American Heart Association publishes study claiming Tasers can be cause of death

April 30, 2012
Julie O'Neill, WCPO

CINCINNATI - An article just published by the American Heart Association's premier journal, "Circulation," presents the first ever scientific, peer-reviewed evidence that Tasers can cause cardiac arrest and death.

The article, written by Electrophysiologist Dr. Douglas Zipes of Indiana University, is already generating a buzz among cardiologists in the Cincinnati area, according to Dr. Terri Stewart-Dehner, a cardiologist at Christ Hospital.

"Anyone in cardiology has heard of Dr. Zipes. He is very well respected," said Dr. Stewart-Dehner.
Stewart-Dehner said any article published in "Circulation" has great significance and will be taken very seriously by cardiologists around the world.

"Peer reviewed is a big deal," said Stewart-Dehner. "It means the article goes through a committee just for consideration into the journal. Then cardiologists review the validity of the research; it means it's a reputable article."

The conclusions of Dr. Zipes' article, which looks at eight cases involving the TASER X26 ECD states: "ECD stimulation can cause cardiac electric capture and provoke cardiac arrest resulting from ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation. After prolonged ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation without resuscitation, asystole develops."

To view the abstract of the article, click here or go to http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/recent.

Speaking on behalf of the American Heart Association, Dr. Michael Sayre with Ohio State Emergency Medicine, said, "Dr. Zipes' work is very well respected. It's a credible report. It's a reminder to police officers and others who are using these tools that they need to know how to do CPR and know how to use an AED."

Dr. Zipes has been discounted by the manufacturer of the Taser, Taser International, because he has been paid to testify against the weapon, but Dr. Zipes says the fact that his research has withstood the rigorous process of review by other well-respected cardiologists and was published in this prestigious journal proves his case.

"It is absolutely unequivocal based on my understanding of how electricity works on the heart, based on good animal data and based on numerous clinical situations that the Taser unquestionably can produce sudden cardiac arrest and death," said Dr. Zipes.

Dr. Zipes says he wrote the article, not to condemn the weapon, but to properly warn police officers of its potential to kill so that they can make good policies and decisions as to the proper use of the weapon, and so that they will be attentive to the possible need for medical care following a Taser stun.

The Taser, used by law enforcement agencies across the Tri-State and by some 16,000 law enforcement agencies around the world, was marketed as non-lethal. Since 2001, more than 500 people have died following Taser stuns according to Amnesty International, which said in February that stricter guidelines for its use were "imperative."

In only a few dozen of those cases have medical examiners ruled the Taser contributed to the death.
It was nearly nine months ago 18-year-old Everette Howard of North College Hill died after police used a Taser on him on the University of Cincinnati's campus.

The Hamilton County Coroner's Office has still not released a "cause of death," but the preliminary autopsy results seemed to rule out everything but the Taser. The office is now waiting for results from a heart specialist brought in to review slides of Howard's heart.

The late Coroner Anant Bhati told 9 News in an exclusive interview before he died in February that he had "great respect" for Dr. Zipes and that he too believed the Taser could cause cardiac arrest. He said he just wasn't ready to say that it caused Everette Howard's death until a heart specialist weighed in on the investigation.

Dr. Bhati also agreed with Dr. Zipes that the weapon should come under government supervision and be tested for its electrical output regularly.

Taser International has said that because the Taser uses compressed Nitrogen instead of gun powder to fire its darts, it is not regulated and testing of the weapon is not legally required.

The company also says the Taser fires two darts, which enter a subject's skin and send electricity into the body in order to incapacitate the subject so that officers can get a subject into custody without a physical fight.

Research shows the Taser has saved lives and reduced injuries among officers.

Taser International has changed its safety warnings over the years.

An I-Team report in October showed that Taser International's website stated in its summary conclusion on cardiac safety, "There is no reliable published data that proves Taser ECDs (Tasers) negatively affect the heart."

With the publication of Dr. Zipes' article, Dr. Stewart-Dehner says it can be argued that statement is no longer the case.

