Why Taser is paying millions in secret 'suspect injury or death' settlements - when does 'less lethal' actually mean deadly?

December 13, 2013 - Matt Stroud, The Verge

On the day before Thanksgiving this year, international stun gun and cop-cam company Taser International, Inc. announced it had given up its fight in two major legal battles over "suspect injury or death." In a 275-word statement submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's chief financial officer said it would pay a total of $2.3 million in settlements to plaintiffs who had sued the company in product liability cases.

This was rare. Taser prides itself in fighting to the bitter end in any case alleging that its products do anything but save lives. Yet there it was in a financial disclosure — Taser backing down.

Taser brushed it off as a remnant of simpler times. According to the vaguely worded statement, enhanced "risk management procedures" and "revisions to product warnings" in 2009 corrected a legal vulnerability. The $2.3 million payouts would address the last lawsuits tied to that vulnerability; they would amount to housekeeping — cleaning up lingering messes that had remained on the company’s books since before 2009.

WHAT WERE THESE "RISK MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES"?

But what were these "risk management procedures"? What were these "revisions to product warnings"? What was the vulnerability? And what were these cases? Taser’s press liaison told The Verge that its SEC declaration "speaks for itself" — a clear indication that the company has no plans to say anything further about settlements unless it’s forced to.

But a little research helped to pin down procedural changes Taser made in September, 2009. And a public records search helped to narrow the possibilities down to four representative cases that may have been settled. Those cases have a few major factors in common: they involve a Taser shot at someone’s chest; they involve someone going into cardiac arrest; and they involve an accidental death.

For years, Taser has battled in court to show that its electronic control devices — its ECDs such as the X2 and the X26 — cannot kill. But if its recent settlements are any indication, the company may either be slowly backing away from that premise, or at least attempting to draw a line in time after which the company feels it's no longer liable for someone’s death.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

As bars were closing at about 2AM on April 19, 2008, 24-year-old Kevin Piskura was at a music venue about a block away from the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio. As the bar closed its doors and patrons exited, a fight broke out. Oxford Police were called. According to a civil complaint filed in 2010 by Piskura’s parents, an officer ordered Piskura to "step back or back away" from the fight. It’s not clear whether he did or not, but the officer soon pulled out a Taser ECD and shot Piskura in the chest. Piskura went into cardiac arrest; his heart stopped beating. He was taken to a nearby emergency room and soon life-flighted to a Cincinnati hospital where he died five days later. This past March, Piskura’s parents settled with the City of Oxford and the Oxford Police Department for $750,000. In October, Piskura’s parents suggested they were considering a settlement with Taser.

The Piskuras did not return calls from The Verge, and an attorney representing their case declined to comment. But Kevin Piskura’s death fits a pattern consistent to ongoing product liability cases involving Taser-related incidents in which someone was killed prior to September, 2009. The $2.3 million payouts likely stem from similar cases; these incidents occurred before Taser made its switch from "non-lethal" to "less lethal."

Regarding that: letters to medical journals and plenty of anecdotal evidence have suggested at least since 2005 that even healthy people could suffer cardiac arrest if shot near the heart with Taser’s "non-lethal" ECDs. By September, 2009, Taser changed its product warnings accordingly. Today, Taser’s ECDs are branded as "less lethal" instead of "non lethal," and its training materials warn that "exposure in the chest area near the heart … could lead to cardiac arrest."

Another ongoing cardiac arrest case against Taser involves Ryan Rich. A 33-year-old physician in Las Vegas, Rich went into cardiac arrest and died in January, 2008 after he was shot five times with an ECD, including once in the chest. That case is headed to trial in January.

A third case comes out of the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan, and will head to trial in May, 2014. It involves the 2009 death of 16-year-old, 5-feet-2-inch Robert Mitchell, who died in an abandoned house after being shot in the chest by a Warren police officer with a Taser ECD.

"TURNER COLLAPSED 37 SECONDS AFTER THE DEVICE WAS ACTIVATED."

Darryl Turner’s case is a fourth possibility. Turner was 17 years old in March 2008 when he got into an argument with his boss at the North Carolina Food Lion grocery where he worked as a cashier. According to a complaint later filed by Turner’s parents, the argument escalated to shouting and Turner’s boss eventually called 911. A police officer from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department arrived and asked Turner to "calm down." When the teenager refused, the officer pointed his Taser ECD at Turner’s chest. Turner began to step toward the officer, so the officer "held down the Taser’s trigger, causing the device to continue emitting an electrical current, until Turner eventually collapsed 37 seconds after the device initially was activated." Paramedics soon arrived to find Turner handcuffed and unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In an uncommon outcome, Turner’s family was awarded a massive payout in 2011. Taser appealed. In November of this year, an appeals court issued its opinion that Taser should remain liable for Turner’s death, but that the jury’s award needed to be reconsidered. "We have no doubt that Turner had significant value to his parents," the appeals court’s decision read. But the court couldn’t agree with a "reasonable level of certainty" that the boy’s life was worth $6.15 million. The parties are scheduled to head back to court in 2014 to haggle over that figure. Unless, that is, Taser has decided to cut its losses and settle out of court.
ON THE RECORD

Taser International is very good about keeping records. In addition to its Axon Flex on-body police camera that allows officers to record interactions with suspects, the company also collects data every time a Taser ECD is fired. But it’s up to police departments — and up to Taser International — to decide how much of that information is revealed publicly.

The company takes a similar approach in the courtroom.

Taser typically insists on keeping its legal settlements — such as those referenced in its recent $2.3 million payout — secret. Rarely are the terms made public. But it happens occasionally. One Northern California case involved a drunk man off his psychiatric meds who was shot with a Taser ECD after refusing to get off a bus. He went into cardiac arrest. An emergency crew was able to resuscitate him on scene, but after going 18 minutes without a breath, the man suffered a crippling brain injury. He would require a caregiver from that point forward.

After a long legal battle, Taser agreed to settle that case. As per usual, it demanded that the settlement agreement be kept secret. The defendants in the case agreed. But eventually it was revealed that the company had settled for $2.85 million. The settlement figure was only made public after a probate court judge made the unusual decision to disclose the dollar amount in open court.

THERE WAS, THE JUDGE SAID, "THERAPEUTIC VALUE" IN MAKING THE INFORMATION PUBLIC

A report from the San Jose Mercury News later explained the judge’s reasoning. There was, the judge said, "therapeutic value" in making the information public.

Whether or not a judge makes similar decisions about Taser’s recent settlements, it’s clear that the company has decided to settle cardiac arrest cases as quietly as possible because it has maintained for years that its weapons are effective, non-deadly alternatives to firearms. If too much attention focuses on Taser-related deaths, there’s a risk that police departments might choose to sidestep the controversy altogether and opt against Taser's products.

