Are stun guns too deadly? Louisiana case adds to debate

Even The Christian Science Monitor wonders how all these people are being promoted to heaven!

August 11, 2008
Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor

ATLANTA - A grand jury in rural Louisiana considers Tuesday whether to bring murder charges against a Taser-wielding police officer in what may become a seminal case in the hotly debated history of stun guns.

No US jury has ever convicted a police officer in connection with a death related to use of an electroshock weapon. But the number of deaths in which the guns have played a role has been growing, along with their use in law enforcement agencies.

Now, the coroner in Winnfield, La., has found the death of one Baron "Scooter" Pikes to be homicide by Taser, intensifying a simmering controversy over the devices and exposing the tense tug of war between police and young black men in rural Louisiana.

After Winnfield Parish police took Mr. Pikes, who is black, into custody one January morning, a white police officer fired a Taser, jolting Pikes nine times in the span of 14 minutes. Pikes never woke up.

Police said the 21-year-old Pikes was on drugs and uncooperative, but coroner Randolph Williams took a different view. In a report last month, he said he found no signs of a physical struggle, of drugs, or of any medical condition that could have exacerbated the jolts' effect.

As police departments across the US look for nonlethal ways to subdue out-of-control people, a big question is whether such devices reduce violence or, in effect, can increase the likelihood of violence, even torture. The Pikes death is just one case, but it appears to show that the combination of simmering racial tensions and insufficient police training can be lethal when injected with a 50,000-volt jolt.

"If the Taser was indeed the cause of death, this could be an interesting case," says Andrew Scott, former police chief of Boca Raton, Fla., who has testified on the behalf of officers in stun-gun cases. "Given the historical corruption of law enforcement in the area, and the fact that the young man was tased nine times, something is definitely wrong with this picture."

Two-thirds of all police departments in the US own at least one electroshock weapon. The guns have played a role in nearly 300 deaths in the US and Canada since their introduction in 1998, Amnesty International reported in June. Yet most wrongful-death lawsuits have gone the Taser's way, with juries finding that factors ranging from hard drugs in a person's system to existing medical conditions were responsible for or contributed to their deaths.

The weapons, also called electronic control devices, are part of a transformation in policing, away from bullets and guns and toward "Star Trek"-like devices that can, from a law-enforcement standpoint, safely and quickly defuse volatile situations.

"We didn't get this [negative] reaction when nightsticks were used to split heads open, but because of the technology and what it does, the media have really exacerbated the issue of the Taser," says Mr. Scott. "The upside of the Taser far outweighs the unfortunate abuse or downside."

But with some 260,000 units in the hands of law enforcement officials, and with no major federal regulation governing their use, stun-gun use in cases like the one in Louisiana is revealing unintended drawbacks of this particular tool of policing, says Thomas Luka, a defense attorney in Orlando, Fla. Used most often before officers are physically threatened, the devices are changing the relationship between police and the populace, especially on the streets.

"We're seeing injuries that wouldn't normally happen on a routine traffic stop, and all of a sudden they're happening," says Mr. Luka.

The American Civil Liberties Union has not called for a ban on devices such as Tasers. But in the light of studies that show potential health effects of getting jolted and a general lack of training, national standards, and federal oversight, the ACLU says the devices have created a troubling gray area for US civil rights.

"The Taser in many cases is going to be safe, but it's those other cases, which actually are prevalent in the population that police interact with, that we have a lot of concerns about," says Mark Schlosberg, an electroshock-weapons expert with the ACLU in San Francisco.

A federal National Institute of Justice study released in June drew this conclusion on devices such as Tasers: "Although exposure ... is not risk free, there is no conclusive medical evidence within the state of current medical research that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of CED [conducted-energy device] exposure."

Still, the public shows signs of souring on the devices. Seven states have banned their use, and some police departments are reevaluating their stun-gun policies, specifically to wait for an imminent threat of physical violence before resorting to their use and to restrict officers to fewer than three jolts before moving on to hand-to-hand restraint. But for many police departments, critics say, electroshock weapons are routinely and increasingly deployed in a variety of situations, with plenty of room for questionable improvisation.

"Police sometimes do things they're not supposed to do, and if you put the temptation in front of them, if you tell 100 police officers that, 'Here's your Tasers, and you're not supposed to use them to punish,' someone is going to use them to punish. It's predictable," says Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the New York State Police.

The Winnfield Parish case is likely to test all those aspects, highlighting racial tensions between blacks and police evident in many parts of the US. Roughly corresponding to overall crime data, 46 percent of the people who died in stun-gun-related incidents were black and 36 percent were white.

Winnfield Parish, birthplace of famed Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, has a long history of police corruption. The officer who administered the Taser to Pikes, Scott Nugent, was a rookie cop hired by a police chief who served time on a drug charge but was pardoned by former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who himself is now in federal prison.

A first cousin of Mychal Bell – the main defendant in the Jena 6 case that last year sparked the century's largest civil rights march – Pikes at the time of his arrest, on an outstanding warrant, struggled with police and then fell sick, complaining of asthma and the effects of PCP, police said after his death. But bystanders said Pikes, who knew the officers, pleaded with them, "Don't tase me again, please."

The Police Department has admitted no wrongdoing, though the City Council fired Nugent in May. The medical examiner is risking his relationship with the police department by listing the death as a homicide, but his autopsy was sound, according to Mr. Baden, who reviewed the findings.

"This is a major case," says Carol Powell-Lexing, a lawyer representing Pikes's family. "It's significant in the sense it shows how this young officer exceeded his authority and use of force, and it shows how dangerous those Tasers are. The community won't rest until they see appropriate relief in regards to this situation."

Use of stun guns widening

•More than 13,000 law enforcement, correctional, and military agencies in 44 countries deploy Tasers. Of this, some 4,700 agencies deploy Taser ECDs to all of their patrol officers.

•More than 359,000 Taser brand devices have been sold to law enforcement since February 1998.

•More than 176,000 T brand devices have been sold to citizens since 1994 (legal in 43 states).

•At least 276 people have died in the United States since June 2001 after being shocked with stun guns, according to Amnesty International.

Sources: Taser International, Amnesty International

Ex-sheriff's deputies in Mississippi charged in taser case

August 11, 2008
Associated Press

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Two former Tippah County sheriff's deputies - a father and son - pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges they violated a suspect's civil rights and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors say the men, William and Jeffrey Rogers, assaulted a man in their custody by repeatedly jolting him with a Taser without justification. The former deputies also are accused of falsifying reports in an effort to thwart an investigation of the June 2007 incident. A federal grand jury indicted the pair July 31.

Illinois man dies

August 11, 2008
WIFR.com

Kiethedric Hines, 31, Rockford, Illinois died on August 10th

This is the SECOND taser-related death in Rockford, Illinois in two months.

ROCKFORD - Authorities detail investigation into the death of a man tasered by police.

Rockford Police say Kiethedric Hines, 31, tried getting into an apartment at 3319 1/2 Darwood Drive. His daughter's mother, who was inside at the time, called police. When officers arrived, Hines allegedly took off and police chased him a couple blocks over to Idlewood Terrace. Neighbors in that area say Hines jumped a fence before being tased by officers.

At a press conference Monday evening, Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson said the officer who used the taser on Hines acted appropriately. Deputy Police Chief Greg Lindmark adds the police officers felt threatened and had to use the taser and pepper spray to subdue Hines.

The preliminary autopsy shows the shock from the taser did not kill Hines.

Loella and Robert Penzotti didn't see the actual tasing, but did notice Hines walking back to the patrol car and being searched by officers. Robert says, "Then all of a sudden he just kinda turned around and he slumped down to the ground, to the pavement actually, and he leaned back on the front tire."

At first the Penzottis just thought Hines was resisting arrest and didn't want to be put in the back of the car. Loella says, "You know how some of them don't want to get in the squad car and things like that so they fight against it. It never occurred to us that it could've been anything worse than that."

Hines died in the Emergency Room at Rockford Memorial Hospital while he was still technically in police custody.

This is the second taser death for the Rockford Police Department in just two months. InJune, Rockford police say 29-year-old Ernest Graves was seen running away from a domestic disturbance call on 16th Street. When police caught up with him, they tased him and he later died at the hospital. At the press conference Monday, Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia spoke about Graves' death. She says the autopsy showed no signs of heart attack, stroke, aneurysm or brain tumor. The autopsy did show there was cocaine, marijuana and alcohol in Graves' bloodstream. A toxicology report is still pending.

The two recent taser-related deaths have some wondering if tasers are the answer. "If it was only one this year, you might've thought it was just the person." That's why she thinks the department should really think twice about using the weapons to slow people down. "I think they need to reassess the thing as to the strength and what it's doing to people."

If final autopsy results show Hines' death was caused by the taser gun, Chief Epperson says his department is open to looking at policy changes on taser guns.

Wecht to do second autopsy on man police tasered

August 9, 2008
By Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Let the battle of the forensic pathologists begin.

Dr. Cyril H. Wecht will perform a second autopsy on a man who died after a confrontation with Swissvale police. Howard Messer, a lawyer representing the family of Andre D. Thomas, yesterday confirmed that the noted forensic pathologist and former Allegheny County medical examiner has been retained by the Swissvale man's family.

An autopsy by the county medical examiner's office was inconclusive pending toxicology and other tests. However, both Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams and District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. have said Mr. Thomas' body bore no signs of excessive force.

Mr. Messer said photographs he has seen of Mr. Thomas's body tell a different story. "There is evidence of trauma to the body," Mr. Messer said. He declined to elaborate. Mr. Messer said he believed county officials were acting appropriately to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mr. Thomas's death Tuesday.

Dr. Wecht will likely perform the second post-mortem examination today between Mr. Thomas's funeral service and burial.