The new statement on Taser International's website quotes a May Department of Justice study on deaths following Taser stuns. It states, "While exposure to Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) is not risk free, there is no conclusive medical evidence that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death from the direct effects of CED's (Tasers)."

Here is Taser International's complete response to Dr. Zipes' article:

While our medical advisors haven’t had a chance to review the details, it is noteworthy that the sole author, Dr. Douglas Zipes, has earned more than $500,000 in fees at $1,200 per hour as a plaintiff’s expert witness against TASER and police. Clearly Dr. Zipes has a strong financial bias based on his career as an expert witness, which might help explain why he disagrees with the findings of independent medical examiners with no pecuniary interest in these cases as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s independent study that concluded, "There is currently no medical evidence that CEDs pose a significant risk for induced cardiac dysrhythmia in humans when deployed reasonably" and "The risks of cardiac arrhythmias or death remain low and make CEDs more favorable than other weapons."

Steve Tuttle
Vice President of Communications

Inadequate reporting on the actions that lead to taser tragedies

Food for thought from a Concerned Canadian:

Up to 721 taser-related deaths?!  As sad as that is, there has been some positive progress in awareness and responsibility on the West Coast.  The Vancouver Police Department has fewer officers than ever signing up for Taser training. Perhaps they've read the long list of risks & warnings on the volunteer waiver?  It is anecdotal, but in Vancouver rank & file officers are rarely seen carrying them now. 

The Edmonton death will be interesting to watch.  The police there are already saying they believe the man  was on a "substance".  Yet he'd been in custody, awaiting a bail hearing. How was he able to imbibe, if he was in a supposedly secure jail?  By mentioning a 'substance" to the media, it is very much like Dziekanski and many other such deaths.  Villify the victim.

It is true no one - outside of the investigators and the involved officers - knows exactly what happened.  There were security cameras, so hopefully there will be some visual evidence. 

Also the Edmonton reporters have failed to ask CRUCIAL questions such as:

How many stuns?
Duration of stuns?
Number of weapons used?
What mode of use- drive stun or probe mode?
Where on the body were the shocks delivered?

Edmonton police don’t seem to be on top of recent rulings in the U-S courts, where the Taser is now considered a ‘deadly weapon’.  The manufacturer lost a significant product liability case (Turner in Charlotte, NC), where the jury found Taser International failed to warn about the risk of chest shots for nearly fours years, after health risks were discovered by their own scientists.  This is a far cry from what the company crowed about in the beginning, when its senior managers said Tasers are “safe to use on any assailant.”   Police have got to ask themselves whether they want to risk using a potentially lethal weapon as a compliance tool. 

This is made all the worse because no one in law enforcement anywhere is measuring Tasers for ‘output variance’, yet the few tests that have been done have revealed that not all Tasers perform the same way.  Despite what the company claimed early on, the current being emitted from Tasers is NOT uniform.  This poses risks to both the public and the police. 

Even more concerning, there is still no independent standard of measurment developed for Conducted Energy Weapons; the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) AND the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are collaborating to create a scientifically valid test protocol.  As it stands now-- and it is difficult to fathom --  there is still NO electrical safety standard developed to measure invasive shocks. 

Concerned Canadian

Manufacturer study: Taser worked fine

December 2, 2011
Pat Bywater, Mead Tribune

MEADVILLE — The Taser a Meadville police officer was using when it struck a resident in the eye does not appear to have been malfunctioning, but investigators may never be able to independently determine where the officer had aimed the Taser.

Those details are the highlights of a report completed by the device’s manufacturer at the request of the City of Meadville. The report was released to The Meadville Tribune as part of a request made by the newspaper under the state’s Open Records Law.

The forensic report from Taser International Inc. dated Nov. 1 is the latest significant development in a case that has had several odd turns.

It all started at 6:15 p.m. Aug. 23 in a church parking lot at 1080 Market St. when Meadville police responded to a call indicating that Market Street resident Michael Mondo was creating a disturbance. The Tribune’s investigation revealed that during the days before the incident the police had been warned by local mental health authorities that Mondo was struggling with paranoid schizophrenia. The officers who responded to the call were aware of this and the Crawford County Mental Health Crisis Team was summoned to the scene by police when the call came in.

