Original Article Police expand use of Taser Safety questions create call for restrictions on stun gun Robert Anglen The Arizona Republic Nov. 7, 2004 12:00 AM Tasers have replaced batons, chemical spray and physical restraint as the weapons of choice for Phoenix police. The electric stun guns are touted by law enforcement authorities as a safe, non-lethal alternative to using a gun in a violent confrontation. But an Arizona Republic analysis of police reports of Taser-related incidents from 2003 found that Phoenix police were far more likely to use the stun guns to make someone obey orders at a traffic stop than to bring down an armed robber. advertisement Officers used Tasers repeatedly last year as compliance tools, to avoid chases and physical confrontations. The officers shocked people who made threatening gestures, tried to run away or would not follow commands to raise hands, turn around or lie on the ground. With medical examiners finding that Tasers may have played a role in the deaths of eight people around the country, ethical, legal and procedural concerns are being raised about the guns' use in situations involving drunken drivers, shoplifters, family fights and the mentally ill. At the heart of many of these concerns is the potential liability for a police department or city in an expensive wrongful-death suit. "This is one of those new-frontier issues. It is possible that police departments have rushed in too quickly," says Samuel Walker, a use-of-force expert and criminal-justice professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. "(Police) are overlooking the fact that these weapons do pose risks." Phoenix police officers say the risk of injury and death is minuscule. They say Tasers have reduced injuries to officers and suspects and saved lives, and are not being used indiscriminately as a shortcut to good police work. The stun guns have been credited with reducing police shootings in cities across the country. In Phoenix, the number of police shootings dropped to its lowest point in 13 years after Tasers were issued to all patrol officers in 2003. "(Taser) is the most humane weapon, the most humane tool we have," Phoenix Sgt. Randy Force says. "It would probably be my first weapon of choice." Rick Smith, chief executive officer of Scottsdale's Taser International Inc., says Tasers give police instant control over suspects, ending confrontations before they erupt in violence. "The idea is that if they are going to use force on somebody, Taser is the first, best option," Smith says. "Everything else is more likely to cause injury." Despite those successes, some major cities have begun restricting Taser use, citing concerns over a growing number of deaths and controversial stun-gun shootings. Just last week, police officers in Las Vegas were banned from using the stun guns on handcuffed prisoners and discouraged from applying direct multiple shocks. More than 5,000 police agencies, including 108 in Arizona, have armed their officers with Tasers. Phoenix was the first major metropolitan police force to deploy Tasers to all of its officers. Examining how the gun is used here provides a glimpse of the weapon's use across the country. Records show that Phoenix police shocked 377 people with the stun gun last year. The Republic's analysis of use-of-force records shows that in nearly nine out of 10cases, individuals did not threaten police with weapons: A shoplifter who stole four cans of soup from a Food City and fled on a bike was tracked by helicopter and shocked when officers dragged him to the ground. A 15-year-old boy at Alhambra High School was shocked in the back when he told officers he would fight if they attempted to arrest him on a marijuana charge. A drunk who ignored repeated commands to leave a Dunlap Avenue bar was shocked in the back as he walked away. Cities where Tasers are used for compliance purposes are vulnerable to expensive lawsuits, says Virginia police consultant James Ginger, who has monitored police department reform efforts for the U.S. Department of Justice. "At this point, police agencies need to be taking a hard look at their (Taser) policies," he says. "We've had enough incidents in the past to know that it is potentially lethal." Most departments bought Tasers to avoid lethal confrontations, but Ginger says the stun guns are regularly used to circumvent arguments, chases and potential fights. "When you see what is happening with Tasers across the country, it is fairly clear it is not being used as it was meant to be . . . as an alternative to deadly force," he says. The legal standard is easy to understand. Ginger says that if it can be proved that a police agency knew the gun had the potential to take a life and didn't restrict its use to life-threatening situations, then a court could hold police liable. "It is not that we should take the Taser away and tell officers not to use it," Ginger says. "Most departments have Taser in the wrong place on the use-of-force (scale)." Although departments are slow to change, he anticipates that within five years, most will have rewritten policies and Tasers will no longer be used in routine situations. For some departments, it is already too late. This fall, a New York family filed a series of lawsuits seeking $1 billion in damages from the Southampton Village Police, Suffolk County and Taser over the death of a mentally ill man shocked repeatedly during a struggle with officers who were trying to stop him from yelling in the middle of a street. Jennifer Nye, an advocate for mentally ill people in Arizona, says Tasers have become