There’s a lot at stake on both sides. For Taser, its NASDAQ-traded stock value is on the line. And for those engaged in open legal battles over Taser-related deaths involving cardiac arrest and factors such as "excited delirium" ("a euphemism for ‘death by Taser’") — as well as those who may literally find themselves facing down a Taser ECD in the future — the value of an open settlement may amount to more than mere therapy. It could amount to life or death.

Dr. Zipes responds to Taser International

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-mct-local-police-defend-use-of-taser-guns-20120507,0,7272148.story

...Zipes has earned more than $500,000 testifying against TASER International, according to the Scottsdale, AZ company's Vice President of Communications Steve Tuttle. He said the doctor omitted key information in his findings, including the fact a video shows the stun probes in one of the cases never connected with the person and no charge was delivered.

"There have been 3 million uses of taser device uses worldwide, with this case series reporting eight of concern," Tuttle said. "This article does not support a cause-effect association and fails to accurately evaluate the risks versus the benefits of the thousands of lives saved by police with taser devices."

Zipes said TASER is incorrect when it says one of the subjects wasn't hit with the stun gun.

"The subject is tazed and immediately drops, spins several times, actually two 360 degree turns and then has immediate loss of consciousness," he said.

"TASER wants to say that probe missed, but the evidence would suggest otherwise."

The doctor said TASER was correct, he charges $1,200 an hour for lawsuit work, but he estimated he has earned $240,000 over the past four or five years.

Zipes said if anything, his paper could put him out of the testifying business, if police agencies heed his warnings. In the study, he wrote that he isn't on a crusade to ban stun guns.

"The main purpose of this paper is to make ECD users aware that cardiac arrest due to VF (ventricular fibrillation) can result from ECD shock," he wrote. "They should be judicious on how and when to use the ECD weapon, avoid chest shocks if possible, as TASER International recommended."

Study suggests tasers pose substantia​l risk to the heart

April 30, 2012
Erica Goode, New York Times

The electrical shock delivered to the chest by a Taser can lead to cardiac arrest and sudden death, according to a new study, although it is unknown how frequently such deaths occur.

The study, which analyzed detailed records from the cases of eight people who went into cardiac arrest after receiving shocks from a Taser X26 fired at a distance, is likely to add to the debate about the safety of the weapons. Seven of the people in the study died; one survived.

Advocacy groups like Amnesty International have argued that Tasers, the most widely used of a class of weapons known as electrical control devices, are potentially lethal and that stricter rules should govern their use.

But proponents maintain that the devices — which are used by more than 16,700 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries, said Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser — pose less risk to civilians than firearms and are safer for police officers than physically tackling a suspect. The results of studies of the devices’ safety in humans have been mixed.

Medical experts said on Monday that the new report, published online on Monday in the journal Circulation, makes clear that electrical shocks from Tasers, which shoot barbs into the clothes and skin, can in some cases set off irregular heart rhythms, leading to cardiac arrest.

“This is no longer arguable,” said Dr. Byron Lee, a cardiologist and director of the electrophysiology laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco. “This is a scientific fact. The national debate should now center on whether the risk of sudden death with Tasers is low enough to warrant widespread use by law enforcement.”

The author of the study, Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, a cardiologist and professor emeritus at Indiana University, has served as a witness for plaintiffs in lawsuits against Taser — a fact that Mr. Tuttle said tainted the findings. “Clearly, Dr. Zipes has a strong financial bias based on his career as an expert witness,” Mr. Tuttle said in an e-mail, adding that a 2011 National Institute of Justice report concluded there was no evidence that Tasers posed a significant risk of cardiac arrest “when deployed reasonably.”

However, Dr. Robert J. Myerburg, a professor of medicine in cardiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that Dr. Zipes’s role in litigation also gave him extensive access to data from medical records, police records and autopsy reports. The study, he said, had persuaded him that in at least some of the eight cases, the Taser shock was responsible for the cardiac arrests.

“I think when we put together the preponderance of what we know about electrical shocks with his observations, there’s enough to say that the phenomenon occurs,” he said. But he added, “I suspect the incidence of these fatal events is going to be low and can be minimized by the precautions.”

Police officers, he said, should take precautions when using the weapons and avoid multiple shocks, prolonged shocks and shocks to the chest.

“I’d rather see Tasers out there than bullets flying around,” Dr. Myerburg said. “But if you have a choice, if the circumstances allow you to avoid either, then physical restraint should be considered.”

Fort Worth police buying Tasers with safety feature

March 13, 2012
Mitch Mitchell, Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH -- New Tasers that automatically shut off after a five-second discharge will soon be in the hands of Fort Worth police, an important safety feature that should prevent sustained shocks to unruly suspects.

Police administrators said 250 Tasers will be given to patrol, neighborhood and zero-tolerance officers by midyear. The X2 replaces the X26, both manufactured by Taser International.

"The X2 is essentially the same as the X26 in that it deploys the darts using the same mechanism," Sgt. Mark Wilson, Fort Worth police in-service training supervisor, said in an e-mail.

"The voltage is the same and the darts themselves had no major design revision. The main two points we were looking for was the automatic cut off at five seconds after being deployed, even if an officer holds the trigger down. That was a safety issue that was very important for us."

The other change Fort Worth police sought was the addition of a second cartridge.

Taser International has described the weapon as less lethal because the 50,000-volt shock it deploys for a short time is safe.

The older model did not prevent a longer shock. In 2008 in North Carolina, a teenager died of cardiac arrest after a police officer shocked him twice with a Taser, first for 37 seconds, then for five.

The issue came to light in Texas in April 2009, when Fort Worth officer Stephanie Phillips fired her X26 at 24-year-old Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., a mental health patient who was acting erratically at his east-side home. The barbs struck Jacobs in the chest and neck. Phillips told investigators that she inadvertently held down the trigger for 49 seconds and then shocked Jacobs again for five seconds after he failed to comply with officer commands. Jacobs died.

Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead, who was in his first full year as chief, said he promised residents that what happened to Jacobs would never happen again.

He began lobbying Taser International in October 2009 for technical applications that would solve extended-deployment issues.

During a meeting of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Denver, Halstead said, he proposed that the X26 be programmed so that the maximum duration of a shock, without releasing and pressing the trigger again, would be 10 seconds.

Taser International officials said it would be too problematic to reprogram the thousands of X26s that were already in use, said Maj. Paul Henderson, Fort Worth police chief of staff. However, Halstead's ideas were incorporated into the new X2 and X3, a three-shot device.

"We did add a five-second cutoff and an audible alert to the X2," said Steve Tuttle, Taser International vice president of communications. "Chief Halstead was a thought leader on this issue and helped us develop this safety improvement."

Another new feature is the ability to discharge the device at two targets without reloading -- if an officer misses, for example, or the darts make an incomplete connection.

While Halstead's lobbying may have been persuasive, another factor in the company's decision may have been potential liability. In July, a jury in the North Carolina case found Taser International at fault, awarding the teen's family $10 million. Jacobs' family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the police and Fort Worth. Without admitting fault, the city settled in 2010 for $2 million, far more than the city had ever paid in a wrongful-death suit.

