Tasers
I was one of the earlier critics of police use of Tasers. Mostly because the perception that they were non-lethal (which is not always true) would lead to their more widespread use. Now, a study from the American Journal of Cardiology:
The rate of in-custody sudden death increased 6.4-fold (95% confidence interval 3.2-12.8, p = 0.006) and the rate of firearm death increased 2.3-fold (95% confidence interval 1.3–4.0, p = 0.003) in the in the first full year after Taser deployment compared with the average rate in the 5 years before deployment. In years 2 to 5 after deployment, rates of the 2 events decreased to predeployment levels. We observed no significant change in the rate of serious OIs after Taser deployment. In conclusion, although considered by some a safer alternative to firearms, Taser deployment was associated with a substantial increase in in-custody sudden deaths in the early deployment period, with no decrease in firearm deaths or serious OIs.
I think it’s a bit premature to blame Tasers. After all, the time periods involved also coincide with more aggressive police tactics.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:58 am
I don’t think it’s a matter of “blame”…I think it’s a matter of perception and practice.
The perception is that Tasers were introduced to be used as a less lethal alternative to the firearm.
In practice, that’s not what happens. Tasers are not generally used to subdue a suspect armed with a weapon, they are used to subdue unarmed suspects as an alternative to physical contact. They are an alternative to OTHER non-lethal means of force, not an alternative to MORE lethal means of force.
Of course, tasers were sold to the public as “less lethal alternatives” to firearms, but that’s simply not how they are used…which is (partially) why the use of firearms by police has not declined.
The Police mindset has changed over the years. I’m generalizing so, of course, there will be exceptions. In the past, Police saw themselves as public servants, They considered it their responsibility to put themselves on the line to protect and defend the public.
The more modern mindset is “safety first”. Their primary mission is not to protect and serve, but to make it home at the end of the day. This is completely understandable, and I’m not saying necessarily that it is the wrong mindset, only that it leads to Police placing more emphasis on their own safety than on that of the public…which is how we end up with an active shooter inside a building on a college campus executing students at his leisure while the cops hide behind trees outside the building waiting for the SWAT team to show up.
Oh…and cops using tasers to subdue mentally challenged middle aged women for the heinous crime of playing their music too loud while exercising in the median of a busy road.
January 30th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Look at this from the criminal perspective. The qWould you rather be shot or tasered? That is the question presented to violent criminals upon arrest, and after a year of learning, the criminals decided tasering was less harmful to them.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Blaming the taser is like blaming the gun.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I’ve been an officer for nearly three years and have only tased one person – a guy who beat another guy up and then ran as I arrived on scene. He was faster than me and much bigger than me, and I felt like if I did not tase him I would either (a) never catch him or (b) if I did, end up having to shoot him because I wouldn’t be able to win a physical fight. (I am 5’3″ tall and 115 pounds.)
It worked perfectly. He sustained no injuries aside form the probe points of impact, which is about the same as a needle prick – I was tased and know this from personal experience. He was charged with assault, and the victim was happy he was apprehended.
There’s been other occasions where I’ve “used” it simply by saying “look, am I going to have to use this taser?” without even touching it.
I’m very grateful to have it because due to my size I have far fewer intermediate force options than the 6’7″/250 guys on my team. We don’t carry batons, so without the taser, you have physical strength, pepper spray, and a gun. That generally limits *me* to pepper spray and a gun. This validates the point Sailorcurt makes in his third paragraph. But frankly I don’t want to be the reason officer-involved shootings skyrocket in my town. Some would say that means I shouldn’t be an officer in the first place – but I have some of the best verbal skills in the department and have significantly fewer uses of force comparable to other officers. Point of all that being, it’s the taser that allows me to continue doing my job a whole lot more safely (for me AND the public) than I could without it.
I wonder if some of those earlier deaths weren’t from a time when we didn’t know much about Excited Delerium, or positional asphyxiation. Now those things are a part of every training class.
January 30th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Not blaming the tool. Seems mostly to me that there have been a few widely publicized cases of taser use that weren’t justified.
January 30th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Sorry, but I have to get off of the Taser topic for a moment.
Sailorcurt said:
“we end up with an active shooter inside a building on a college campus executing students at his leisure while the cops hide behind trees outside the building waiting for the SWAT team to show up.”
I assume this is in reference to Virginia Tech. It’s also absolutely wrong.
Please read the timeline from the report on Virginia Tech. It’s available here. Specifically, look at page 7 of the PDF that link takes you to.
“9:45 a.m. The first police officers arrive at Norris Hall, […] rush to one entrance, then another, and then a third but find all three chained shut. Attempts to shoot open the locks fail.” (emphasis added)
and on page 8:
“9:50 a.m. Using a shotgun, police shoot open the ordinary key lock of a fourth entrance to Norris Hall that goes to a machine shop and that could not be chained. The police hear gunshots as they enter the building. They immediately follow the sounds to the second floor.”
The news cameras didn’t get there until 10-15 minutes into the incident. That’s when all the footage of officers outside was filmed. Yes, they were securing the perimeter… BECAUSE OTHER OFFICERS WERE ALREADY INSIDE!
I don’t know if you’re familiar with Norris Hall, but 5 minutes is about the right amount of time to run around the building to try the main entrances, and then figure out where else you might be able to get inside. The ground floor windows are not an option. They have metal panes, and the windows themselves are very narrow. I doubt a full grown man in a ballistic vest and a gunbelt could squeeze through easily, if at all, and it would be stupid to try when you don’t know if the gunman could come into that room while you’re halfway through.
I’m sorry if I come off as ranting here, but I’ve seen this same sentiment in several blog comments before, and I can’t let it go unanswered anymore. It pisses me off, because it ascribes cowardice where none exists, because it’s WRONG, because it’s based on MSM misinformation, and because the facts can be easily checked by anyone interested.
January 30th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I’m a little biased on the subject since I’m a Taser Master Instructor (I teach the Instructor level class) and am a cop with 34 years service. We’ve exposed (the technical term) over 200,000 people in training classs and conferences, almost all were cops of varying age and levels of physical fitness. Some exposures have ran as long as 45 seconds. If the Taser was harmful, we’d have killed someone in training by now. The term Less Lethal doesn’t mean it won’t kill you, just that it is designed not to. The in custody deaths I’m familiar with are the result of drug overdoses combined with the exertion of struggling/fighting with other civlians or the cops.
And for what its worth, doctrine in Active Shooter calls since Columbine is to make entry ASAP even for lone officers. The sad fact is they are over before the cops can get to them, which, to me, is a stellar argument for awful handgun carry everywhere.