Dr. Williams also said it's not uncommon for families to request second autopsies, and he doesn't believe Dr. Wecht's examination will yield any dramatically new information. "We did a complete autopsy," he said. "The findings are the findings."

Mr. Thomas was pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m. Tuesday at UPMC Braddock, less than an hour after scuffling with three Swissvale police officers on Hawthorne Avenue. Police responded to numerous 911 calls of a man pounding on doors saying people were trying to kill him. Officers arrived, believing that Mr. Thomas might be a victim. But things changed when police decided that Mr. Thomas was acting so irrationally he was a danger to himself and others, Mr. Zappala said.

When Mr. Thomas tried to run away, one officer shocked him with her Taser three times until he was incapacitated enough to be handcuffed. Even so, Mr. Zappala said Mr. Thomas demonstrated "almost superhuman" strength in resisting attempts to handcuff him. Several witnesses said they saw police stomp and punch Mr. Thomas. Others told investigators from the Allegheny County Police that officers did not rough him up.

Mr. Zappala said Mr. Thomas's behavior and symptoms -- unusual strength, irrational behavior, dilated pupils, normal breathing that suddenly becomes labored and a normal pulse that rapidly weakens -- were similar to those exhibited in other people who died while in a state of "excited delirium" brought on by acute cocaine toxicity.

Investigators are looking into whether Mr. Thomas was high on the night of his death.

Toxicology tests are still weeks away from being available, but Mr. Zappala indicated that investigators were exploring the possibility that Mr. Thomas bought drugs in Braddock between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., 50 minutes before his encounter with police. Paramedics at the scene treated him as a possible overdose.

Mr. Messer said Dr. Wecht will not be making any public statements about the results of his examination. "He's under a confidentiality agreement with me not to talk to the media about this case," Mr. Messer said.

However, in an interview Thursday before he was retained, Dr. Wecht expressed skepticism about excited delirium -- especially if there is any indication of excessive force or positional asphyxia. "Excited delirium is a convenient fallback for medical examiners, coroners and their forensic pathologists around the country," Dr. Wecht said. "The convenient thing about that diagnosis is that it's not susceptible to scientific disproof. It's not susceptible to scientific proof, either. It's based on nothing more than anecdotal situations."

In cases of positional asphyxia, prolonged pressure on the back or neck while someone is prone -- such as while they are being handcuffed and restrained -- can cause death.

Mr. Zappala flatly stated this week that Mr. Thomas did not die from positional asphyxia. He said one Swissvale officer did put a knee to the small of Mr. Thomas's back while detaining him, but that Mr. Thomas was then sitting upright.

In addition to setting up the possibility of dueling autopsy reports that reach different conclusions, the hiring of Dr. Wecht puts him squarely at odds with an old nemesis: Mr. Zappala. Dr. Wecht and Mr. Zappala have feuded for years, most significantly over the DA's successful move to end Dr. Wecht's ability to hold open inquests in cases of suspicious deaths. When Dr. Wecht was still county coroner, he would routinely hold fact-finding hearings when people died while in police custody or at the hands of police. Those inquests were conducted as an independent investigation parallel to police probes.

Mr. Zappala effectively outmaneuvered Dr. Wecht and put an end to open inquests. He argued that coroner's inquests were duplicative, illegal and unnecessary and could compromise law enforcement investigations.

Even this week, Dr. Wecht touted the importance of an impartial, transparent fact-finding hearing in the case of a death like Mr. Thomas's.

Judge doubts cause of death in Summit jail case

August 8, 2008
By Ed Meyer, Beacon Journal

Prosecutors failed to prove that Mark D. McCullaugh Jr. died from asphyxiation after his 2006 struggle with Summit County sheriff's deputies at the county jail, a judge said. Deputy Stephen Krendick, 35, was found not guilty of one count of murder by visiting Judge Herman F. Inderlied Jr., who heard the case in Summit County Common Pleas Court without a jury.

Inderlied announced the verdict at 4 p.m. Wednesday after a three-hour recess following closing arguments. He left the bench immediately afterward. The judge made public the reasoning behind his decision in a two-page court entry filed in the county clerk's office at 10:51 a.m. Thursday.

It stated: ''The state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any conduct of the defendant, Stephen Krendick, caused the death of Mark D. McCullaugh, knowingly or otherwise. More specifically, the state failed to prove that Mark D. McCullaugh died from asphyxia as opined by Dr. Sterbenz and Dr. Levy.''

Ryan Miday, a spokesman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, said Inderlied did not inform the two assistant county prosecutors who handled the case — John R. Kosko and Brian M. McDonough — that lesser charges were considered. But Kosko and McDonough both interpreted the decision's reference to ''any conduct'' as an indication that Inderlied did consider lesser charges, Miday said. In pretrial records, Kosko wrote that ''the facts may support the consideration of involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide as lesser included offenses of murder.''

Inderlied's decision went on to say: ''It is more likely that Mark D. McCullaugh died from sudden cardiac death following his struggle with Summit County deputies and due to the adverse impact of that struggle on his pre-existing severe arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease prior to the use of drugs or the use of [pepper] spray by the defendant.''

Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease is a medical term for hardening and thickening of the walls of the coronary arteries.

Defense's argument

Defense attorney James M. Kersey, in his closing argument, said McCullaugh's bad heart resulted in a fatal ''haywire heartbeat'' from the stress of the struggle. There was no evidence McCullaugh's airways were obstructed and, therefore, he could not have died from asphyxiation, Kersey argued.

But George C. Sterbenz, the county's chief deputy medical examiner, testified during the eight-day trial that McCullaugh died of asphyxiation from the combined effects of chemical, electrical and mechanical restraints on his airways. McCullaugh, 28, was pronounced dead at Akron General Medical Center at 7:46 p.m. Aug. 20, 2006 — one hour and 15 minutes after the beginning of the struggle in his 11-by-7-foot cell in the jail's mental health unit, prosecutors contended.

According to testimony, McCullaugh's hands were cuffed behind his back, his legs were shackled and he was injected by jail nurses with a drug cocktail in a further effort to calm him. One of those nurses, Denise Walsh, testified that McCullaugh's leg shackles were attached, in turn, to a bull ring in the cell floor.

With the cell door closed, Krendick then shot McCullaugh through a flap in the door with a 16-ounce can of pepper spray. Moments before, deputy Adam Crolley testified that he heard Krendick saying he was ''going to let him cook.''

Sterbenz testified that the fatal injury — severe burns to the windpipe from inhaling the pepper spray — caused McCullaugh to choke to death within minutes.

Those findings were corroborated by testimony from a second forensic pathologist, Dr. Bruce Levy, chief medical examiner of the state of Tennessee. Levy reviewed Sterbenz's findings and agreed with asphyxiation as the principal factor in the death.

The defense, however, presented two forensic pathology experts of its own — Werner U. Spitz, a former chief medical examiner in Wayne County in Michigan, and Michael Graham, chief medical examiner for the city of St. Louis.

Spitz and Graham both testified that McCullaugh, who was 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds, according to the autopsy, had severe heart disease and died of a rapidly accelerated heartbeat from the stress of his violent struggle with the deputies.

Spitz, 81, who testified in the congressional investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., concluded from his review of the Sterbenz autopsy that McCullaugh's death was from ''natural causes.''

Spitz testified that he found no obstruction in McCullaugh's windpipe, nor any evidence of swelling — a sign of restricted airflow — in that area.

Graham testified that he, too, reviewed Sterbenz's autopsy and found the evidence showed McCullaugh died from a condition he called ''schizophrenia-induced excited delirium,'' with heart disease as a contributing factor.

Excited delirium is a legal term for sudden death from an accelerated heartbeat in cases of suspects who resist being taken into custody.

Mental illness cited

Inderlied also said in his decision that the struggle ''was precipitated by Mark D. McCullaugh due to his well-documented mental illness.''

Krendick did not testify, but on Wednesday morning when the defense wrapped up its case, five Akron police officers testified that they were involved in bizarre incidents with McCullaugh in the weeks leading up to his death.

In one incident, McCullaugh head-butted an officer. In the other, he kicked a paramedic in the chest, the officers said.

Inderlied also said in his decision that he made ''no findings with regard to the conduct of any person(s) other than the defendant, Stephen Krendick.''

Four other sheriff's deputies were indicted in the case. They are scheduled to go to trial before Inderlied later this year.

After the verdict, Jennifer L. Fox, McCullaugh's mother, left the courtroom in tears. Jonathan Stock, of Medina, said his mother was too distraught to comment on the verdict.

Sheriff Drew Alexander, meanwhile, said Krendick will be back on the job ''when he's ready.''

Alexander extended his condolences to McCullaugh's family, but also said he was ''happy for the sheriff's office.''

''The agency's been under a lot of scrutiny for the last two years, and I felt two years ago as I do now,'' he said. ''My deputies acted appropriately.

''They did not go into that cell to kill that man. They went in to that cell to subdue him and stop him from hurting himself, and this is the end result.''

Inderlied handled the case under appointment by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Editorial - Shattering public trust

This is the same police department that will investigate its own (and, all too predictably, will find no officer at fault) in the recent post-taser death of 17-year-old Michael Langan.

August 8, 2008
Editorial - Winnipeg Free Press

There have been isolated, sporadic events in Winnipeg's history that have sorely tested citizens' faith in their police force. Never before has the city had to weather the travesty that played out before the Taman inquiry: A chorus of police officers repeatedly sang a "do not recall" refrain when asked about the drinking that went on during an all-night party that ended with Derek Harvey-Zenk plowing his truck into Crystal Taman's car. The inquiry has left Winnipeggers disgusted with the officers involved and with a growing distrust of the police force.