Amnesty International has recorded 500 conducted energy device deaths in the United States since 2001, with the largest number (92) in California, followed by Florida (65) and Texas (37).

Creative and patient

The Fort Worth police department, which employs about 1,500 sworn officers, has more than 1,200 X26 Tasers on hand. But while the older Tasers do not meet the needs of the Fort Worth department or other police departments nationwide, budget constraints meant there was no money for the new technology, Halstead said.

Taser International reached a deal with Fort Worth that gave the city a 30 percent discount and allowed it to pay for the X2 over time, Halstead said. That let the city get the new Tasers without large upfront expenditures, he said.

"The economy is hurting us right now," Halstead said. "We are just having to be a little more creative and a little more patient in how we bring these innovations to our city."

This year, the city budget shows that Fort Worth will spend $80,930 -- nearly $16,000 more than last year -- for Taser replacement.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Chicago Police Department, the Houston Police Department and the Woodbury, Minn., Police Department have all purchased the X2, according to Taser International.

Even with the safeguards, controversy continues over use of the Tasers.

According to Fort Worth police figures, Tasers were used 1,841 times by officers between 2005 and 2010, and in two-thirds of the incidents where someone was arrested, they were used with minorities. Since 2001, five people in Fort Worth police custody have died after a Taser shock

The Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Tarrant County chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, continues to call for a moratorium on the devices, which he equates to instruments of torture.

"Tasers promote lazy policing by officers who are not well-trained or well-supervised," Tatum said. "Police used to take pride in de-escalating a situation. Now, it seems police are creating tensions that escalate situations. We still think Tasers are unconstitutional. And we know that black and brown people are the ones most likely to be Tased."

Marcus Hardin, grandfather of Marcus Swiat, once an advocate of banning Tasers, said he has given up that fight. Hardin's grandson was shocked eight times by a police officer with a Taser on May 24, 2008, according to testimony during his trial on charges of resisting arrest, where he was found not guilty. A municipal judge dismissed a public intoxication charge against Swiat that arose from the same incident in downtown Fort Worth. The fight to ban Tasers was a losing proposition void of a platform to make his case, Hardin said.

"This is an improvement," Hardin said of the X2. "And I'm all for improvement."

Letter from a Concerned Canuck

In response to this November 21st report: Caught on tape: Officers using tasers I received the following letter to FOX 8 Cleveland from "Concerned Canuck":

FORCED to use Tasers? The police choose to use the weapons when and how they do. In your edited examples, you showed unarmed, non-combative citizens being repeatedly shocked with a weapon the U-S Courts have decided is "deadly". One man was even hand-cuffed.

I write to you as a concerned Canadian citizen who has examined this issue extensively for many years. Please check the recent ninth circuit court decision in North Carolina, where the judges unanimously agreed Tasers are, by legal definition, "Deadly Weapons". Should police be using such a weapon on a handcuffed or unarmed suspect?

And now the manufacturer of this 'non-lethal police tool' has itself admitted its devices can cause dangerous metabolic and cardiac changes, which can lead to death, especially among vulnerable populations. It warns police not to use multiple or prolonged stuns. It warns police to avoid chest shots.

If you check the fine print of the latest training manual for the X26 model you'll discover, like I did, that there is a very long list of risks and warnings that was not there a decade ago, when police first purchased Tasers. The company said then that their devices were "safe to use on any assailant". That is not what they are saying now.

Has human physiology changed in ten years? Has the technology changed? NO-the only change seems to be the manufacturer's opinion of its own products. This admittance in the waiver should be all you need to see --to tell you the truth -- that Tasers were deployed prematurely without enough scientific scrutiny by any government on either side of our shared border —and now the legal responsibility is being thrown over to law enforcement. Police failed us too, with a lack of due diligence, because they never verified the initial safety claims made by Taser International.

Also of great concern is the fact that these electrical devices are not measured regularly in any police detachments across North America. This is -- ahem-- shocking, when you consider that according to Truth-Not-Tasers.Com, which has kept a death toll based on media accounts, 700 citizens have died after being 'tased', including a Tuscon police officer last week. Officer Fung was a healthy man who suffered a massive heart attack, a day after being 'tased' in a training exercise. I wonder if he bothered to read the fine print of the waiver? Did he sign it? And will his cop buddies agree so readily to being 'tased'?

A few other things your reporter might like to dig into -- shocks between 30 to 100 milliamps can kill. Yet Tasers have peak outputs of 151 to 162 milliamps. Don't be fooled by Taser's use of 'averages', as the danger is in the peaks. And despite taser's assurances that the there is consistent current being emitted, our national public broadcaster, the CBC, proved there is 'output variance'. They found in a random test, using Taser's own test protocol, that 12-percent of the weapons performed above the safety allowables set by the company.

Neither the UL, IEC or CSA have ever measured the Taser, nor would they, they say, because one of the modes of use of the weapon utilizes invasive probes which emit current INTO the body, where resistance is next to nil. Check with the UL -- they will tell you there is no electrical safety standard yet developed for internal shocks, just external shocks, where skin resistance provides a barrier.

The lack of safety standards for non-lethal technologies is why NIST - the National Institute of Standards & Technology - is working with other scientists to develop a proper measurement protocol. But there will have to be TWO TEST PROTOCOLS for the TWO MODES OF USE: drive stun and the more dangerous dart/probe mode.

It took a major Public Inquiry in British Columbia to do it, but Canadian police have raised the Taser in the use-of-force continuum, to just below the firearm, only to be used as a last resort, in truly violent, life-threatening situations. Americans have to decide too — is it okay for police to continue to use the taser so cavalierly? Lakewood’s police chief told you this is exactly what the taser is for, “allowing us to have somebody compliant … without actually having to put hands on, wrestle or fight with them.” Should a deadly weapon be used to gain compliance? There have been too many "unintended consequences", but deaths will continue if police use the Taser the way they have.

Concerned Canuck

Police getting Taser with longer prongs

We have grave concerns over this news -- longer probes? It would seem logical that the longer the probe, the more energy would be transmitted in the body. Has Taser International done any research on the physiological effects of shocks using longer probes? One would think the transfer of energy would be vastly different than standard issue, because every extra molecule of metal would transfer current. Are these probes being utilized in Canada??

May 1, 2011
New Zealand Herald

A high failure rate has led to police being armed with new Taser cartridges with longer prongs that can penetrate thicker clothing.

It is understood at least some police have been using the new Taser cartridges, which also have a greater range, since January this year.

Sources say the change was made because the original Taser prongs were having difficulty penetrating heavy clothing.

Police figures show the X26 Tasers have had a greater than 25 per cent failure rate since they were reintroduced in 2010.

