People Who Shouldn't Be In Charge

Police officers and their bosses who just want citizens to shut up:

GLENS FALLS — Police used a Taser to subdue one of two men arrested after a shouting match at a junior varsity girls basketball game Friday night at Glens Falls High School.

"I guess one of them just wouldn't shut up," Sgt. Harold Morrison said of the incident.

Getting 50,000 volts for not shutting up when a cop wants you to, now THAT'S American. Right? Right? Land of the free, home of the brave, and all that...

A personal note to my family in the Glens Falls, NY area: Watch out for the police. I'd recommend not talking in the movies, not using your cell in an eatery, and not getting rowdy in a bar while having holiday cheer. In fact, just avoid being overly chatty in public. The Glens Falls police want you to be quiet!

Contact information for elected officials in Glens Falls is here.

Suspect Tased, Suspect Dies

There's that infamous sequence again, on Christmas Eve of all days:

Deputies arrived and the man jumped into the passenger seat of a patrol car, officials said. The man swung his fists and started kicking at the deputy.

The deputy shocked the man with a Taser gun to get him under control. Investigators said the man was shocked three times and was unphased. A deputy held the Taser gun on the man's body for a "contact stun" on the fourth shock, officials said.

The man was arrested and taken to Houston Northwest Hospital, where he died.

Additional stories here and here. All the stories I've read on this incident note two hallmarks of taser abuse: a) multiple taser applications, and b) an unarmed victim. And yes, when someone is abused with a taser, it's appropriate to use the word "victim" (i.e., "The victim died, in a hospital, soon after being tased multiple times.).

Sparse

I'll be posting lightly for the next two or three days. I'm traveling in Upstate NY. Safe and happy holidays everyone!

So Much For That, Another Post-Tasing Death

Yesterday morning, I posted a hope that no one else had to die a post-tasing death this year. Sadly, that hope has been dashed:

In an effort to subdue the man, Berg discharged his Taser X26, an electric stun gun, directly on Rodriguez's lower back. Dehaan said Berg discharged his Taser "several'' times, but he did not know the exact number.

After being Tased, Rodriguez was put in handcuffs, but deputies soon realized he was unresponsive. They started CPR on the man, who was taken into the hospital's emergency room. He died at 12:11 a.m. Friday.

Seriously, that really sucks.

Here's To Hoping

I'm sitting here, amidst holiday decorations, reading the news in my RSS reader. My topics are science, LGBT issues, politics, and tasers. The DJ on my radio is predicting a winter storm for tomorrow. I'd love to have snow on the ground for Christmas. I'm also hoping that no one has to experience a taser-proximal death this holiday season or in the coming new year. That might be too large a wish in total, but is it too much to hope that, in what remains of 2008, no one else dies after being tased?

Costly San Jose Tasing

This story dovetails fairly well with the post below. If suing governments, rather than the extremely lawyered-up Taser International is the way to go, so be it.

San Jose is going to pay out $70K for a post-tasing death and has more taser-related suits pending:

San Jose officials Tuesday agreed to pay $70,000 to the wife and child of a man who died in 2005 after police jolted him with Tasers, marking the city's first settlement over a fatality linked to the stun guns. ...

Two other San Jose Taser-related fatality cases are pending. One involves the Jan. 25, 2006, death of Jorge Trujillo, who died after police subdued him with Tasers, not knowing he was the victim of a beating they had been called to investigate. The coroner listed the stun guns as a contributing factor.

The other case involves the March 25, 2007, death of Steve Salinas, 47, a Mongol motorcycle club member zapped in a drug-fueled struggle with police. The coroner cited the Taser as a "significant condition" but did not say it contributed to Salinas' death.

That's a grim precedent if you're someone footing the taser tab (And if you pay taxes, that's you.). If the devices continue to be this expensive, I'd bet that taxpayers will start to demand increased scrutiny of their use. That can only help prevent taser abuse.

How Decency Could Win

Given Taser International's team of lawyers and America's corporate-friendly love of tort reform and deregulation, making Tasers too much trouble for officers on the back-end might be an effective way to reduce taser abuse. There seems to be evidence of that happening organically now in Canada:

EDMONTON - Some Edmonton police officers have chosen not to carry Tasers because of the controversy the weapons attract, despite believing the devices are valuable tools. ...

In April 2004, Wasylyshen helped arrest a suspect after a lengthy car chase. While two other officers face disciplinary charges for using their Tasers that night, Wasylyshen chose not to use his.

"I had some bad luck with a Taser incident in 2002, to be honest," the officer said when asked why he didn't draw the Taser he had that night.

"Using it would have been practical, it would have been justified. I just didn't utilize it. It would be a hassle for me to use it."

Wasylyshen said he has since turned in his Taser and has not requested another one.

In October 2002, Wasylyshen used a Taser to wake up Randy Fryingpan, 16, who was passed out in a car.

The incident was heavily criticized and a judge later threw out a charge against Fryingpan.

Const. Darryl Fox, one of the officers facing a disciplinary charge for using excessive force, said he agrees with his fellow officers' opinions, even though he supports the Taser itself. It is the debate after its use that makes him wary.

"The Taser is an effective, life-saving tool that is beneficial to law enforcement," Fox testified.

"However, I concur with Const. Wasylyshen in that I will likely never carry one again."

The two officers are not alone. Others avoid carrying Tasers to eliminate possible public complaints or disciplinary hearings that can shadow an officer's career for years.

Of course, for this to happen in the States, America would first need to have police departments that answer directly to taxpayers. Unfortunately, that's not the case in many places, including NYC. Still, the paragraphs above are among the most hopeful (taser-related) things I've read lately.

Remember This?

Remember that NYC cop that attacked a bicyclist in Times Square?


Well, he's been indicted (w00t):

A police officer who was caught knocking a man off his bicycle in Times Square over the summer in a video that was distributed widely on YouTube has been indicted by a grand jury, according to lawyers involved in the case.

