The facts about tasers — and the lies

By Rob Wipond

Police adore Tasers. Medical researchers and coroners have become cozy with the manufacturer. Taser International has been threatening legal action against Canadian media. Whose claims can we trust?

Shortly after the horrifying, videotaped death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport tore through our public consciousness, another frightening thing happened. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police leaped up and gave Tasers a ringing public endorsement.

It was the most crass act the association could have committed, reminiscent of how the National Rifle Association parachutes gun proponents into the post-mortems of mass shootings.

“Forgive us if we sound biased,” announced association president Gord Tomlinson to the press.

But should we forgive them?

Well, there is one crucial aspect to the police side of this story that’s so far been underdiscussed.

Years of cutbacks by conservative-leaning governments to health care, welfare, assistance programs, and housing have created a volatile social milieu, particularly for people experiencing intense psychological or addictions-related crises. And police are now left alone as the front line responders to an increasing number of explosions of anxiety and frustration at overcrowded boarding houses, underfunded social service agencies, short-staffed care facilities, downtown streets and, sometimes, even homes and airports. (For more insight on this issue, see also this deputation to Toronto police by Canadian rights activist and survivor of forced psychiatric treatment Don Weitz.)

In 2005, Movie Monday showed Crisis Call by Canadian Laura Sky, a thoughtful documentary that had gathered interviews with police officers about this growing nation-wide phenomenon. Three area police officers answered questions after the showing, and overall it became clear that our police, mainly trained to handle criminals, dislike having to fill this gap in our social safety net, and are feeling increasingly overwhelmed and ill-trained for the role.

Victoria’s Sgt. Grant Hamilton confirms that “the majority” of police interventions today involve alcohol, drugs or mental health issues. “When no one else can come,” he adds, “you call the police. We’re the only ones who can always come.”

Though reluctant to comment on the broader political issues, Hamilton points to the significant impact on police of lack of housing alone and states, “We definitely want a solution.”

All of this could explain, in part, the rough, hurried way the RCMP treated Dziekanski. His situation seemed to require an interpreter, border staff who weren’t bogged down in the minutiae of ridiculously expanded anti-terrorism responsibilities, or maybe a crisis interventionist or just a responsible security guard. But to four heavily armed police officers, Dziekanski was just another time-sucking irritant.

All of which also begins to explain why quickie-takedown Tasers have become so popular, misused and vehemently defended by police.

WIDESPREAD IMPROPER USE

Since 1999, thousands of North American police forces have been arming with Tasers, and deployments are rising steadily. Municipal police in BC’s Lower Mainland used Tasers 152 times in 2006, up from 97 in 2005. With some controls in place, Victoria police Taser deployments remained steady, at 79 in 2005 and 74 in 2006 (though these numbers don’t distinguish between actual uses and merely drawing the Taser).

Conservative calculations link 300 North American deaths to Tasers, 20 in Canada.

Maybe most Taser uses are appropriate. Nevertheless, abuse of Tasers is obviously rampant. From Halifax to Victoria, Nunavut to Miami, six year olds, retirees, and even unarmed people in wheelchairs have been Tasered.

Particularly telling is the number of minor infractions that, somehow, escalate into violent conflicts. Amnesty International’s report on Canadian Taserings includes a speeding infraction, a suspected unpaid cab fair, a man refusing to leave a bar, and a man with cerebral palsy being evicted. Police searching an Edmonton hotel used Tasers to rouse sleeping suspects. A distressed 82-year old Victoria man was Tasered trying to escape Beacon Hill Villa. (The Villa itself is now under investigation for elder abuse.)

These aren’t the types of situations which we would ordinarily expect to cause officers to fear for theirs or anyone’s lives. And in the past, such situations were not typically associated with police shootings. So what’s going on? The chair of the Toronto Police Services Board recently expressed worry that “the Taser could lead to lazy policing”, and indeed, these accounts suggest police may become bolder, less patient and more provocative themselves when they have Tasers at hand.

Even when suspects are under control, Tasers are frequently used: An Ottawa protester passively resisting arrest was Tasered. An impaired driver resisted being fingerprinted and was Tasered three times. A jaywalker returned to talk, but refused to sit down, and was Tasered twice. A Halifax woman was shocked three times while handcuffed in a jail cell.

Far from saving lives, such situations are clearly more about what the UN Committee Against Torture has condemned as using Tasers for “pain compliance”. Indeed, while much attention has focused on Taser safety, Amnesty International has pointed out that equally concerning is the way Tasers give police a portable, easy-to-use manner to inflict terrible pain without leaving appreciable marks. (Public Taser demonstrations usually inflict split-second jolts, but in the field Tasers fire for five seconds, and can fire longer and repeatedly. By most accounts, the pain is excruciating. ) (Note: Here’s a police training video that looks at least a little more realistic…)

Yet our governments and police apparently don’t see a serious problem, and so far aren’t demanding or instituting fundamental changes to how Tasers are handled. Still more internal “reviews” are coming, but there’s been no commitment to a comprehensive, independent evaluation.

Instead, most North American police have become so attached to Tasers, they’re manipulating the political landscape and misleading public perception.

SEMANTIC SWINDLES

From the beginning, police have presented Tasers as a “nonlethal alternative to deadly force that saves lives”. How could any reasonable person not embrace that?

Unfortunately, every word of that statement is misleading.

When Victoria police wrote their “Final Report” on Tasers in 2005 for the Police Complaint Commissioner, they themselves lamented that the term “nonlethal” had “inadvertently” created “unrealistic” expectations in the public. They recommended Tasers be described as “lower lethality” weapons.

That description hasn’t caught on.

Meanwhile, claims about “saving lives” bloat absurdly.

Const. Mike Massine, who co-authored Victoria’s report, told the Canadian Press in November he would’ve had to kill several people but for the Taser. It’s hard to question such personal, anecdotal evidence. But police reps cobbled together these statements from officers and in 2004 told the CBC Tasers had saved 4,000 Canadian lives since 1999. (CBC updated that web page in 2007 and, somewhat ironically, kept the same figure. Here’s the original CBC page from 2004 thanks to Archive.org’s WayBackMachine.) At that point, such claims appear for what they are: pro-Taser propaganda. If true, that would mean without Tasers our police would’ve engaged in annual slaughters twenty or thirty times Canada’s historical rate for police shootings, making them bigger homicidal maniacs than all of our murderers combined. (Our suicide rates haven’t changed, so police weren’t saving those lives, either.)