National operations manager Superintendent Barry Taylor, who was asked in January about the changes and why they were made, has now said that he is withholding responses because "the information would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial".

Tasers had been discharged 63 times since they were introduced nationally in 2010. They were ineffective in 17 of those cases.

Eight times, the Tasers detached from the subject or their clothing. In another eight cases, the subject was missed by either one or both probes.

The reason the charge did not work in the other case was still being determined.

Despite the figures, Mr Taylor said, police remained confident of the effectiveness of the Taser.

Police continued to monitor its use, while "utilising opportunities to enhance its operational efficacy", he said.

He also withheld answers to questions about whether any new Taser capabilities had implications from a medical point of view, or if staff using them were being retrained.

The original police-issue X26 cartridges operate optimally up to 5m. The specifications of the new cartridge are unclear, but on its website the Taser's manufacturer says it also makes cartridges for the X26 to suit warm or cold climates, including one - the XP cartridge - that is "ideal for colder climates" and "has a longer probe to penetrate thicker clothing".

Another cartridge features the longer prongs and adds a 10.5m range for situations "where the extra distance is needed".

Asked if she was aware of the changes to Tasers, Police Minister Judith Collins said it was an operational matter for police, but she was happy with any operational change that made police safer in their work.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said it was important police equipment be adapted so it was right for local conditions.

"The more effective it is, the safer it is for both the [target] and the officer."

NYPD Tests New Taser Gun

We can now expect to see the taser-related death rate increase in New York City ...

October 6, 2010
NY1

The New York City Police Department is testing a new and more powerful Taser gun in the wake of a deadly police-involved shooting that could have been prevented if the weapon worked properly. The new X26 model is said to be more incapacitating than the 600 or so Taser guns already in use in the city. The seven-ounce model is also about 60 percent lighter than the old 19-ounce models.

Under a pilot program, the NYPD has given 15 of the devices to five precincts, including Harlem and East New York, and four others to the Emergency Services Unit. On Sunday, a taser gun failed to accurately hit a knife-wielding suspect in the Bronx, leading police officers to shoot and kill 24-year-old Emmanuel Paulino.

Taser Is Sued by Inventor James McNulty for Patent Infringement

September 27, 2010
PR Newswire

ONE OF WORLD'S LARGEST AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERS MAY HAVE FINANCIAL INTEREST IN SUIT.

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Inventor James McNulty, a senior member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, who was a member of the research staff of the late TASER inventor John "Jack" Cover and instrumental in development of the early law enforcement model TASERS™, today announced that he has sued Taser International, Inc. (Nasdaq: TASR) for patent infringement for its nascent production of wireless TASER shells, that can be discharged from conventional firearms (federal case docket no. 2:09-cv-00289-KJD-PAL). The suit claims that Taser sells the shells in violation of McNulty's "5,831,199" and "6,877,434" patents. The suit seeks an injunction against further sales, compensatory, exemplary (punitive) and enhanced damages and attorney's fees. A case filing lists the aerospace giant BAE Systems, Ltd., manufacturer of the Harrier Jump Jet, and its affiliate Defense Technology Corporation as entities that may have a direct financial interest in the successful outcome of McNulty's case.

Documents produced in the suit and other public filings show that affiliates of a number of the world's 10 largest defense contractors are potential competitors of Taser for any substantial military markets that may develop for less lethal electronic shock weapons.

Documents produced in the suit show that one affiliate has already developed in competition with Taser's X12™ and X RAIL™ a combination weapon, that fires ammunition cartridges that can also be interchangeably fired from and sold as replacement ammunition for Taser's X26 and M26 stun pistols, and that the affiliate has already manufactured stocks of thousands of the ammunition rounds.

McNulty, a 27 year participant in the industry commented, "Documents already produced in the case show that this competitive ammunition technology has application in the law enforcement market for TASERS™ and TASER™ ammunition. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that resale of ammunition for the over 359,000 M26 and X26 stun pistols, which have been sold by Taser to the law enforcement market, is a significant source of revenue for the company. In its last reported quarter ending June 30, 2010, Taser's ammunition cartridge sales accounted for over 25% of its total business. Taser has no basic patents that prevent any other company from manufacturing and selling competing ammunition for the X26 and M26 products.

The prospect in my opinion is that Taser shall fight for ever smaller shares of competitively diminishing law enforcement and military markets for projectile stun guns and ammunition and against interest of such behemoth enterprises. Taser's Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that many of Taser's assets are plant and equipment, intellectual property and inventory for manufacture and sale of its current line of stun pistols and ammo. The value of these types of assets can quickly vaporize with advent of new competitive electronic control device technologies. I shall vigorously protect my advanced IP in this field for its licensees/prospective licensees."

AUSTRALIA: Tasers face ban after findings they can kill

"Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

September 3, 2009
The The Australian

THE controversial Taser stun guns may be scrapped in Queensland after a review warned that the weapons could kill and could not be modified to prevent a repeat of the death of a man this year when he was shot 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.

The joint Crime and Misconduct Commission-police review, launched after the June heart-attack death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano, has ordered an overhaul of police training and operational policy, requiring the stun guns to be used only when there is a "risk of serious injury".

The review, to be released today and obtained exclusively by The Australian, marks the first time an Australian authority has recognised the possibility the stun guns can injure or kill, especially when fired repeatedly at a person.

"The possibility of Taser use causing or contributing to death is possible and cannot be ruled out," the review warns.

The Arizona-based manufacturers have repeatedly denied the weapons can kill.

The report is expected to influence the nationwide rollout of Tasers, amid mounting evidence the weapons are being used by police as an everyday compliance tool and not as a non-lethal substitute for a standard gun in high-risk situations.

Sources have told The Australian a coronial investigation has concluded that amphetamine addict Galeano, 39, was deliberately shot 28 times, each time for a duration of up to five seconds, after he confronted police with a steel bar at his unit in Brandon, south of Townsville.

It was initially claimed the stun gun might have malfunctioned or that there was a glitch with the built-in computer system recording the number and duration of shots from the weapon.

But investigators will allege the policeman repeatedly Tasered Galeano, who dropped the metal bar after the first few shots, while he lay unarmed and writhing on the floor.

He died minutes later while still in handcuffs.

Civil liberties lawyers called for a criminal investigation into the death of Galeano in June, when The Australian revealed he had been shot 28 times.

Until then, police had claimed he had been shot only two or three times.

It will be announced today that the freeze on the rollout of Tasers to 3000 general duties officers -- ordered after the death of Galeano -- will be maintained while police move to implement the recommendations of the review.

Meanwhile, the 1200 Tasers with the Queensland police force will remain in operation. But the use of Tasers is under threat, with the CMC recommending they be modified so a single shot lasts no longer than five seconds, and that a limit be put on the numbers of times the weapon can be fired.

Police have been told by the manufacturer that "at this stage, this is not feasible with the Taser X26" -- the $15,000-a-piece weapon being used in Queensland and around Australia.

