Stunning the public into submission

May 11, 2010
Heidi Boghosian, Huffington Post

Ask the pregnant woman who refused to sign a traffic ticket. She'll confirm: it's more convenient for police to discharge a Taser than to negotiate verbally or use other problem-solving strategies when dealing with the public. A 58-year-old homeless woman with a mental illness in Vermont will tell a similar story. Her crime was refusing to move from where she was standing outside a local convenience store.

Abuse of electroshock weapons is commonplace when individuals are slow to follow orders or "cop an attitude." The teenage baseball fan in Philadelphia learned this the painful way. Each time police discharge Tasers when no threat to human life exists, they breach norms for the use of force. Force should be used only where "strictly necessary" and in proportion to the threat posted, according to the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. The Police Executive Research Forum advises that stun guns should only be directed at persons actively exhibiting aggression. And the UN Committee Against Torture has called use of the Taser X26 a form of torture because of the degree of pain the weapon inflicts.

In addition to being the state where the baseball fan was shocked, Pennsylvania hosted the debut of military sonic weapons against civilian protesters at the 2009 G-20 Summit. Known as Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), these weapons have been used to disperse crowds in Iraq and repel pirates in the Gulf of Aden. They are more insidious than other so called less-lethal munitions because they leave no visible marks and can cause permanent hearing loss. While LRADs are relatively new in the United States, Tasers, rubber bullets and other potentially lethal weapons are altogether too readily used by law enforcement on civilians.

Statistics detailing the harm that Tasers cause might help curb their use. But accurate statistics do not exist. That is in part because medical examiners across the country are afraid of retribution by Taser International, the leading manufacturer of Tasers. The corporation has sued several medical examiners for listing their products as either contributing to or as being the official cause of death.

Coroners may, however, log deaths from Taser-related incidents in the National Association of Medical Examiners' "Death Registry" database in order to assist the National Institute of Justice identify deaths in which electric stun guns were used. This is just a start. The public should express outrage at the increasing use of electro-muscular disruption technology by law enforcement against civilians in any situation other than life-threatening ones.

EDITORIAL: Police and Tasers

May 10, 2010
Washington Post

TASERS, IN USE by police departments for more than a decade, are meant to be a weapon of last resort against dangerous suspects who pose a serious threat to police officers or a risk of flight. They are also supposed to subdue suspects, not kill them. But in too many cases, including at least one recent incident in Arlington County, suspects have died after being Tasered. And there is disturbing evidence nationwide that police officers are using them when less drastic, and less potentially deadly, measures would suffice.

Police routinely insist they fire stun guns only in dire situations, and most of the time no eyewitnesses materialize to contradict them. But for an object lesson in Taser misuse -- and a clue as to how itchy-fingered police officers can be -- look no farther than the outfield of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where the Phillies hosted the Cardinals last Monday before 45,000 witnesses. What they saw was a scrawny, unarmed teenager who jumped on the field and ran figure eights around huffing and puffing security and police officers. After a few seconds of this, a Philadelphia police officer took aim with his Taser and dropped the youth in pop-fly territory. As he lay face down on the grass, the crowd booed the police lustily -- and with good reason.

Fans who disrupt games should be prosecuted and fined and possibly face jail time; they should not be Tasered unless they appear violent or pose a threat more serious than disrupting a game. Still, the Philadelphia police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, who reviewed video of the incident, said his officer had acted within department guidelines. That's the problem. While Tasers have been useful in protecting officers from dangerous and out-of-control suspects, in too many police agencies the policy on using them is so loosely defined that officers can fire the weapons more or less when they feel like it.

Amnesty International, which has conducted detailed studies of the use of Taser guns, concluded that in about 90 percent of cases involving Tasers, the weapons were used on unarmed suspects. In many of those cases, the suspects may have been disrespectful, strange or defiant but seemed to pose little danger to themselves, others or police.

Most disturbingly, Amnesty found that 334 people had died after being Tasered between 2001 and 2008. And while most of the deaths were attributed to drug and alcohol intoxication, medical examiners and coroners found that Taser shocks caused or may have contributed to at least 50 deaths in that period. Based on that, and numerous studies suggesting that Tasers can have lethal effects on some people, Amnesty has called for a halt to the use of stun guns.