The Truth Vs. ...

What police departments tell us. Dziekanski was tased FIVE TIMES OVER 31 SECONDS:

Stan Lowe, speaking on behalf of the Criminal Justice Branch, which oversees charges and prosecutions in B.C., revealed for the first time that Robert Dziekanski had received five shocks from a Taser over 31 seconds, not two as initially announced by the RCMP.

RCMP Supt. Wayne Rideout, the team leader of an investigation conducted by members of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said Friday an RCMP spokesman had initially issued incorrect information that the Taser had been deployed only twice. ...

The mistake was made in the rush to provide the media information immediately after the incident, he said.

"The RCMP spokesman conveyed the information he had been provided from one of the officers present at the airport. That officer did not himself deploy the conducted energy weapon," Rideout told reporters at a news conference.

Once it was realized incorrect information was released, police could not correct it because a criminal investigation was under way and police did not want influence the investigation, he said.

And while police initially called to the scene thought Dziekanski was intoxicated, the Crown revealed Friday that no drugs or alcohol were found in his system, and that he had an unopened bottle of Polish vodka with him.

The police lying? That's just so hard to belie... Oh wait, no it's not. Whether it's memes about tasers replacing guns and tasers never being used on anyone but dangerous suspects, or whether it's lies about other instances of excessive force (see Sean Bell or Abner Louima), if the public does get the truth, it's only had via independent investigation forced upon police departments.

I don't like being a pessimist, but I can't imagine this situation changing and having police, especially here in the US, that operate transparently and with the guiding principle that they work for those paying their salaries. Hell, here in NYC, our police force conducted secret investigations of US citizens domestically and abroad. They pretty much planned on never letting anyone know about the investigations and were angry at being exposed.

So, you'll forgive me if my first instinct is to believe people lucky enough to survive, and brave enough to go public with, their experiences with police brutality.

In NYC's current NYPD sodomy again a citizen case, the victim was recently taunted by police in the courtroom:

Mineo, who stared down the three accused cops at their arraignment, got into a standoff with plainclothes cops, who called him a "f----t," said Mineo's lawyer, Kevin Mosley.

"That's when Mike blew the kisses," Mosley said. "I would have done something more forceful."

My advice to the victim in this case? A) Never go out of your home without a potential witness at your side. B) Sue in civil court as soon as possible (It's rare that police are held accountable in criminal cases like this.) and use whatever you receive to flee New York city.

The take home here for me is that whether the subject is taser use or police misconduct in general, the police are incapable of policing themselves. It's absurd that, with respect to tasers, the only people saying this regularly are bloggers.

Low Justice Friday

There will be no charges for the officers that tased Robert Dziekanski to death in Vancouver last year. In two parts, here is the man's death:


The powers that be decided there wasn't enough evidence to charge the officers.

There will also be no accountability for an officer that tased an already restrained suspect in South Carolina:

The State newspaper reported Thursday that Charles Green accused Hodges of using excessive force against him in January by shocking him seven times after a foot chase, including six times after he was handcuffed. Green told the newspaper he had crack cocaine on him at the time. He faces drug possession charges.

A police report says Hodges shocked Green five times - three times because Green wouldn't be handcuffed, and two more because he refused to spit out the crack cocaine in his mouth.

These are examples of how tasers actually get used. They aren't replacing guns. They're replacing the police having to talk with people that piss them off.

Note also that the drugs in that last example are a red herring. They do not justify abusive taser use. However, they might be emotionally useful if you're the type that gets an icky tummy over any critical examination of police (a.k.a taxpayer-financed public servants) behavior.

Finally, in a case that prevents today from being Zero Justice Friday, a Maryland family will be allowed to sue a county over the post-tasing death of their son:

A federal judge has reversed an earlier ruling and is allowing the family of a man who died after being shocked with a Taser to sue Frederick County and the county sheriff's office.

The decision was included Wednesday in a seven-page opinion issued by U.S. District Judge William Quarles. He had initially ruled in August that the family could sue sheriff's Cpl. Rudy Torres, but not the county or the sheriff's office. Ted Williams, the attorney representing the family, appealed that decision.

A grand jury ruled in May that Torres was justified in using his Taser twice to subdue 20-year-old Jarrel Gray in November 2007 after Gray did not obey commands to show his hands. Gray died hours later.

In May, the family filed the lawsuit seeking $145 million.

What's Up Doc?

Sometimes, when I read about deaths that follow tasing, I can't believe I'm not reading the Onion. This story is too much (emphasis mine):

A Red Deer man who was shocked three times with a Taser did not die as a result of the weapon, but partly because of a pre-existing heart condition, a fatality inquiry heard Monday.

Jason Doan, 28, was also in a state of "excited delirium"when RCMP officers found him smashing vehicle windows on Aug. 10, 2006.

It was the combination of these two factors that contributed to his death from cardiac arrest and not the shocks from the Taser, said Dr. Sam Andrews, who performed the autopsy, on the opening day of the nine-day hearing.

But the doctor also testified he could not determine from the autopsy that Doan was in a state of excited delirium at the time of the incident, only that he made that assumption based on the RCMP's report of how Doan was acting that day.

Doan was allegedly smashing vehicle windows in an alley when officers were called to respond.

After a chase, an officer shocked him with the Taser to subdue him. Doan went into a coma and was in hospital for three weeks before he died. In previous reports, witnesses said they saw the man using the handle of a pitchfork to attack one of the officers before the Taser was used on him.

People in a state of "excited delirium" --a brain chemical imbalance--often exhibit violent behaviour, superhuman strength and higher levels of pain tolerance. It can be exacerbated by drugs, alcohol or mental illness.

Andrews testified toxicology reports indicated there were no drugs or alcohol in Doan's system and that he had no psychiatric history.

For more on the dubious condition called "excited delirium," see here (or scroll through these posts for a real learning experience). The Wikipedia entry for the term is here.