As for Tasers being “an alternative to lethal force”, that was corrected during the 2005 inquest into the shooting death of Saanich’s Majencio Camaso. Use-of-force expert Const. Wayne Unger said Tasering the unstable man would have been inappropriate, unless the attending officer had been backed up by someone with a firearm. Similarly, Massine recently explained to CP, “I had somebody watching my back with a pistol. [A Taser] works in concert with lethal force. It’s never intended to replace it.”

Essentially, unless there’s still time, space and opportunity to turn to lethal force if need be, police aren’t supposed to use finicky, fallible Tasers.

So then, are Tasers an alternative to lethal force in life-threatening situations, or an alternative to try, along with patience, physical restraint and batons, before a situation becomes truly life-threatening? Police answer differently depending on whether they’re justifying their Taserings or their shootings.

This December, the RCMP Complaint Commissioner’s report confirmed such “usage creep” meant police were far too often using the Taser “earlier than reasonable” in situations that weren’t even “combative” let alone life-threatening for anyone.

Though he too still feels Tasers save lives, Victoria’s Sgt. Hamilton also confirms, “The Taser was never intended as a replacement to lethal force.” He instead describes a scenario where a knife-waving man ignores police commands. “Can we let that person walk away?” Depending on “very fluid” situational factors, Hamilton says, like relative size of a police officer to a suspect, officer skill level, or presence of different weapons, a Taser might become a helpful option in the use-of-force continuum.

Hamilton’s argument helps bring some focus and forthrightness to the whole Taser debate, but such honesty is still too rare. More often, for example, police have even been turning to bald cover-ups to protect the Taser’s reputation. The video of Dziekanski’s death showed the RCMP lied brazenly about how much they tried to calm Dziekanski and how dangerous he was. After Robert Bagnell died in 2004, Vancouver police didn’t even tell their own investigating detective they’d Tasered the heavily-drugged and disoriented man. The detective learned it from witnesses later, and then for weeks police hid the fact from the public and Bagnell’s family.

Certainly, shootings in some cities have become slightly less common after Tasers were introduced. Yet have Tasers made it more common for police to accidentally kill people they had no intention, or need, to kill?

POLICE AND CORONERS LINKED TO COMPANY

According to police and manufacturer Taser International, Tasers have been “contributing factors” and “linked” to deaths, but have virtually never caused a death. (Taser International sent “legal demand letters” to 60 Canadian news outlets insisting on corrections to statements “blaming the Taser” for Dziekanski’s death.)

However, many medical studies and field safety reviews were either funded by Taser International, or involved police and people who’ve been on Taser International’s payroll, and it’s on such literature that many coroners base their conclusions about cause of death.

These intertwining relationships between police, coroners and Taser International run deep. BC’s chief coroner was the Surrey RCMP superintendent until 2001. Victoria’s Sgt. Darren Laur held stock in Taser International and professionally trained other agencies in Taser use until a few months before he began work on the VPD’s Taser evaluation. Ontario’s deputy chief coroner has been accepting all-expenses-paid trips from Taser International to give speeches about excited delirium, the mystery “disease” that supposedly causes many Taser victims to die.

Growing awareness of these tight relationships has prompted our federal government to promise an investigation into Taser International’s links to Canadian officials. In the meantime, this “common ground” with coroners and police has been helping the company win a running gun battle of lawsuits from Taser victims and their families. In return, according to the Globe and Mail, the company assists governments and police in their own legal defenses.

And what happens if you’re not “on side”? In 2005, Cook County’s Medical Examiner declared that a police Tasering had in fact caused the death of a Chicago man. Taser International lobbied for a judicial review and its hired experts publicly attacked the coroner’s credibility.

Forensic Engineer James Ruggieri published a study suggesting Tasers in real circumstances could give more dangerously intense shocks than the manufacturer states. (See an interesting article about it all part-way down here.) The company called Ruggieri a “high school drop-out” who couldn’t do basic math. Yet Taser International’s own 2003 medical review had concluded that, due to “physiological variables”, it was “impossible to accurately calculate” how much electrical shock a Taser would deliver into a human body. Similarly, the most recent inquest into the Bagnell case featured expert testimony that Tasers can administer shocks many times the manufacturer’s specs.

And that’s just the beginning of the medical unknowns.

MISSING MEDICAL RESEARCH

In police Taser reviews, negative findings may be downplayed or disappear. For example, the Canadian government’s own investigation of “stun guns” in 1990 found the weapons deadly and recommended banning them. Lead scientist Andrew Podgorski still speaks out against Tasers (more from Podgorski here.) However, his study isn’t discussed in the VPD’s report.

Overall, Tasers appear to be relatively safe when used on healthy, relaxed people. But how many times are Tasers being used on healthy, relaxed people?

That summarizes the glaring, suspicious gap in the medical research.

We already know prolonged, multiple shocks from Tasers are dangerous. But how deadly is even one Taser shock for people undergoing heart stress already? This at-risk group would include people taking most recreational drugs, withdrawing from drugs, taking psychiatric medications with heart-related side effects, experiencing high levels of adrenaline-stress, or who are just unhealthy.

Basically, this at-risk group would include practically everyone most likely to be Tasered. Furthermore, it’s known electrical shocks could interact with these other risk factors to induce cardiac arrest much later.

Unfortunately, most Taser studies have considered electrical shock alone as a possible cause of immediate cardiac arrest. Even the VPD’s report lamented this dearth of research into “such potentially relevant factors as drug ingestion and the elevated heart rate provoked by physical struggle”. The authors hoped two upcoming studies would address these gaps.

In 2006, the University of Wisconsin released one of those studies. It concluded Tasers could very occasionally cause cardiac arrests, even in healthy humans, if the barbs land close to the heart.

Taser International called Webster’s study flawed.

This December, the British government released the other widely anticipated study. It boldly announced Tasers wouldn’t likely cause immediate heart attacks. On the final page, the scientists quietly qualify their findings, though, by noting that they didn’t consider some factors which could make heart attacks more likely, “such as illicit drug intoxication, alcohol abuse, pre-existing heart disease”, prescription drug use, or physical stress.

Evidently, it’s another useless study that’s nevertheless been useful for police and Taser International-the company promptly linked to it from their website’s front page. It’s helping them market their more powerful, wireless, shotgun Tasers to governments, and some sleek pistol models to women.

Reposted here with permission of the author. Copyright by Rob Wipond.

Taser Maker Staunchly Defends Product Even as Bodies Pile Up

August 19, 2006
Mark Silverstein, Rocky Mountain News

The tragic death of 22-year-old Ryan Wilson on Aug. 4th has justifiably refocused public attention on the dangers posed when police officers fire their new high-powered electroshock weapons. Sold by Taser International, Tasers are promoted to the public as devices that can save lives when police would otherwise use firearms. The public is less aware, however, that police departments, with Taser International's blessing, encourage and authorize officers to use Tasers in situations like Ryan's, where no one would claim that firearms are justified.