Unsurprisingly, Taser International, a 17-year-old firm based in Arizona, has disputed the studies and Amnesty's conclusions. But if police and the weapons' manufacturers want to avoid a public backlash, they'd be wise to tighten rules to preclude using the weapons on suspects who may be annoying or disruptive but ultimately pose no threat of harm.

EDITORIAL: Couldn’t They Just Tag Him?

May 8, 2010
NEW YORK TIMES

The question is not whether Steve Consalvi should have jumped onto the field during a major-league baseball game in Philadelphia on Monday, waving a towel and running in circles like a toddler trying to avoid bath time. He shouldn’t have. Nor is it whether he should have been subdued and arrested. That seems obvious.

No, the question is how. Subdued, yes. Tackled, maybe. Tasered, no.

The electric stun gun that instantly dropped Mr. Consalvi in the eighth inning was fired by a police officer who clearly had no desire to dance around the outfield with a 17-year-old. The Philadelphia police chief said he had acted properly to stop a fleeing suspect, which, we suppose, technically, Mr. Consalvi was.

Mr. Consalvi was also outnumbered, had no way to escape and posed no evident threat, except to the flow of a good ballgame and maybe to the pride of officers who were older, heavier and slower than he.

Taser defenders argue that stadium romps are no joke; athletes sometimes need protecting from deranged and violent fans. Other ballplayers have been harassed and tackled. The tennis star Monica Seles was stabbed.

Having a powerful weapon doesn’t mean you fire it with abandon. One fear about Tasers, which cause jolts of extreme pain and involuntary muscle contractions, but seldom kill, is that officers use them too readily. They should resort to Tasers if they are in danger and out of other options, not because they’re frustrated.

All cities have dumb fans. Philadelphia seems to have more than its share. The best course there, as anywhere, is smarter, more attentive security in the stands. Maybe it’s also higher Plexiglas, stiffer trespassing fines, less beer. Force must always be the last resort. Tasering a showboating kid is just plain excessive.

EDITORIAL: Belated RCMP stun gun rules

May 6, 2010
Editorial
The Toronto Star

Are police reaching for their stun guns too often? Baseball fans in Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love,” think so. They roundly booed a cop who stunned Steve Consalvi after the 17-year-old dashed onto the field Monday waving a club fan towel.

Public concern about “usage creep” isn’t limited to the United States. Canadians were appalled when Robert Dziekanski died at the Vancouver airport in 2007 after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stunned him repeatedly. And there have been other ugly incidents.

Given all this, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott did well to tighten the rules this week.

From now on the Mounties will use stun guns only if a person is “causing bodily harm” or if there are “reasonable grounds” to fear that he or she “will imminently” cause harm, the force says. This is a welcome narrowing of the rules, though it stops short of requiring a severe threat to life and limb. The previous, overly permissive rules set the bar at any “threat to officer or public safety.”

The new rules also require officers to issue a verbal warning first, when feasible. They caution officers generally to restrict jolts to 5 seconds or less and to avoid multiple jolts. And they point out that the stun gun is “not intended as a restraint device.”

With these changes the RCMP finally has a policy that reflects its own view that stun guns put some people “at a high risk of death.” Other police forces should pay heed.

Ontario Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci recently felt compelled to remind police that, “where possible,” the 50,000-volt weapons ought not to be used on the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and people in handcuffs, among others.

Welcome as the new RCMP rules are, Elliott is a late convert to prudence. As the Star noted in an editorial last year, on his watch the force brought in new rules on Feb. 3, 2009 that watered down aspects of a previous, tougher policy. The requirement to shout a warning was dropped. So were rules against multiple jolts and restricting jolts to 15-20 seconds.

Whatever caused the change of heart, it’s a good thing that the older, tougher rules have been reintroduced, and improved upon.

