The Suits Keep Paying

Another $100k+ settlement awarded for tasing:

A Spokane County reserve fund will pay some $112,000 to a man who was shocked three times with a Taser by a deputy during a traffic stop in 2005.

County commissioners approved a settlement this week with Spirit Creager, a painter who had sued the county for $5 million in 2006, saying he couldn't work or sleep for weeks after being jolted by sheriff's Deputy Chad Ruff.

The county's risk management reserve fund will also pay $25,000 to Creager's teenage son, who was in the truck shortly after midnight on Aug. 30, 2004, when it was stopped on Dartford Road. The son witnessed the altercation between Creager and deputies, causing emotional distress, according to the family's claim.

Don't Tase My Heart Bro

So says the manufacturer:

A company that makes Tasers has issued new guidelines to police who use their product.

Taser International maintains its devices are safe but is telling police to avoid aiming the weapon at a suspect's chest.

On Wednesday those new rules were passed onto Calgary police.

"We have released a new directive, relative to Taser targeting, to our members and this follows a training bulletin that Taser International released," says SSgt. Chris Butler from the Calgary Police Service.

The bulletin, which is posted on Taser International's website, includes a diagram showing the new target areas on a suspect's body.

The bulletin instructs police: "when possible, avoiding chest shots with ECDS avoids the controversy about whether ECD's do, or do not, affect the human heart."

(h/t Truth Not Tasers via Excited-delirium)

Given Taser International's diagram (the one above), let's hope that the cops using tasers are good shots.

Make no mistake, this is enormous news. So much for tasers being "safer than Tylenol". Imagine having been a fly on the wall in the room when Taser International's lawyers and executives discussed this one!

Dead For Running

A 38 year-old man is dead, post-tasing:

BRADENTON — A Bradenton man died at Manatee Memorial Hospital early today after he fled police and an officer used a Taser on him, according to a report by the Bradenton Police Department issued this morning.

Derrick Humbert, 38, refused to make a traffic stop at 12:18 a.m. when directed to do so by officers in the area of the 700 block of 27th Street East, according to the report prepared by Deputy Chief J.J. Lewis.

Humbert then fled on foot, running through several residential yards, the report said. One of the pursuing officers used his Taser, it said. A Taser is an electro-shock weapon that is used to slow or immobilize a suspect.

Police called emergency medical service workers to take Humbert to the hospital, where he died while being treated, the release said. The police department is conducting an investigation and awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause of death, the report said.

Police said they later determined that Humbert had an outstanding arrest warrant for possession of marijuana, the report said. The name of the officer was not released this morning.

The comments of the article are, per usual, pretty gross. Taser fanboys and police apologists (TFPAs) are fine with death, randomly doled out, being the punishment for being high or running from the cops. I'd be willing to bet that most TFPAs call themselves good Christians too.

Smelling Blood

From a legal news source:

Most recently, Sandra Brown settled a Taser suit against the city of Golden Valley. Police used a Taser on Brown while she was sitting in the passenger seat of her car talking on her cell phone to a 911 operator. Police had ordered her to hang up the phone.

St. Paul attorney Paul Applebaum represented Brown, who suffered no serious physical injury, but was traumatized by the incident and had to go on anti-anxiety medication.

The case settled last week for $200,000 without any admission of liability.

The settlement demonstrates that even when they do not involve death or major physical damages, a good Taser case is worth pursuing.

That's very interesting given the vast portions of profits Taser International already devotes to fending off legal threats:

On average, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company spends about $4 million a year in litigation-related expenses -- more than its annual net profit in 2008.

I would be such a grouchy shareholder.

Shockingly Expensive

More tasers costing Joe taxpayer:

$200K in Golden Valley, Minnesota
$55K in Portland, Oregon

So Brave

PostBlog: Tasered While Black has much more on this heinous incident including a link to video of the arrest.

In Merced, CA, white cops tase a wheelchair-bound black man:

MERCED -- The Merced Police Department's Internal Affairs Division is investigating a complaint alleging that an officer twice used a Taser against an unarmed man with no legs in a wheelchair.

Gregory Williams, 40, a double-leg amputee, spent six days in jail on suspicion of domestic violence and resisting arrest after the Sept. 11 incident. Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II said there wasn't enough evidence to file charges, however.

