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TechnoratiAmnesty Warns Against 'Potentially Lethal' Tasers
LONDON - Amnesty International warned Tuesday against a proliferation of Taser stun guns, saying they were responsible for dozens of deaths in the United States and should only be used in extreme cases.
![[File photo of a British police officer holding a taser gun during a training session in Gravesend, Kent. Amnesty International warned Tuesday against a proliferation of Taser stun guns, saying they were responsible for dozens of deaths in the United States and should only be used in extreme cases. (AFP/File/Carl de Souza)
]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/tasers-1216.jpg "tasers-1216.jpg")
In a report entitled "'Less than lethal?' The use of stun weapons in US law enforcement," the London-based human rights group urged governments to either limit their deployment to life-threatening situations or to suspend their use.
Industry claims that so-called "Conducted Energy Devices" are safe and non-lethal do not stand up to scrutiny, it said.
Amnesty said 334 people had died in the United States between 2001 and August 2008 after being zapped with Tasers, with medical examiners and coroners concluding that Taser shocks caused, or contributed to, at least 50 of the deaths.
"Tasers are not the 'non-lethal' weapons they are portrayed to be," said Angela Wright, the Amnesty researcher who wrote the report. "They can kill and should only be used as a last resort."
"The problem with Tasers is that they are inherently open to abuse, as they are easy to carry and easy to use and can inflict severe pain at the push of a button, without leaving substantial marks," she said.
"We are very concerned that electro-shock weapons such as Tasers have been rolled out for general use before rigorous, independent testing of their effects."
Darts fired by the Taser pack a 50,000-volt punch that can paralyse targets from 10 yards (metres) away.
Used in many countries, including Britain, Canada , France and the United States, Tasers are seen as a less dangerous alternative to using firearms.
Amnesty said a review of death cases suggested that Taser shocks "may exacerbate cardio-respiratory problems in individuals whose health is already compromised by drug abuse, exertion, heart disease, psychosis or positional restraint."
"Some of those who died had no underlying disease or drugs in their system, but collapsed after being subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks and/or shocks to the chest, heightening concern that these factors may increase a risk of death or injury, even in relatively healthy individuals."
"Amnesty International considers that enough information is already available to indicate that such devices are potentially lethal," it said, adding that Tasers had been used against pregnant women, schoolchildren and elderly people suffering from dementia.
At the end of November, Amnesty criticised the British government's decision to equip police in England and Wales with 10,000 Tasers, following earlier trials. Regular British officers do not carry guns.
Last Friday, prosecutors in Canada opted not to press charges against four police officers seen on video jolting a Polish immigrant with a Taser in Vancouver airport in October 2007. The 40-year-old man died within minutes.
22 Comments so far
Show AllTasers, generally speaking, are a tool for the weak and cowardly or robotic enforcer; a tool that is increasingly used as a compliance or precautionary (for the enforcer) measure.
Its original purpose was for a less lethal alternative to a gun but is now a casual alternative to communication and professional policing -it's a first resort rather a than last before firearm deployment.
To all those who feel that many more than the 334 mentioned here would have been killed by gunfire you might want to think for a moment how the majority of police in countries such as the UK and New Zealand get by with no guns.
Also how do those nurses in mental hospitals seem to manage with disturbed patients? They don't have guns or tasers do they?
Tasers are for wimps.
Don't bother about BigVTwin. His day will come as it will for all of us. When asked what it was like to serve a few months in prison, Tommy Chong replied, "You'll find out, don't worry."
ekaton, aka littleVtwin (sportster)
Really dude, is that neccessary? All Im saying is that not all cops are evil, an idea so many are quick to ascribe to. Sorry, I think its wrongheaded and ridiculous. There are bad cops, just as there are bad teachers, just as there are bad politicians and bad laborers. Does that mean we hate all teachers? no, laborers? no, politicians? ...ok maybe.
but I digress - not all cops are bad. Not all taser use is bad. like the cops, 334 deaths suggests to me that in most cases, its used properly and with little risk.
OK.
-- EKATON --
having read your comments on the Critical Mass altercation in NY and your characterization of cops as pigs, I at least know where you're coming from.
God, are we crazy?
There are now thousands of unreported instances where the police used their tasers without justification. The Media downplays the 334 deaths as if it were "Collateral Damage".
Get your heads out of your butts. The U.S. Army assigned a brigade to "Homeland Security" and they were being trained in the use of the taser for crowd control.
You are not going to be allowed to protest the "Privatization" of the U.S. Treasury and the theft of over 2 TRILLION DOLLARS for the "Bailout" of American Investment Banks. No more protests allowed, anyone protesting will be called a "Domestic Terrorist".......The Bush/Cheney Rules of Law still exist.
Is Big V Twin just big and dim? Please read,
"Our Enemies in Blue" by Kristian Williams. One must understand the beast before one starts to approving the weapons being passed out, any of them!
Im actually very far from dense but the difference between you and I is that I don't see the police as our 'enemies.' They have a very difficult job to do and about 99% of them do an admirable job worthy of our respect and admiration.
