.(11) (more)

USA Amnesty International's concerns about Taser®(1) use: Statement to the U.S. Justice Department inquiry into deaths in custody Background This document provides the text of an oral briefing by Amnesty International to the Chief Medical Panel supporting a US Justice Department inquiry into deaths in custody following electro-muscular disruption. The study is examining the impact of Taser stun guns and similar electrical weapons known as "conducted energy devices" (CEDs).(2) Amnesty International's statement was given on 27 September 2007 in Washington, DC. (3) The Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ)(4) commissioned the two-year study in June 2006, following reports of more than 150 deaths of individuals subdued by police Tasers and concerns raised by Amnesty International and others.(5) While medical examiners have usually attributed the deaths to other factors, such as drug intoxication, some medical experts believe that shocks from taser-type weapons may exacerbate a risk of heart failure in cases where people are agitated or under the influence of drugs, or have underlying health problems. The study is reported to be reviewing more than 100 deaths associated with Tasers or similar devices over the past five or more years.(6) It is expected to report its findings in 2008. The study is being assisted by a medical panel whose members include five medical examiners, a cardiologist, an emergency medicine physician and a toxicologist. It will also draw on the advice of specialists in epidemiology, electrical engineering, neurology and psychiatry. In addition, the International Association of Chiefs of Police is working with investigators to provide field research into the deaths and comparative data on in-custody deaths not involving electrical weapons.(7) More than 11,000 US law enforcement agencies (mainly police departments but also prison and jail agencies) are reported to use Tasers or similar devices: dart-firing electro-shock weapons which can also be applied directly to the body in what is known as "drive stun" mode (similar to traditional stun guns). From June 2001 to 30 September 2007, Amnesty International has recorded more than 290 deaths of individuals in the USA and Canada struck by police Tasers. While the organization does not reach conclusions regarding the role of the Taser in each case, it believes the deaths underscore the need for thorough, independent inquiries into their use and effects. As Amnesty International concluded in its statement to the panel, "The degree of tolerable risk involving Tasers, as with all weapons and restraint devices, must be weighed against the threat posed. It is self-evident that Tasers are less injurious than firearms where officers are confronted with a serious threat that could escalate to deadly force. However, the vast majority of people who have died after being struck by Tasers have been unarmed men who did not pose a threat of death or serious injury when they were electro-shocked. In many cases they appear not to have posed a significant threat at all." Of the 291 reported deaths, the organization has identified only 25 individuals who were reportedly armed with any sort of weapon when they were electro-shocked; such weapons did not include firearms. Amnesty International acknowledged in its statement that there may be "stand-off" situations where Tasers in dart-firing mode could effectively be used as an alternative to firearms to save lives. However, the potential to use Tasers in drive-stun mode (where they are used as "pain compliance" tools when individuals are already effectively in custody), and the capacity to inflict multiple and prolonged shocks, renders the weapons inherently open to abuse. Amnesty International calls on all governments and law enforcement agencies to either cease using Tasers and similar devices pending the results of thorough, independent studies, or limit their use to situations where officers would otherwise be justified in resorting to deadly force where no lesser alternatives are available. Strict guidelines and monitoring should govern all such use. Amnesty International's statement before the Chief Medical Panel Amnesty International (AI) welcomes the National Institute of Justice's study of deaths following electro muscular disruption. We are grateful for the opportunity to present an aspect of our work that is germane to your topic: namely, our continuing concerns regarding the use of Tasers, the most prevalent conducted energy device. As you may be aware, AI is a worldwide membership-based organization which seeks to promote the observance of international human rights standards set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments and treaties, including those relating to use of force by law enforcement officials. The manufacturer of Tasers and law enforcement agencies deploying them maintain that they are a safer alternative to many conventional weapons in controlling dangerous or combative suspects and that Tasers have saved lives by avoiding the resort by officers to lethal force. As a human rights organization, AI acknowledges the importance of developing non-lethal or "less-lethal" force options to decrease the risk of death or injury inherent in police use of firearms or other impact weapons such as batons. We support the development of such force options. (more)