Harvey-Zenk's testimony Wednesday capped an arduous examination of the botched police investigation and subsequent plea bargain that allowed the former officer to escape drunk driving charges and dodge a jail term. Harvey-Zenk, who pled guilty to dangerous driving causing death, testified his memory of events now is full of "holes." The lapse covers a few hours before the "shifter" with his colleagues began at a Winnipeg restaurant, the following house party in East St. Paul and up to the day after he hit Taman at the red light on the highway early the next morning. Winnipeggers grew cynical as the credibility of police officers was dissected. Harvey-Zenk, finally, offered no contrition for his actions.

The seeds of this travesty were sown in the early bungling of the investigation by the East St. Paul police. Evidence was altered or omitted and the Winnipeg internal investigations unit was asked to interview the officers who partied with Harvey-Zenk. This creates the spectre of conflict, a predictable charge the police department will meet as long as the province refuses to establish an independent oversight body with powers to investigate the police force. Justice Minister Dave Chomiak firmly believes the police can investigate themselves. He is sadly blind to the widening mistrust the public has in the extraordinary authority that police wield.

The inquiry studied the decision of the independent prosecutor, Marty Minuk, to accept a plea bargain to the reduced charge of dangerous driving causing death, agreeing to spare Harvey-Zenk a jail term. The controversial move was aggravated when Mr. Minuk gave only a perfunctory explanation in court to the judge weighing the jointly recommended conditional sentence. Mr. Minuk chose the deal rather than risking losing the case, but his silence further undermined the public's trust.

The risks of losing the case were real. Had Mr. Minuk tested the evidence of impairment in court, however, the public would quickly have seen just where fault lay. Mr. Minuk's decision effectively eliminated a key step in keeping police accountable, and called into question the integrity of the justice system. Sometimes even weak charges should be tried in the interest of protecting public faith in the courts, something acknowledged in prosecution policy. This sordid case shows the value in that. It should caution prosecutors against striking deals in the future that can do lasting, perhaps irreparable damage.

Looking at deaths from arm's length

August 8, 2008
The Globe and Mail

When Craig McDougall died last week, he became the second aboriginal man to be killed by Winnipeg police officers in less than a month. Both Mr. McDougall's shooting death and the taser-inflicted death of Michael Langan will be investigated internally. Legitimate questions raised by leaders of aboriginal communities about the conduct of the Winnipeg police will not be answered satisfactorily without an external investigation, a procedure recommended by Manitoba's Aboriginal Justice Inquiry two decades ago.

Earlier this week, aboriginal leaders who demanded a public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service after the deaths of these young men were chastised by Winnipeg's mayor and told to wait for the facts. The province's Justice Minister expressed his faith in an internal investigation. But these recent deaths have raised doubts about the abilities and sensitivities of the municipal police force. If nothing else, the fact that the investigations of these deaths will be conducted by colleagues of the officers concerned will lead to a public perception of bias.

The soon-to-be-concluded public inquiry into the investigation and prosecution of an off-duty Winnipeg police officer convicted of dangerous driving, which caused the death of Crystal Taman, will not dispel that perception. Fellow officers can't remember how much Derek Harvey-Zenk was drinking, or if he was drinking at all. In any case, he had taken part in all-night partying. The police chief in nearby East St. Paul, where the collision took place, once worked with Mr. Harvey-Zenk. He can't remember telling his least experienced officer that Mr. Harvey-Zenk might be drunk. His officers failed to advise Mr. Harvey-Zenk of his Charter rights. In short, this inquiry invites an inference that the police cannot effectively investigate their colleagues.

In 1988, J.J. Harper, an aboriginal leader and Mr. McDougall's uncle, died after an encounter with a Winnipeg police officer, who was exonerated the next day. The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry was set in motion that year.

One of the AJI's recommendations was that where an incident involving a police officer resulted in the death or serious injury of a person, a special investigations unit or a team should investigate and report directly to the Minister of Justice. The investigating unit would not be staffed with any officers from the police department under investigation. Independent counsel - not a Crown attorney - would give advice on whether criminal charges should be laid.

Although an investigating police officer with the Winnipeg Police Service might reach an unbiased, accurate conclusion, the lack of independence will undermine it. The community and the officers themselves would benefit from a process that is seen to be fair. Implementation of the AJI recommendation for a special investigation team is long overdue.

California man dies

August 8, 2008
The Press-Enterprise, California

Lawrence Rosenthal, 54, Hemet, California - died on August 7th

September 20, 2008:
Riverside County coroner's officials said Lawrence Rosenthal died after a lack of oxygen to the brain from a cardiovascular heart disease. High levels of acute cocaine toxicity contributed to his death, the coroner's office said.

PSP to market taser competitor in Canada

August 7, 2008
By Krystle Chow, Ottawa Business Journal

Pacific Safety Products Inc. has entered into an exclusive agreement to market Taser competitor Stinger Systems's electronic stun guns in the Canadian market.

The Kanata-based defence products maker said its wholly owned subsidiary APS Distributors would be marketing Stinger's "less lethal" electronic immobilization devices, including the new S-200 projectile stun device.

"We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Stinger Systems to bring this exciting and innovative product to Canada," said PSP chief executive David Scott in a statement. "We share a belief that superior product design, officer safety and customer service are critical in the Canadian marketplace, making for an ideal partnership. The S-200 especially represents a real opportunity for Canadian law enforcement to issue the best in less-lethal EID devices."

Stinger purports its products are safer than the Taser International stun guns – which have been receiving negative press lately after several highly publicized Taser deaths – widely used among law enforcement agencies. The two-dart, hand-held stun guns use microcomputer technology to manage the flow of current, allowing for less initial current and spreading the charge out over a longer period of time.

The Stinger product is also about half the price of a Taser device, according to an Associated Press report.

One step closer to a police state?

August 7, 2008
By John W. Whitehead
Tri-State Observer, Pennsylvania

"Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation." - George Orwell, 1984

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Compliance weapons, also known as non-lethal or non-deadly weapons, have become the rage in law enforcement.

On paper, these weapons seem like a welcome alternative to bloodshed, especially if it means protecting law enforcement officials from dangerous criminals and minimizing civilian casualties.

Yet as we have seen with tasers, the dangers posed, especially to defenseless non-criminals, cannot be lightly dismissed. And as technology makes possible the widespread availability and acceptance of these weapons, o­ne also has to wonder about their impact o­n police practices and the exercise of civil liberties.

Tasers, for example, are designed to cause instant incapacitation by delivering a 50,000-volt shock. Currently used by roughly 12,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S., tasers have been hailed by law enforcement officials for their effectiveness in subduing targets. However, concerns about their misuse are growing. For example, Amnesty International reports that in instances where these hand-held electronic stun guns are used, 80% of the time they are used o­n unarmed suspects. In 36% of the cases, they are used for verbal non-compliance, but o­nly 3% of the time for cases involving 'deadly assault.'

Another non-lethal weapon with the potential to do untold damage is the 'LED Incapacitator' (LEDI). LEDIs will soon be in the hands of thousands of policemen, border agents and National Guardsmen. Designed like a flashlight, this light saber (also dubbed a barf beamer and a puke saber) is intended to totally incapacitate its targets by emitting multiple light frequencies and colors that confuse the brain, resulting in symptoms ranging from discomfort and disorientation to temporary blindness and nausea.

It has been suggested that LEDIs be installed in prisons so that riots can be stopped with the flip of a switch. Police vehicles with large versions mounted o­n top for riot control have also been proposed. But if LEDIs can be so easily employed o­n a mass scale and mounted o­n buildings, there is little that would stop police from dispersing even a mildly rowdy, but legal, political protest and shutting down entire city blocks with virtually no resistance.

Devices such as LEDIs facilitate a non-dramatic, palatable use of force. Indeed, the Department of Homeland Security has praised the LEDI device for its potential to peacefully apprehend boarder jumpers, resistant suspects and control riotous crowds. (Homeland Security has also expressed interest in yet another non-lethal weapon in the form of security bracelets, aka 'taser bracelets,' which could be used to control crowds, quell protesters and inflict pain compliance o­n suspects from a distance.)

But there is a serious problem with non-lethal, non-deadly weapons: how they are used or abused largely depends o­n the individuals and agencies operating them. For example, many police forces around the world unabashedly use tasers as compliance weapons rather than as alternatives to deadly force. In these countries, tasers are more often used against passive resisters and stubborn individuals, while more deadly force is reserved for armed offenders. Consequently, abuses are o­n the rise and opposition to tasers is mounting worldwide, especially given the sharp increase in sudden deaths accompanying use of the stun guns. In fact, in late 2007, the United Nations Committee Against Torture declared that the use of tasers constituted a form of torture.

Also, we know very little about these non-lethal weapons. For instance, despite assurances from Homeland Security that LEDIs cannot do any real damage, the research is still out o­n the long-term effects of many of these non-lethal weapons. As with tasers, which have resulted in nearly 300 deaths over the past few years, LEDIs might cause greater than expected damage to individuals who are especially susceptible to their effects.

Moreover, non-lethal weapons such as LEDIs may not reduce the number of shootings by police. In Houston, Texas, for example, the introduction and routine use of tasers did not reduce the number of people shot, killed or wounded by the police. Nevertheless, while the use of non-lethal weapons such as tasers and LEDIs may not necessarily reduce the number of civilian casualties, they have been largely accepted as the humane alternative to deadly force because they make the use of force appear far less dramatic and violent than it has in the past.

Contrast, for instance, the image of police officers beating Rodney King with billy clubs as opposed to police officers continually shocking a person with a taser. Both are severe forms of abuse. However, because the act of pushing a button is far less dramatic and visually arresting than swinging a billy club, it can come across as much more humane to the general public.

Without citizen awareness and outrage, a major check o­n the abuse of police power is lost. As we have seen with the use of tasers, this empowers law enforcement officials to resort to non-lethal weapons in situations where previously no force would have been used at all, such as routine traffic stops or peaceful protests. And as force becomes easier and more common, with police neutralizing masses of people for the slightest disturbance and o­nly facing relatively minor repercussions, constitutionally protected protests will be rendered useless.