I'm sure we'll hear similar logic-defying arguments in the latest taser-proximal death (or here) in MN:

As the officers tried to arrest him, Smith struggled and was shot with a Taser, Palmer said. Shortly after Smith was subdued, he had a medical problem and paramedics were called, Palmer said.

Smith was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died.

There's that sequence again: suspect tased, suspect dies.

Lying

Hat tip to Truth not Tasers on this story. It's long and includes more quotes from a taser fanboy-analyst than necessary, but it also has some very interesting tidbits. From the article:

Its sister Gannett paper, USA Today, has also angered Taser, particularly after publishing a June 2005 story and graphic that significantly overstated the electrical output of Taser’s X26-model stun gun. Taser contacted the newspaper and the story was corrected the next day of publication.

But a few weeks later Taser sued, claiming that the Republic and USA Today “engaged in the ongoing publication of misleading articles related to the safety of Taser products, resulting in substantial economic damages to us, our customers and our shareholders.” Taser claimed the newspapers’ stories cost company shareholders more than one billion dollars in lost value.

Maricopa County (Ariz.) Superior Court Judge Paul J. McMurdie rejected Taser’s claims in granting Gannett’s motion for summary judgment. In his Jan. 25, 2006 ruling, he awarded McLean, Va.-based Gannett attorneys’ fees after finding one of the claims “clearly unjustified.” About three weeks later, the two sides asked the court to formally dismiss Taser’s claims—and with it Taser’s right to an appeal—while Gannett withdrew its claim to attorneys’ fees, court records show.

“It was a total victory,” said David Bodney, Gannett’s attorney in the case. But that’s not how Taser reported it to the SEC, or to Wall Street analysts who covered the company.

In a Feb. 22, 2006 conference call with financial analysts, Douglas Klint, Taser’s general counsel and executive vice president, said: “Our lawsuit against Gannett Company Incorporated was dismissed with the understanding that, in the future, the USA Today and the Arizona Republic newspapers would review their Taser stories with the company prior to publishing in order to ensure accuracy,” according to a transcript of the call.

The next month, in its Form 10-K filing, Taser wrote: “the parties entered into a stipulation for dismissal with the understanding that the USA Today and the Arizona Republic would review articles regarding the Taser device with us prior to publication.” That statement was repeated in the company’s May 18, 2006 quarterly report to the SEC.

A former Arizona Republic editor calls the assertion that Taser International would be reviewing the stories regarding taser, "completely false":

Current San Francisco Chronicle editor Ward Bushee, the Republic’s editor at the time of the settlement, and Randy Lovely, the Republic’s current editor, said they were unaware of Taser’s statements until asked about them recently by CIR, and denied that any such agreement ever existed.

“Taser's assertion in the SEC filing is completely false,” Lovely said. “The Arizona Republic would never allow a source to review a story prior to publication. To do so would completely violate our journalist principles and standards of independence. The Republic has aggressively reported on Taser during the past few years, and we stand behind the full scope and accuracy of our stories.”

Again, the whole piece is worth a read and would make me a very nervous Taser International shareholder.

Tasers R Expensive

I wonder if the quotes that Taser International sent out to Muskingum County, Ohio included this price as a line item:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Last winter 10 Investigates exposed a pattern of questionable Taser deployment in Muskingum County, and now the county is paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle one such claim, 10 Investigates' Paul Aker reported on Thursday.

Tonya Morrison filed a lawsuit in federal court based on a claim that a jail guard used a Taser to torture her. ...

The county denied the accusations. ...

The county seemed prepared to go to court with that defense in Morrison's case, but Morrison's attorney said he found a last-minute witness who heard guards abusing his client, Aker reported.

The witness said she heard guards pull out a chair and put Morrison into it. The witness also said she heard Morrison being shocked multiple times while deputies laughed at her screams and pleas to stop, Aker reported.

Muskingum County did not admit fault in the case, but last week it settled with Morrison by agreeing to pay $375,000. An attorney representing the county said there was a settlement because it did not want to tie up numerous deputies with a trial.

Extra-Zapping X26's

Sometimes it seems like tasers are trying to wear out the FAIL idiom. A new study has found that some X26 tasers come with extra, not to specification, zapping power:

The abnormal X26 model Tasers were manufactured before 2005, prompting some scientists to suggest police should stop using any older versions of the stun guns until they can be tested.

Of the 41 Tasers tested, four delivered significantly more current than Taser International says is possible. In some cases, the current was up to 50 per cent stronger than specified on the devices.

And there are plenty of other stunning goodies in the article.

Take this from an engineer involved in the study:

Savard told CBC News it is scientifically significant that about nine per cent of the Tasers fired in the tests delivered more current than they are supposed to do, especially since he believes no one is verifying the company’s claims.

"I think it's important because Taser is not subjected to international standards," Savard said.

"When you use a cellphone, well, cellphones have to respect a set of standards … for the electric magnetic field that it emits. The Taser, well, nobody knows except Taser International."

Savard said the cause of the increased current could be either due to faulty quality control during the stun guns' manufacturing or electrical components that deteriorate with age.

Yeah, that's what some of us have been saying for a while: there are no widespread regulations for tasers. Taser International is a business. Unless it's forced to, how motivated will a business be to regulate itself via thorough and potentially costly safety testing?

So what's Taser International's response to this situation? You'd bet that they would express deep concern and commit themselves to testing and fixing as many of their devices as possible. You'd lose that bet:

However, Magne Nerheim, Taser's vice-president of research and development, sent a written response to the results, in which he called the four malfunctioning Tasers an anomaly — one that could be explained if the weapons are not spark tested on a regular basis.

Nerheim also suggested the testing be repeated to verify the results. He made no comment about the age of the Tasers and whether there could be an issue of reliability.

During the tests commissioned by CBC News and Radio-Canada, three of the weapons didn't fire, even with charged battery packs. Those were set aside and not counted in the final results.