Before the crisis team arrived, however, one of the two officers at the scene, Sgt. Glen Peterson, a 32-year veteran of the force, elected to deploy his Taser to subdue Mondo. Meadville Police Chief David Stefanucci recently revealed to the Tribune that Peterson claims Mondo was told to stop moving at least twice but did not comply and kept moving. At that point, according to Stefanucci, Peterson said he aimed the Taser at Mondo’s “low center mass,” not his head.

The Taser shoots out barbs that hook on to a person’s skin or clothes. They are attached to the Taser with wires that carry an electric discharge that disables the person temporarily.

In the Aug. 23 incident, one of the Taser’s barbs impaled Mondo’s right eye, which he later lost after unsuccessful surgeries. Mondo, who disputes the claim that he was suffering from mental health issues the day of the incident, says he has suffered some memory loss after the incident and that his recollection of that day is sketchy. He said he recalls the officers appearing and one of them asking him if he had been drinking. His next memory is of after the Tasering.

The public would not learn of the incident for some time.

It appears that the report of the incident may have been excluded from the police paperwork typically made available to the media. A tipster contacted the Tribune and The Associated Press with information about the incident the week of Sept. 12 and Mondo was not charged with any wrongdoing in the incident until Sept. 14.

In the first media reports about the incident, which were published Sept. 17, The Associated Press indicated Meadville Police Chief David Stefanucci said he had no reports about the Tasering. However, when a subsequent Meadville Tribune open records request revealed evidence that as many as five reports had been filed within a week of the incident, Stefanucci told the Tribune in a story published Nov. 4 that he had been misquoted by The Associated Press, although he said he does not remember exactly what he said. Stefanucci said that he never sought a correction of the story because he did not want to try a potential court case in the media or make any comments that might influence such a case.

The Associated Press is declining comment until an investigation into the claim is complete.

Meanwhile, the city launched an effort to learn more about how the Taser ended up hitting Mondo in the eye. Police policy calls on officers to avoid aiming at the head, and in statements after the incident, Peterson claimed he did not aim at Mondo’s head. As a result, city officials wanted to determine if the Taser perhaps malfunctioned. Stefanucci revealed in a recent interview that he arranged to have the Taser tested by its Scottsdale, Ariz.-based maker.

Under an open records request, the Tribune obtained the Nov. 1 report of the tests, which were conducted Sept. 9. The testers concluded that the Taser appears to be working properly and that “there is no reason not to return the Taser ... to service.” In a subsequent interview with the Tribune, Stefanucci confirmed that the Taser is currently being used by Meadville police.

The Taser testers also reviewed the video automatically taken by the Taser whenever the weapon’s safety is put in the off position. From that video the testers could not determine where the weapon’s laser sight was aimed when it was deployed, or even if the laser was turned on. However, the testers suggested that they might not have been able to detect the laser point due to sunlight at the time of the incident and the quality of the Taser’s video camera.

In part, the report reads: “because the laser aiming device is a low power eye safe red laser, it may not have been visible during the incident. Inside a building or at night it appears bright, however, because it is a low power eye safe laser, it is difficult for the human eye to see the laser, even at very close distances, in sunlight. The ability of the Taser cam to pick up visible details of the laser is less than the human eye.”

In a subsequent interview, Stefanucci said all Meadville police Tasers are configured so that the laser pointer is engaged automatically whenever the device’s safety goes into the off position. He also pointed out that all Tasers are equipped with fixed aiming sights so that officers can aim correctly even when they cannot see the laser point.

Stefanucci said he and Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest discussed sending the Taser to be checked by a company other than its manufacturer, but neither of them were familiar with companies that do that kind of work. “We are looking into it,” said Chriest. “We will have to look at their reputations,” he said.

Mondo’s attorney, Terry Toomey of Meadville, did not criticize the city’s effort to have the Taser tested. “It would seem to me to be reasonable and appropriate to send the Taser to see that it was operational and working as appropriate,” Toomey said. As for sending it to be tested by a company other than Taser, “I’m not sure where else they would take it,” he responded.