To the tasers, while 334 deaths is unfortunate (47/yearly), I tend to think we'd be adding a lot more bodies to the pile if the officers had to revert to their firearm on all incidents.
Tasers like our government is simply out of control. The Laser lobbyists have
won another war against us. Halliberton and their detention centers are next.
All moves to control us completly..
"Tasers like our government is simply out of control"
I agree with you here Freddie.
Press TV - Sarkozy escapes a 'Taser gun' attack
Sarkozy wants to arm a quarter French poliecmen with Tasers but arrests the man who shows up with one. Go figure.
How about weeding out the psychos and sociopaths from the police departments instead? Police brutality is endemic already - why give them another weapon to intimidate and torture innocent people - that is who bullies usually pick on...
Im all for weeding out bad cops, all it takes is one cop to make an entire force full of good cops look like thugs.
We're on the same page. Lethal or non-lethal tools must be kept out of the hands of abusive people, cops or otherwise. Well-adjusted people will not torture others, or mis-use either guns or tasers. It's the person, not the instrument, that counts.
exactly. I think Tasers are a great advance in non-lethal technology and have enormous potential in terms of keeping cops AND civilians safe from lasting physical harm and the inevititable lawsuits associated with injuries from firearms, clubs and other tools at their disposal.
I am against cops who abuse their authority - ie the idiot in NYC who pushed the Critical Mass idiot (not a fan of them) off his bike unprovoked....but I feel the insistence by AI to cease all Taser use is extreme.
Yeah, they'd be reasonable because that number tells me that in all likelyhood they'd be alive. IM not disputing they are misused nor do I think the cops shouldnt be reigned in regarding how they are used, but at the same time, to say not to use them is foolhardy and limits the options of the police.
so in other words, Amnesty International would prefer that officers used .40 hollow points as opposed to TASERS? Am I reading this right? Sorry to sound harsh, but 334 deaths isn't that many compared to how many the device has likely spared, the officer's lives notwithstanding.
There are other means of arrest and detention that will lead to the aggravation of a pre-existing cardiac condition. They include being shot with beanbag rounds, being clubbed or just struggling with police - in boston, we had a 23 year old die after the Celtics victory when he struggled with police. Excessive force was not used and the BPD does not yet have TASER in its arsenal due to budget restrictions.
With just 334 deaths, I think this is a reasonable chance to take on the streets. The only backward thing about the device is that MA has not made them legally available to its citizenry - frankly, I'd rather investigate those bumps in the night than with a .357 - liability.
Big,
The problem is that police buy into the notion of an unwritten no touch policing policy. The case in Canada (Vancouver) clearly shows that police really did not have to kill that unfortunate disorientated man. Make no mistake about it, these weapons are lethal. We don't need scientific evidence to support this conclusion just common sense. There are risks involved in policing and those who are not comfortable with these risks should consider another line of work.
" I'd rather investigate those bumps in the night than with a .357 - liability."
Actually I prefer a Remington 870 pump action. Worry about the liability later. (lol)
There has been much needless use of Tasers. A Pennsylvania man, asleep on his own sofa, was tasered in order to awaken him. Once awake he was tasered again. He had come home in the wee hours of the morning. A neighbor reported someone breaking into the victim's house, without first verifying who exactly was entering the residence. The police simply tasered the man and asked questions later. Taser's are supposed to be used in place of guns. Would the police, without Tasers, simply have shot the man? What if the man died? What if he was your father or brother or uncle? Would this 1 out of 334 deaths been a "reasonable" one for you?
-- EKATON --
EKATON,
What you are describing is an abuse of power, not a failure of technology. If the police in the case you mentioned had awakened the sleeping man by hitting him with a nightstick, that would have been inappropriate too.
Tasers are overused, no question. I think that police need to be taught when they should an should not be used. That said, their use has undoubtedly SAVED lives and reduced injury by preventing the use of batons, forceful arrest, teargas/pepper spray (can kill or injure via allergy!) and of course firearms that otherwise might have been brought to bear.
No technology is perfect. For instance, in some cases, seatbelts have caused an injury that would have been avoided if it were not worn--but most of the time its better to have worn it than not.
I appreciate the position that Amnesty and others take on this--the potential dangers of TASERs need to be pointed out. But until someone invents a perfect stun weapon or mangages to eliminate crime altogether, they are one of the best tools in the police officer's arsenal. The potential for injury exists, sure, but it's far less than any of the other options an officer might have.
Ekaton,
That is becoming more and more common. On the Canadian east coast a young girl (15yrs old/97lbs) was tasered by a brave police officer who claimed she was resisting an order to "move on".(Not even resisting arrest!!) What is noteworthy here is that three other brave officers (all big guys) looked on while this kid was being tasered. Who in the hell were these guys protecting?
So the argument that it is better to use a taser than a S&W police issue (or whatever your local cops are using) is rather ridicules. I can't think of any instance where a police officer justified using his gun because someone did not move away from a doorway immediately at his command.