There are also totalitarian ramifications to be considered. Governmental coercion is largely restrained by the fact that people will resist governmental violence that crosses a certain threshold. But when the threshold is subtle and justified under the rubric of being more humane or combating terrorism (as in requiring airline passengers to wear taser bracelets), it becomes more difficult to find the outrage necessary to oppose it.

Lest we forget, government domination is not usually accomplished by methods so dramatic that they spark a backlash from citizens. Thus, the real threat to freedom posed by such non-lethal weapons is a governmental system of coercion so well designed that it does not breed revolt.

Study looks into whether Swiss police should be armed with taser guns

August 7, 2008
World Radio Switzerland

A taskforce is looking into just how dangerous taser stun guns are and whether the police should be armed with them or not. There are concerns following several deaths in North America. Officials say federal guidelines will not change until a study is complete.

Swiss police task force to assess taser risks

August 7, 2008
World Radio Switzerland

There’s renewed debate in the Swiss press this week over the use of Taser guns, following the death two weeks ago of a Canadian teenager who’d been stunned by the electroshock weapon.

The 17-year-old died in Winnipeg – thousands of miles from Switzerland – but officials here say they’re examining cases like his in order to assess the risks posed by Tasers.

Their use is allowed in a number of Swiss cantons, in particular larger cantons such as Bern and Zurich. And that number is steadily increasing, according to Urs Geissbühler, the secretary-general of the conference of cantonal police commanders. Speaking to WRS’s Catherine Allen, Mr Geissbühler says a task force is currently assessing the dangers of Taser guns – but that for now, there are no statistics on how they’re being used across the country as a whole.

Plans to sign UN torture protocol sparks taser debate in Australia

August 7, 2008
ABC News, Australia

The Federal Government's decision to sign the Protocol to the UN's Convention Against Torture has the potential to put Australia's police in a difficult position.

The UN Committee Against Torture says the use of Tasers "causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture".

The Taser is an electronic stun gun with a 50,000-volt punch, that paralyses its target. They are used by police in several Australian states and one high-profile lawyer says the Government's decision to sign up to the UN protocol could make their use illegal.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman says Tasers are now being used by police in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. Police in Victoria are campaigning for them too.

Mr O'Gorman says they are used every day. "[There was] an incident on the Gold Coast recently where the police were chasing a fellow who hadn't stopped for some mundane reason," he said. "They couldn't catch up with him so they Tasered him. The use of the Taser, which is touted as an alternative to the police drawing their gun and shooting, is being used in ordinary, everyday, mundane, policing situations."

He says very little parliamentary scrutiny has been applied to the decision to issue police with Tasers, but the signing of the protocol against torture could change that.

"It clearly is extremely painful. The United Nations have said that it is a form of torture so the Federal Government has got to grab this whole issue with both hands and address the widespread growing use of Tasers in at least three of the eight state and territory police services in this country," Mr O'Gorman said.

He expects the signing of the UN protocol will strengthen the legal argument against Tasers in Australia, and says it puts the onus on the Federal Government to take action on the issue.

"Deaths in Australia are inevitable. There is clear evidence that the use of Tasers leads to death," he said.

"The fact that Australia is now signing up to the UN protocol, which describes Tasers as a form of torture, just means that this has a degree of urgency which needs to be addressed by at least the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, which is an overarching body which looks at these sorts of issues over the country."

Police complaints in British Columbia need fixing now

August 6, 2008
Times Colonist, Victoria

The police complaints process in B.C. is not working. People who feel they have been wronged by police cannot count on a proper investigation or a timely response.

That has been known at least since February 2007, when former appeal court justice Josiah Wood's report revealed major breakdowns in the process and urged speedy action to fix the system. Almost 18 months later, the government has failed to act on a single recommendation. Solicitor General John van Dongen says it is considering changes, but offers no timeline for action.

The government is failing the public and police officers by preserving a process that relies on flawed and inadequate investigations and allows complaints to drag on for years without resolution.

Consider two cases in Victoria.

On Sept. 10, 2005, a constable shot an unarmed man in the stomach during a struggle in Esquimalt. The shooting was investigated, as required under the act, by an officer from another department -- in this case, Port Moody's police chief. It took a full year for Crown counsel to decide no charges were warranted. It took another 11 months for the Victoria Police Department to schedule a disciplinary hearing. On the day before the hearing -- 28 months after the shooting -- the officer resigned.

Even then, the department refused to release information on the shooting until the B.C. police complaint commissioner pressured it. The officer, the Victoria Police Department revealed, had thought he was grabbing his Taser and instead pulled his gun and shot the man. (He recovered.)

On April 23, 2004, Thomas McKay was injured in Victoria police cells. His father believed police used excessive force, throwing his son to the concrete floor while his hands were cuffed behind his back. He received a serious head injury.

McKay's father filed a formal complaint four days after the incident with the Victoria department. It took 19 months for police to respond, saying they had investigated and found the officer had done nothing wrong.

The police complaint commissioner reviewed the report and found further investigation was required. Within three weeks he asked Victoria police to re-examine the case. It took the department another 10 months to respond, saying it had looked at the facts again and reached the same conclusion.

Police Complaint Commissioner Dirk Ryneveld then ordered a public hearing, which began last month -- more than four years after the event.

Delays are not the only problem. As part of his review, Wood audited the handling of 294 complaints against the 11 municipal police departments covered by the provincial policy. (RCMP detachments, even those providing municipal policing, do not accept the province's complaint process.)

Almost one in five complaints was not properly investigated, he found. In some cases, complaints that should have been upheld were dismissed.

And the more serious the complaint, the more likely the investigation was to be flawed. The audit found 38 per cent of complaints of excessive force were not properly investigated.

Last week, Ryneveld expressed his concerns with the government's failure to address long-standing problems with "urgently needed" reforms. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association and other advocacy groups announced they would boycott the police complaints process and instead support people with complaints in filing civil legal actions.

Van Dongen explained the inaction by saying the issues are complex. But Woods offered 91 specific recommendations. Government's job is to deal with complex challenges, not put them off for years.

We give police great responsibilities and great power over people's lives in recognition of the important, difficult and sometimes dangerous work they do on our behalf.

Those powers must be balanced by an effective review process when citizens feel they have been abused or mistreated. That is in the interest of police and the public.

That balance does not exist in British Columbia.

Pennsylvania man dies

August 5, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Andre Thomas, 37, Swissvale, Pennsylvania, died on August 4th

Texas man dies

August 4, 2008
Fred Davis, Beaumont Enterprise

Jerry Jones, 45, Beaumont, Texas

Makers of tasers aiming to appeal to public

"The idea is to get the weapon in front of soccer moms." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

"The natural progression for this is it's going to be in department stores." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

"We want to make sure the good guys have this." ... Steve Tuttle, Taser International

August 4, 2008
Rick Armon, Akron Beacon Journal

TravelCenters of America offers everything imaginable that a highway traveler might need. Fuel. Hot showers. Satellite radio systems. Full-service restaurants. Truck repairs. And now . . . Tasers.

The national chain has teamed up with Taser International to sell the stun gun at its 163 truck stops, including sites in North Canton and Lodi.

It's the first time in years that the Taser has been sold in a retail setting other than a sporting goods or firearms store. The move is part of the company's strategy to market the weapon to a more mainstream audience and eliminate the perception that Tasers are reserved for law enforcement authorities only.

TravelCenters of America provides great exposure because travelers are often concerned about personal security, especially if they are on the road alone, Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

About a year ago, the majority of sales were direct to customers, but the company has started selling them in sporting good stores and through firearms dealers. The idea is to get the weapon in front of soccer moms, Tuttle said. "The natural progression for this is it's going to be in department stores," he said.

TravelCenters workers at the North Canton and Lodi sites declined to comment. The
weapons weren't on display last week, but the workers said they were behind counters and available for purchase.

A corporate spokesman didn't return a phone call after asking first to listen to the questions posed by a reporter. The company, based in Westlake, operates under the names TA and Petro in 41 states and Canada.

A spokesman for the Ohio Trucking Association said the trade group had no opinion on the deal.

"I think that people who are on the road feel less secure than people who are in their home area," said Dale Lewison, professor of marketing at the University of Akron and director of the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. "From that standpoint, it would be a reasonable fit that a truck stop operation would do that."

How they work

Tasers, which provide incapacitating 50,000-volt electrical shocks, have been controversial because people, including several in the Akron area, have died after being shocked by authorities. Amnesty International has estimated that more than 291 people have died from Tasers in the U.S. since June 2001.

And critics have argued that the weapon should be banned.

Taser has been selling the weapon to the public since its inception, including through retailer Sharper Image at one point in the 1990s. But consumer sales never took off and the company focused on law enforcement instead, Tuttle said.

Now the company is attempting to move back into the mainstream market.

"Fear is a very powerful marketing appeal," Lewison said.

However, he questioned how well the Taser would sell at a department store. Instead, it likely would do well at Kmart or Wal-Mart, he said.

Since the C2 Taser was introduced in July 2007, 31,600 have been sold. Ohio is one of the top five states for Taser sales, Tuttle said. The C2 Taser being sold at TravelCenters, sporting goods stores and on the company Web site for $349.95 differs from the law enforcement version. That main difference involves range, which is limited to 15 feet for the consumer.

The range is shorter because the company wanted the weapon to be "defensive in nature," Tuttle said.

The Taser also won't work when taken out of the box. The customer first must obtain a special code by undergoing a criminal background check and providing personal information to the company, he said. Whenever it is used, it also sprays coded confetti that allows law enforcement to identify the weapon.

"We want to know who you are," Tuttle said. "We want to make sure the good guys have this."