That's 3 out of 40 weapons not firing. Given the small sample size of this study, that's not too far from the 1 out of 20 failure rate that I posted about yesterday. Also, given the small sample size of the study at hand and Taser International's non-response, forgive me if I'm suspicious of X26 tasers even if they were made after 2005.

Recent taser developments would make me a nervous police officer, a grouchy taxpayer, and a really nervous Taser International shareholder.

Now THAT'S a Fail!

One in twenty tasers FAIL:

TORONTO and VANCOUVER — One in 20 stun guns breaks and is returned to the manufacturer, the head of Taser International said yesterday.

Rick Smith, chief executive officer of the controversial weapons company, said that although Taser employees fire the devices more than 100 times before the gadgets leave the factory, their electronic components can wear out from regular use.

"Taser devices, like any other electronic device, you're going to have a certain number of failures where the devices break, especially in the law-enforcement realm," Mr. Smith told a meeting of The Globe and Mail's editorial board yesterday.

Mr. Smith was responding to questions about a lawsuit by shareholders that was settled out of court, in which former employees alleged that the weapons had design flaws and other assembly defects. He said the allegations in the lawsuit, dating back to a period between 2003 and 2005, were "extremely inflammatory" and "so far from the truth."

Stun guns in Canada do periodically break, but officials at Taser International said that isn't because of manufacturing defects, but rather general usage where the weapons are dropped or the electrodes break off. [That's a really lame excuse for breakage of a product in its regular usage environment.]

That's some failure rate. And people hate Windows Vista! Amazing.

So does this mean that:

- 150 of the new 3000 tasers in NYC,
- 62 out of the 1250 tasers coming to Los Angeles,
- 500 of the 10000 tasers planned for the UK (Though that might hit complications.), and
- 50 out of the 1000 tasers planned for Dekalb County(or here), GA

are going to require repair? You'd think that would make for some grouchy taxpayers.

Tuesday Roundup

Digby, one of the big bloggers, comments on a post from an Oregon blog regarding the inappropriateness of using tasers on people just because they annoy the police (You know, by knowing and asserting their rights.). Part of the post that Digby cites relates information about a case in which a jury found that a detective was abusive; they awarded his victim tens of thousands of dollars.

Speaking of costing tax payers money, Durham, NC is set to buy 125 new tasers for more than $176K. That price doesn't include settlements.

And in another likely example of tasing for misbehaving, police in CA tase a son upset that his father disappeared into the water at a beach (I've emailed the story's author asking for more information.):

As rescue crews waited for the Cost Guard and a Sheriff's boat the victim's two sons got anxious.

A CHP Officer used his taser on one of the brothers and then a second time as he tried to get back up.

CHP officials say the brothers who were understandably upset were getting in the way of rescue efforts.

The brothers were charged with interfering but investigators tell us those charges will most likely be dropped.

Meanwhile authorities have still not found the father.

Finally, in another FAIL for Taser International (TI), police in Palo Alto, CA are being accused of tampering with video evidence from tasers equipped (by TI) with cameras. In this case, it looks like the recording technology either failed to operate properly or used encryption week enough to allow tampering. Both of those failures are costing taxpayers more than the original taser sticker price.

Good Luck With That

The UK is beginning a roll out of tasers for their police (related post and article here and here). They should dole them out judiciously, but they probably won't. So, look for more incidents like this one (see the video at the link), only with added taser goodness:

These shameful and inexcusable scenes show a war hero who served his country in Iraq and Afghanistan fearing for his life amid a violent and unprovoked assault by police.

Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall – highly praised by his commanding officer for bravery against the Taliban in Afghanistan – was set upon by three uniformed officers on his home town High Street.

The sickening attack – caught in forensic detail on CCTV – led a crown court judge to label it one of the worst examples of police aggression he had ever seen. Yet, in a travesty of justice, it was Mark who was at first convicted by magistrates of attacking the policemen.. despite the video footage clearly showing he was the victim. ...

“I remember thinking, ‘I’m going to die here. I can’t believe I’ve survived Afghanistan and Iraq and and now I’m going to die on this main road in my home town at the hands of the police’.

“Yet I was the one who ended up in the dock, not the officers.”

Mark was convicted by magistrates of two counts of police assault – and his ordeal only ended when Crown Court judge John Phipps watched the damning footage and quashed the verdict on appeal.

He said: “I am shocked and appalled at the level of police violence shown here”, adding that he had “great concerns” about the footage and effectively branding the policemen liars by saying: “I would go as far as to say the statements (by the officers) contain untruths.”

After reading that story and watching the video, I have to ask, "Do these cops need tasers? That's three bad apples out of three apples. What kinds of taser abuses are about to visit the UK?"

Here in North America we were told that tasers would replace guns. In the UK, folks are being told that kinder, gentler tasers will replace the batons and pepper spray. What we've seen here, and what the UK will undoubtedly see variations of, are tasers being used in situations where guns would never, ever be used (See the links to the right for examples that include tasing already restrained suspects, tasing running children, tasing the mentally ill, etc.).

What the UK will have behind many of their tasers will be the same things North Americans have behind ours: angry and aggressive young men with a new tool to punish anyone they think has defied them. That's the reality of taser use.

Seriously, good luck to minorities and people in poor neighborhoods in the UK. You'll need it.

Tasing Truants

After investigating a purported robbery that turned out to be high school kids at a school skipping party, Rialto, CA police tased one teenaged party goer as he tried to evade them:

Police spotted one kid hiding under a car.

"He was ordered to surrender, resisted and was eventually taken into custody after police deployed the Electro- Muscular Disruption Device (Taser)," the news release said.

Lt. Joe Cirilo, the department's information officer, said he wasn't there but was told that when the kid crawled out from under the car, he took a combative stance.

They tasered the school-skipper, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, and it knocked him unconscious. They took him to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton for treatment and removal of one Taser dart. The release says nothing about his condition, but Cirilo said he was fine.

