Shocking Story: Tasers Praised, Criticized
The jury is still out on the pros and cons of Tasers, which police praise as a safe and effective law enforcement tool but critics say can too easily be misused. But new technology may soon help resolve the dispute.
After an incident at the University of Florida last week in which a student was Tasered by campus police after aggressively questioning Sen. John Kerry, attention has again been focused on the cons. In addition to complaints that police are using Tasers excessively, there are concerns that the electronic stun gun is a potentially lethal weapon, the Chicago Tribune reports. At least 270 people have died in the last five years after being Tasered.
Taser use can also lead to litigation—and adverse professional consequences for attorneys. Among the plaintiffs is Sgt. Mark England, 38, who says he couldn’t return to duty in Iraq after being shocked three times and beaten with a club in a Las Vegas incident began over a request to discard a soft drink bottle, the newspaper reports. And, as discussed in another ABAJournal.com post, a criminal investigation was launched last month against a California attorney and an expert witness after they revealed during a court hearing that they had shocked a client three times in an effort to develop evidence. (The attorney says the investigation is an attempt to derail his case, reports ABC News.)
Policies for shocking suspects vary. However, law enforcement agencies are starting to use so-called Taser cams—tiny attached cameras that automatically activate when the weapon is turned on—both to provide evidence of the crime and to document that the electronic stun gun use was appropriate.
“Cameras are fine,” says Gary Peck, president of the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, “but we want to know what happened before the Taser was turned on.”
St. Petersburg Times (“Liberty jolted when loudmouth Tasered”)