AI is calling on all governments and law enforcement agencies to either cease using Tasers and similar devices pending the results of comprehensive, independent studies into their use and effects, or limit their use to situations where officers would otherwise be justified in resorting to deathly force, where no lesser alternatives are available. Strict guidelines and monitoring should govern all use of taser-type weapons. Link to AI's briefing: » Amnesty International's concerns about Taser use: statement to US Justice Department inquiry into deaths http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=engamr511512007 *fair use*

http://tinyurl.com/2javjw AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement AI Index: AMR 51/154/2007 (Public) News Service No: 194 10 October 2007 Amnesty International releases its briefing on Tasers submitted to the US Justice Department Amnesty International (AI) has published the text of its briefing to a US Justice Department inquiry into deaths following discharges from Tasers and similar electrical weapons. AI delivered its briefing with a statement to the Chief Medical Panel assisting the inquiry on 27 September in Washington, DC. The Justice Department inquiry (set up in June 2006 and due to report in 2008) is reviewing more than 100 deaths of individuals subdued by police Tasers or similar electrical weapons, to assess whether the devices could have played a significant role in the deaths. AI welcomes the Justice Department study and the opportunity to present its concerns. AI's briefing reiterated the organization's concerns about the use of electro-shock weapons in law enforcement, both as regards their safety and potential for abuse. AI expressed concern that Tasers are being widely deployed in the USA before the results of rigorous, independent and comprehensive testing of potential health risks. While existing research has found the risk of adverse effects from Tasers in healthy adults generally low, studies have also pointed to the need for more understanding of the effects of such devices on those compromised by poor health, substance abuse or other factors. AI said data it had gathered on more than 290 cases of individuals who died after being struck by police Tasers since 2001 suggested many of the deceased fell within potential "at-risk" categories. Fifteen of these deaths were in Canada, the rest in the USA. While medical examiners had usually attributed cause of death to other factors, such as drug intoxication, more research was needed, AI said, into the effects of electro-shocks on people agitated and under the influence of drugs; who had heart disease; were subjected to other restraints; or who were subjected to prolonged or multiple shocks. In at least 20 autopsy reports examined by AI, coroners have cited the taser as a causal or contributory factor in the deaths, sometimes combined with other factors. AI's records show that most of those who died were shocked more than once and 92 were subjected to between 3 and 21 shocks. One man was shocked repeatedly while in handcuffs in cycles lasting 19, 12 and 10 seconds; another man died after being shocked for 57 continuous seconds. AI said that the ability to prolong the electrical cycle beyond five seconds, for as long as the officer keeps his or her finger depressed on the trigger, may dangerously increase stress levels, and that "the psychological and physiological effects of prolonged or repeated shocks requires urgent review by relevant independent experts". AI further stated: "The degree of tolerable risk involving Tasers, as with all weapons and restraint devices, must be weighed against the threat posed. It is self-evident that Tasers are less injurious than firearms where officers are confronted with a serious threat that could escalate to deadly force. However, the vast majority of people who have died after being struck by Tasers have been unarmed men who did not pose a threat of death or serious injury when they were electro-shocked. In many cases, they did not appear to have posed any significant threat at all". Of 291 reported deaths, AI has so far identified only 25 individuals who were reportedly armed with any sort of weapon when they were electro-shocked; such weapons did not include firearms. AI acknowledged that there may be "stand-off" situations where Tasers in dart-firing mode could effectively be used as an alternative to firearms to save lives. However, the potential to use Tasers in drive-stun mode (where they are often used as "pain compliance" tools when individuals are already effectively in custody), and the capacity to inflict severe pain through multiple and prolonged shocks, renders the weapons inherently open to abuse. AI expressed concern that many US police departments are using Tasers as a routine force option to subdue non-compliant or disturbed individuals who are not a serious risk. Such cases included children as young as nine. Such usage appears to contravene international standards which require that police should use force only when "strictly necessary", in proportion to the threat posed. The concerns AI has raised with the Justice Department inquiry are unaffected by a study led by emergency medicine specialists from Wake Forest University whose results were published earlier this week. The Wake Forest study reviewed nearly 1,000 cases of Taser deployments in the field and found that the injury rate was low and that most injuries appeared to be minor. AI has no reason to dispute the Wake Forest study's findings and welcomes continuing research in this area. However, the study says nothing about the misuse of Tasers or about the appropriateness of the use of Tasers in cases where death has followed Taser use. It does not appear to have measured specifically against possible risk factors (such as such as exposure to multiple or prolonged shocks, especially if combined with other restraints) or tested the effects of Tasers on specific groups, such as those intoxicated, agitated or with underlying heart disease. These are questions still to be resolved in AI's view, and which we hope will be addressed by the Justice Department study. (more)