So let me get this straight. I'm supposed to believe that, in just a few seconds, a kid went from cowering under a car to being a menace so great that an officer was forced to use a taser? Please.

Someday I'll stop being surprised at these brave officers who put tasing teens early on their list of options.

Taser, That's a FAIL

A man in Florida was able to fend off taser probes three times, resulting in an officer drawing a gun:

At mile marker 383 southbound - between Archer and Williston roads - the truck crashed into the center guardrail that separates the southbound and northbound lanes. Chalker said Gomez broke out the driver side window of the truck and ran across the northbound lanes on the eastern shoulder of the freeway.

Chalker reportedly fired his Taser the first time when Gomez turned and began running toward him.

Gomez “hunched over, grabbed the Taser wires and ripped them out,” Chalker wrote in the arrest report. Gomex “again ran towards me. I reloaded a new cartridge and deployed again.”

Gomez fell to the ground after being hit a second time with the Taser. “But (he) was again able to rip off the Taser probes,” Chalker wrote. “I reloaded my last cartridge and deployed a third time,” but Gomez was able to roll and break the wires between the Taser’s probes and gun.

“Still fearing for my safety, I drew my firearm and ordered the defendant to the ground. The defendant finally complied and was restrained in handcuffs.”

Gomez was take to North Florida Regional Medical Center for treatment of his crash-related injuries before being booked into the Alachua County Jail. Gomez reportedly told Chalker that he had one or two beers and ran because he was “freaked out.”

I haven't read much in the way of failure rates for tasers. There are certainly enough news stories about their ineffectiveness in dangerous situations; if that's what's making it to the news, there are bound to be more field failures.

Coupling a chance of device failure with the numerous taser-proximal deaths results in a weapon I would want no part of carrying if I were an officer of the law. In other words, imagine you're a cop and you're told, "Here's this awesome new weapon. It's intent is to safely subdue extremely dangerous suspects. But, be aware that it might not work. In fact, it will probably require multiple applications to work at all. Oh, and bringing that up, you might want to know that there's a chance that the suspect could die sometime following those multiple, or even single, applications. There'll be a lot of bad press if that happens, but don't sweat it. The coroners and examiners have this awesome excited delirium thing worked up."

Seriously, what cop would want to carry one of these things after learning of its potential issues? Oh wait...

EAST BANK, W.Va. (AP) - A Kanawha County police officer has been fired after he admitted using a Taser on a pregnant teenager and a firefighter.

East Bank Mayor Chuck Blair says Sgt. Steve Smith was fired after the Town Council learned of the incidents in September. Smith had been on probation because he had not been an officer for more than a year.

Eighteen-year-old Candice White told the Council she was sitting on her porch when Smith, who is a friend of her mother, showed up and began playing around with the Taser. She says Smith used it on her leg several times.

Smith told the Council White had asked him to use the Taser on her and that the power setting was very low.

An East Bank volunteer firefighter also told the Council that Smith used the Taser on him because it was his birthday.

More Tasing Teens

I've just noticed two articles involving some big strong police officers tasing children.

The first incident comes from Wisconsin:

Eventually, the car, which had been stolen in Waupaca County a few hours earlier, was damaged so badly it stalled in the Waupun High School parking lot. The teens ran, but were soon caught. A Horicon officer chased the driver, 16, for several hundred yards, used a Taser on him and arrested him. The passenger, 14, was captured soon after by a Dodge County deputy.

The second occurred in Tennessee:

A verbal argument that started yesterday between two male students at Hixson High School ended today with the arrest of both. This morning the two students while in class became involved in an argument that resulted in the School Resource Officer being called to the classroom. He requested both students to stop the unruly behavior and while one complied with the request, the other did not.

The fourteen year old student refused to stop and became aggressive with Deputy Greg Carson who after repeated warnings, tazed the student. Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services was called to check the student as per policy.

Tasing a 14-year-old is so brave!

Aussie Taser Fun

There's a bit of a news storm going on in Australia as tasers make their way down under. As with Canada, and unlike here in America, tasers are making their way into Australian headlines.

Rough Ride

For several reasons, I wouldn't want to be a Taser International (TASR) shareholder. Putting aside being against people applying electrical current to each other willy-nilly (cause, you know, that's how tasers end up getting used), the stock's performance is pretty wild.

I keep reading taser fanboys assert that the company is solid, that everyone needs to relax and "go long," that the company has little debt, good leadership (Chortle, snort, I guess that's based on things like insiders buying tiny bits of stock), has beaten estimates, and that an untapped global market is just out there waiting. I wonder if by global market they mean places like Australia, where tasers are being greeted with public skepticism that wouldn't make me a comfortable shareholder (See excited-delirium).

Just how long will someone who bought Taser International shares a year ago, and is still holding, need to go? They've got a quite a loss to beat.

Of course, today could bring huge gains for TASR. But, it would need to be a big day indeed. One thing's for certain though. The ramblings of taser fanboys will continue. If only I could invest in that prospect!

Some Notes

I'm back. Some family matters have kept me from blogging for the past several months.

One thing I never got to post about is Los Angeles' August decision to move forward with the purchase and distribution of 1,250 model X-26 Tasers for the LAPD. The clerk notes on the approvals are here. The supporting PDF document contains these interesting tidbits (added emphasis is mine):

In a report to Council dated May B, 200B-(atlached to the Council file), the CAO states that the Police Department currently deploys approximately 750 M-26 TASERs for field and jail use. Because of the limited supply, the TASERs deployed in the field are kept in the kit rooms at Area stations until an immediate need for them is identified. Though this makes use of the M-26 somewhat inconvenient, there have still been more than 600 TASER incidents over the past three years.

The CAO reports that the newer X-26 TASER is 60 percent smaller than the M-26, uses a lithium energy cell rather than the eight AA batteries used by the M-26, and includes a low illumination light to facilitate use in low light. Due to the smaller size and weight, the X-26 can be worn on the standard issue belt as regular uniform equipment. This is anticipated to increase the usage of the TASER as a less-lethal weapon, rather than the firearm. [There's that tasers-replacing-guns falsehood. It's interesting that it's being used internally here as a selling point.] ...