The review recommends that Queensland Police fit an automatic video device on the weapons, which records every time the Taser is pulled from its holster.

Queensland police last year refused to buy the weapons with the optional "Tasercam" because of the cost.

Civil liberties lawyer Scott McDougall, director of the Caxton Legal Centre, said police should be forced to table in parliament every deployment of the stun guns in Queensland.

He said an independent medical study should be conducted on the weapons, and a freeze on their use should be implemented until the findings were released.

"We have clients who were Tasered who were not offering any resistance to police," he said.

"Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

Taser Int'l to unveil new Taser X3

July 1, 2009
by Andrew Johnson, The Arizona Republic

Taser International Inc.'s newest law-enforcement stun gun will be able to aim at and shoot multiple targets at once, but the company is staying tight-lipped about the technology until later this month.

Scottsdale-based Taser said Wednesday that it will unveil the Taser X3 at its annual tactical conference July 27 at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort in Fountain Hills.

Taser is trying to build buzz around the product by revealing new details about the technology at its Web site daily and on Facebook and Twitter social-networking sites.

The X3's capabilities will be "quite a leap forward" from the Taser X26, the stun gun the company began selling to law enforcement in 2003, spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

The X26 device shoots two metal probes attached to conductive wires that can reach a target as far as 35 feet. They incapacitate a target by emitting up to 50,000 volts of electricity.

Tuttle would not say what the price for the X3 is but said it will be "cost competitive in terms of what it can do." The company currently sells the X26 for about $800 per unit.

The X3 is one of several new products Taser has ramped up research-and-development spending on during the last two years.

The company, which has been the subject of numerous product-liability and wrongful-death lawsuits over the use of its stun guns, has been trying to diversify its product line to battle lower sales.

Taser's shares closed up 2.2 percent at $4.66 on Wednesday.

'Excited delirium,' not TASER, killed Brian Cardall

June 26, 2009
By Mark Kroll

I sit on the scientific and medical advisory board for TASER International and wish to comment on the column "Police search for a defense in death" by Rebecca Walsh ( Tribune, June 21).

Commenting on the tragic death of Brian Cardall, Walsh states that the TASER Electronic Control Device was "zapping Cardall full of 50,000 volts" and implies that it contributed to his death.

The actual pulse voltage delivered by the TASER X26 is 600 volts and that is in very short pulses.

This 100-fold exaggeration is provided by Amnesty International material. This anti-police activist group has long used exaggeration and innuendo against TASER ECDs as a significant fundraising tool.

It is helpful to discuss the most common electronic control devices -- electric fences. The TASER X26 ECD satisfies the Underwriters Laboratory electric fence standards and puts out only 40 percent of the output allowed. If the TASER ECD were actually dangerous, the ranchers in your readership would have to remove their electric fences lest they risk electrocuting the next person that walks into one.

Walsh scoffs at the deadly condition known as "excited delirium" syndrome. She states, "Promoted by a retired Texas medical examiner, excited delirium is not accepted by either the American Medical Association or the American Psychological Association." This represents another of the statements of Amnesty International.

Your readers can see what the AMA actually says about excited delirium by going to their website.

"Excited delirium" is a widely accepted entity in forensic pathology and is cited by medical examiners to explain the sudden in-custody deaths of individuals who are combative and in a highly agitated state.

Excited delirium is broadly defined as a state of agitation, excitability, paranoia, aggression and apparent immunity to pain, often associated with stimulant use and certain psychiatric disorders.

The signs and symptoms typically ascribed to "excited delirium" include bizarre or violent behavior, hyperactivity, hyperthermia, confusion, great strength, sweating and removal of clothing, and imperviousness to pain.

Excited delirium deaths have been reported in the medical literature for over 150 years. The exact term is found in medical textbooks beginning in the 1800s.

The fundamentals of an excited delirium death are not that difficult to understand. Our bodies have limits to exertion. If we were to run rapidly we would eventually tire and slow down or stop because our brain recognizes signals of overexertion such as acid in our blood. If we were to continue -- because our brain ignored such signals -- we would exert ourselves until we died. The body has limits for a reason. If these limits are sufficiently exceeded we will die.

Walsh adds, "Brian Cardall is missing key symptoms of excited delirium: He had no cocaine in his system. He was not massive or obese."

If your readers read the AMA statement on excited delirium, they'll see that these criteria are actually not required.

Our thoughts and prayers should be with the Cardall family that is suffering from their sudden loss. It does them a great disservice to repeat exaggerations and innuendo from the fundraising material of an activist anti-police group to incorrectly imply that police officers killed their son.

Mark Kroll teaches in the biomedical engineering department at the University of Minnesota.

*******************************************************************

Comment by Excited Frauds: 6/26/2009 3:35:00 AM

Taser Spokes-Puppet, Mark Kroll, knows his medically invalid Taser Propaganda quite well. "Excited Delirium" was first used by the director of an insane asylum in the 1800's, and the gentleman was regarded as a QUACK.

As Mark knows, no one has ever been diagnosed as having died of "Excited Delirium" without 2 factors being present: 1.) A law enforcement officer 2.) A method of restraint being used or abused.

That makes "Excited Delirium" one of medicines MIRACLES! A "medical condition" which only occurs in the presence of a police officer or jail guard, who is trying to control a person with a method of restraint. And those taser shockers are often the restraint being used, although hand-cuffs and hog-ties also appear, as well as an officer putting his weight on the person.

Ask yourself this question: "If excitedly delirius persons are on a One Way Path to Certain Death, why aren't at least 25% or 50% of these persons dying BEFORE the taser or hog-tie is used? Why aren't excitedly delirius people dying when the officer yells "Taser! Taser! Taser!" once in a while?

The ANSWER is that the simple presence of the law enforcement officer can not trigger a "medical condition", and if it could, suspects should be dying WITHOUT the restraint or taser being applied.

There is a principle of Logic called Occam's Razor, which roughly says that usually the explanation using the fewest variables will be the correct explanation.

What killed Brian is quite simple ~ he was agitated for a period of time, then confronted and assaulted by a peace officer using a Taser and he died ~ Occam says the Taser killed him, as it should, since the Taser barbs were lodged below his skin and across his heart, which is a muscle and is directly affected by a Taser "electro-muscular control device". The Taser worked perfectly to control Brian's most important muscle - his HEART, and it went into fibrillation, eventually leading to his death.

Comment by Excited Frauds: 6/26/2009 7:39:00 AM

Mark Kroll mentions Underwriters Labs and Electric Fences ......"The TASER X26 ECD satisfies the Underwriters Laboratory electric fence standards and puts out only 40 percent of the output allowed.

"Sorry, Mark, but that is a LIE in sheep's clothing. Tasers have NEVER been submitted or reviewed for electrical safety by Underwriter's Labs. In fact, Tasers can't be used in the rain, because they will short-circuit. They aren't even "water-proof".