Mixed feelings

Paul Hlynsky, president of the Akron lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he has mixed emotions about more people owning Tasers. "We respect the right of citizens to try to defend themselves," he said. "But our officers are very well trained on Tasers. Certainly it's a concern that people will get hurt and will hurt other people."

Man shot to death after taser fails, Winnipeg police say

August 2, 2008
CBC News

A 26-year-old knife-wielding man was shot and killed by police in Winnipeg after they failed to subdue him with a Taser, officials say. Police responded to calls of a possible disturbance around 5:15 Saturday morning in the 700 block of Simcoe Street in the west part of the city.

When officers arrived, they confronted a man brandishing a knife, said police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput. She said police requested that he put down his weapon.

"Information of course is preliminary, but it does appear he did not comply with the request, the electronic control device was deployed, that didn't work and they had to escalate to a higher level of force," Chaput said. She said the officer shot the man as a last resort. He was taken to hospital, but died later. At least two officers were being placed on administrative leave.

Letter from a concerned citizen

Attention: Alok Mukherjee
Chair, Toronto Police Services Board

Dear Chairperson Mukherjee,

As a concerned citizen, the site below should interest you, Vice-chair Pam McConnell, and other members of the Board concerned about the continuing use of Tasers by the Torronto Police Force. To date, 367 Taser deaths have been reported in North America - 22 in Canada, approximately 350 in the United States.

Many Taser victims have been psychiatric survivors - whom Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has labeled "EDPs" (emotionally disturbed persons).

Tasers are neither safe nor "sub-lethal". Further, there is considerable medical-scientific evidence documenting the Taser's many serious health risks including cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, and death. Further, the relevant and negative medical evidence has been largely minimized, ignored or suppressed by Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, and Ontario coroners. Why?

As relevant evidence re Taser deaths, please read the powerful and personal statement [online] by Ms.Patti Gillman, sister of Robet Bagnell who died shortly after being tasered by Vancouver police in June 2004. Ms. Gillman delivered her statement on April 16, 2008 at a public meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa. (click on url below, also "What We Believe" below photo of Mr. Bagnell.)

You will note that Manitoba Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard has publicly called for an immediate "suspension on the use of Tasers" in Manitoba - the only political leader in Canada to do so. Once again, I urge the Board to recommend and issue an immediate moratorium, suspension or ban on police use of Tasers in Toronto. {see my previous submission delivered at a public meeting of the Board on September 28, 2006).

Please forward this letter to all Board members. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
Don Weitz
Toronto, Ontario

C: Patti Gillman
Councillor Pam McConnell, Vice-Chair, Toronto Police Services Board
Cameron Ward, B.C. Civil Liberties Union
Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer for Health/Ontario
John Sewell, former Mayor of Toronto
Alex Neve, Secretary-General, Amnesty International/Canadian Section
Linden McIntyre, "the fifth estate"/CBC
"The National"/CBC
Fred Kuntz, Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail
Ed Greenspon, Editor-in-Chief, The Toronto Star
Dr. Jon Gerrard, Leader, Manitoba Liberal Party

See http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com

Manitoba Liberal Leader calls for suspension on taser usage

July 31, 2008
BREAKING NEWS - Winnipeg Free Press

Following a recent Taser related death, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dr. Jon Gerrard today charged the provincial government with continuing to put Manitobans at risk by failing to provide and implement guidelines for proper Taser usage.

"The lack of appropriate guidelines and standards for Taser usage creates a tough situation for law enforcement officers," Dr. Gerrard said. "I have called for a suspension on Taser use for some time now and recent events have reinforced this notion that Taser usage should be put on hold until proper guidelines and protocols are available and implemented."

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 22, Michael Langan, 17, was shocked by a police Taser in a back lane behind 871 William Ave. He was rushed to the nearby Health Sciences Centre in critical condition and was pronounced dead.

Langan was the first person to die in Manitoba after being Tasered by a police officer.

A fatal Taser incident in British Columbia in October 2007 sparked national outrage.

"This is an issue of humanity and the fact that a weapon labeled as non-lethal has on several occasions caused fatalities is ample reason to reassess the situation," Dr. Gerrard said.

Saskatchewan released its taser report, listing 21 recommendations including the call for a multi-disciplinary team with medical practitioners to analyze complied data on the human effects of Tasers.

Tasers have been used in Canada since 1999 and according to Amnesty International there have been more than 290 fatalities in North America following Taser shocks since 2001, approximately 22 occurring in Canada.

Zapped by The Economist

July 31, 2008
The Economist

Do electronic stun guns take more lives than they save?

WHEN an electronic gun designed to immobilise but not kill emerged from the pages of science fiction and went into manufacture a decade ago, police forces around the world snapped it up. Instead of shooting suspected criminals who posed a threat, they could now zap them with 50,000 volts of electricity and have them safely in handcuffs before they recovered enough to resist or flee.

But are stun guns really non-lethal? Canadians have been wondering since a Polish immigrant died last October at Vancouver airport after police subdued him with a Taser, the most popular brand of the electronic weapon. An amateur video of the incident posted on YouTube sparked a public debate, and several official inquiries. On July 22nd a 17-year old youth in Winnipeg became the 21st person to die in Canada after being fired at with a Taser.

The gun’s American manufacturer, Taser International, has sold 300,000 of them to police forces in 45 countries. It contends that just because someone dies after receiving a jolt, it does not necessarily follow that the Taser was to blame. It says—and some doctors agree—that pre-existing heart conditions, drug and alcohol abuse, and the agitation of having been pursued are all more likely causes of deaths in police custody. Tom Smith, Taser’s chairman, told a committee of Canada’s Parliament earlier this year that although 50,000 volts sounds like a lot, a static charge from a doorknob is almost as high.

Such arguments have proved persuasive with juries. Taser International has won or had dismissed 71 lawsuits for wrongful death or injury. Most of these cases were in the United States, where just over 300 deaths following Taser use have been recorded. (The company suffered a rare courtroom loss earlier this year when a Californian jury ordered it to pay $6.2m to the parents of a man who died after being shocked. It is appealing.) A company spokesman points out that no medical examiner in Canada has pointed to the Taser as a contributing factor in any deaths.

Yet doubts persist. In June the parliamentary committee urged the federal government to commission independent studies. Amnesty International, a human-rights group, wants a temporary ban on Taser use until the research is complete. None of the official reviews backs that, but they call for tighter rules on the use of Tasers and better training for officers who handle them. The Saskatchewan Police Commission has reversed a plan to deploy more Tasers and is restricting their use to specialised teams. By limiting the use of conventional guns by police the stun guns may indeed save lives.

But Canadians do not like their police to be trigger-happy, even with “non-lethal” weaponry.

Sensible decisions on tasers

July 31, 2008
Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix

At last, someone in a position of authority within law enforcement has had the gumption to question conventional wisdom on Tasers. While other jurisdictions continue to argue that there is no conclusive evidence they are dangerous, this province has decided otherwise.

The decision by the Saskatchewan Police Commission that it will not authorize municipal police forces to use Tasers, at least for now, is a bold stand. Its decision is all the more courageous given that it reversed a previous approval of the electronic control devices.

Institutions at any level are generally reluctant to admit they may have made a mistake, but there are good reasons for the police commission to have reconsidered this issue.

At the latest count, there have been 22 people killed by Tasers in Canada, a number that suggests there is something more than just bad luck involved. The best-known case is that of Robert Dziekanski, the Polish visitor who died at the Vancouver International Airport after being hit with Tasers by local RCMP officers. Dziekanski was upset and acting out after being contained in the arrivals area of the airport for eight hours without food. When he started throwing chairs around, the police arrived and let him have it with the Tasers, killing him within minutes.

That incident has been the subject of a number of different reviews, and so far at least, none of them have come back with the conclusion that the Taser was a good idea under the circumstances.

Nor has anyone suggested it was the ideal response to the case of 17-year-old Michael Langan, the Winnipeg boy who was killed by police just last week. Langan was allegedly spotted breaking into a car and flashed a knife when he was confronted by city police. They say he refused to drop the knife after several warnings, so they hit him with one shot of the Taser, which killed him on the spot.

This incident casts a different light on various theories presented in the past as to why Tasers kill people. Clearly, Langan was not an overweight middle-aged man with a chancy heart. He was a young fellow in good physical condition, accustomed to walking at least five miles a day. According to his parents, he had no health history that would suggest he was likely to die from an electric shock.

And this is precisely the problem. No one seems to be able to accurately predict what effect the Taser will have on its victims, or where the line is between subduing a suspect and creating another law enforcement accident.

This is exactly what Saskatchewan ombudsman Kevin Fenwick concluded in recommending Tasers be kept out of provincial jails.

On the face of it, Langan was precisely the kind of person the Taser was designed to deal with. Police were facing an unpredictable and potentially violent subject who clearly represented a threat to the physical safety of the officers. Yet the Taser produced exactly the outcome that it is supposed to have been designed to prevent. Langan wound up just as dead as if he'd been shot through the heart.

Obviously, there has to be a better way.

It's understandable that police would be reluctant to give up any tool that gives them an edge in dangerous situations. So it's no surprise that the Saskatchewan Association of Police Chiefs should be asking for further review of the police commission's decision.

While the police are not exactly arguing that the Taser is safe, they do say they will have to rely on other tactics if the stun gun is not available to them. "If the next step in some circumstances is the firearm, well, we know what often the result of that is," says Prince Albert police Chief Dale McFee, president of the police chief's association.

"We just want to make sure that our officers aren't second-guessing themselves and that they do have every tool readily available to them."

The problem, of course, is that police don't always regard the Taser as a weapon of last resort. Too often it's used just because it's easier than physically restraining someone, or talking someone like Langan out of doing something stupid. For example, the young man who refused to stop heckling presidential candidate John Kerry was Tased just because he was annoying.

