TASER: Myth of Menace?

May 10, 1999
Darren Stewart, The Martlet, Victoria

A fascinating report from 1999 re the taser's introduction into Canadian law enforcement via the Victoria Police Department.

According to the report, Victoria Police Officer "[Darren] Laur who has been shot with a TASER himself, calls the weapon extremely humane, and says it doesn't cause the subject any extended pain. He likens the experience to getting a shock while changing the spark plugs on your lawnmower."

The article goes on to quote Terence Allen, a specialist in forensic pathology who served as deputy medical examiner for both the Los Angeles and San Francisco coroners' offices: "The problem is when it starts getting used in less than critical situations," said Allen. "In L.A. they'll shoot you for reaching for your wallet. People need to realize that this isn't 100 per cent safe, and it doesn't have a very good track record. As pathologists, we should warn law-enforcement agencies that the TASER can cause death."

In a 1991 letter to the Journal of Forensic Sciences, he noted that he was one of only two medical examiners in the L.A. office to list the TASER on a death certificate. "This was because pathologists in L.A. were under pressure from law enforcement agencies to exclude the TASER as a cause of death," wrote Allen. He suggested that the L.A. coroner's office has a strong bias and exonerates the law enforcement agencies of that city. "The L.A. coroner's office is the handmaiden of law enforcement [in that city,]" he said. Allen also said that the TASER could cause heart defibrillation depending on where the two probes strike the targeted subject, suggesting that the use of this weapon could have dire effects on the hearts of weaker or older individuals or those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Too bad no one was listening.

TASER: Myth of Menace?
darren stewart, the martlet, victoria

Police cornered a dangerously violent woman in a Victoria bathroom last month. High on drugs and not responding to pain, she wasn't affected by pepper spray. She began to threaten suicide, and the officers were trying to decide when to go in after her, risking injury to the woman and themselves. She decided for them. The woman burst through the door and rushed the officers with a pair of scissors in her hand. But the officers stopped her cold and were able to handcuff her calmly. Thanks to Victoria police's new TASER unit, the incident ended without injury.

According to Sgt. Darren Laur of the Victoria police, the peaceful end to this situation was only realistic because of the TASER, a new weapon his department is test-running. The TASER shoots two electrically charged barbs that catch into the clothing of a subject up to four metres away and deliver a debilitating electrical charge intended to override the brain's message to the muscles, knocking the person to the ground. The TASER can penetrate up to two inches of clothing and penetrate a bulletproof vest.

"The police officer supervisor said right in his report that if it wasn't for the TASER there could have been dire consequences," said Laur. "They probably would have had to use lethal force in that situation."

With advanced anti-terrorist technology and special permission from the Office of the Attorney General, Victoria police don't have to wait until the 24th century for effective weaponry intended to stop a violent subject with less risk of killing them. Similar to Spock and Kirk's phasers-on-stun approach, they can shoot a subject with less risk of seriously injuring them than if they had to draw a gun. The police are testing two new TASER units (short for Tom A. Swift Electric Rifle, after the inventor) similar to ones already used by many American policing agencies to detain potentially hostile individuals without causing them bodily harm.

Attention from across the country is focused on Victoria's proposed six-month TASER test period that ends in June 1999. According to Laur, the officer overseeing the test, other departments and agencies across the country may follow Victoria and put the TASER into general use if the test is successful. Laur suggests that the units are being tested in Victoria because the local police and its administration are one of the most progressive in the country. In the six Victoria incidents the TASER has been used in, all have ended without injury. In two of these incidents the sight of the unit alone was enough to calm the individual, and the officers didn't have to fire the barbs.

But Terence Allen, a specialist in forensic pathology who served as deputy medical examiner for both the Los Angeles and San Francisco coroners' offices, has a more grim view of the "non-lethal" weapon. "The problem is when it starts getting used in less than critical situations," said Allen. "In L.A. they'll shoot you for reaching for your wallet. People need to realize that this isn't 100 per cent safe, and it doesn't have a very good track record. As pathologists, we should warn law-enforcement agencies that the TASER can cause death."