Mark's company - Taser International - was WARNED by "UL", in a letter, to Cease using its name or logo, in any Taser marketing material, since UL had never been asked to test Taser electrical properties or safety.

Mark knows this, yet he uses the "UL" name to make it seem that Tasers are safe, and UL agrees. Early Tasers were sold to law enforcement, using marketing materials which fraudulently mentioned "UL" Standards, to make foolish cops believe they are "UL Safe". That was a Taser LIE, and UL threatened Legal Action, if the stun gun maker didn't remove ALL references to their Labs.

The fact that Mark Kroll would use the "electric fencing" comparison, shows how shallow and deceptive he is.

Mark holds no medical degrees. He's not a medical doctor.

I suspect that Mark Kroll knows full well that Tasers can kill, and he even knows the medical path to Taser electrocutions.

Why don't you request UL to test your dangerous devices, Mark? Are you afraid of the results? Why don't you ask the FDA to approve your Taser "medical device", since it works just like those FDA Approved heart devices you are associated with?

Sadly, in many situations Tasers can induce irregular heart rhythms, especially when the Taser barbs puncture the skin across the heart. That's when they are deadliest.

"Excited Delirium" doesn't pass the Laugh Test. It is Junk Medical Science, used to hide police and Taser International responsibility in unfortunate, but too common, Taser electrocutions.

************************************************************************

See also: Electrical Standards (March 4, 2005 - Arizona Republic) which said, in part:

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.

CBC and The Canadian Press win Michener for joint Taser analysis project

Frédéric Zalac SRC; Jim Bronskill Canadian Press; Governor General Michaëlle Jean; Esther Enkin CBC

The Michener Awards Foundation
Ottawa, June 10, 2009 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press (CP) have won the 2008 Michener Award for a joint project that analyzed and reported on the use of Taser stun guns, David Humphreys, President of the Michener Awards Foundation, announced today.

In a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, presented coveted Michener Award trophies to Esther Enkin, executive editor of CBC News and Jim Bronskill, national reporter of The Canadian Press for their joint entry. They were among eight news organizations honoured at the ceremony. The Michener Award is presented annually for journalism that makes a significant impact on the public good.

June 11, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — A joint project that produced a multimedia analysis of Taser stun guns and their use by the RCMP has won the 2008 Michener Award for CBC/Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press.

The prestigious award that is named after former governor general Roland Michener is given out based on the degree of public benefit generated by the print and broadcast entries submitted. The winner was announced Wednesday.

One Canadian Press-CBC joint study of more than 3,200 incidents in which Mounties fired the powerful stun guns between 2002 and 2008 showed officers used the Taser multiple times in almost 43 per cent of cases.

Another joint effort found the Mounties were censoring key information that must be recorded each time officers draw their weapons.

As well, a separate CBC/Radio-Canada investigation found some stun guns deliver a stronger jolt than they should.

The Canadian Press-CBC project produced stories for newspapers, websites, radio and television.

Other finalists chosen by the Michener Awards Foundation were Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe, the Globe and Mail, the Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and Winnipeg Free Press.

Ed Struzik, a reporter with the Edmonton Journal, won the 2009 Michener-Deacon Fellowship for a project on arctic sovereignty.

The fellowship will allow Struzik to join an expedition of geologists who are building a case for Canada to claim an arctic area the size of three prairie provinces.

CBC taser test results

This is worth another look ... the most comprehensive and ***independent*** electrical test of tasers ever conducted in the world was done by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.


PART 1 OF 2:



PART 2 OF 2:

RCMP taking 200 Tasers out of service in Saskatchewan

June 3, 2009
By Joe Couture, Regina Leader-Post

REGINA — The RCMP is taking almost 200 Tasers out of its arsenal in Saskatchewan.

Earlier this week, the RCMP announced that it would pull more than 1,500 older-model Tasers — also known as conducted-energy devices or conducted-energy weapons — from service in detachments across the country on the grounds that they might not generate a powerful enough electrical charge.

In Saskatchewan, the move will take out of service 193 of the older Tasers, according to a spokesman for the RCMP.

The decision to take the M26 Taser out of service came after B.C. government tests showed the majority of the units tested were "underperforming."

Results of the tests showed that 80 per cent of the devices failed to operate within the manufacturer specifications.

Ninety per cent of the units produced less electrical output than would be expected, "potentially presenting both public and officer safety risks," according to a news release from the RCMP.

The RCMP will test all M26 units in its inventory across the country, and only those confirmed to be functioning properly will be returned to active service.

In a statement provided to the Leader-Post on Wednesday, the company that makes Tasers defended its products.

"Taser International stands behind the quality and safety of its electronic control devices," said spokesman Peter Holran, noting that it is "not unusual for some high-tech electrical devices to experience a slight degradation in the electrical components over time."

Holran said his understanding is that the M26 units tested in B.C. fell below the specifications for energy output.

"A lower energy output equates to a higher safety margin, and, therefore, the medical safety of these devices is not in question," Holran continued. "Since there has been confusion over proper testing protocol and specification . . . under no circumstance should any of these devices be destroyed so as to preclude further analysis by other labs."

The RCMP's inventory also includes more than 1,500 Tasers of the X26 model, which is smaller and produces less output, while "achieving the same operational result," stated the RCMP.

The intention is to eventually replace all of the M26 models with X26 models.

The RCMP has 109 X26 model Tasers currently in service in Saskatchewan.

In the first six months of 2008 — the most recent period for which statistics are available on the RCMP's website — members in Saskatchewan activated Tasers 41 times. In addition, officers presented or threatened to use Tasers — but did not activate them — 61 times.

The total of 102 deployments is higher than that in any other province or territory, except Alberta and B.C., where Tasers were used 131 and 227 times, respectively. In Manitoba, Tasers were deployed 51 times in the first half of 2008.

The RCMP's responsibilities differ in every province. There weren't any statistics for Ontario or Quebec, where the force has a limited policing presence.

In B.C., where the RCMP is responsible for many highly populated urban areas, its 9,500 employees make up almost one-third of the entire national force.

In Saskatchewan there are about 1,200 members, not including those connected to Depot Division. In Alberta, there are about 2,200 members and in Manitoba, there are about 1,150 RCMP employees.

Niagara Regional Police ahead of the RCMP on Tasers

June 3, 2009
Posted By Grant LaFleche, St. Catharine's Standard

While the RCMP is pulling more than 1,000 Tasers from service across the country over safety concerns, the Niagara Regional Police says it has nothing to worry about.

The offending weapon, the M-26 Taser, is no longer part of the NRP arsenal.

“We pulled them from service in April,” NRP spokeswoman Jacquie Forgeron said Wednesday.

The NRP had six of the older model energy weapons which were used by members of its tactical unit. However, after testing them, the Tasers were replaced by the newer X-26 model.