At its meeting held August 4, 2008, the Public Safety Committee discussed the distribution of the X-26 TASERs with a representative of the Police Department. The Department representative stated that it was determined that the best way to distribute the new TASERs was to assign each unit to a police car. Division Watch Commanders will assign the X-26 TASERs according to highest need. Allocation will be reviewed, and if necessary adjusted, on a quarterly basis. Committee members expressed concerns regarding the Police Department's distribution plan. Specifically, a statement was made in favor of a standard, Department-wide distribution policy. Support was also expressed for "pooling" the TASER units to ensure maximum utilization. The Committee recommended that Council authorize the Police Department to proceed with the purchase of the X-26 TASER units, and to direct the Department to report back to the Public Safety Committee with a distribution plan prior to the units being assigned to the field.

So, the LAPD is set on making a concerted push for a stronger taser street presence. I haven't seen any new news about this since August, 08. If anyone has information, let me know; I'll update this post.

It also appears that Taser International is banking on more business in Southern California. This article reports the opening of a Los Angeles satellite office. Of course, there are many reasons for remote offices, but it is interesting.

Another thing I want to add is that yesterday was a national day of protest against California's Proposition 8. I went to the rally here in NYC to protest as well as to examine as many officers' belts as possible. Despite NYC's recent addition of thousands of new tasers, to my eye, they didn't have a visible presence at yesterday's protest or at this year's NYC pride. I plan to be vigilant on this front, attending LGBT events with my camera and camcorder.

Finally, if you haven't checked it out, the Taser International message board at Yahoo Finance is a hoot. The taser-fanboy/amateur investors vigorously, if brainlessly, defend their hero corporation and its stock. It's a laugh riot.

Actual Taser Uses

Again, they aren't being used as alternatives to firearms:

At 7 a.m., Kenefic noticed that McAllister was sleeping on the ground again, according to the internal affairs report.

That's when Kenefic decided to try something different.

He mentioned to a deputy nearby that he bet he could wake up the inmate with the sound of the stun gun cycling through.

Another deputy remembers Kenefic saying, "Watch this."

Kenefic, a three-year veteran of the agency, took out his Taser, removed the prongs, and walked across the floor to where McAllister was sleeping.

He bent down and let the Taser crackle for a few seconds.

Amazingly, it did not wake up the inmate.

Other detention deputies came over to find out what was going on. McAllister eventually did wake up; he was evaluated and found uninjured.

When Kenefic was confronted by internal affairs investigators, Kenefic said the inmate had been verbally abusive toward him the night before and that he never intended to harm the inmate.

It turns out, however, that you're not supposed to use the Taser willy-nilly.

The internal affairs investigators consulted Cpl. Timothy Knight, one of the trainers at the jail.

"A show of force cannot happen unless they are very close to active physical resistance," Knight said.

They asked Knight whether the Taser can be used for the sole purpose of intimidation.

"Absolutely not," Knight said.

Those last sentences provide a rare glimpse into police department guidelines for taser use. At least now we know that jail deputies in Pinellas are not suppossed to be using tasers to intimidate.

This is not the first problem with taser abuse in Pinellas county FL. They have been caught tasing an already restrained suspect and shooting a 75-year-old man with three tasers, two times each (now that's brave police work!).

There's No Doubt

A post tasing death in Moberly, MO is ruled a homicide:

The Randolph County coroner has ruled that the August death of a man whom Moberly police shocked twice with a Taser during a traffic stop was a homicide.

Gerald Luntsford said he would wait until receiving the results from a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation before releasing the exact cause of death for Stanley Harlan, 23, of Moberly. Luntsford said he expects that investigation to be complete soon.

I can only imagine what the results of that police lead investigation will be!

The article goes on to offer more details:

Luntsford said he could not disclose whether the use of the Taser killed Harlan. "There’s no doubt it contributed to it," the coroner said. "In a few days, we will have exactly what killed him."

Moberly police pulled Harlan over early Aug. 28 for driving his vehicle erratically and tried to arrest him on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Harlan resisted, and the arresting officer was able to get only one handcuff on him, police said.

An officer, whom police have not identified, deployed the Taser and forced Harlan to the ground. Police said that when Harlan refused orders to remove his arms from under his body, the officer deployed the Taser again, and Harlan complied.

Note that Harlan was tased a second time, not because he was coming at police with a weapon; he wasn't even on his feet. He was on the ground with his arms beneath him. If the police hadn't had tasers here, would they have shot Harlan? ... Tasers replacing guns my butt.

What followed the second taser shot was the infamous sequence of suspect tased, suspect died:

A short time later, Harlan became unresponsive and the four officers on the scene requested an ambulance. Harlan stopped breathing before paramedics arrived, and he was pronounced dead at Moberly Regional Medical Center. Boone County Medical Examiner Chris Stacy conducted the autopsy.

Busy

I'm having a busy few days in the meat world. Be sure to check out Excited-Delirium, Truth Not Tasers, and Tasered While Black. They're all good and worth visiting every day. If you're not worried about tasers, brutality committed by law enforcement, and a growing police state, you can't be paying attention.

In the works, I have a contribution to another site and some information on tasers in Los Angeles.

Tased Four Times, Now Dead

Another death following multiple tasings:

MIAMI — A Florida man is dead after being repeatedly shocked by a Taser stun gun.

Police say 45-year-old Kenneth Oliver of Miami-Dade showed up at a friend's home early Friday morning, shouting and banging on the front door.

The friend, Johnnie Mosely, told police he considered letting Oliver in, but his daughters were frightened by the way Oliver was acting.

Mosely called police and officers arrived several minutes later. Mosely says officers used a stun gun on Oliver at least four times.

Miami-Dade police say Oliver went into shock while he was in custody and was pronounced dead at a hospital later Friday morning.