Nor is the public generally aware of an increasingly common result: more than 200 persons have died shortly after being shocked by law enforcement Tasers. Ryan is the fifth such person to die in Colorado since 2002.

The number of Taser-associated deaths has steadily increased. There were 4 in 2001; 13 in 2002; 20 in 2003; 57 in 2004; 73 in 2005; and an additional 44 so far in 2006.

Most of the deceased posed no serious physical threat to police. Many were extremely agitated or intoxicated. Some had underlying heart problems. Taser International has reported that 80 percent of suspects shocked by Tasers were not brandishing any weapon.

Before the death toll mounts any higher, law enforcement agencies must declare a moratorium. They must immediately stop using Tasers in situations that do not present a substantial threat of death or serious bodily injury.

According to the sparse information released so far, undercover police spotted Ryan near a small patch of marijuana plants. He ran. A Lafayette police officer caught up and discharged an X26 Taser. Ryan immediately began convulsing and died.

With aggressive marketing and a well-oiled PR machine, Taser International has persuaded thousands of law enforcement agencies to buy Tasers. Beginning in 1999, promotional materials hawked the new M26 Advanced Taser as a nonlethal magic bullet that instantly and safely incapacitated suspects without physical struggle. Police departments rely on company-supplied training materials, which continually assure that Tasers are safe, effective and recommended in numerous situations where suspects pose no serious physical threat.

As the bodies began piling up, however, critics began asking whether Taser International had overstated its claims of safety. Company officials scoffed. One spokesperson maintained that Tasers were no more dangerous than Tylenol, while Taser International's president denied the existence of any evidence that Tasers could be dangerous.

Two years ago, Taser International spokespersons claimed that no medical examiner had ever implicated a Taser. As more autopsy reports began listing Tasers as a primary or contributing cause of death, however, ( Amnesty International counted 23 in February ), Taser International argued that coroners were not qualified to assess whether Tasers played a causal role.

Investigative reports by The New York Times and The Arizona Republic have raised serious questions about Taser International's safety claims, its marketing practices, and the reliability of the limited and flawed studies that Taser International cites. After the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general launched inquires about allegedly deceptive statements, Taser International toned down some rhetoric and recently agreed to pay $20 million to settle a stockholders' lawsuit.

Taser International has always claimed that Tasers cannot produce enough current to cause fatal heart problems. In 2005, however, a U.S. Army memorandum concluded that Tasers could indeed cause ventricular fibrillation. It therefore recommended against shocking soldiers during training exercises.

Earlier this year, a peer-reviewed forensic engineering journal published a study that tested a Taser and concluded that it discharged current far more powerful than Taser International acknowledged - powerful enough to cause fatal heart disrhythmias.

In May, a biomedical engineering professor reported that Tasers caused the hearts of healthy pigs to stop beating, contradicting earlier Taser International-sponsored studies.

Taser International lavishly praises reports that provide qualified support to its safety claims. The company's critics ably dissect those analyses, while Taser International relentlessly grinds out a critique of every study that questions Tasers' safety.

With at least 211 deaths linked to this supposedly nonlethal weapon, however, the Taser proponents must bear the burden of proof in any battle of experts. It is a burden they have not met. There are no reputable independent studies that confirm the manufacturer's assurances of safety, especially in the real-world conditions in which Tasers are actually used and in which suspects actually die.

Law enforcement agencies must stop and question whether they have been sold a bill of goods. Agencies that currently use Tasers must reassess, not only to prevent the deaths of more Ryan Wilsons, but also to spare the public purse from the expensive lawsuits that will surely follow the ever-widening trail of broken bodies and shattered lives.

Stun gun makers sue experts over safety criticisms

March 9, 2006
James Randerson, The Guardian

The company that manufactures the stun guns used by police is suing two technical experts who claim that the weapons can kill, in a move which some scientists say is intimidation.

The electric Taser guns, which use a 50,000-volt shock to incapacitate suspects, were adopted by police across the country in 2004.

The weapons are marketed as "non-lethal", but critics disagree. Since 1999 about 120 deaths have been linked to the weapon's use worldwide, but the manufacturer, Taser International, says that in all cases other factors were the cause.

Currently 28 out of 43 police forces in England and Wales and four of eight Scottish forces use the stun guns. Between April 2003 and January this year they have been fired 97 times by English officers.

The company is suing two scientists who have raised safety concerns. "[The company has] a lot of money and they are playing hardball," said forensic engineer Peter Alexander, secretary of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) engineering section. The company denies it is trying to silence legitimate criticism.

Both men facing legal action say they have been putting forward legitimate technical arguments, and that the company is using the courts to extinguish dissent. One of the defendants, Roland Kohr, is a forensic pathologist and medical examiner for Vigo County, Indiana. He performed an autopsy on James Borden, who died after being "Tased" six times while in police custody in November 2003. Dr Kohr concluded that the electric shock had contributed to Mr Borden's death.

Last month, Dr Kohr was due to speak on Tasers at the AAFS annual meeting in Seattle, the premier international meeting for forensic experts, but following legal action by Taser International, his lawyers advised him to pull out.

"In essence I am being sued for giving my opinion," Dr Kohr said. "Draw your own conclusions as to the timing of this. Maybe their whole intent was to prevent me from speaking at this meeting." Thomas Bohan, of MTC Forensics in Maine, said even if Dr Kohr was wrong, his evidence should be heard: "When medical examiners rightly or wrongly make a judgment in a case, they should be able to do that without the threat of legal action."

Taser International is also suing James Ruggieri, a certified professional engineer from Virginia. The action was initiated just before publication of a paper last year in a peer-reviewed journal. This argued that the Taser's power output is higher, and therefore more dangerous, than the company claims. He had also been intending to speak in Seattle, but pulled out.

Rick Smith, CEO of Taser International in Scotsdale, Arizona, said: "We did not sue Dr Kohr because of his medical opinion." He claims both men are part of an organised campaign which is advancing "wildly flagrant and defamatory" claims about stun weapon safety and that Mr Ruggieri does not have the necessary technical expertise to evaluate the device. Dr Kohr denied any knowledge of an organised campaign.

Mr Smith says there is no evidence that Tasers can kill, but added that they are not risk-free. To properly assess the risks, he said, the stun guns should be compared with alternatives such as pepper spray, batons and firearms. The company has documented more than 900 "saves" in which a suspect was subdued safely using a Taser, rather than being shot.