More recently, a young man in Missouri who fell off an overpass was Tased while lying on the shoulder of the road below as a means of preventing him from running into traffic. None of these examples inspire confidence in the discretion of police.

This is precisely why we have civilian oversight of policing agencies. It should not be left strictly to the police to decide what policies and procedures are effective. Occasionally police have to be reined in when their infatuation with weaponry begins to overtake common sense.

This is one of those times.

Until it can be proven that Tasers are not resulting in unintended deaths, they should be left on the shelf.

It may take awhile for other jurisdictions to follow suit, but the Saskatchewan Police Commission will eventually be seen as a leader on this question.

Officials slam taser verdict

July 31, 2008
Heather Polischuk, The Regina Leader-Post

Although they will respect a Friday decision by the Saskatchewan Police Commission to limit the use of conducted energy devices (CEDs) within municipal police forces, Regina's mayor and police chief say they are not necessarily pleased.

The topic came up during Wednesday's meeting of the Regina Board of Police Commissioners. Regina Police Service Chief Troy Hagen and Mayor Pat Fiacco said they hope the SPC will continue to educate itself about CEDs -- commonly known as Tasers -- with a view to the possibility of further CED deployment in the future.

"Sometimes Tasering is going to save someone's life as opposed to killing someone ...," Fiacco said following the meeting. "What we don't want to do is put our police in a situation that the only resort that they have is a gun."

Hagen said the RPS, like the Saskatchewan Association of Police Chiefs, supports "any further use of force options that may be available to our police officers, rather than having to use our service revolver. In principle, we support any devices or any training that will enhance and lessen the risks to the suspects that we're confronting.

"So initially, obviously, the (SAPC) would have preferred that we would have had an expanded deployment of Tasers to frontline personnel, insuring that there were appropriate levels of training and reporting and accountability measures built into the policies that may have been contemplated. However, the Saskatchewan Police Commission has concluded that at this time they're not in favour of further deployment of the CEDs ... We certainly respect the commission's decision."

Late last year, the Regina Police Service shelved plans to make CEDs available to all officers by the end of 2008. Instead, the devices are now only available to SWAT members for use in tactical situations.

While Taser use has been linked to deaths in several jurisdictions across Canada -- including Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski -- Regina has not been one of them. According to statistics referred to at the meeting, CEDs were deployed 11 times by the RPS in 2006 and 21 times in 2007 (once Tasers were made more widely available to members). Due to limiting their use, Tasers have not been used by Regina police in 2008.

In coming to its decision, the SPC referred to controversy that ignited over Taser-related deaths as well as a lack of adequate information on the full consequences of CED use.

Fiacco said he hopes the SPC will look into bringing in a medical professional to explain exactly what happens when a person dies after being Tasered. The mayor said he heard such an explanation last year in Calgary, during which a medical expert noted something called excited delirium caused death in some who were Tasered, rather than the Tasering itself.

"In some cases, unfortunately, it was as a result of mental issues with the individual," Fiacco said. "In other cases, it was because they were under the influence of narcotics that put them in this state ... I'm hoping that we can investigate this even further to make sure that the right decision at the end is going to be made."

The commission also looked at June's crime statistics, which showed a significant year-over-year decline in robberies and break-and-enters. Mischief and willful damage increased as did auto theft. Hagen said members of the auto theft strategy committee will meet to look at that issue.

Police batons more dangerous than tasers: study

I post this here, not because I believe a word of it, especially when I see the usual suspects involved in this so-called study. I post this here, only to give some semblance of balance.

Dr. Hall's name seems to be attached to every taser marketing study in Canada.

July 30, 2008
Sherri Zickefoose, Canwest News Service

CALGARY - As the national debate over the safety of Tasers rages on across the country, a new study finds that batons are causing a higher rate of injury than other weapons wielded by police during arrests.

The two-year Calgary study - the first use-of-force examination of its kind in Canada - also found pepper spray to be the safest tool employed by police to subdue suspects resisting arrest.

The Canadian Police Research Centre report examines 562 cases where Calgary police used Tasers, pepper spray, batons, weapon-free control techniques and vascular neck restraints - 'choke holds' - on people resisting arrest.

The 14-page study found that Tasers "scored high" in safety for both suspects and officers in Calgary, a city of over 1 million. Though it was used in nearly half of all cases involving suspects resisting arrest, only one per cent ended up hospitalized, and 87 per cent sustained either minor injuries or no injuries at all, according to the report.

Batons, on the other hand - used in only six per cent of force-involved arrests - caused the greatest rate of serious injury. Fewer than 39 per cent of subjects were uninjured. More than three per cent were hospitalized, and nearly 26 per cent required outpatient treatment.

"The commonly held belief . . ." that Tasers carry "a significant risk of injury or death . . . is not supported by the data," said the report, researched by Dr. Christine Hall, an epidemiologist based in Victoria and Calgary use-of-force expert Staff Sgt. Chris Butler. The report says the stun guns are "less injurious than either the baton or empty-hand physical control."

On Friday, the Saskatchewan Police Commission announced it won't be authorizing the general use of Tasers or conducted energy devices (CEDs) by members of the province's 14 municipal and First Nation police services until more information is available. SWAT team members will still be allowed to use the stun guns.

Pepper spray, used in roughly five per cent of force-involved arrests in Calgary, produced the lowest rate of injury to suspects. More than 80 per cent of people sprayed suffered no injuries. Fifteen per cent had minor injuries and four per cent had what researchers called "minor outpatient" injuries that needed medical attention but not hospitalization.

Police who used the spray suffered no injury in nearly 89 per cent of cases.

"No use-of-force technique available to police officers can be considered 'safe.'. . . Every use-of-force encounter between the police and a citizen carries with it the possibility for injury for one or all of the participants, however unexpected that injury might be," says a synopsis of the report.

The study is expected to be posted online by the Canadian Police Research Centre at the end of August. It's part of a larger use-of-force and restraint study set to be completed by 2009.

"The whole point was to look at all subjects and situational features to see where the problems lay in injury and death. The benefit of doing that is you don't only restrict your evaluation to bad outcome, you look at the whole denominator," said Hall.

"Use of force by police officers is really, really low. In two years and 827,000 face-to-face interactions, use of force occurred in 0.07 per cent."

U.S. agencies are also participating in the larger study, said Butler, adding American and Canadian use-of-force statistics are similar. Recent Canadian fatality inquiries involving police actions are highlighting the need for consistent use-of-force tracking, said Butler.

"That database isn't available anywhere else in Canada. To my knowledge, we're the first agency to develop it. We could search hundreds of incidents to compare subject injuries, officer injuries," he said.

"We're trying to come up with a retrospective look at police use of force and in custody death and looking to see if there's a safest way of managing these types of events."

See also Injuries vs. Death

Mayor still behind taser use

I wonder if the "Calgary doctor" Fiacco refers to is well known "excited delirium" advocate and taser promoter Dr. Christine Hall.

July 30, 2008
Newstalk 650, Saskatoon

While respecting the decision of the Saskatchewan Police Commission, the Mayor hopes they will eventually allow tasters for frontline officers. Right now, it's status quo and the devices are just used by SWAT teams.

But Pat Fiacco went to Calgary last year to a presentation by a doctor and he thinks in cases where a suspect has died they're getting a bad rap. He'd like officers and the Commission to hear that presentation also. Fiacco is fearful more deaths will occur if guns continue to be the main tool at the police's disposal.

Drummond was tasered several times: witness

Come on people - if the RCMP officer says that William Drummond was only tasered once, then it *must* be true! If the RCMP "file itself" has no indication that there was more than one Taser being used, then it *must* be true! RCMP files are never wrong, are they??

Note to William Drummond: Be VERY skeptical of the RCMP's statement that the "electronic record" of the device shows that the taser was deployed only once that day. It has been proven time and again (my brother's case is a classic example) that the electronic record or data download feature cannot be relied upon for any degree of accuracy.

RCMP played that card early in the Dziekanski incident as well (before witnesses and a video came forward with a much different story).

July 30, 2008
ROBYN YOUNG, METRO HALIFAX

William Drummond was allegedly hit with a Taser several more times by a plain-clothes police officer after being tasered once by an RCMP officer Jun. 22.

Rev. Michael Alden Fells of Digby told reporters outside the Halifax Regional Police station yesterday that a witness to the Jun. 22 altercation reported the additional Tasering. “He actually witnessed one of the officers Taser William Drummond three or four times,” Fells said. “He asked him to stop because he thought he was going to kill him.”

Fells says the witness, a young white man named Chad Tid, was reluctant to come forward with this information, but finally filed a statement with Digby RCMP on Monday night. Tid was not at home yesterday but a family member said “he made his statement to police” and he’s not going to answer any more questions about what he saw that night.

Drummond, who was at the protest yesterday said he doesn’t know if he was hit with more than one Taser, but he knows he was shocked three or four times. “I felt two more zaps and then when I was on the ground I felt another one,” he said. Police have confirmed Drummond was Tasered once by an RCMP officer.

Sgt. Mark Gallagher with the RCMP said Drummond was only struck once with a Taser. “The file itself does not have any indications that there was more than one Taser that was being used,” Gallagher said.

EDITORIAL: More than a mere shock

July 30, 2008
Editorial in the Salisbury Post, North Carolina

The weekend death of a Statesville man who was shocked by police Tasers — the second such death in the Charlotte area this year — is another grim reminder of the concerns surrounding these devices and why they need to be used judiciously and in accordance with strict guidelines.