Use of tasers on field jumpers won't be first option

May 6, 2010
RANDY MILLER, Bucks County Courier Times

PHILADELPHIA - After further review, it appears the use of a Taser will be a last resort the next time a fan runs onto the Citizens Bank Park playing field during a Phillies game.

On Monday, a 17-year-old from Montgomery County had his in-game outfield sprint end with a Taser gun shock, then another fan ran onto the field late into Tuesday's game, this one giving up before a Taser was used.

The incidents led to meetings between Phillies security and the Philadelphia Police, and the team issued a statement on Wednesday:

"It has been agreed that in ordinary circumstances involving field intrusion, the Phillies game day security personnel will make the apprehension of the field jumper and turn him over to the Philadelphia Police on the field for handcuffing and subsequent charging. If greater force is necessary, requiring the assistance of Philadelphia Police in making the apprehension, such assistance will be employed.

"The Phillies will continue their policy of prosecuting all persons coming onto the field during a game to the maximum extent of the law, which could include imprisonment up to one year and a $2,500 fine."

Philadelphia police commissioner talks about Taser incident

And where, do you suppose, did the Philadelphia police department GET their "policies, procedures, training and things of that nature??" Why, the almighty CHURCH OF TASER, of course!! Hey CHIEF RAMSEY - in between sermons - be sure to check out the taser policy news out of Wyoming today, where they have finally chosen to follow their OWN religion!! And, hey - while you're at it, be sure to stop by yesterday's announcement from Canada's national police force - the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey appeared on 97.5 The Fanatic with Mike Missaneli to talk about the Taser incident at the Phillies game.

You can listen to the entire interview by clicking here.

Some excerpts:

"Well I mean again that is judgment. When I look at it, I look at it and review based on our policies, our procedures, training and things of that nature. They could still be chasing him around the outfield until they eventually brought him down. If they tackled him if he broke his arm and somebody thought that the tackle was too hard then you have got another issue. The kid should not have been out on the field.

... Again, I am not saying that every officer under the same set of circumstances would have done the same thing. I am not saying that at all, but when I look at this I have to have some set of guidelines, some set of rules. I don't know what people want me to do? Are they looking to get this kid fired? Are they looking for me to have him hanging up somehow because he used his Taser against this individual? The answer to that is, no! I am not going to do it. I mean that kid should stay off of the field period and whether or not I would have done it that way or what else."

Tasering of baseball fan sparks fresh debate over use of force

May 5, 2010
Sarah Boesveld, Globe and Mail

It was the top of the eighth inning when 17-year-old fan Steve Consalvi hopped the fence at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and dashed around the outfield – a silly stunt, just for fun.

Fans watched the 30-second chase during the pause in the game against St. Louis on Monday night. They cheered Mr. Consalvi on as he scurried away from security officials and twirled a white Phillies fan towel.

As quickly as it began, they saw the youth crumple in a heap in the outfield – tasered by security officials, unable to wave his white towel in surrender. They booed loudly.

Footage of the chase, quickly posted on the Internet, went viral, igniting a fierce debate online about whether it was necessary to deploy a taser – and whether unnecessary zapping in public spaces such as stadiums and malls is happening more often.

Officials stood behind the Philadelphia city police officer who deployed the taser at the game, and said he followed protocol that allows officers to taser a fleeing suspect. But critics were quick to point out it wasn’t the first time an officer has tasered a fan at Citizens Bank Park. Local reports say fans have been tasered there many times before.

In Canada, the debate has moved far more in favour of restricting the use of the weapons even as more of them are in the hands of police officers nationwide as a safer alternative to guns and other weapons.

On Tuesday, the RCMP announced tighter guidelines for Mounties deploying tasers. They can now fire a stun gun only if it’s clear the person is injuring someone else or threatening to do so.

The changes stem from the Braidwood public inquiry into the death of Polish airline passenger Robert Dziekanski after officers tasered him at the Vancouver Airport.

Ontario introduced new guidelines and training standards in March after launching a study of its policies in 2008. Back then, the province relied on training from the companies selling the weapons.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair is trying to get more tasers into the hands of front-line workers and properly train them to deploy them because a supervisor is not always there to give direction in the heat of the moment, says Toronto Police spokesperson Mark Pugash.