Williams, who was released from jail Friday, said he was violently manhandled and Tasered by police, even though he claims he never was physically aggressive toward the officers or resisted arrest.

Williams says he was publicly humiliated after his pants fell down during the incident. The officers allegedly left him outdoors in daylight, handcuffed on the pavement, nude below the waist. Williams said the arrest also left him with an injured shoulder, limiting his mobility in his wheelchair.

A handful of residents who live in Williams' apartment complex say they witnessed the incident and support Williams' charges. A short video clip, shot by a neighbor, shows Williams sitting on the pavement with his pants down, his hands cuffed behind his back.

Eddie Blaylock, a 38-year-old resident of the apartment complex, said he took notice after seeing "two cops trying to handcuff a guy in a wheelchair."

After seeing an officer pull out his Taser, Blaylock said he yelled, "Hey, you can't do that!" One of the officers threatened to Taser Blaylock if he "didn't step back," he said. Blaylock said he never saw Williams resist arrest or become violent.

And from another source:

And although the two lead arresting officers are white, and Williams is black, it remains unknown whether race was a factor in the incident. Those two officers remain on duty.

Lots of Death

From Modesto, CA:

An inmate at the Stanislaus County Jail in downtown Modesto died after jailers used a Taser to subdue him as he was being moved to another cell Wednesday afternoon, sheriff's officials reported Friday.

This is the third time in five months an inmate has died while in custody after law enforcement officials used Tasers to subdue the men. All three were being held at the sheriff's downtown Modesto jail when they died.

Authorities are still investigating the previous two deaths.

Add this to situations where tasers fail and ask yourself what reasonable cop would want to fire a taser.

Interesting Discussion

Pam has a post up about tasers in schools. There are some interesting discussions going on in the comments... lots of splitting hairs trying to defend tasers.

More Death

This time from Aurora, CO:

AURORA - The fugitive arrested by police officers on Sept. 3 after a struggle that included two shots from a taser, has died.

Aurora Police say Shane Ledbetter had run from officers last Thursday after providing false information about his identity. Police say Ledbetter violently resisted when they caught up with him and attempted to arrest him.

Police say that is when one officer used his taser to subdue and handcuff him near Mission Viejo Park.

Officers say Ledbetter then became unresponsive and they began CPR. Ledbetter was taken to a local hospital where he died on Sunday.

Do running from the cops and resisting arrest justify a randomly dispensed death sentence? That's the question that post-tasing deaths offer us.

A Shocking Realization

Is there a glimmer of hope that this might be part of a trend, or is it just one smart cop who's been paying attention? From Holyoke, MA:

HOLYOKE - Equipping officers with Taser electric-shock guns is unnecessary because Holyoke police already are well-equipped and trained, Police Chief Anthony R. Scott said.

Also, said Scott, responding on Monday to a request from the City Council that he look into Tasers, such devices can be troublesome in terms of costly lawsuits filed against municipalities that use them.

"I am not ready to see an individual on the six o'clock news bouncing around on the ground like a basketball with 50,000 volts of electricity being pumped into their body," Scott said, in a memo to council President Joseph M. McGiverin.

Scott, who said he has more than 43 years in law enforcement, said police have sufficient tools. Academy training includes "verbal judo," which consists of spoken persuasion to get a suspect to comply, and physical compliance techniques, he said.

Oh wait! Look at this. Another law enforcement officer who doesn't love tasers:

But not all local cops love them. "I'm just not sold on them yet as far as being a useful tool," Edgerton Police Chief Tom Klubertanz says.

Edgerton, which sits on the Dane and Rock county line has no plans to issue Tasers to officers. Cross Plains stands alone in Dane County in not issuing Tasers to its officers; its chief says they're too expensive.

Klubertanz simply doesn't like them. "Are they being overused by some departments because they have it?" he asks. "Do they get a thrill out of watching (suspects) get electrocuted? I don't know."

Some say that officers are trained to trivialize the extreme pain Tasers inflict, and Madison police videos of Taser incidents display what could be construed as a cavalier attitude toward their use.

Those paragraphs are from an article about tasers becoming the tool of choice for cops in Madison, WI. There, tasers are unabashedly and frequently used as compliance tools. The false pretense of tasers-replace-guns has been fully dropped.