The RCMP said this week the M-26 Taser will be removed from service after testing by the B.C government found the weapons failed to meet the manufacturer’s specifications 80 per cent of the time.

Around 1,600 weapons are being pulled after testing showed the weapon often delivered an electrical charge less than expected.

The use of Tasers by police in Canada has been in the spotlight thanks to recent hearings into the death of Robert Dziekanksi, who died after being jolted with the weapons by RCMP officers in 2007 in Vancouver.

Locally, a corner’s inquest into the 2005 death of James Foldi of Beamsville has looked at the use of tasers by the NRP officers who arrested him.

The inquest, which has been paused due to scheduling conflicts, heard that Foldi died as a result of excited delirium brought on by acute cocaine poisoning.

Forgeron said the NRP started looking at its older Tasers when a CBC report in 2008 showed that versions of the X-26 made before Dec. 31, 2005, were discharging more volts than they should.

The NRP took the relevant weapons out of service to be tested. During that round of testing the M-26 weapons were also looked at.

Last month, the last six M-26 Tasers the NRP had were pulled from service and replaced with newer weapons, Forgeron said.

Forgeron said the NRP presently have 44 X-26 weapons in use.

Only NRP supervisors and members of the tactical unit are authorized to use the conducted energy weapons.

In 2008, Tasers were used by NRP officers in 44 incidents, down from 98 in 2007.

Cops keeping Tasers

June 2, 2009
GILLIAN SLADE, Medicine Hat News

It seems unlikely police in Medicine Hat will be permanently removing the Taser from their holsters.

Solicitor General Fred Lindsay told the News he has not seen any evidence to indicate a Taser was responsible for deaths in the province. According to Lindsay, police statistics show very few injuries or deaths occurring after a Taser has been deployed. “I would have to see evidence that the voltage of the Taser was directly responsible for causing the death,” he said. “Between 2005 and 2007, the Taser was used 2,100 times in Alberta. In that time frame there were only two deaths after its use and less than one per cent of those Tasered required treatment in hospital or at an emergency room.”

In Medicine Hat, police deployed Tasers 56 times from 2006 to 2008 inclusive, with only five injuries resulting from either falling after being Tasered or injuries sustained during a struggle, according to information supplied by Medicine Hat Police Service.

According to Chief of Police Andy McGrogan, of the 56 incidents in Medicine Hat the Taser deployment resulted in “contact stuns” 23 times, meaning the cartridge was not deployed. Three times it was “ineffective deployment” and contact was not made with the individual. Sixteen times it resulted in “probed deployments” where the probe made contact with the person or their clothing, and on 14 occasions the Taser was simply “pointed and displayed” but not deployed.

In 2006, statistics were not kept on “pointed and displayed” incidents. Since guidelines for the use of Tasers were issued, the number of times a Taser is used has dropped, according to Lindsay.

“Our procedure for the use of Tasers was adjusted a couple of months ago,” said McGrogan. “They are only used when someone is resisting at a high level which is likely to cause injury to themselves or others.”

Reports released about the deaths of individuals who were Tasered have identified factors such as acute cocaine toxicity and excited delirium as possible causes. Lindsay says these causes were cited in deaths before Tasers were in use.

“Deaths were occurring when police used pepper spray,” said Lindsay. “Pepper spray was said to be constricting the throat of individuals.”

RCMP were one of the first Canadian forces to use pepper spray in 1992 for crowd control. It was introduced as a non-lethal weapon, an alternative to using guns.
The deaths that resulted from pepper spray were reported to be related to a pre-existing condition such as asthma.

Lindsay said police are often in situations where split-second decisions have to be made. "We do know that drugs, and in some cases those with a mental illness, can give people super-human strength,” said Lindsay. “Officers get tired handling an over excited individual for a long time and for the individual it is a strain on the heart.”

McGrogan notes “positional asphixiation” can also be the cause of death. He described “excited delirium” as “an altered medical state” which officers are trained to look for and request medical assistance when observed.

Confident that the Taser has not caused any deaths McGrogan stated, “Medicine Hat Police Service will stop the use of Tasers when we hear the Taser has been scientifically proven to cause death. We depend on the solicitor general to determine the facts.”

However, McGrogan wants to assure the public they have no intention of needlessly using force that is not appropriate.

Of the five Alberta deaths following the use of a Taser, only two reports have been released so far and they took years to be released. Regarding the three currently under investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, there is no time frame in which they must complete an investigation. Lindsay defends this by saying there is so much to investigate and they can only release a report when the details are available.

Toxicity reports appear to contribute significantly to delays as they typically take eight of nine months. “We have to use an RCMP National Laboratory because it has to be done at an accredited lab,” said Lindsay. “We are currently reviewing this to see how it can be shortened.”

Lindsay defends the fact police are investigated by police in these situations.
“The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is directed by a lawyer but police are needed on the team in order to really understand the situation they’re investigating,” said Lindsay.

The long delays for family of the victim to be informed of details surrounding a death can’t be helped. “When a death occurs after a Taser was used it becomes a criminal investigation,” said Lindsay, explaining this limits what the family of the victim can be told and their access to the body before an autopsy has been completed.
The possibility of releasing some information prior to releasing the full report on an investigation, which has the potential for reducing public speculation, is not one Lindsay will consider.

Toronto cops say Tasers are up to snuff

June 3, 2009
By ROB LAMBERTI AND JENNY YUEN, SUN MEDIA

While the RCMP recall and review 1,600 Tasers, GTA police services say their cache of the stun guns is fine.

The RCMP is recalling the M26 model because it failed to meet the manufacturer's specifications 80% of the time. The Tasers will be tested and repaired if necessary.

The Monday recall came hours after B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman ordered the RCMP to stop using the older version of the weapon in that province.

The concern is that the M26 appears to be producing less charge than required by the manufacturer. Last year, B.C. pulled 82 stun guns purchased before Jan. 1, 2006, after tests showed them misfiring.

Stun guns are under increased scrutiny since the October 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski after he was jolted multiple times with an RCMP Taser at Vancouver's airport.

CHECKED DAILY

The Taser used on Dziekanski was an X26 model, and not the M26 affected by the RCMP recall.

Halton uses the M26, the same model being yanked by the Mounties and Sgt. Brian Carr said yesterday there were concerns about the 2005 version. Halton's tactical team has 13 M26 Tasers that were made in 2006 and 2007, and he said they appear to be functioning properly.

Road sergeants in Halton are armed with the newer X26.

In York Region, which has a total of 30 X26s, Const. Gary Phillips said only tactical officers have them. Durham and Peel also only use the X26.

The M26 was retired in Toronto in 2005 and replaced with the newer version, Chief Bill Blair said. In Toronto, only road sergeants and tactical officers have Tasers.

"We check our devices on a daily basis," Blair said. "They go through regular checks before they're used each day and we also send them in to make sure they're appropriately calibrated."