Police spokesman Bobby Williams says the death is under investigation.

Is it ok yet to question how police use these pocket torture/random execution dispensers?

More Police Activity Caught On Camera

I saw the following clip first at Tasered While Black. It's video of police brutality that white people in affluent neighborhoods will never know (i.e., You'd never see Kattie from Bryn Mawr pulled from a vehicle and brutalized with a taser and thirteen punches.).

When do we take back the behavior of our public serveants?

Nugent Indicted

Scott Nugent was indicted yesterday on counts of manslaughter and official malfeasance for the death of Baron Pikes. Nugent tased an already handcuffed Pikes nine times. Pikes subsequently died from cardiac arrest.

There's no reason to tase someone in handcuffs nine times. I hope the jury is smart enough to keep that in mind. They'll probably have to hear plenty of Taser International-inspired expert witness testimony. I wonder if they'll be told that tasers are safer than Tylenol.

Another Death in Rockford

In June, a Rockford, Illinois man died after being tased three times while running from the police.

Last Sunday, August 10th, another man died after being tased for running away:

ROCKFORD —

Kiethedric Hines fought with police and fought for his life Sunday night. He lost both times.

The 31-year-old Rockford man was pronounced dead at Rockford Memorial Hospital’s emergency room shortly before 7 p.m. But why Hines died is unknown.

What is known is that Hines was shot at with a Taser gun. He was also showered with pepper spray in the face but was still conscious — and struggling with emergency workers — when he was taken to the emergency room after complaining about shortness of breath.

But whether it was the Taser, the pepper spray, the fighting, the running, a combination of those or something else entirely different, that ultimately led to his death remained unclear late Monday night.

“This is still an ongoing investigation,” Rockford police Chief Chet Epperson said during an afternoon news conference in the downtown Public Safety Building. “We have not drawn any conclusion that the cause (was related) to the Taser.”

Less lethal weapons

The use of the Taser, an electroshock weapon that several police departments employ as part of their less lethal arsenal, has become a focal point of the incident because of the uncertainty many, from international human rights groups to local lawmakers, feel about its safety.

Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, said he plans to call for a meeting with city officials to discuss the recent Taser-related deaths.

“If the consequences are going to continue to be death, and in a nonlife-threatening situation for (police), then we may need to look at other options,” he said.

The Rockford police chief arrogantly thinks that citizens - you know, the people who pay him and his force - have no rights to access taser usage policy, and he's not shy about letting a member of the press know it:

[Police chief] Epperson said the officers “responded appropriately” and “within department policy” in chasing and attempting to subdue Hines. He said department policy allows officers to use Tasers on fleeing suspects or when officers feel they are in danger.

He added that there are no plans to change the department policy of when Tasers can be used.

The chief would not, however, release a copy of the policy to the Rockford Register Star.

“We don’t do that, per city legal,” Epperson said. “You can (file a Freedom of Information request for) it, but it’ll be denied.”

That attitude is typical accross our great nation (Go ahead and try getting your hands on tasing policies or guidelines from any US city.). Welcome to America, the police state brought to you by Taser International.

Is The School Having a Weapons Problem?

Uniontown, PA wants to arm its school police with tasers. I'm sure that anyone concerned about the plan was put at ease by this statement from an external consultant:

Concerned parents and residents questioned the necessity of the devices at a public meeting Wednesday night, but a Cleveland consultant said in an interview Thursday that a Taser can be a "useful extra tool" for authorities as an alternative to a firearm in gaining control in a tense situation.

Beyond the annoyance of a private consultant going around charging school districts for information on new ways to inflict pain on children, the simple truth is this: unless the school has a large number of students pulling guns and knives (And if they do, where are their metal detectors?), the argument for tasers as an alternative to deadly force goes right out the window. We're left with taser use simply for the sake of inflicting severe pain to achieve compliance. That's also known as torture.

More Post Tasing Deaths

Two more taser-proximate deaths:

• One in Western PA (and here)
  
• One in Texas

The case in PA comes with an eye witness account of some severe police brutality. The case in Texas involves a suspect breaking into a senior's home. Both cases feature the sequence, "suspect tased, suspect dies."

Prison Death Trial

Deputy Stephen Krendick is on trial for the murder of an inmate in Ohio in 2006. Testimony from a pathologist who performed an autopsy on the victim offers shocking details about the abuse of a naked and already-restrained man:

Summit County Jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. suffered multiple anal injuries during his fatal 2006 struggle with sheriff's deputies from ''an object that has to be rigid and unforgiving,'' a medical examiner's official said Tuesday.

Demonstrating the injuries in a series of graphic autopsy photos — each magnifying the area of the injuries — the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on McCullaugh said there were three specific areas of impact into and against the anal sphincter muscle.

''The anal blood vessels are crushed and leaking blood into the tissues,'' Chief Deputy Medical Examiner George C. Sterbenz said as he narrated the photos with a red laser pointer. ...

Krendick, 35, is charged with one count of murder for the death of McCullaugh on Aug. 20, 2006, after a violent struggle in the inmate's cell in the jail's mental health unit.

Four other deputies indicted in connection with the case are scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Sterbenz did not identify the rigid object that he said caused the anal injuries, but in questioning by Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor John R. Kosko, Sterbenz did say that ''these were foreign-body, sodomy-type injuries.'' ...

In testimony that backed up previous Summit County autopsy findings, Sterbenz concluded his time on the stand for the state by describing the causes of McCullaugh's death.

Sterbenz said McCullaugh died from asphyxia resulting from the combined effects of chemical, electrical and mechanical restraints.

McCullaugh, who was shackled in a hogtied position, choked to death within ''minutes'' of being sprayed with ''a large amount'' of pepper spray, Sterbenz said.

Using his autopsy photos, Sterbenz also pointed out 10 distinct marks on McCullaugh's back from what he said were Taser stun-gun barbs.