Laur, who has been shot with a TASER himself, calls the weapon extremely humane, and says it doesn't cause the subject any extended pain. He likens the experience to getting a shock while changing the spark plugs on your lawnmower. Laur estimates that the TASER has been employed by over 350 policing agencies in the U.S. since the 1970s.

According to Steve Tuttle of Taser International, the company responsible for manufacturing and marketing TASERs for private use in the U.S., the weapon's inventor created the weapon in the late 1960s to be used against airplane terrorists.

"The TASER was perfect for such circumstances as the probes that are fired are not lethal and will not penetrate the hull of an airplane," said Tuttle. This prevented an extremely dangerous situation should a bullet pierce the skin of the plane and depressurize it.

Tuttle explains why police would be particularly interested in the weapon. "[The TASER] reduces the injuries to both suspects and officers alike," said Tuttle. "The remaining options are fists, blunt instruments and chemical sprays, which are very effective, but since they use pain to stop individuals, [drug] users can overcome the pain and swarm tactics, resulting in potential injuries for all involved."

Tuttle also suggests that the TASER has significantly reduced injuries in U.S. prisons where pepper spray is commonly used in removing unco-operative and violent prisoners from their cells.

"[Pepper spray] drifts to other cells, contaminates the air conditioning and requires cleanup," said Tuttle. "Meanwhile you have an inmate who is not real pleased and is going to have burning lungs and eyes, with lots of salivation for 30 minutes to an hour or more."

But shoot the inmate with a TASER and cuff them while they are stunned, and they recover in a moment without injury or incident. Another advantage to the TASER over other force options is that it doesn't rely on pain to be effective. The TASER will still take down a subject under the influence of drugs or having a psychiatric episode who isn't responding to pain.

According to Tuttle, the concept of the original inventor's dream expanded when he realized the new weapon's potential. He believed he could create a powerful self-defence tool for law enforcement and public use.

Now, according to Taser International, there are 60,000 TASERs owned by private individuals for personal self-defense in the U.S. Americans can order a $250 U.S. TASER unit complete with a practice target and free fanny pack, "great for carrying (the weapon) while jogging or biking," according to the catalogue, on the company's internet site, with the option of black or "sports yellow" handles. For a couple hundred dollars more, you can buy a unit fitted with a laser sight.

It's illegal for a member of the public to own a TASER in Canada. In the U.S. the TASER was classed as a firearm until 1993 when Taser International redesigned the weapon enabling it to be classified differently by the American Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The redesigned Air TASER hit the market using compressed air as a propellant rather than gunpowder, and the weapon is now available to registered owners in all but seven states.

Lobbyists for the TASER tout it as a perfect public self-defence tool and suggest that government control of the weapon is based on fallacies of its potential harmfulness. Laur supports the use of the weapon in policing agencies and hopes the Victoria police's test period will dispel the myths regarding the TASER.

"Canada has never, ever used an electronic stunning device," said Laur. "It was hard for me to understand why it hadn't been adopted here sooner when you look to the United States and look at how effective this tool is. There's still a lack of knowledge surrounding it. Most people think it's just a cattle prod."

According to a report on the effects of the TASER in The Journal of Forensic Sciences by Dr. Sara Reddy and Dr. Ronald Kornblum, chief medical examiner in Los Angeles, the TASER has been used several thousand times by the Los Angeles police department in attempts to control violent suspects. During that time the TASER has been an effective immobilizer 80 per cent of the time. There have been 16 deaths associated with its use in L.A. County.