Vancouver Police Taser woman 'wielding knife'

June 2, 2009
ctvbc.ca

Only a day after the B.C. government ordered hundreds of Tasers removed from circulation for failing to meet manufacturer's specifications, a woman is in serious condition in hospital after being Tasered by Vancouver Police and hitting her head.

Cst. Jana McGuinness says the "distraught" 55-year-old was carrying a large folding knife on East Hastings St. when she was approached by police around 11:30 Tuesday morning. McGuinness said the woman was waving the knife in an "aggressive stance," and police fired the Taser when a man intervened and they feared for his safety. The woman fell to the ground, still clutching the knife, striking her head on the ground.

She remains in serious condition in hospital with a head injury, and the VPD Major Crimes Unit is investigating.

The incident comes on the heels of a call to ban all Tasers in British Columbia. On Monday, B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman pulled 650 older Tasers after recent testing revealed an 80 per cent failure rate, more often than not delivering less electrical output than expected.

"They failed, so we pulled em," Coleman said.

In a statement to CTV Monday night, the Vice President of Public Relations for Taser International, Peter Holran, said "the safety of the devices was never in question" when the M26s were ordered removed. "Those devices which pass testing can be returned to service, according to the Solicitor General," he wrote.

But NDP Public Safety Critic Mike Farnworth disagrees. He says Tasers that are under-performing can be dangerous. "If you're delivering a lower dose of voltage than expected and an individual is not responding, the way you expect, and you just keep Tasering them, zapping them, that's not safe because we don't know the accumulative effects," Farnworth said.

Farnworth is also concerned that no one seems to know what the life span is of any Taser. "If there's an estimated 650 in B.C. being pulled at $1,000 bucks a pop, that's a lot of money," he said. "If all you're doing is replacing them with new Tasers, which we don't know the shelf life is or deterioration rate is -- in essence, you're throwing good money at bad."

Taser international didn't respond to CTV News but the Solicitor General's office did say some of the malfunctioning Tasers may be beyond repair and will have to be destroyed

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger

Guelph police board backs officer

Two anonymous comments I received today:

Anonymous said...
Oh yes, the fact that the Chief of Police in Guelph is monitoring Mulder should be enough to appease Miss Gillman. This woman has been monitoring taser misuse and abuse for 5 years now and has never been far off the mark. Perhaps we should all consider learning more about this non medical police/taser coined condition "exited delirium" since a good majority of us will probably suffer from it if taser use is not curbed. However, very nice of Chief Davis to "feel sorry" for Ms. Gillman over the brutal tasering death of her brother Robert. This issue goes far beyond the death of her brother...it encompasses the tasering deaths of 409 citizens to date. The list of the dead continues to grow...and the list of concerned Canadians is growing with the mistrust of our police forces and their documented brutality and coverups. So who are we to believe...Chief Davis and his monitoring? I don't think so!!!

May 22, 2009 2:11 PM
Anonymous said...
But Mulder's company ~IS~ linked to Taser International. Perhaps indirectly, but the dots can be connected.

1) His company is an obvious clone of the US outfit, and the US outfit has been linked to Taser International in several ways. (A bit stupid to copy the logo if you're trying to maintain an air of independence isn't it?)

2) Mulder also admits that he was in direct contact with the US outfit. It would be interesting to review his communications records if push comes to shove.

3) Also the purpose of Mulder's outfit includes promotion of the convenient excuse for a taser-associated death ("excited delirium"), very similar to the US outfit.

Mulder can claim pure-as-the-driven snow independence, but we do not have to believe him.


May 22, 2009
Greg Layson, Guelph Mercury

Guelph Police Service Chief Rob Davis stands by his man.

Davis yesterday defended Const. Gary Mulder and his private business, called Canadian Centre for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths Inc., which bears a striking resemblance to an American company called Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths.

Both companies offer emergency responders training in recognizing potentially dangerous in-custody circumstances and offer strategies to reduce the risk of fatalities. Both also tout the existence of a condition called "excited delirium" and offer training on recognizing and handling it.

The American firm has corporate links to Taser International. According to Mulder, his does not.

In an email sent April 27, outspoken stun gun critic Patti Gillman, whose brother died after being Tasered, requested the Guelph Police Services Board once again examine its conflict-of-interest policies because Mulder was allowed to start a private company.

Gillman's concerns were examined again yesterday at the Guelph Police Services Board meeting. Davis prepared a report and supplemented it with a recent study that supported the use of Tasers.

"We investigated the concerns in her email and there is no connection (to Taser International)," Davis said. "We're standing firm that everything was done properly."

Davis said he is satisfied and will not monitor Mulder's business.

"Any time an agreement is reached between a member and the board and approval is granted, they are responsible to abide by the rules set forth," Davis said. "We don't monitor the approval once it's been made but if something comes to our attention we'll investigate it."

City of Guelph councillor Gloria Kovach, who sits on the police board, was also satisfied with Mulder's arrangement.

"Due diligence was done," she said. "We should be promoting extra educational opportunities like this."

Last year, Mulder organized a Guelph seminar on excited delirium. More than 300 emergency personnel attended.

Excited delirium is a controversial term that describes a state of mind and body in which individuals are agitated, exhibiting both incoherent speech and extreme strength. It is not, however, listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.

Gillman doesn't subscribe to the theory. Davis does.

"I feel sorry for Patti Gillman and the loss of her brother, but we still need to be progressive in recognizing this and training people in recognizing this," said Davis, whose department has a policy to, if possible, call for an ambulance before using a Taser.

The report Davis prepared cited a study published in Blue Line Magazine. It concludes the Taser M26 and Taser X26, which the Guelph Police use, are both safer than some over-the-counter headache medicines.

The Michener Awards

The Michener Awards Foundation recently announced six finalists for the 2008 Michener Award "for meritorious public service journalism."

The finalists are: a joint entry from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and The Canadian Press (see below); Le Courrier de Saint-Hyacinthe; The Globe and Mail; The Hamilton Spectator; the Toronto Star; and the Winnipeg Free Press.

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, will host the Michener Awards ceremony at Rideau Hall on June 10 where the winner of the 2008 Michener Award will be announced and the Michener-Deacon Fellowship will be presented.

The Michener Award, founded in 1970 by the late Roland Michener, then Governor-General, goes to a news organization. The judges’ decisions are heavily influenced by the degree of public benefit generated by the print and broadcast entries submitted for consideration.

A collaboration between the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Société Radio-Canada (SRC) and The Canadian Press is one of the six 2008 finalists for this prestigious award:

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Société Radio-Canada and The Canadian Press: The three news organizations teamed up to undertake a multimedia analysis of Taser stun guns and particularly their use by the RCMP. They collaborated on data analysis, identification of vital trends, interviews and preparation of stories for newspapers, websites, radio and television. A scientific analysis by CBC & SRC found that more than 10 per cent of Taser units tested were either defective with some discharging significantly more electrical current than the manufacturer’s standard.