In This Article
30-Second Summary
Headline Links: Jarell Gray and Robert Dziekanski
Background: Studying Tasers, examining ‘excited delirium,’ and surveying the rules of Taser use
Reactions: Polish widow blames police, cameraman says Dziekanski not violent, and Taser says not responsible for death
Opinion & Analysis: Are Tasers being overused?
Related Topics: New Taser-style weapons
Reference Material: How Tasers work
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Recent Deaths Raise Questions about Safety of Tasers
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Two separate incidents involving police Tasers arouse concerns about the potential misuse of this increasingly common weapon.
30-Second Summary
According to The Frederick News-Post, at 4:54 a.m. on Nov. 18 an unnamed deputy struck 20-year-old Jarell Gray with a Taser after finding him and three other young men fighting in the street.
Gray fell to the ground unconscious, and was taken to the area hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The autopsy was unable to determine the cause of death.
Gray’s death follows an Oct. 14 incident in which Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being hit with a police Taser at the Vancouver Airport, British Columbia.
Dziekanski’s death was caught on film. The footage shows an aggravated Dziekanski being hit with a Taser by Canadian police.
These images have inspired international criticism of the officers and concerns about the safety of the electro-muscular disruption weapon—the Taser.
However, Taser International, Inc.—maker of the eponymous device—maintains that its less-than-lethal weapon is safe, a claim bolstered by a recent Wake Forest University study.
The study, led by emergency medicine specialist William Bozeman, M.D., found that out of 1,000 cases, 99.7 percent of those subjected to a Taser had suffered either no injuries or only mild ones like scrapes and bruises.
But Dr. Corey Slovis, professor and chairman of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University, has his doubts. He believes Tasers “may change the underlying heart rhythm of individuals who do not have a normal conduction system—such as those using cocaine, those who are dehydrated, agitated, hypoxic or those taking anti-psychotics,” he told ABC News.
Even if the weapons are proven to be harmless, the increasingly frequent use of Tasers has many wondering whether police departments should re-examine the rules that govern their use.
Gray fell to the ground unconscious, and was taken to the area hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The autopsy was unable to determine the cause of death.
Gray’s death follows an Oct. 14 incident in which Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being hit with a police Taser at the Vancouver Airport, British Columbia.
Dziekanski’s death was caught on film. The footage shows an aggravated Dziekanski being hit with a Taser by Canadian police.
These images have inspired international criticism of the officers and concerns about the safety of the electro-muscular disruption weapon—the Taser.
However, Taser International, Inc.—maker of the eponymous device—maintains that its less-than-lethal weapon is safe, a claim bolstered by a recent Wake Forest University study.
The study, led by emergency medicine specialist William Bozeman, M.D., found that out of 1,000 cases, 99.7 percent of those subjected to a Taser had suffered either no injuries or only mild ones like scrapes and bruises.
But Dr. Corey Slovis, professor and chairman of emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University, has his doubts. He believes Tasers “may change the underlying heart rhythm of individuals who do not have a normal conduction system—such as those using cocaine, those who are dehydrated, agitated, hypoxic or those taking anti-psychotics,” he told ABC News.
Even if the weapons are proven to be harmless, the increasingly frequent use of Tasers has many wondering whether police departments should re-examine the rules that govern their use.
Headline Links: Jarell Gray and Robert Dziekanski
Jarell Gray died on Nov. 18 after being struck by a Taser during an altercation with police in Frederick, Maryland. On Nov. 19, Tanya Thomas, Gray’s mother told The Frederick News-Post, “All I know is there was an altercation, they Tased him and now he’s gone … My baby’s gone.” According to Frederick Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Bailey, the deputy involved in the incident has been placed on administrative leave. Bailey also told the Post that it remains unclear whether Gray had any pre-existing medical conditions that would have contributed to his death.
Source: The Frederick News-Post
When 40-year-old Polish construction worker Robert Dziekanski arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Oct. 14, it was supposed to mark the beginning of a new life with his mother. However, after not being able to find her at the terminal, Dziekanski became upset. The non-english speaker began shouting in Polish, moving furniture around, shoving a computer to the ground, and throwing a chair. His actions quickly attracted the attention of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers, one of whom proceeded to discharge his Taser in order to incapacitate Dziekanski.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Background: Studying Tasers, examining ‘excited delirium,’ and surveying the rules of Taser use
Studying the safety of Tasers
The October 2007 Wake Forest University report covered six U.S. law enforcement agencies, with a tactical physician from each reviewing the police and medical records each time a Taser was used in the line of duty. The study found that only 3 people out of the 1,000 instances studied suffered injuries severe enough to need hospital admission. Two of the people received head injuries as a result of falling to the ground, and a third subject was admitted to the hospital two days after arrest for a condition of questionable connection to the Taser. The study also revealed two fatalities, but their autopsy reports indicate that neither death was the result of Taser use.
Source: Science Daily
Dr. Corey Slovis of Vanderbilt University contests the Wake Forest findings, citing research showing that the heart rates of pigs being shocked with a Taser jumped to more than 130 beats per minute during the weapon’s application. These findings have led Slovis to wonder whether the same kind of dangerous hike in heart rate occurs in humans as well. “Tasers save lives, but Tasers are not perfectly safe,” Slovis told ABC News. “A Taser should not be used unless force is absolutely necessary. I am no longer convinced that Tasers are blameless.”