Based On His Training

A deputy from western New York is defending his tasing of a mom while her kids looked on as being within department and training guidelines:

The video shows the officer stunning Harmon with two Taser shots. Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and driving 50 mph in a 45 mph zone. The charges were dismissed, and Harmon sued the sheriff's department in early August.

In his e-mail, Andrews writes that he stopped Harmon because it appeared that she was talking on her cell phone and appeared to be speeding. He said he decided to use the Taser based on his training because Harmon defied his orders and because he couldn't see her hands at certain points during the stop.

He also wrote that he was concerned that she would drive off if he didn't use the Taser on her, and that he would "have a vehicle pursuit with two kids in the car."

His direct supervisor supported the decision, Andrews wrote, and even sent a memo to administrators saying Andrews had not violated the department's policies on use of force or Tasers.

Note too that all charges against this Mom were dropped.

This is apparently inline with this departments use of force policy:

Multiple Failed Taser Applications And A Dead Man

Taser fired. Taser fired. Taser fired. Suspect died:

A man who allegedly charged a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy several times at a San Fernando Valley subway station died after being stunned multiple times with a Taser, a sheriff's spokesman said today.

The Wednesday night incident was being investigated by the sheriff’s internal affairs bureau and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

[Updated at 11:36 a.m.: The incident is also being investigated by the sheriff's homicide bureau and overseen by the office of independent review.]

It occurred at 8:18 p.m. on the mezzanine level of the North Hollywood Red Line station, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

“The deputy asked him if he had a ticket," Whitmore said. "The man did not respond, so the deputy again asked him if he had a ticket. He asked a total of three times and the man did not respond."

The deputy took hold of the man's hands to stop and question him, Whitmore said. But the man broke free, raised his clenched fists and charged the deputy, attempting to hit him. The deputy stepped aside, and the man charged the deputy again, he said.

The deputy used his Taser on the man, who jumped up, and was Tasered again. The man charged again and was Tasered a third time. He kept trying to get up but finally fell to ground. A glass pipe used to smoke narcotics fell to the ground during the altercation, Whitmore said.

The crackpipe doesn't matter. If it has to, it only matters in that it indicates that a taser was applied multiple times to someone likely from an at-risk population. Tasers should be the last option if an officer suspects that someone is prone to cardiac issues (Go ahead, tell me how cops have no idea whether someone is high or not! Please.). Of course, if you're a taser fanboy, you're probably thrilled that the US is becoming a country aok with killing people in the streets for doing drugs.

I've said it before, if you're a cop and use a taser on someone you know, or suspect is a member of an at risk population (e.g., the elderly, the mentally ill, drugs users, etc.), you immediate lose your morally high "good guy" status.

Due To Application

Pretty hard to misinterpret that. From the Star-Telegram:

FORT WORTH — FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County medical examiner ruled Thursday that the death of a mentally ill man in April who was shocked twice by a Taser stun gun wielded by a Fort Worth police officer was a homicide.

It was the fourth time that a person shocked by a Taser has died in Fort Worth police custody since the department started using the devices in 2001, according to the Police Department.

But the death of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, is the first that Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani has ruled to be a homicide.

Jacobs was pronounced dead about noon April 18, an hour after he was hit by the Taser. His parents had called 911 because he was causing a disturbance at their east Fort Worth home, police have reported.

According to Peerwani’s report, an officer shot Jacobs twice with the Taser, once for 49 seconds and another time for five seconds. An autopsy found no drugs, no system abnormalities and no electrolyte imbalances in Jacobs’ body, Peerwani wrote.

Jacobs died of "sudden death during neuromuscular incapacitation due to application" of the Taser, Peerwani wrote.

I Take A Break, Tasers Don't

More deaths as noted by TNT: Two men in Arizona and a man in North Carolina.

And as noted at Excited-Delirium, sometimes 8-hours isn't 8-hours.

Policeman: I Can Use Whatever Force I Want

Based on my observations of them, that's the mode of operation I've always assumed the police operate under. It's good to see one of them come right out and put it down in writing:

[from the AMA report] p. 3—Police officers are legally and morally required to use the lowest level of force necessary to control a situation and to deescalate at the earliest opportunity.