a cure-all for police officers confronted with situations they can't control. In Phoenix last year, police used Tasers 48 times on mentally ill people, in situations ranging from attempted suicides to strange and disturbing behavior, according to The Republic's analysis of the police records. "Taser, from my understanding, is a tool to prevent suspect deaths and officer deaths," says Nye, a lawyer with the Arizona Center for Disability Law in Tucson. "Now it is being used strictly to gain compliance." Nye points to a May incident in which a Tucson police sergeant shocked a 9-year-old girl who was already in handcuffs. The girl, a runaway psychiatric patient from a children's home, was screaming, flailing and kicking at the back window of a patrol car. Police say the girl, who had a history of aggressive behavior, immediately calmed down after being shocked and was not injured. Nye says the girl should not have been shocked. Police praise stun gun Phoenix commanders and tactical training officers say the stun gun is not used indiscriminately. They say officers are using Tasers exactly as they were trained. "The perception is that police officers should be able to handle any situation with bare hands," Force says. "There is no feasible way to train for that." He points out that Tasers were used repeatedly last year to stop suicides and thwart violent and dangerous criminals. One case involved an enraged suspect who was bashing out the window of a car on Edgemere Street with a small ax. The suspect begged an officer to shoot: "Put a round through me," he said. The officer, holding his sidearm in one hand and his Taser in the other, tried to talk the suspect down. When the suspect raised the ax to head height and took a menacing step forward, the officer fired his Taser to end the standoff. Taser's biggest selling point is the stun gun's reputation for reducing police shootings. Police departments from Washington to Florida have reported dramatic drops in shootings since issuing Tasers to officers. In 2003, for the first time in more than a decade, both Seattle and Miami did not have a single fatal police shooting. In Phoenix, the officer-involved shooting rate in 2002 was 2 times the rate in Los Angeles. Phoenix police shot 28 people; 13 died. In 2003, the year Tasers were deployed to all patrol officers, police shootings dropped by 54 percent to 13, the lowest number since 1990. Nine were fatal. "This is the best piece of equipment that has come along in my 28 years in law enforcement," says Jake Jacobsen, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. Records examined In The Republic's analysis of Taser usage in 2003, those life-threatening situations were the exception, not the rule. Phoenix police used the stun gun more often to get someone into handcuffs or to stop someone from struggling. "That indicates (Tasers) may well be overused," says the University of Nebraska's Walker, who worked with the Phoenix Police Department this year to develop a system for tracking problem officers. "This is a new technology. Most of what we know about it is anecdotal." He praises the department for adopting an alternative to deadly force. But he stresses that Tasers should be used only for that purpose, not to shortcut arrests and force suspects to do as they are told. Virtually all of the scientific and medical information about Tasers comes from the manufacturer. Walker says no independent studies have examined Taser's potential effect on the body. "Until we know exactly what the risks are, we need to make sure Taser use is controlled," he said. Phoenix police are authorized to use Tasers on anyone whose "physical actions" prevent an officer from taking control of a situation, even if there is no attempt to harm the officer. Guidelines say Tasers are supposed to be used when verbal commands and hand techniques such as wristlocks and pressure points fail to work. Of the 377 cases, Phoenix police records show: 197 people were shocked before police attempted any other kind of physical restraint. 150 were shocked two or more times before being arrested. 127 were shocked after they were on the ground. 10 were shocked while in handcuffs. Officers used stun guns last year more than they used batons, chemical spray, physical force and firearms combined. Records show that the number of incidents in which police used some type of force went up 22 percent after Tasers were issued to all patrol officers. This happened while the use of every other weapon decreased. Tactical training officer Jason Toth says the numbers don't reflect the violence of each encounter. He says Tasers give officers a non-lethal edge over aggressors, and police are using it. "Statistics will never show that the suspect's intent was to hurt or kill the officer. We know we are stopping that," Toth says. "Taser is not the answer to everything. . . . It is a beautiful addition to our arsenal." Safety questioned Taser International's stun gun became part of law enforcement's arsenal in 1999. The Scottsdale manufacturer said its newly developed weapon provided instant incapacitation without injury. Officers who experienced the gun's 50,000-volt shock became its biggest promoters, and demand sent company stock soaring. But public records show Tasers may have contributed to several deaths. The Republic, using computer searches, autopsy reports, police reports, media reports and Taser's own records, has identified 73 deaths that followed police Taser strikes in the United States and Canada since 1999. Medical examiners have linked eight of those deaths to Tasers. In six