Source: ABC News
Aaron Rowe of Wired magazine’s science blog compiles a list of and links to other recent scientific reports about the Taser. One study examines the data retrieved from the pacemaker of a man who received a Taser discharge. Another reviews Taser-related deaths, finding that most of the dead were on drugs or had a heart condition and that Tasers contributed to one quarter of these deaths. A third report theorizes that a Taser cannot cause dangerous ectopic heartbeats in most healthy adults. And a fourth conducted at the University of Wisconsin found that the risk of a Taser charge causing ventricular fibrillation is very low.
Source: “Wired Science”
Examining ‘excited delirium’
The controversial medical condition called “excited delirium” is being increasingly used by medical examiners to explain the sudden deaths of people—often high on drugs—while in police custody. Although the symptoms are said to include extreme agitation, aggressive, violent behavior and incoherence, some dispute whether the condition even exists. Excited delirium “is when you have someone doing push-ups with two 150-pound officers on their back,” Senior Cpl. Herb Cotner of the Dallas Police Department told NPR. “[I] had a guy that was handicapped, with a bad leg and a bad arm … [He] dragged us across a parking lot, and we had him half-controlled.” However, civil libertarians are suspicious that the diagnosis is being used to protect companies like Taser and cover up police abuse.
Source: National Public Radio
A survey of Taser-use rules
In May 2005, the Government Accountability Office conducted a survey of seven law enforcement agencies nationwide, examining the policies and training associated with the Taser. The report found that “the seven law enforcement agencies we contacted have established policies and procedures to attempt to ensure proper use of Tasers. Specifically, the agencies employ use-of-force policies, training requirements, operational protocols, and safety procedures, although specific practices vary from agency to agency.” The full text of the report is available as a PDF from the GAO Web site.
Source: The Government Accountability Office Web site
Reactions: Polish widow blames police, cameraman says Dziekanski not violent, and Taser says not responsible for death
Ella Dubon, Dziekanski’s Polish widow, told the Canadian media that she held the four RCMP officers responsible for her husband’s death: “They are murderers … Robert was at a breaking point. He could show his desperation in no other way. He wanted someone to help him.” One of Poland’s most prominent psychiatrists, Stanislaw Telesniski, echoed Dubon’s assessment after analyzing the video of the incident. Telesniski told the CanWest News Service that Dziekanski “was obviously weakened by fatigue, hunger, fear, nicotine deprivation and panic over an inability to speak any English.” The psychiatrist went on to criticize the RCMP officers’ conduct, saying that their aggressive approach was a fundamental mistake. “They should have been trained to deal with this situation, and the first rule is to become his friend … and not increase his stress more and more,” Telesniski told the news service.
Source: Canadian newspaper National Post
When Paul Pritchard videotaped Dziekanski’s death, he thought the RCMP officers were right to use a Taser to constrain him. However, he changed his mind after the police returned the tape and he viewed it again. “I thought it was more of a standoff, but it wasn't. It wasn't like that at all … He wasn't acting violent in any way. That's what is most disturbing,” Pritchard told the Associated Press. The Polish Foreign Ministry voiced similar criticisms of the officers’ conduct, calling the use of the Taser “excessively brutal and unjustified … “We want the matter clarified and we want those guilty named and prosecuted.”
Source: Topix.net
According to a press release from the Taser International, Inc. Web site, the company denies that its device was responsible for Dziekanski’s death: “Cardiac arrest caused by electrical current is immediate. The video of the incident at the Vancouver airport indicates that the subject was continuing to fight well after the TASER application. This continuing struggle could not be possible if the subject died as a result of the TASER device electrical current causing cardiac arrest.” The company also states that Dziekanski “clearly shows symptoms of excited delirium, a potentially fatal condition marked by symptoms of exhaustion and mania such as heavy breathing, profuse sweating, confusion, disorientation and violence toward inanimate objects.”
Source: The Web site of Taser International, Inc.
Opinion & Analysis: Are Tasers being overused?
In an Oct. 31, 2007, article in Time magazine, M.J. Stephey investigates whether Tasers are being overused. Beginning with the September incident involving University of Florida student Andrew Meyer—“Don’t Tase me, bro!”—Stephey launches into a well-balanced review of what it is about the Taser that inspires both fascination and fear: “Early concerns about Tasers centered on the issue of safety, but the controversy has recently taken a new twist, focusing on the conflict between civil rights and police procedure. Though the device was initially developed as an alternative to lethal force, it has become a go-to weapon in situations of noncompliance even when the use of firearms would not be considered—like the incident with Meyer.”
Source: Time
Related Topics: New Taser-style weapons
In July 2007, Taser International introduced a new less-than-lethal weapon called the XREP. Like the traditional Taser, the XREP delivers an immobilizing electrical charge upon contact with its target. However, the XREP is unique in that it is a wireless projectile fired from a 12-gauge shotgun. The weapon was originally developed for military use with funding from the Office of Naval Research. According to “Danger Room” blogger David Hambling, this could mean that rather than supplementing lethal weapons, “XREP might see the start of less-lethals being used as an alternative.” However, Hambling goes on to detail how companies other than Taser are using similar technology to develop new kinds of lethal weapons.
Source: “Danger Room”
Reference Material: How Tasers work
The Taser fires two, compressed gas-propelled, barbed electrodes that are attached to the gun via conductive wires. The barbs hook into a person’s skin or clothing, creating a complete circuit from the Taser to that person. When activated, the Taser transmits up to 50,000 volts of electricity through the nervous system, confusing and temporarily paralyzing the person. According to HowStuffWorks.com, this “charge combines with the electrical signals from the attacker's brain … making it very difficult to decipher any messages. When these lines of communication go down, the attacker has a very hard time telling his muscles to move, and he may become confused and unbalanced. He is partially paralyzed, temporarily.”
Source: HowStuffWorks.com
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