[from this author] REBUTTAL: That passage misstates the law of the land. The United States Supreme Court’s landmark ruling 20 years ago established that the test of legitimacy of a police use of force is whether the force used was “objectively reasonable” under the 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (see Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S. Ct. 1865). Officers are provided great latitude in what force options are appropriate to use to attempt to overcome resistance in a given situation, and they are not required to use the lowest level of force.

Yep, tasing people for running, for already being in handcuffs, for mouthing off, for asking questions, for refusing to sign tickets, for being mentally ill, or for being in diabetic seizure all seem like objectively reasonable uses of force. Christ.

The article at the above link is a mostly disorganized rebuttal of the AMA's latest take on tasing, which coincidentally is being widely ignored in the mainstream media (see this search result for example), is filled with typical Taser International talking points (Amnesty International is bad, Tasers are perfectly safe, any study that finds fault with tasers or their use must be flawed, etc.).

A sad takeaway here is that this author is someone with huge amounts of misinformation and huge amounts of experience in police work. If he represents the best voice law enforcement has on this issue, I'm more frightened than I was before finding this article.

Unnecessary Things:

Opinion pieces on the advantages of respecting cops that are written by old white conservative guys who also contribute to the National effing Review.

Yeah, it would be wonderful if cops were respectful and people returned that courtesy. Sadly, in America, that's a truth you can only expect as you're driving along white in your Lexus toward your mcMansion in the burbs.

Under that mythology, this piece conveniently whitewashes a truth that renders it irrelevant. That truth is this: being white and intersecting with "rude" police is very, very different from experiencing default intimidation and violence by police solely because of the color of your skin.

Why is that the types (Can I just write, "straight affluent white guys" here?) who produce opinion pieces like this invariably don't understand how unnecessary and unhelpful their voices are?

Go Taser International!

This is great news! Taser International (TI) is planning to file suit against the Braidwood inquiry findings. Among the reasons their lawyer cites:

The main concerns of the company, he said, are that the inquiry's rulings, announced last month, will place law enforcement and the public at greater risk.

It's awesome that TI cares so much about citizens and the police. I really, really hope that they pursue similar legal recourse in every country, state, city, and municipality that dares make negative findings against them public.

To date, TI has done a great job at keeping us safe by going after medical examiners (see here or here) who've implicated tasers in the deaths of suspects. Now they've stepped up their game and are going to take on a much bigger fish: The findings of an inquiry commissioned by a foreign government! Yay!

So, please TI, fight this good fight on as many fronts as you can, as frequently and aggressively as possible. I'm sure you're your legal team agrees with this tactic even if your shareholders won't.

Resources

The Police Brutality Blog has a post up that relays a list of resources and organizations working to curb police brutality. I'm not familiar with all of the groups, but at this point - the point where there is little to no objective examination, and even less citizen oversight, of police behavior - the more people working on this problem, the better.

"Several More Times" and More Death

This time in Greenwood, SC:

Thursday Update: Initial reports were unclear what type of electronic device had been used to subdue Ridlehuber, but the Greenwood Sheriff's Office later confirmed Wednesday night that it was a Taser.

---

"He came at the officers the officers deployed the Taser -- Tasered the gentlemen -- the man still continued to fight (and) the Taser was deployed several more times," said Greenwood County Sheriff's Office Major John Murray.When Ridlehuber was handcuffed, deputies said they noticed he wasn't breathing well. His sister was there when he died.

Once again, suspect tased, suspect died.

Read Pam

Seriously, Digby's great, but I really wish Pam's taser piece had hit Salon instead:

I'm quite interested in what you have to say -- "non-lethal" technology has obviously outpaced common sense. It has led to a sense of complacency in some law enforcement departments and sends the message that communication skills are unnecessary and that all civilians regardless of age, size, or mobility are considered life-threatening adversaries at the drop of a hat. What does the Obama administration, which has found itself thrust into the issue of racial profiling, have to say about the rampant abuse of Tasers on suspects -- and people accused of no crime at all -- around the country?

That last bit is a good question that has a simple and depressing answer: the current administration will have little or nothing to say about tasers and police brutality. There will be no strong federal leadership working to restore civil rights in the US.