cases, examiners cited the stun gun as a cause or a contributing factor in a death. In two cases, medical examiners could not rule out the stun gun as a cause. Taser disputes those findings. Taser's Smith says most medical examiners don't have the experience to examine fatalities following a shock from a stun gun. Taser's own medical experts say the cases mirror deaths in police custody not involving the Taser. They say the suspects likely would have died with or without the Taser. None of the eight deaths linked to the stun gun involved situations in which police likely would have resorted to using deadly force. Seven were unarmed when officers shocked them, mostly for refusing to obey commands or resisting arrest. Two were shocked in jails and two were shocked when they struggled with emergency rescue crews who had been called to help them. Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Denver, believes the stun gun has led to deaths. But he says police departments are repeatedly assured by the manufacturer that the stun gun is safe. The safety claims, he says, "contribute to police officers using the gun. You shouldn't use it when grabbing someone by the arm and using loud commands would take care of the situation." Even if questions were not being raised about Taser safety, Silverstein says he would still want to limit its use because of the potential of excessive force. "There would still be tremendous concerns about using the device in (all) situations," he says. "It is delivering 50,000 volts of electricity. It is delivering overwhelming, unbearable and excruciatingly intense pain." Silverstein's research has prompted the ACLU to ask police departments in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii and Rhode Island to limit use of the stun gun. Human rights group Amnesty International has called for a nationwide moratorium of the stun gun until independent medical studies prove it is safe. Taser officials say police have used the stun gun on more than 45,000 suspects without incident. "What is the right solution?" Smith asks. "That's where I have the biggest issue with some of these groups; they criticize everything. Sometimes you don't have good options." He says Amnesty and the ACLU focus on a small fraction of cases that don't show the full picture of Taser use. Based on reports the company has received from police departments nationwide, Smith estimates the stun gun has saved 4,000 lives. "I have a 15-year-old daughter," he says. "And I can tell you if she was caught shoplifting and she wanted to fight with police, I hope they would hit her with a Taser. I know it is less likely that she is going to get injured than if they fight with her." Peoria man's experience Peoria resident Joe Lucero says he thought he was going to die when a Phoenix officer shocked him during a traffic stop in May 2003. "I was really out of it," says Lucero, a 27-year-old father of four. "It left scars on my back." Police reports show Lucero was driving on a suspended license when, according to officers, his vehicle sped past a group of kids near Indian School Road and 73rd Avenue. By the time police caught up to him, Lucero was already out of his car and walking away. Officer James Byrd wrote in his report that Lucero became belligerent when he was ordered to stop, demanding to know what officers wanted. "I noticed a small knife in a leather sheath attached to Joe's waistband," Byrd wrote. "I ordered Joe to turn around and place his hands on the top of his head." Lucero, who is a carpenter and uses the knife for work, says he had no idea what police wanted. "They just pulled up on me," Lucero says. "They didn't have lights on or anything. Then they grabbed me and yeah, I admit it, I pulled away." Byrd reports that Lucero also attempted to run away. That's when officers forced him to the ground. "I told Joe at least three times to stop resisting. I also told Joe at least three times that he was under arrest," Byrd stated in the report. "I told Joe that if he did not stop resisting, he would be Tased." Lucero says he was still demanding to know what officers wanted when Byrd shocked him. "I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm being Tased,' " Lucero says. "You can't do anything. You can't comprehend anything. All you are trying to do is stop the pain." Byrd says Lucero refused to comply with orders and continued resisting. "All you want is to make it stop," Lucero says. "But that's all it was. I wasn't resisting. I wasn't doing anything. You don't have the ability to think." Lucero says the shocks lasted about 15 seconds, and he believes that he stopped breathing while it was happening. "I calmed myself down," he says. "I admit I was doing something wrong. But that didn't give them the right to do that to me." Lucero was arrested on one count of resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license, false reporting, displaying fictitious plates, failing to provide identification and for two outstanding misdemeanor traffic warrants. "All it resulted in was a ticket," Lucero says. "I paid the fine and that was it." Stun guns vs. batons The degree of force officers use depends on the circumstances they encounter. Options are weighed on a "use-of-force continuum," a scale that balances the level of threat with a likelihood of injury. At one end is officer presence, where the mere sight of an officer can resolve a potential conflict. Deadly force is at the other end. Phoenix police describe Taser as a less-lethal weapon that is listed just above chemical spray on the department's continuum. Next come