British police use them only as an alternative to firearms, but Angela Wright of Amnesty International said Taser International was lobbying the government to extend this. "It is in their interests to see it used as widely as possible," she said.

One case study presented in Seattle suggested that Tasers can kill healthy subjects. Amy Sheil at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, described the death of a fit, 28-year-old black prisoner who had attacked prison guards with a pencil. The man was "Tased" six times, culminating in a 169-second bout of electricity. "This is a very long duration," she said, concluding that the Taser had stopped his heart.

Mark Kroll, a cardiologist on Taser International's scientific advisory board, rejects Dr Shiel's verdict, claiming a Taser shot is simply not powerful enough. "The safety factors are enormous," he said.

He pointed out that an independent study by the UK police scientific development branch last year concluded that it was unlikely Tasers could influence the electrical functioning of the heart in healthy people.

Study raises concerns over Tasers' safety

Feb 13, 2006
Robert Anglen, Arizona Republic

A study measuring electric shocks from a Taser stun gun found that it was 39 times more powerful than the manufacturer claimed, raising new questions about the weapon's safety.

The study, published last month in the peer-reviewed Journal of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, concluded that the shocks are powerful enough to cause fatal heart rhythms. It is one of the few scientific studies of Taser's electric jolt in which the company did not participate.

"The findings show the energy delivered by the weapon to be considerably understated by the manufacturer," the Journal study said. "These findings place the weapon well into the lethal category."

Officials with Scottsdale-based Taser International Inc. condemned the findings, saying they are exaggerated, erroneous and "beyond the laws of physics."

They pointed to a test conducted last week in response to the Journal article. A lab hired by Taser found that the weapon produced power that was significantly less than what the Journal study found and met all specifications.

Taser contends that the author of the Journal study, electrical engineer James Ruggieri, does not have the technical expertise to make conclusions about stun guns. Taser is suing Ruggieri for defamation over his claims in a presentation and testimony in a wrongful-death case last year that Tasers can cause fatal heart rhythms.

In a separate finding, the Army also concluded last year that Tasers could cause ventricular fibrillation, the irregular heart rhythm characteristic of a heart attack.

A memorandum from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, where the Army develops, tests and evaluates weapons, said, "Seizures and ventricular fibrillation can be induced by the electric current."

At issue was whether soldiers should be shocked with the stun guns during training exercises, as Taser recommends.

The Army's occupational health sciences director determined that Taser is an effective weapon but added in the February 2005 memo that "the practice of using these weapons on U.S. Army military and civilian forces in training is not recommended, given the potential risks."

Taser for years has maintained that its stun guns have never caused a death or serious injury. Company officials say the guns save lives, reduce injury and save millions of dollars in legal costs because they prevent deadly confrontations.

But since 1999, more than 167 people have died after police Taser strikes in the United States and Canada. Of those, medical examiners have cited Tasers in 27 deaths, saying that they were a cause of death in five cases, a contributing factor in 17 cases and could not be ruled out in five cases.

Several law enforcement agencies have filed lawsuits accusing Taser of misleading them about the stun gun's safety and claim that the company failed to conduct adequate tests before selling the weapon. Some police departments have delayed or halted Taser purchases because of safety concerns.

Taser denies these claims and says its record of safety is bolstered by dozens of medical and university studies and by the company's experts.

Law enforcement officials and testing experts agree that there is no widely accepted standard for measuring Tasers. Studies have shown various results.

In May, for example, an international testing laboratory hired by Canadian authorities initially reported that two stun guns were significantly more powerful than the manufacturer specified. The guns also fired at different levels of power.

The stun guns were used on a man who died after being shocked by Vancouver, British Columbia, police in 2004.

Taser challenged the test last week, and the laboratory backed off its results. Officials with the lab, Intertek ETL Semko, said testing protocols provided by the police differed from those of the stun-gun manufacturer. As a result, Intertek said the tests could not be relied upon.

Bruce Brown, deputy commissioner of a British Columbia agency investigating the police role in the Vancouver death, said his agency wants to enlist Canada's National Police Research Center to conduct a rigorous study of the stun gun's power.

"We've sent people to the moon, so there has got to be a way to come up with a peer-reviewed (standard)," he said.

The 50,000-volt Taser works by shooting two darts up to 25 feet. The darts are connected to wires that deliver a burst of electricity that is designed to instantly immobilize a suspect. The gun also can be used as a handheld device, without the darts, by touching two metal probes directly against a person's body in what police call a "drive stun."

The shock from a Taser is measured in electric pulses. Tasers typically used by police deliver 15 to 19 pulses a second in a five-second interval, although the gun will continue firing without interruption as long as the trigger is held down.

Tasers operate at 50,000 volts, but Taser says the stun guns do not pose an electrical safety risk because the pulse's current is too low and its duration too short to affect internal organs, including the heart.

Ruggieri's study found that the Taser's pulse was more powerful and longer than the gun's specifications indicate. Ruggieri studied a Taser M-18, which is nearly identical to the Taser M-26 used by police except it has less power.

Taser specifies that the M-18 produces 10 pulses a second at 1.76 watts per pulse. Ruggieri said his tests showed the Taser produced 14 pulses a second at 50 watts per pulse.

Ruggieri said it took him months of research to conduct and complete the tests.

He said he relied on Taser's research and previous stun-gun studies to create a verifiable methodology for testing the Taser.

His findings are based on how electric current penetrates the body.When established electrical standards were applied to the stun gun's electrical discharge, Ruggieri said the current could be fatal. He said measurements of the electric current showed that, according to electric safety standards, the gun had a 50 percent risk of causing ventricular fibrillation.

Taser Vice President Steve Tuttle called the claim "ludicrous" and said it is "clearly refuted by the fact that well over 100,000 human volunteers have been exposed to the Taser discharge without fatality."

Taser maintains that skin tissue blocks electric current and is equivalent to 1,000 ohms of resistance.

But Ruggieri said skin tissue breaks down as electricity is applied, decreasing resistance and increasing the impact of the shocks on the human body.

"This creates a runaway effect of increasing current with decreasing resistance," Ruggieri said.

An independent electrical engineer who reviewed the Journal study at the request of The Arizona Republic said Ruggieri's conclusions were credible and based on scientific principles.

Robert Nabours, who has degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford and the University of Arizona, said scientific and medical evidence support Ruggieri's claims that skin tissue breaks down when subjected to electric pulses. Among the evidence are findings from Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctors.

Ruggieri focused on the Taser in its "drive stun" mode. He said measurements of the current found that the power was about 39 times greater than the manufacturer's specifications. Taking into account the lowered resistance of skin tissue, Ruggieri said the stun gun generated 704 watts of power as opposed to 18 watts.