At least 246 Torontonians were tasered last year, a number that’s dropped since 2008, he said. Special constables on the Toronto Transit Commission do not use tasers, only batons, handcuffs and a foam version of pepper spray.

While officials patrolling the SkyTrain in Vancouver use tasers, security in most public spaces such as university campuses and stadiums is delivered by private firms whose guards can’t use them. They’re prohibited weapons under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act in Ontario, and only police officers are authorized under the Criminal Code to carry them.

Employees at the Rogers’ Centre in Toronto are armed with batons and handcuffs, a worker there said last night. And Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, reacting to the Phillies fan tasering, said a case like that wouldn’t happen at his stadium.

“I can't believe that there would be anybody who would use a taser gun on somebody who ran on the field,” he said. “I can't believe that would happen here.”

That’s likely because about 95 per cent of security at stadiums is delivered by private firms, said David Hyde, owner and principal consultant at David Hyde & Associates, a security consulting practice.

Still, there’s no guarantee an incident similar to what happened in Philadelphia couldn’t happen here, he said.

If it’s a big game, stadiums often hire police officers for extra cover and those officers could be armed with tasers, as well as guns.

But because of a largely public outcry against the use of tasers, the chances of deployment are slim.

“A stadium is trying to attract customers,” he said. “The last thing they want to do, particularly in Canada, is to deploy weapons that could not only cause legal but reputational harm to that image.”

Police in the United States are more willing to use tasers at major events and at stadiums because the perceived level of threat is higher, he said, in terms of terrorism and violent crime.

Hilary Homes, a security and human rights campaigner for Amnesty International Canada, said the Braidwood inquiry has shaped public opinion and shone a brighter light on the unnecessary use of tasers. However, broader oversight and guidelines on how and when they should be used just doesn’t exist, she said. “There aren’t national standards on either side of the border,” she said. “There are such separate jurisdictions.”

Unnecessary deployment is happening more frequently because “new items are available and people want to use them.”

Police: Officer who Tasered Phillies fan on field appears to have acted appropriately

So, according to the PO-LICE, the officer who tasered a teenager on the baseball field "appears to have acted appropriately." I say it's time to fire this officer's ass and remove the taser from a police department that thinks it's all good to taser a fleeing "suspect." A message board poster puts this teen's "crime" into perspective: "There was an imminent threat of failure to "'spect mah authoritah."

May 4, 2010
The Los Angeles Times

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police say an officer appears to have acted appropriately when he used a Taser to subdue a teenager who ran onto the field during a Phillies game.

Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, says Commissioner Charles Ramsey reviewed the tape and felt the officer had acted within the department's guidelines, which allow officers to use Tasers to arrest fleeing suspects. Vanore says internal affairs is still investigating.

The teen ran on the field at the top of the eighth inning of Monday night's game against St. Louis.

He dodged two security officers and ran around the outfield before the officer subdued him.

Police say the teen is charged with defiant trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

His name is not being released because of his age.

Teen fan tasered by Phillies security after running onto field

May 4, 2010
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A police officer used a Taser gun to apprehend a fan who ran onto the field during a Phillies game Monday night, and the team and the police are investigating whether it was an appropriate use of force.

The fan, wearing a baseball cap, red T-shirt and khaki shorts, hopped a fence and scurried around the outfield, eluding two security officers in the bottom of the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. One officer used a Taser and the fan went down in a heap. Several Phillies placed gloves over their faces and appeared to be stifling laughter at the wild scene.

Phillies spokeswomen Bonnie Clark said the police department is investigating the matter and discussing with the team whether using the stun gun was appropriate.

Police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore told The Philadelphia Inquirer police internal affairs will open an investigation to determine if the firing "was proper use of the equipment."

Vanore was not made available to The Associated Press when a call was placed to the police department's public affairs office late Monday night.

The teams said it's the first time a Taser has been used by police to apprehend a spectator who ran onto the field.

The fan was 17-year-old male and he will be charged with criminal trespass and related offenses, the team said. The Phillies did not release his name because he is a juvenile.