Letter from a Concerned Canuck

In response to this November 18th report: "Cop sues taser after riding the lightning" I received the following letter from "Concerned Canuck":

Questions- so many questions. Judging from the news of this lawsuit against Taser International, it would seem some police are finally waking up to the real risks, after dozens have suffered life-altering injuries after 'riding the lightning'? Or worse, the Tucson PD officer last week, who suffered a fatal massive heart attack a day after a Taser training exercise?

More questions- Will it take the Taser-related death of a child, a celebrity or another cop, before someone, anyone in government somewhere, agrees that a federal investigation is warranted to clear the air on how such a now legally defined 'deadly weapon' (defined as such by a recent ninth circuit court decision in North Carolina) could be introduced as a 'non-lethal police tool'. Why was the lethality not recognized by anyone a decade ago when Tasers were foisted on us by eager and in some cases compensated cops?

C'mon now - 700 people are dead after being 'tased'. Taser International's numbers game of comparing the percentage of fatalities to the number of uses, doesn't mean a thing to the families who have lost loved ones. All they know is their loved one, who was alive one minute, was dead the next. Taser's lawyers and the company's allies in the Justice, Science and Medical communities have almost always thrown it back on the victims, blaming them for bringing such unfortunate outcomes upon themselves. They cite quite rightly that many had previous health problems, were drunk, high on drugs, had mental illnesses or ran away too vigorously from their Taser-toting pursuers. Some probably were violent. But did all 700 fall into this category of the truly violent? Robert Dziekanski didn't. He was a confused but compliant traveller, newly arrived in Vancouver, who was felled by an RCMP Taser and then multi-stunned while being held down by four burly officers. Nor did Darryl Turner-- a healthy teenager in Charlotte, NC-- who was shocked twice for having a temper tantrum at his workplace. His family was awarded $10-million dollars last summer. This award came after a jury of average citizens agreed Taser International made fatal mistakes by not warning law enforcement of the real risks, after numerous opportunities to do the right thing and own up to their errors.

The company motto about 'saving life' didn't ring true for the 700.

At the heart of the Turner case is the jaw-dropping revelation that in 2006, company execs were informed by their own research scientist that a fit young volunteer suffered cardiac arrest during a training exercise. Luckily a defribrillator was on-hand and the volunteer was saved. But it proved cardiac capture was indeed possible. But instead of warning its police customers or the public of this shocking occurrence, Taser International kept silent and continued selling its products. A warning to avoid chest shots didn't come until late 2009, buried in a training bulletin. That is nearly FOUR YEARS that Taser knew of the cardiac risks, but they FAILED TO WARN. Canadian media were the first to discover and report this news about the risks of chest shots- although Taser reacted by saying they were just trying to "avoid the controversy" whenever there was an unexplained death during a Taser incident. The company had inside information- that cardiac capture was possible- but they didn't admit this. Not yet.

It was May 2010, when Taser finally released a much longer list of risks and warnings - in the fine print of another training bulletin. However there was no mention to law enforcement that the company had known since 2006 of the potential cardiac dangers. No doubt Taser International issued this list in anticipation of the Turner case coming to trial. Now when citizens are injured or die after being tased by police, the product liability belongs to law enforcement and its employers, and not where it should lie- with the manufacturer.

The Turner family was awarded the $10-million, because of Taser International's FAILURE TO WARN. Police would be well advised to read the publically-avaliable judgement in detail. As a matter of course, Taser is appealing. It is one of dozens of company-crippling wrongful death lawsuits lined up against the company. What other choice does Taser International actually have when facing such steep multi-million dollar losses? They either settle for undisclosed amounts or they appeal. It is the same thing the company is doing by counter-suing this now crippled cop, whose doctors say his back was broken from the force of a Taser shock during training. One can hear Taser's lawyers now -- perhaps the officer had a pre-existing condition of osteoporosis, which is responsible for the injuries - but not the Taser? And for God's sake, why didn't the officer read the latest waiver before he signed it, where the risks of injury and death are plainly but finely printed for all to see?