Ruggieri contends that one of Taser's main claims of safety, that the duration of the electric pulse is too short to cause injury, could not be proven. He said his tests of the current showed that duration of the pulse also increases as resistance drops.

The lab hired by Taser, Exponent of Phoenix, could not replicate Ruggieri's results. Exponent, which has offices throughout the country, is a consulting firm that employs scientific and engineering experts who, like members of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, often serve as expert witnesses in court cases.

Exponent electrical engineer Ashish Arora said Ruggieri reported 17 times more power than the Taser he tested. Arora said that in his tests, the power of the stun gun measured at or below specifications.

Arora said the pulses Ruggieri measured could also not be verified, even when resistance was dropped. He said that caused concern.

He said he would have expected some similarity in the results. But he said the tests results "were completely different."

There were differences between Exponent's and Ruggieri's tests, both involving how the gun was charged and how the current was measured.

Ruggieri said he used a battery specified by the manufacturer to mirror a real-world setting. He changed the battery after each jolt to ensure that the power did not degenerate. Exponent used a power supply to charge the battery.

Ruggieri said a power source could limit the amount of power going into the gun in a way that a battery would not.

Ruggieri also measured the output using two high-voltage meters attached to each of the Taser probes, which he said gave more-accurate readings.

Exponent used a single meter. Arora said the single probe and battery wouldn't change the results.

Taser has repeatedly attacked Ruggieri's credibility since he made a presentation critical of the stun guns to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in February 2005. Taser claimed his presentation was based on "junk science" and "propaganda" and that his conclusions have been disputed by numerous government, university and medical studies.

Some of Ruggieri's claims were independently verified, including his assertion that Taser had misapplied Underwriters Laboratories standards in suggesting the stun gun could not cause ventricular fibrillation.

Taser sued Ruggieri in November, several months after he announced the Journal findings at an engineering conference in Chicago.

In a news release last year, Taser described Ruggieri as a high school dropout with no medical training.

Ruggieri said he left high school to attend college in New York. He later obtained a master's degree in computer science from the University of Phoenix.

Ruggieri's resume shows that he is a professional engineer with licenses in five states. He said he has investigated electrical accidents for federal agencies and helped write electrical safety standards for top electrical laboratories and commissions.

Taser officials challenged the academy journal, calling it an "obscure bulletin," saying none of the peer reviewers was qualified to assess the findings.

"That unfortunately allowed Mr. Ruggieri to utilize inappropriate science and flawed mathematics in attempts to support his unsupportable conclusions," Taser's Tuttle said.

Journal Editor Marvin Specter said the academy is affiliated with the National Society of Professional Engineers and is made up of experts in several engineering disciplines.

The Journal lists a technical review committee for Ruggieri's study that includes 20 engineers, including one well-known Taser consultant. The reviewers' identities are confidential and have not been released, Specter said.

Specter said Ruggieri's paper went through a rigorous peer-review process before being published in the biannual journal.

In an interview last week, Ruggieri said Taser has launched personal attacks to distract from the real issue.

"This isn't about me. It's about the findings, the study," he said.

taser shocks ruled cause of death

July 30, 2005
Robert Anglen, The Arizona Republic

Taser shocks ruled cause of death
Company disputes first such finding

A Chicago medical examiner has ruled that shocks from a Taser were responsible for the death of a man in February, marking the first time that the electronic stun gun has been named as the primary cause of death.

This is the latest challenge to Scottsdale-based Taser International's claim that its stun guns have never caused a death or serious injury and comes a week after an Illinois police department filed a class-action lawsuit claiming Taser misled law enforcement agencies about the safety of its weapon.

The death is the 18th case in which a coroner has cited Taser as a factor in someone's death and the fourth case where Taser has been named as a cause of death. But in all of those, Taser was secondary to other factors such as drugs, heart conditions or mental illness.

An autopsy report from the Cook County's Medical Examiner's Office attributed the death of Ronald Hasse, 54, to electrocution from two Taser jolts delivered by a Chicago police officer. The autopsy said methamphetamines contributed to Hasse's death.

Taser strongly criticized the Medical Examiner's Office in a statement Friday and said it will challenge the autopsy.

"We believe that the scientific and medical community will publicly challenge this conclusion based upon the lack of credible evidence," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle wrote in an e-mail on Friday. "Taser International will seek a judicial review of the report and the basis for which those statements were made."

This is not the first time Taser has challenged a medical examiner. For years, Taser officials publicly said the stun gun was never cited in an autopsy report. But an Arizona Republic investigation last year revealed that Tasers have been cited repeatedly by medical examiners in death cases and that Taser did not start collecting autopsy reports until last April.

Taser officials later maintained that the medical examiners in those cases were wrong and did not have the credentials or expertise necessary to examine deaths involving stun guns. They now maintain that Tasers have never been cited by a medical examiner as "the sole cause of death."

The Republic has identified 140 cases of death in the United States and Canada following a police Taser shock since 1999. Of those, coroners said, Taser was a cause of death in four cases and a contributing factor in 10 cases. In four other cases, medical examiners said Taser could not be ruled out as a cause of death.

In his e-mail on Friday, Tuttle said Hasse's death should likely have been blamed on the methamphetamines.

"We sincerely hope that a groundless opinion will not overshadow the medical and scientific community's conclusions as to the lethal levels of methamphetamine use," he said in the statement. "Overlooking this as a primary cause of death contradicts the very nature and purpose of these known lethal values."

Cook County Deputy Medical Examiner Scott Denton said that drugs alone would not have caused Hasse's death. A five-second shock followed by a 57-second shock pushed Hasse "over the edge," Denton told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"That's extraordinary," Denton said. "He became unresponsive and died after this."

Hasse, a former securities trader who was supposed to go on trial in June in the burial of a body on an Indiana farm, confronted officers in a Chicago high-rise.

Police said they used the Taser on Hasse when he tried to kick and bite officers during a struggle. He also threatened to infect paramedics with HIV.

After Hasse's death, Chicago police halted plans for a Taser expansion. Denton told the Sun-Times that police should stop using Tasers on people who are acting psychotic or appear to be under the influence of drugs.

Denton, who grew up in Scottsdale, did not return The Republic's calls for an interview on Friday. According to a Web site for the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association, Denton has worked at the Office of the Medical Examiner of Cook County for nine years. He is also an assistant professor in the pathology department at Rush University Medical Center. He got his medical degree from the University of Arizona.

Denton told the Sun-Times that he reviewed thousands of pages of information provided by Taser. But he said his conclusion was also based on the findings of James Ruggieri, an electrical engineer who in February made a presentation to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in which he said Taser shocks could cause cardiac arrest.