The report, which Laur read when he researched the TASER's potential for use in Victoria, explains that the TASER doesn't rely on damage or destruction of tissues or organs to be effective; instead, it knocks the target to the ground after causing a generalized muscle contraction. Under ordinary circumstances, these effects are temporary and completely reversible. But used on an older individual, somebody with heart trouble, or somebody weakened by excessive drug use, the weapon can be fatal. Included in the report were accounts of volunteer targets that described the experience as painful and who required several minutes to recover from the experience. The electrical current generated by the TASER is not lethal when the weapon is used as directed on an average healthy adult.

But Allen suggested the report may be misleading. In a 1991 letter to the journal he noted that he was one of only two medical examiners in the L.A. office to list the TASER on a death certificate.

"This was because pathologists in L.A. were under pressure from law enforcement agencies to exclude the TASER as a cause of death," wrote Allen. He suggested that the L.A. coroner's office has a strong bias and exonerates the law enforcement agencies of that city. "The L.A. coroner's office is the handmaiden of law enforcement [in that city,]" he said.

Allen says that the TASER could cause heart defibrillation depending on where the two probes strike the targeted subject. He suggests that the use of this weapon could have dire effects on the hearts of weaker or older individuals or those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

UVic criminologist Daniel Koenig suggests that the introduction of this weapon will be a positive influence on Victoria policing but adds there are some drawbacks to be considered.

"Police are operating on the same plane of existence as the rest of us," suggests Koenig. "So there's always the danger that [the TASER] will be used inappropriately. We're talking about humans here."

The U.S. exportation of stun guns was listed as one of the top 10 censored articles of 1997 by Project Censored, an annual nationwide media research project that casts a revealing spotlight on relevant issues that don't make the news.

The article, titled "Shock Value: U.S. Stun Devices Pose Human-Rights Risk" by Anne-Marie Cusac, suggests that the potential misuse of these weapons in countries with poor human rights records means the U.S. ranks as the leading producer and seller of instruments of torture. According to the article, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International both claim the devices are unsafe and may encourage sadistic acts by police officers and prison guards, both here and abroad.

The article suggests that, though the non-lethal weapons leave no visible mark on the flesh or tissue damage, they can cause long-lasting injury and even death. This prompts groups like Amnesty to argue that these weapons give police officers the freedom to use extreme force with impunity. But according to Laur, the Victoria police have implemented proper training, education and supervision to ensure the weapon will not be misused.

"Any tool we give police officers can be used excessively," said Laur. "If a member uses this tool or any other tool in an excessive manner they should be held criminally and civilly liable for their actions. I can't emphasize that enough."

Murray Mollard, policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, suggests that their only concern regarding the TASER will be to ensure that there's adequate training for those using it and an accountability process each time it gets used. "And there are these things in terms of citizen complaints," said Mollard. "And the police can set up internal procedures for reporting on the incidents whenever it gets used."

Without some longer-term experience in knowing its major effects, Mollard sees no reason to be opposed to the introduction of the weapon.

Similarly, Andrew Hume, spoke-sperson for the Capital Region Mental Health district in Victoria, suggests that any negative effects are yet to be seen. "We'll wait and see what effects this will have on the mental health community. If we see any negatives we'll certainly be initiating some discussion with the police. Right now we don't know anything about the TASER's possible effects."

The Victoria police are aware of the potential risks the TASER poses and feel the pros of its introduction will outweigh the cons. "You've got to put this in perspective," said Laur. "This unit is going to be used on individuals who're extremely violent and needing to be controlled. Prior to the use of this tool these people could get shot or seriously injured by a baton strike. Nothing's 100 per cent safe. Anything used to control an individual always has the potential to cause injury or death."

Use of the units will be under strict control during the six-month test period. According to Laur, the units will be used when there is a violent individual that needs to be controlled, and it's up to the road supervisor to decide when it will be used.

"Our ultimate goal as a police officer is to solve by voluntary compliance," said Laur. "When we have to physically control somebody who doesn't want to be controlled it gets ugly real quick, and there's no easy way to control those people. We're looking to technology to give us a hand, but we have to understand that technology has its limitations. It's not the cure-all."