Anthony Davidson, 29, died Sunday after being Tasered at the Statesville Police Department. Authorities said the shoplifting suspect become physically aggressive while being booked and was Tasered by at least one officer. The suspect, whom officers believed was perhaps under the influence of drugs or another impairing substance, was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

It will take a thorough investigation to provide more details about Davidson's death, what role Tasers may have played in it and whether their use conformed with departmental guidelines. The duration and number shocks administered, in particular, appear to be key factors in fatalities. In a March incident in which a Charlotte teen died after being Tasered, an investigation found that the suspect had been shocked for 35 seconds, longer than the recommended limits.

More law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and across the nation are issuing Tasers to some officers, including the Rowan County Sheriff's Office, which has used them for a few years, and the Salisbury Police Department, which recently made its first Taser purchases. Statistically, only a minute percentage of Taser incidents result in death or serous injury, and there's no corresponding computation of how many officers — and suspects — have been escaped serous harm because the officers used a Taser to disable a violent suspect rather than resort to a firearm. Certainly, a Taser is a lower level of force than a bullet.

But with more than 277 Taser-related deaths recorded nationwide, these are not benign instruments. They're potentially deadly weapons and should be used with due restraint.

EDITORIAL: Testing times for tasers

July 30, 2008
Editorial in the Regina Leader-Post

Editorial: The Saskatchewan Police Commission is wisely erring on the side of caution in delaying approval of general use of Tasers by municipal police forces.

It's been touted as an alternative to police guns that will save lives, but the Taser is itself under fire following a series of deaths and controversial incidents.

In particular, a bystander's video of the final moments of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died after being Tasered by RCMP officers at Vancouver airport last fall, prompted a series of reviews and inquiries and persuaded the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to suspend Taser use for all but its tactics and rescue unit.

Now, the Saskatchewan Police Commission has reversed its earlier decision to allow the province's 14 municipal and First Nations police forces to use Tasers, pending more scientific and medical information that "definitively" concludes whether or not Tasers cause deaths.

The federally regulated RCMP is exempt from the decision and has resisted calls for a moratorium on its use of Tasers. SWAT teams like Regina's will still use Tasers if necessary.

While there are many stories about Tasers being used successfully to defuse dangerous confrontations without lasting harm to the victim, there are too many opposing instances of people -- like Dziekanski -- dying after being Tasered to ignore. Indeed, on the day the Saskatchewan Police Commission made its decision last week, a 17-year-old youth suspected of theft died in Winnipeg after being Tasered.

While there is conflicting expert opinion on the medical implications of the short, intense electric shocks delivered by Tasers, there is general agreement that Tasers have sometimes been used inappropriately. For example:

- An Edmonton constable faces disciplinary charges for allegedly using his Taser on two sleeping men during a robbery investigation in a hotel;

- A Charlotte, North Carolina police officer was suspended for five days following the Taser-related death of a 17-year-old grocery store employee during a confrontation. The officer is said to have Tasered the victim twice in the chest, once for 37 seconds and a second time for five seconds -- far beyond recommended use. An autopsy concluded that the teen died from a heart attack.

- Statistics obtained under the Access to Information Act by Canwest News Service show Taser use by the RCMP growing dramatically -- 1,414 incidents in 2007 and 1,119 in 2006, compared to only 597 in 2005. B.C. led the nation in RCMP Taser use at 11.26 incidents per 100,000 people, followed by P.E.I. (11.18), Manitoba (10.83), New Brunswick (10.78), Saskatchewan (10.76) and Alberta (10.64). Ontario and Quebec have their own provincial police forces.

- "What we see is that the Taser is now being used as a substitute for the good-old traditional talking by police, or the baton or pepper spray," says former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh, a Liberal MP who sits on a parliamentary committee examining stun gun use in Canada.

- Greater Vancouver Transit Authority Police have controversially used Tasers against "non-compliant" fare evaders.

It's clearly impossible to arrive at a "one-size-fits-all" guideline for Taser use, but at a minimum more intensive training -- and far more caution -- needs to be attached to its use.

Police chief disagrees with Taser decision

July 29, 2008
MATTHEW GAUK, The Prince Albert Daily Herald

A provincial police chiefs' association is at odds with the Saskatchewan Police Commission over its recent decision against rolling out Tasers to municipal forces.

The commission announced last week that they were rescinding a motion to expand usage of conducted energy weapons, commonly referred to as Tasers. While many SWAT teams have access to the "non-lethal" weapons, most officers do not.

"Not having the ability to use a Taser ... the next level of deployment to protect a citizen or officer could actually be a firearm," said Dale McFee, City Police Chief and the president of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police.

McFee said reviews are always done any time an officer uses force, be it with a gun, baton or pepper spray. This means they're accountable for their actions, and a Taser would be no different, he believes.

He said the use of force is "not something we take lightly."

"To my knowledge I do not know of any reports that have come out to say that the Taser was directly the (cause) of death," McFee said. "There are always contributing circumstances."

Police agencies across the province submitted their guidelines on use of force to the commission before its decision.

City Coun. Greg Dionne sits on the Prince Albert police board, which vetted the policy sent by City Police. He would have preferred the commission sit on the issue for a while longer until findings from various investigations into Tasers were published.

"I'm always concerned when we don't give the men and women of the police service the equipment to carry out their jobs," Dionne said. "Unfortunately, violent crime is up in all categories and that's just a sign of the times. The devices are also there to protect citizens and not just police."

Dionne thinks the decision went against the use of Tasers because of the recent high-profile cases of Taser-related deaths, including the Winnipeg teen who died last week.

But he also pointed out that recent shooting deaths by police have occurred in Prince Albert and Saskatoon, both cities without Taser-equipped police forces. Families will be wondering why the officers didn't have the devices, he said.

"If accountability is what they're looking for, it'd be easy to be reach," Dionne said, mentioning camera accessories sold for Tasers that would record each use by an officer.

McFee pointed out that the commission's decision was a tough one to make and that the police chiefs' association and City Police will respect that choice.

"At the end of the day, the provincial police perspective is that we all want the same thing - the safety of the officers and citizens," McFee said.

However, both McFee and Dionne hope to see the commission revisiting the issue in the future.

Dionne, as president of the Canadian Association of Police Boards, also said his organization will strike a committee on Taser use at a conference next month, which will result in a unified national position on the issue.

Saskatchewan ombudsman report on tasers released

July 29, 2008
James Wood, Regina Leader Post

REGINA -- The provincial ombudsman has set a good direction for the government to follow if it ever decides to revisit its shelved plans to introduce Tasers into Saskatchewan jails, says Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister Darryl Hickie.

The report by ombudsman Kevin Fenwick released Tuesday said there is not enough reliable information on the health impact of Tasers, echoing comments made last week by the Saskatchewan Police Commission in rescinding its earlier approval of their use by front-line police.

Nor is there adequate information on whether the situation in correctional centres warrants the use of Tasers, despite the contention of Corrections staff that the environments have become more volatile, said the report.

"We hear these stories about the changing nature of corrections and the increased levels of violence etcetera, but it's all anecdotal . . . The reporting system within the correctional centres for acts of violence or acts that require discipline is not very good," said Fenwick in an interview Tuesday.

Fenwick's report does not make an actual recommendation as to whether Tasers should be allowed for jail emergency response teams %96 as was planned last year %96 but said a great deal of work needs to be done before any decision is made.

He recommends that the province should convene a multi-disciplinary panel that includes medical practitioners to review the available research concerning the human effects of Tasers.

Special attention should be paid to vulnerable populations such as those found in the adult correctional system.

He acknowledged that would likely require new research, as most of the research done has been in relation to policing, not corrections, and the testing has been done on healthy subjects.

The ombudsman also recommends a reporting system be established to allow Corrections, Public Safety and Policing to determine the volatility of its correctional centres and the need for Tasers.

The province was in the process of introducing Tasers at the province's three correctional centres last fall, but their use was put on hold after Polish citizen Robert Dziekanski died at the Vancouver International Airport in October after being shot with a Taser by RCMP.

Fenwick's report reveals for the first time that an inmate was Tasered last September during a cell extraction. He said the device was used properly in the situation but that it was not authorized.

It was Hickie that put the Taser implementation plan on hold after the Saskatchewan Party government took office last fall. A former police officer and federal prison guard, Hickie has repeatedly expressed skepticism about the value of Tasers in the controlled environment of a jail.

He said Tuesday he is open to new information -- including input from British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Yukon where Tasers are allowed for use in the corrections system -- but would have to be convinced to reopen the Taser issue.

But he said the ombudsman's report would play a valuable role if that is the case. "Now that he's put forward these recommendations, we would look at these like a road map and keep (the ombudsman) in the loop if we move forward in a very responsible manner, if we even do so," said Hickie.

The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union, which represents jail guards, declined to comment Tuesday.

With 21 recommendations in all, Fenwick also addressed policy issues that would come into play if the government decides to adopt Tasers. He suggested they be classified as an "impact weapon" in the government's use of force management model, to be used only where there is "active, overt and violent resistance and immediate control is required." That's a step higher than its classification last year as an intermediate weapon, which is the category that includes pepper spray and batons.

Fenwick said there are valid arguments for the use of Tasers within jails. But his report also raises the issue of Tasers being used in the "stun" setting, where the device is applied directly to induce compliance, as opposed to being used to subdue a violent suspect.

"If there is a use, it's to replace the next-most serious use of force. For police officers for example, it's (use of a Taser) instead of a firearm," he said.

"When it's being used in "stun" mode, it's clearly not being used in place of the next-most serious use of force. It's being used in place of something less serious. That causes us great concern."

Protesters complain about police conduct in fight outside Nova Scotia bar

July 29, 2008
The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — Two young Nova Scotia men filed complaints of police brutality Tuesday following allegations that off-duty officers uttered a racial slur, assaulted them and zapped one with a stun gun multiple times.

The men joined their families and about 50 people carrying placards outside the front entrance of the Halifax police headquarters before lodging their complaints over an incident last month in Digby.