In Monday's opening statements, Kosko said Krendick used an entire 16-ounce can of pepper spray, shooting it into McCullaugh's cell through an open flap in the cell door while McCullaugh was naked and restrained.

Note that this happened in the jail's mental health unit.

Things You Don't Read In The US

Editorials (e.g., here and here) unafraid to clearly stand at odds with the authorities. Here in the US we rarely have the luxury of a watchful media looking out for our civil liberties (let alone having widespread citizen oversight of police that would actually prevent abuse).

At best we get hand-wringing articles and opinion pieces from outlets, cowed by accusations of liberal bias, desperately clinging to the paradigm of presenting both sides of an issue, even when one side is ludicrous. Our police tase ad libitum - and that includes 11-year-olds - and our media stays silent because they are terrified of insulting our "heroes."

It's OK to be biased against an overused device, claimed to be safer than Tylenol, that randomly kills people.

Blogging Against Extra-Judicial Electrocution

Tasered While Black has a post up about blogging to get the word out against police gone wild with tasers.


It's a worthwhile effort, especially here in the US where the issue is barely in the larger media.

Other Things NYPD Cops Do

As someone who bikes almost daily in NYC, this one hits home:

A rookie NYPD cop was stripped of his badge and gun Monday after a stunning video caught him slamming a bicyclist to the ground in an apparent unprovoked attack.

Officer Patrick Pogan, 22, of the Midtown South Precinct, was bounced to desk duty soon after the video of Friday's incident in Times Square appeared on YouTube.

The victim was also a veteran. Olbermann tonight said that the cop is a former high school offensive linebacker. Figures.

And then there's this story that has video of a NYC cop wailing on a man's knee with a baton.

Oh, and there's this video of NYPD boys just being boys:


And on and on and on in America's melting pot.

Tasers in NC

I've been reading through a report (pdf file) published in April, 2008 by the North Carolina (NC) Taser Safety Project. It offers some very interesting county-by-county statistics on taser use and police department policies.

NC's lack of taser-related policy is alarming (and not likely limited to NC). Many counties have nothing in place and allow tasing of already-restrained suspects, the elderly, and pregnant women. The report is worth a read; data regarding tasers are difficult to come by.

Sadly, in the end, the NC Taser Safety Project was left to approach law enforcement agencies with their data and accept whatever responses the agencies offered. They were effectively turned away by the North Carolina Sheriff's Association.

It's clear from ever increasing taser use that the police are not going to autonomously develop acceptable policies for tasers. Change will require formal, transparent, community involved, and authoritative oversight. Expect more of the same until such oversight happens.

One other note of curiosity, the report doesn't examine racial and economic factors in taser use.

More Brave Tasing

I just saw this at Excited-Delirium, a site you should read. A 16-year-old boy suffering from a broken back due to a fall from a 30-foot overpass was tased multiple times for incoherently muttering about assaulting the police (emphasis added):

By the time officers arrived, the teen was off the 30-foot overpass, lying on the shoulder below along U.S. 65, with no good explanation as to how he got there.

“According to the doctors, all injuries are consistent with a fall,” said his aunt, Samantha.

Mace's dad believes it was just that, a fall, not a jump. The question is why.

“They tested his system. He was clean of drugs and alcohol. We don't know why unless just being in shock and the whole thing in itself caused him to forget everything,” said Hutchinson.

His aunt says he is undergoing major surgery for a broken back and broken heel. While he was lying on the ground, she wonders why Ozark police used an electric stun gun on him up to 19 times. [19 times! 19 times!]

“I'm not an officer, but i don't see the reason for ‘Tasering’ somebody laying there with a broken back. I don't consider that a threat,” ...

“He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, ‘Shoot cops, kill cops,’ things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers,” said Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset.

Police say although there are several unanswered questions; the reason for the use of a stun gun is not one of them.

“It's a big concern for the officers to keep this guy out of traffic, to keep him from getting hurt,” said Rousset.

Those last bits are rich. The cops don't really care about investigating why the taser was used. Remember that the next time you read someone spouting that police don't require external oversight.

The last paragraph is especially insane. They cops had to tase, about 19 times, a 16-year-old boy with a broken back to keep him out of traffic!!!! God that's some brave police work.

Not The Knife

I want to clarify something from my earlier post about the 17-year-old in Winnipeg who is dead after being tased.

Whether or not the 17-year-old victim was charging officers with a knife matters only as to whether the police were trying to act appropriately or not (i.e., Were they trying to use what they thought was a safe alternative to their gun or were they trying to punish someone for misbehaving?). The knife doesn't matter, even a little, when it comes to this sequence: suspect is tased, police immediately see the need to attempt resuscitation, suspect dies.

That sequence obviously has nothing to do with knives. The knife is a red herring that distracts from the issue of a taser not being as safe as its manufacturer claims.

I read an editorial yesterday (it's seriously not worth the link-love) that essentially argues that if someone dies after police tasing, the death is only the outcome of their choice to gamble with the law; if you mess with the law, you deserve whatever you get. It's a naive opinion that's out of touch the realities of what happens in spaces other than those occupied by comfortably plump opinion makers.

The idea that suspects deserve whatever they get and its companion opinion that we must support our boys in blue under any and all circumstances have several frightening features. They accept the police using scrutiny-free deadly force in any situation. They stand on the footing that the police can never be wrong. They don't care about the hundreds of deaths that have followed taser use. They don't care about cops tasing children, people running, mentally ill people, or people with increased sensitivities to tasers (which could be a large population indeed). They especially don't care about tasers being used disproportionately in minority neighborhoods. They are opinions based in the luxury of never having had an encounter with a bad cop (and yes Virginia, they do exist).

No matter how much you love tasers and the police, and are rubbed the wrong way by people calling for their examination, there is no sturdy moral defense for giving cops a weapon that randomly dispenses an in-the-street death sentence.

So yeah, it's not the knife. As with all of the incidents it's: suspect tased, suspect dies.