intermediate-control techniques such as closed-fist strikes, kicks, baton and flashlight strikes, and use of canines and bean-bag shotguns. The last two options are carotid control, a chokehold that renders suspects unconscious, and deadly force. "We are in the business of lives and the protection of lives," says Toth, a 17-year veteran of the Phoenix force. "We have a job to do. We are going to do everything we can to put that suspect in custody." Tasers give officers a degree of safety they didn't have before, primarily because they can remain distanced from a combative suspect. "I like it better than a baton. . . . Batons can be effective, but I have to get close," Toth says. "Stun (bean) bags are effective, but you can wear Taser on your belt." He insists Tasers are also safer for suspects, including mentally ill people, who present officers with extra challenges. Before Tasers, police would often close in with batons or attempt to tackle violent suspects. "There are pressure points, knee strikes, radial nerves . . . but once again, we run the risks of officers hurting themselves or hurting suspects," he says. "Once again, we're talking about which would you prefer?" Toth says it gives officers a level of control that goes beyond tools that rely solely on pain compliance, such as a baton. He says there are plenty of suspects who are able to fight through the pain of chemical spray or a baton strike. "It is not going to stop you from wanting to hurt me. But you can't," says Toth, who experienced a five-second Taser shock during a training exercise and has no interest in repeating it. "With Taser, I'm getting control of the nervous system and the muscular system." Toth says stun guns are constantly being monitored and policies can be changed if problems are detected. But that wouldn't be his recommendation now. Tasers face restrictions Questions over deaths and controversial stun-gun shootings have prompted some departments to review and rewrite Taser policies. After officers in Kansas City shocked a 68-year-old woman twice this summer for honking her horn at their car, the police chief announced Tasers would be used only in cases in which suspects offered active resistance. Officers were given additional training, and a commander is now required to review every discharge of a Taser. Portland, Ore., which had no restriction on Taser use, now prohibits firing the gun at someone's head or face. Police are instructed to consider other options before shocking pregnant women, children and the elderly. Officers also need permission from an incident commander before shocking demonstrators. Denver's police chief revamped his department's Taser policy this fall after becoming concerned about the number of drug suspects who have died shortly after being shocked. The new policy prohibits using Tasers on suspects who are not active aggressors, meaning they have committed assault or pose an immediate threat of assault. The deaths of four people following police Taser strikes in British Columbia, Canada, prompted a police commissioner this month to call for a standard province-wide Taser training course and mandatory reporting of all Taser discharges. Police Complaints Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld said Tasers present an acceptable level of risk, but he reported concerns over inconsistent policies from department to department. Phoenix resists change The police union in Phoenix is prepared to fight any attempt to reclassify Taser as a deadly weapon. "We're very concerned that there could be a real groundswell or grass-roots effort," he says. "It would be a real detriment to law enforcement." Jacobsen says reclassifying the stun gun would effectively stop officers from using it. He says officers would face an increased possibility of criminal prosecution and civil suits. "If it is classified as a lethal weapon, can you imagine an officer being grilled on the stand by some defense attorney?" Jacobsen says. It would also force police departments to launch investigations similar to those required after a police shooting. Now, officers notify all supervisors about all Taser discharges and detail the circumstances. On average, Phoenix police shock more than one person a day. Since 2002, two people have died in the city following a Taser strike. Neither death has been found to have been caused by the stun gun, Jacobsen said. "We have gotten away from batons. We have gotten away from pepper spray," he says. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon sees no reason to restrict Tasers. "The Police Department continues to recommend it, as does the police union," he says. "It is a tool that has allowed our police to avoid deadly shootings." Gordon says he is willing to trade the small risk of death that may be posed by the stun guns for the safety they provide. "The potential for death always gives me pause. But if a weapon has to be used by an officer in a split-second decision, I've got to believe everyone is better off with Taser," he says. "Certainly, Tasers can lead to deaths. The odds of that occurring are much, much less than with a gun." Gordon says there is no such thing as a routine arrest. Every domestic-violence call, traffic stop or police struggle can turn deadly. "We just had an officer shot three times on a traffic stop," he says. Officers should have the discretion to use Tasers or any other weapon as long as it falls within policy. Unless someone is abusing Tasers, Gordon says, "I don't see the problem." Reach the reporter at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or at (602) 444-8694.