Nathaniel Fells, 19, and William Drummond, 20, have said that one of a group of off-duty officers used the racial slur and then took a swing at Drummond as they walked down a street in the small community on June 22.

Fells, holding a poster that read 'Fair Treatment and Equality,' said he hopes the formal complaint will lead to a thorough investigation of the officers and a ban on the use of Tasers. "It's about abuse and racism coming to a stop," he said, surrounded by supporters under sunny skies. "If they're enforcing the law and they've got a badge on that's what they're there to do. They're not there to keep black people off the streets."

The group said it was also filing complaints with the provincial and federal human rights commissions about how three on-duty RCMP officers responded to the incident.

Fells said he and Drummond were taunted into fighting by five or six off-duty police officers who emerged from a van and pursued them down the street outside a bar. The men allege that RCMP paid little attention to the off-duty officers who were still threatening them after Drummond says he had been hit by a Taser about four times.

An RCMP criminal investigation is underway into the late-night incident, and internal probes have been launched by several municipal police forces into the behaviour of the off-duty officers from Halifax and New Glasgow.

Halifax Const. David Li said the formal complaints were made Tuesday afternoon when the two young men made statements to police about what happened that night. Li said the statements will be used by the force as it conducts an internal investigation into possible officer misconduct.

Rev. Michael Alden Fells, Nathaniel's father, said the officers should be charged for what he alleges is a case of clear, unprovoked police aggression. "They were intoxicated, used racial slurs and physically assaulted our youth," he said. "We want to send a very clear message that those who enforce the law are not above the law."

The young men also say that when the Mounties arrived to investigate, the off-duty officers were left alone, even though some of them were chasing Fells. Rev. Fells has viewed a video of the incident and says it shows the on-duty officers standing close to Drummond when he is on the ground. He also said the officer who Tasered Drummond is black, while another off-duty officer zapped him several times.

RCMP Sgt. Mark Gallagher denied the allegation that an off-duty officer used a Taser, saying the electronic record of the device that was used shows it was deployed only once that day.

"We feel confident that the only person who would have used a Taser would have been the on-duty member that was trying to gain control of Drummond," he said.

"It was used once."

Saskatchewan ombudsman concerned about using tasers in provincial jails

July 29, 2008
The Canadian Press

REGINA — Saskatchewan's ombudsman has concerns over the potential use of Tasers in the province's jails. Kevin Fenwick says the Corrections Ministry still has work to do before making a decision about whether stun guns should be allowed. Fenwick has made 21 recommendations to ensure that a proper study is done.

The ministry was in the final stages of introducing the devices last fall when the use of a Taser sparked an internal investigation, as well as the ombudsman's review.

He says he found that the ministry did not provide adequate evidence as to why electronic stun guns are needed in jails with male inmates. Fenwick also says the ministry lacked objective data to support claims of increased violence, and did not complete a health assessment on inmates to see if Tasers would be medically safe to use.

Well-founded doubt

Michael Tochor, chairman of the Saskatchewan Police Commission - "the medical evidence is inconclusive"


July 29, 2008
The Globe and Mail

If there's a medal reserved for courageous police boards, the Saskatchewan Police Commission deserves it. It has stood up against police orthodoxy nearly everywhere in Canada to voice honest doubts about tasers. "There's a grave danger of them being abused," chair Michael Tochor said yesterday. He also expressed doubts about the medical science underpinning their purported safety. "The medical evidence is inconclusive."

Two years ago, the commission - the civilian body that sets policy for the province's municipal police forces - approved the taser in principle for the use of regular officers (in addition to the tactical squads with permission now). As soon as guidelines could be developed for taser use and training, the police services would be free to roll out the 50,000-volt weapons. But after numerous deaths and appalling police misuses of the electric stun guns, the commission rescinded that approval last week. While it believes the tasers may save lives when used in appropriate circumstances, it wants to see more scientific data, and think out what policy might fit, before moving ahead.

That may seem a small step, but it seems awfully large when most Canadian police are heading in the other direction. The RCMP, for instance, use the taser nearly 30 times a week, and their civilian chair, William Elliott, has refused to make even the minuscule alteration to taser guidelines recommended by an independent watchdog. (The guidelines allow for use on the "actively resistant," and the watchdog would raise that to "combative.")

How could there not be doubts? Twenty-two people have died in Canada after being tasered in the past five years, including a 17-year-old man last week in Winnipeg. One of the 22, Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, was shown on an amateur videotape to have been exhausted and distressed, but not violent; a clutch of RCMP officers tasered him within 30 seconds of confronting him last October at the Vancouver International Airport. Scientists have raised serious questions about taser safety at the Braidwood Inquiry in British Columbia.

Some day, civilian police boards and governments across Canada may admit to their own honest doubts. But the Saskatchewan Police Commission was first.

Ohio deputy Stephen Krendick on trial in inmate death

July 29, 2008
Karen Farkas, Plain Dealer Reporter

Akron- A Summit County sheriff's deputy, charged with murder in the death of a mentally ill jail inmate, went on trial Monday.

Prosecutors maintain Stephen Krendick stomped five or six times on Mark McCullaugh's head and sprayed his naked body with a can of pepper spray while McCullaugh was hog-tied, which contributed to his death. Kendrick also stunned McCullaugh several times with a Taser.

A forensic pathologist is expected to testify that McCullaugh died of asphyxia. The theory is that the pepper spray made his airway swell, the hog-tie restraint put pressure on his heart, and the stun gun's electrical charges caused muscle contractions that made it hard for him to breathe, prosecutors said.

Krendick's attorneys maintain that their client used the force necessary to restrain McCullaugh during a violent struggle. They said the 6-foot-2, 290-pound inmate died of heart failure from excited delirium due to his untreated psychiatric illness.

Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler had ruled McCullaugh's death a homicide caused by asphyxiation but was ordered to change the ruling to "undetermined" by a judge in another case involving the death of McCullaugh and two other men who were shot by stun guns.

Krendick, one of five deputies charged in McCullaugh's death, faces the most serious charge. His case is being heard by visiting Judge H.F. Inderlied. Cuyahoga County prosecutors are handling the case.

McCullaugh, 28, was jailed Aug. 8, 2006, after assaulting an Akron police officer. On Aug. 20, deputies were called to restrain him so he could be given medication after he got naked, defecated and wrote on his cell walls with blood, according to court documents. The deputies were charged after a year-long investigation.

Prosecutors will ask Inderlied to consider an involuntary-manslaughter or reckless-homicide conviction if he thinks the evidence does not prove murder, according to court documents.

Inderlied viewed the jail cell Monday and began hearing testimony. The case in Summit County Common Pleas Court is expected to take as long as two weeks because each side is prepared to call numerous medical experts.

Truth ... not tasers in the financial spotlight

I was pleased to learn this evening (thanks Excited-Delirium) that my blog made it onto the Google Finance TASER International, Inc. page under the Blog Post listing (right side of the page). Taser shares are in the toilet, trading at 5.02 (or -0.02 (-0.40%)).

Not only is this blog listed (today) in the #1 spot, but the lyrics to my mom's new "song," Taser Me Baby, are prominently featured. Could a recording contract be next?!

Hospital tasers 66-year-old minister over joke

Must-see TV.

Saskatchewan police chiefs want taser issue revisited

July 28, 2008
Anne Kyle, Regina Leader-Post
With files from James Wood

REGINA -- The province's association of chiefs of police respect the Saskatchewan Police Commission's decision to rescind the motion to expand the use of conducted energy devices (CEDS) but it doesn't fully agree with the decision.

"The Saskatchewan Association of Police Chiefs hopes this decision will receive further review from the commission in due course. Obviously, when you look at expanding any use of force tool, certainly, foremost in that decision is officer and citizen safety,'' said Prince Albert Police Chief Dale McFee, president of the SAPC.

On Friday, the commission, the province's independent regulatory body for municipal police, announced it was reversing its previously stated plans to allow Tasers. The commission was in the process of developing a policy for their use, but on Friday the commission chair Michael Tochor said it was rescinding last year's decision to approve the use of Tasers. That decision was in response to the controversy over the use of Tasers in connection with a number of deaths, including the death of a Polish citizen Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport in October, and a lack of adequate information on the full consequences of their use.

"Decisions to expand the methods of dealing with difficult issues relating to the safety of officers and citizens is something our police agencies always take seriously,'' McFee said.

"We feel, if there is another tool available that improves safety for all, obviously it needs to be looked at. From a policing perspective anything that we do in relation to the use of force whether it is the use of a firearm, the use of a CED, or the use of a baton -- that is all reported and it is all reviewed. At the end of the day the police are accountable for their actions.

"Each potentially dangerous situation requires a different response and we have to remember in many situations the next response in keeping safe is the service firearm. The goal for all is safety to all,'' McFee said.

The police commission announced Friday it won't authorize the general use of CEDs by members of the province's 14 municipal and First Nation police services until more information is available. SWAT team members will continue to be allowed to use stun guns.

Regina Police Chief Troy Hagen said that the commission's decision will not change current practises within the Regina Police Service operation. Currently no Regina police officers other than trained SWAT members, who are trained in their usage, carry CEDs.

Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill said he hoped the commission would have adequate information to revisit the Taser issue in six months.

"Naturally we would like to have that option available for our officers because right now they don't have the option. They have to go right from baton or pepper spray right up to lethal force. It would make sense to us that if there is an option available we should be allowed to use it," he said Monday.

However, Weighill would not link the lack of Tasers to the four times Saskatoon police used their firearms last year. There were two high-profile police shootings in December, one that saw a women wounded by police and another that saw the death of Dwayne Charles Dustyhorn.

Further recommended reading over at Excited-Delirium's website on this topic - "That's why it's not their decision."

The clock of inevitability

As the following two reports show, the big hand on the clock of inevitability is ticking closer to the top of the hour.