Ruggieri, who is a forensic engineer and has consulted with police departments and the military on electrical accidents, said shocks from Taser could cause delayed ventricular fibrillation, the irregular heartbeat characteristic of a heart attack. He also said that multiple shocks from a Taser could cause someone to stop breathing and go into cardiac arrest. He said that many deaths involving Tasers have likely been wrongly dismissed as simple heart attacks or drug overdoses.

Taser has challenged Ruggieri's credentials and said its own medical and electrical experts dispute his findings. Taser maintains that its guns have undergone dozens of tests through universities and the Department of Defense, which support its claim of safety.

Tuttle said Friday that Denton should not have relied on "an unsubstantiated theoretical position of electrical safety as presented by James Ruggieri."

Ruggieri said that he doesn't know Denton. He said the doctor contacted him once in February to get a copy of his academy presentation. But Ruggieri said Friday that he is not surprised by the medical examiner's conclusion.

"It was only a matter of time," he said. "All of the impartial people - doctors, scientists, pathologists - took heed of this. They now have had facts to look at when presented with death cases involving Taser."

Taser, in a June 28 training bulletin, advised police that "repeated, prolonged and/or continuous exposures to the Taser may cause strong muscle contractions that may impair breathing and respiration, particularly when the probes are placed across the chest or diaphragm."

In training classes and instruction manuals, Taser has previously told police to use repeated shocks to control a suspect.

The stun guns have been sold to more than 7,000 law enforcement agencies in the country and are credited with reducing injuries and deaths to suspects and officers and lowering the number of police shootings. But several law enforcement agencies, including the department in Birmingham, Ala., and the Lucas County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office, have pulled the guns from the street.

Last week, Dolton, Ill., filed a class-action lawsuit against Taser, becoming the first police department to take legal action over what it described as Taser's exaggerated claims of safety. The city said it paid $8,572 for stun guns that are too dangerous to use on the street.

Taser stock, which soared last year, dropped by a third this year after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona Attorney General's Office announced separate inquiries into the company's claims of safety.

The price of Taser stock was down about 26 cents on Friday, to $9.72 per share.

Taser's Effects Fueling Concern

May 30, 2005
Antigone Barton, Palm Beach Post

A deputy fired his Taser stun gun twice at the woman he was chasing — the second shot dropping her to the ground — before she announced that she was pregnant. "This was not apparent," the deputy wrote in his report, "but due to her statement I did not apply another Taser (shock)."

The report was one of more than 1,000 reviewed by The Palm Beach Post that show how Tasers have been used in the three years since departments in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast added them to their arsenals.

While a growing number of human rights watchers and scientists have voiced concerns about effects on pregnant women, children, elderly people and people with heart, neurological and psychiatric disorders, the review showed that police from Boca Raton to Fort Pierce have fired the weapons at:

• Six people 65 or older, including an 86-year-old man; and at least 35 people 16 and younger, including a 100-pound, 14-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl;

• 87 women of childbearing age, including at least three women who, after being shocked, said they were pregnant;

• At least 57 people who were high on drugs;

• At least 272 people who were shocked multiple times, including 67 shocked three times, 31 shocked four or more times and one man shocked nine times.

Some of these Taser firings ended violent confrontations in which immediate harm was possible, including encounters with armed and physically threatening suspects.

But in at least 237 incidents, the dart-firing stun gun was used only to get compliance from passively resisting or fleeing suspects.

Officers in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast fired Tasers at more than 1,000 people before Timothy Bolander died in December after being shocked four times by Delray Beach police. An autopsy found he had ingested a lethal level of drugs.

"Most of the people shot with Tasers live," said Ed Jackson, a spokesman for Amnesty International, which has called for a moratorium on the weapon's use. "It doesn't mean they are living without consequences."

He attributes Taser-use frequency to a belief that the weapon does no lasting harm.

"The idea that Tasers are generally safe is completely fictional," he said.

Taser International repeatedly has countered Amnesty International's criticisms by saying that the weapon has not been ruled the cause of any of the 103 deaths following shocks tracked by Amnesty.

"That's fine," Jackson says. "Where are the studies that show it's never been a contributing factor? Because that's the question we're asking."

Tasers have been cited in autopsies of at least two people who have died following shocks in Florida, which leads the nation in Taser-involved deaths with 24 since 1999. After a man shocked with a Taser in Escambia County died in January, a medical examiner declined to cite either a cause or manner of death, saying that not enough is known about the weapon's effects.

In November, excerpts of an Air Force study were released saying that Taser shocks can change blood chemistry, potentially leading to heart damage. The study recommended medical monitoring of those shocked with Tasers.

Study 'strongly recommends' more research

In March, a study by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies said that Tasers can't be ruled out as a contributing cause of deaths that follow shocks.

"We strongly recommend that additional research be conducted at the organism, organ, tissue and cell levels," the report concluded. "The community needs to understand the specific effects of varying electrical wave forms... to include possible psychiatric and other nonlethal effects."

In the same month, forensic engineer James Ruggieri warned police departments that Taser shocks could damage the heart and cause delayed cardiac arrest. He advised that officers not be submitted to shocks during training.

Even the company that makes the stun gun, Taser International, urges caution about use of the weapon in the "drive-stun" mode and with repeated shocks — uses that The Post survey found have been frequent on the streets of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

When the two barbed prongs that Tasers shoot are ensnared in skin or clothing, they transmit 50,000 volts of current that override the nervous system and temporarily paralyze muscles. The greater the distance between the prongs, the more incapacitating the effect. Another five-second jolt can be administered by pulling the trigger again as long as the suspect hasn't ripped out one of the prongs.

Officers also can remove the prong cartridge and discharge the weapon directly against a person's body in the "drive-stun" mode to subdue combative arrestees with a searing jolt of pain.

The Taser training manual advises that because it is not incapacitating, this mode can lead to "prolonged struggles" and that "it is in these types of scenarios that officers are often facing accusations of excessive force."

The technique also requires some care, according to Taser International, but the company's guidelines contain conflicting recommendations. The manual points out that the neck and groin "have proven highly sensitive to injury, such as crushing to the trachea or testicles if applied forcefully." The manual continues, "However, these areas have proven highly effective targets."

A recent amendment to the DeLand Police Department's Taser policy is clearer, saying that the "drive-stun" mode can be used only under exceptional circumstances. Local policies don't address the use of the "drive-stun" mode in writing, although narratives in some of the reports examined by The Post acknowledge that this use is discouraged.

Still, the weapon was used in the drive-stun mode in encounters described in at least 209 of the 1,017 reports.

George Kirkham, a former police officer, Florida State University criminology professor and expert witness in cases involving in-custody deaths, says in many situations, officers can use their hands for "pressure pain tactics" with less risk of harm. He also says Taser has given insufficient guidance on how many times a person should be shocked in either mode.

"We have seen police officers firing it 20 times," he said, "with no idea that they could be doing harm."

One shock may not be sufficient to subdue

Even in its paralyzing mode, one shock may not be enough to subdue a violent suspect, according to the Taser training manual, which advises that officers "should anticipate a second or third application."

But the same manual also warns that prolonged, repeated Taser shocks "may impede breathing" and urges that officers "minimize the overall Taser exposure."

In Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, 273 reports document confrontations in which people were shocked multiple times — at least 31 people were shocked four or more times, including one man shocked at least nine times. In some reports, officers and deputies simply reported firing "until compliance was gained."

Shortly after Boca Raton police became the first department to use Tasers in 2001, they arrested a man who had been running naked in the streets. After he was handcuffed, he began to struggle violently, breaking a Plexiglas divider in the police car with his head and kicking officers.

Officers shocked him repeatedly with their new Tasers, subduing him briefly each time, but failing to stop him for long. After he had been shocked at least nine times, he went into convulsions and was taken to the hospital where he was found to have cocaine in his system.

"The question is whether Tasers are unsafe under those circumstances," said Dr. Jared Strote, a Washington state emergency room physician, who with a Harvard professor is conducting a study of Taser-involved deaths. People who are "deliriously high" experience blood chemistry changes that, combined with restraints and heart ailments, can be fatal even without a Taser shock, he says.

"My guess is that these people with their underlying conditions — both acute and chronic — don't have the reserve to tolerate the Taser, and it makes them more likely to go into a fatal heart rhythm after the shock."

Taser International anticipates more deaths

The man survived, but the report of his violent, erratic and apparently drug-induced behavior, as well as struggles with officers and repeated shocks, parallels the stories of almost all of those who have died following Taser shocks in Florida.

Taser International urges departments to be prepared for those stories. The company points out in its training materials that the weapon often is used when other means of control have failed with people using hard drugs and showing signs of a condition that medical examiners call "excited delirium," which can be fatal even without a Taser shock.

The firm includes an "In Custody Death Checklist" with its training materials.

In it, the company notes that it "anticipates more in-custody deaths given the significantly large deployments of Taser conducted energy weapons."

Scrutiny mounting on Taser use

Expert says stun gun can kill hours later; firm calls claim 'ludicrous'

Robert Anglen
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

A growing number of deaths involving Tasers is fueling a debate among law enforcement officers, legislators, and state and federal regulators, who are asking if the electric stun gun is as safe as they were led to believe.

Now, a forensic engineer who has written safety standards for the most respected electrical laboratories and commissions in the world is warning police departments that shocks from Tasers could cause a delayed cardiac arrest and that injuries to officers and suspects who are zapped could be going undetected.

"Police should be informed that the Taser can kill," James Ruggieri told the American Academy of Forensic Examiners last week at its annual meeting. "The Taser can serve a useful role in law enforcement. However, it should not be touted as a harmless device."

Taser officials call Ruggieri's warning "ludicrous" and say their safety record is bolstered by the number of departments, including every major police agency in the Valley, that still use the stun gun.

Law enforcement agencies in California, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Florida and North Carolina have backed off Taser deployments, citing safety concerns. Agencies also have expressed concern about officers shocking children as young as 6 and senior citizens as old as 82 over incidents such as refusing to pay for a salad at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

"Those administrations who have transitioned to Tasers feel more caught in the middle," said Fort Wayne, Ind., Police Chief Rusty York, who vetoed the planned purchase of 83 stun guns last month.

"I am a little skeptical about the assertion that no one has been killed or injured by Tasers," he said. "But (other) police departments were taking the advice from Taser and running with it. I agree that the stun gun is a useful tool, but until we can have more objective information about Tasers . . . I'm not going (forward)."

Conflicting studies

Ruggieri, who has served as a forensic investigator for the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia and has consulted with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board on electrical accidents, said his research cuts to the heart of Taser's safety claims and represents one of the first scientific and medical reviews that is critical of the stun gun.

His recommendation: Police should stop shocking officers during training exercises and use the stun gun on suspects only when no other non-lethal option is available.

Rick Smith, chief executive officer of Scottsdale-based Taser International, maintains that Tasers have never caused a death or serious injury, and he cites more than 90 studies by universities, the military and police departments that support Taser's safety claim. He challenged Ruggieri's presentation to the forensic academy and questioned his ability to cite medical findings because Ruggieri is not a doctor.

"His misapplication of the safety standards, coupled with the misstatement of Taser incidents . . . make us question his motivation," Smith said. "He has never touched a Taser, never seen a Taser, never used a Taser. . . . How can he make scientific judgments on the technology?"

Ruggieri said that his findings come from research of medical data and that he has never claimed to be a doctor. He said he has extensive knowledge of stun guns and has handled dozens of them, including Taser's signature weapon, the M26. He owns two stun guns, made by different manufacturers.

A Taser looks and operates like a plastic gun. It fires two steel barbs up to 21 feet and delivers a 50,000-volt burst of electricity that causes involuntary muscle contractions. It works by momentarily incapacitating suspects, who usually recover once the power is cut. Taser officials say the gun cannot cause heart attacks.

More than 7,000 of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies have armed officers with Tasers. Police credit Tasers with reducing injuries to officers and suspects, lowering the number of police shootings and shrinking the number of liability claims. They say the stun gun is an invaluable tool.

Taser stock prices dropped this year after revelations that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Arizona attorney general had launched inquiries into the company's claims of safety and into an end-of-year sale that helped the company meet annual projections.

An ongoing investigation by The Arizona Republic has found that 101 people have died in the United States and Canada following police Taser strikes since 1999. Medical examiners have cited the Taser in 12 of those deaths, calling it a cause of death in three cases and a contributing factor in six others. In three other cases, examiners said they were unable to rule it out as a cause of death.

Deaths and safety concerns have prompted the International Association of Chiefs of Police to call for every police department to conduct a review of its Taser policies. And a California legislator last week introduced a bill that would require every department in the state to track each time an officer drew a Taser, so the data could be analyzed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Wisconsin's attorney general said concerns about the way police use stun guns led her to call for a statewide standard. However, the Madison Police Department has praised the stun gun.

"The Taser is extraordinarily effective in controlling resistive subjects, while also being extraordinarily safe," the department reported last month. "There is no question that both the number and severity of injuries (to both officers and suspects) would have been far higher but for the Taser."

Other law enforcement agencies aren't so sure.

"The policy right now is that Tasers are not to be used in this building," said Rick Keller, administrator of the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo, Ohio, where an inmate died Jan. 31, moments after being shocked multiple times by deputies.

Not only have Tasers been suspended inside the jail, but any suspect who has been shocked by police before being booked will now be taken directly to the hospital for a medical examination.

"I don't think there is a good answer," Keller said. "If you have someone die, and it comes back that Tasers contributed to (the death), that is not good. But you have to do something to restrain him."

Keller said officers are concerned about the stun gun being taken away. But he said the Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, wants to determine if Tasers are safe before allowing them back into circulation.

Taser expansion was halted in Chicago after police, in two separate incidents last month, shocked a 54-year-old man who later died and a 14-year-old boy who went into cardiac arrest.

"We have taken a very deliberate approach to these weapons," said Dave Bayless, a Chicago police spokesman. "We have had one death, and that has prompted us to slow down deployment."

Although the department did not recall existing Tasers, Bayless said, officials want to study the safety of the stun gun before deploying it in multiple police districts. Chicago police acknowledge concerns about the stun gun, but officials also say there are plenty of success stories.

"It is a good debate to have," Bayless said. "It holds police accountable. It also gives us an opportunity to explain to the public the very real dangers that police face every day."

David Murphy, criminal-justice assistant professor at Weber State University in Utah, has been contacted by several agencies about conducting a safety study of the weapon.

Some Utah police agencies have bought Tasers but not put them on the street for fear that the stun guns might not be as safe as the manufacturer claims.

Looking for a trend

The foundation of Taser safety is based on the assertion that shocks from Tasers cannot induce heart attacks. Taser officials insist that if Tasers were able to cause a heart attack, it would occur immediately upon being shocked.

Ruggieri said evidence shows that heart damage and fatal heart rhythms can develop hours after electrical shock occurs. He said suspects and police officers, who are routinely subjected to Taser shocks during training, "may have unknowingly incurred permanent heart damage."

Smith said that if Ruggieri was right, there would be hundreds, if not thousands, of cases in which Tasers would have caused either heart attacks or injured internal organs.

"Out of 200,000 (people) who have been shocked, we would have seen credible evidence of that," he said.

For years, Taser has encouraged officers to experience shocks during training. The company claims that more than 100,000 officers have been shocked during training without incident.

Last year, however, The Republic found that several officers have suffered career-ending injuries that they attribute to Taser shocks, including cardiac problems.

In one case, a doctor hired by Taser concluded that a one-second burst from a Taser was responsible for fracturing the back of a former Maricopa County sheriff's deputy. The deputy, Sam Powers, has filed the first private liability lawsuit against Taser. His case is expected to go to court in June.

Taser has blamed Powers' injuries on pre-existing conditions, including osteoporosis.

Phoenix lawyer John Dillingham, who represents Powers, said Ruggieri's presentation should be an alarm bell for police.

"We totally agree that law enforcement should never willingly be subjected to a shock," he said.

Medical examiners, who are at the forefront of the Taser debate and make rulings in cases of deaths following Taser strikes, said Ruggieri's presentation will induce further debate and more research.

"There hasn't been any real medical evidence on either side," said Lake County, Ind., Forensic Pathologist John Cavanough, who added that Ruggieri raised relevant issues, particularly in regards to the delayed cardiac arrest.

"It is a real phenomenon," Cavanough said. "As a matter of fact, that (the warning about delayed cardiac arrest) was his strongest point."

Ruggieri, whose presentation will go through a peer-review process before being published in the Journal of Forensic Science, said his findings could lead medical examiners to re-examine past cases of death following a Taser shock.

Thomas Parsons, a medical examiner from Daytona Beach, Fla., said that he believes Tasers are an important tool for police and that many deaths were likely not the fault of Taser.

"Tasers are an excellent less-than-lethal option for police who are properly trained to use them," he said, adding that many of the deaths following Taser shocks would have occurred with or without the stun gun.

"(Ruggieri's) research ideas were controversial, but his recommendations were reasonable," Parsons added.

Taser officials say they remain steadfast behind Taser technology. Smith said Tasers have strong support from law enforcement and the public.

"We have been taking a beating in the press," he said. "But at its core, our product is as safe as ever."

Electrical standards

March 4, 2005
Robert Anglen, Arizona Republic

The issue: Electrical standards

RUGGIERI: Electrical standards and codes misapplied

Ruggieri says Taser has misapplied electrical codes and standards to suggest the Taser is safer than it really is. He says Taser uses a graphic chart to suggest that Underwriters Laboratories, a non-profit agency that certifies products for electrical safety, has certified Taser. Taser claims the graph shows the stun gun is far below the threshold of ventricular fibrillation.

He points out that a Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1976 studied a much weaker version of the stun gun than police use today and found that the threshold of ventricular fibrillation lowers with repeating pulses of electricity used by the stun gun.

Ruggieri says he was unable to replicate Taser's findings using any of the standards that Taser cites. Ruggieri says that rather than rely on the wrong standards, he has relied on scientific and medical research.

TASER'S POSITION: Expert's findings are "ludicrous"

Taser says Ruggieri's findings are "ludicrous," maintaining that there would be thousands of cases of ventricular fibrillation if his findings were accurate. Officials accuse Ruggieri of misapplying the electrical standards.

Taser points to the graph, saying the Taser pulse is 10 times below the threshold for ventricular fibrillation set by UL and by the Electro-technical Commission standards. The graph was developed by a private research firm and has been touted in Taser marketing material.

Taser says Ruggieri erred in considering the power of the stun gun, making it seem more powerful than it actually is.

Taser officials also say Ruggieri intentionally applied the wrong IEC standard to increase the negative findings against Taser.

INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS: Lab: Taser used wrong study

Underwriters Laboratories, which has certified billions of consumer goods for electrical safety, says the graph that Taser is using does not reflect any study of the stun gun's safety.

UL spokesman Paul Baker says the graph is supposed to apply to an electric fence. "We take issue with that data in relation to Taser," he said. "Underwriters Lab does not agree with Taser."

The graph is based on a decades-old study that measured how much current passing through an electric fence it would take to induce ventricular fibrillation.

Baker said he is surprised that Taser is still using the graph since the lab publicly stated last month that it has no bearing on the stun gun.

As for the IEC standards, Ruggieri sits on the committee charged with developing and maintaining those standards. He has also helped write standards for Underwriters Laboratories. He said the standards Taser cites do not address repeating pulses used by the stun gun.