In Montpelier, Vermont, officials there appear to be aware of the rising liability risks. A prescient City Manager and a sensible Police Chief have decided that arming their officers was NOT worth losing the trust of their citizens. Was it wisened worry of the possiblity of paying out huge damages if there was any proven police misuse? And misuse is bound to happen when many officers are still convinced Tasers are "safe to use on any attacker", as the company's early promotional material stated. Much of this same propaganda made its way into the first police evaluations of the higher 26-watt technology a decade ago- and was treated as truth.

Perhaps some police were knowing collaborators, but I'd like to think most were hapless victims. So many took it: Taser hook-Taser line-and-suspect sinker. The first clue should have been the skimpy science of testing of one pig in 1996, five dogs in 1999 and several hundred young police recruits who were given half-second zaps with taped leads rather than darts with the full five second stun. Sadly law enforcement brass never bothered to verify the manufacturer's safety claims or questioned the electrical theory of operation, when Taser made the drastic leap from 5-watt weapons to 26-watt ones. Now after 700 deaths, Taser International states in the fine print of its manuals and waivers, that police are responsible for their own research! What kind of upside-down Bizarro-World are we living in, where a device that allows dangerously high current to enter the human body and is associated with hundreds of deaths, expects its customers do its own research? The pharmaceutical companies wouldn't dare do that, so why is Taser getting a free pass?

Perhaps Taser International will be brought to its senses, or at least brought back into court when its shareholders launch another class action suit for failure to disclose all known safety risks? A dozen complainants shared a $21-million dollar out-of-court settlement in 2005, to buy the silence of this small group of compassionate shareholders . In the court documents of this case, seven former employees signed affadavits and testified there were so many 'returns' - defective units being sent back - because thousands of Tasers weren't operating properly or not at all, triggers were sticking with some staying on, etc. There were SO many returns they had to rent extra warehouse space to store them all. The witnesses claimed the bodies of these returns were cut open, the defective high-voltage boards were taken out and placed into new bodies with new serial numbers - and sold out the front door as new product.

No one has ever attempted to investigate Taser for any of this, because no one in law enforcement or the Justice department is paying attention or cares to. Taser called the accusations absurd but settled with the shareholders anyway; what is absurd is paying out $21-million dollars to a dozen complainants in what has to be one of the highest nuisance suit payouts in legal history.

Given the number of deaths and injuries, one wonders if any of these defective units being re-sold as 'new' were recycled into other police departments, where some of these 700 "unintended consequences" or dozens of "training injuries" occurred? There is no way of knowing for sure, because police do not measure the output of each Taser upon receipt from the company. SO there is no benchmark for product quality or reliability set from the start. There is no way of charting degradation over time. Which means there is no way of knowing the shelf life of Tasers. How will that be determined without proper measurement?

Since Taser International has shouldered the liability risks onto police- and those who employ them- municipalities, provinces, states, and federal bodies should consider the sense of seeing these untested, unregulated weapons measured regularly. That was one of the recommendations of the Braidwood Inquiry. So far no police agencies anywhere in North America have heeded this sage advice. The RCMP has supposedly tested its fleet of 36-hundred or so BUT many of them performed outside of the safety allowables set by Taser International. But what is the peak output/body current of the Tasers involved in the 700 deaths? Who knows? Again- there are just too many unanswered questions.

A proper Justice Department investigation of how all this occurred without proper checks & balances, is needed. The many questions demand answers. There needs to be accountability for the 700 and their families. Congressional hearings might be the only way to illuminate more of the truth about how Tasers were introduced without proper oversight and substantiated by rigorous, independent research. If we're stuck with the lethal Taser, it really should only be used in the rarest of circumstances, just below the firearm, NOT as a mere compliance tool. Regular measurement using a recognized electrical safety standard would go a long way too, in insuring this Russian Roulette-style of law enforcement is kept to a duller roar.

Concerned Canuck.

Letter from a Concerned Canuck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Concerned Canuck

Canadian condolences to the family of Tucson PD officer Henry Fung who died of an apparent heart attack on Tuesday this week, one day after he reportedly "volunteered" to take a taser jolt on Monday for "training" purposes.

The medical examiner must STRONGLY recommend that the taser(s) used on Henry Fung be measured for 'output variance'. As we have learned in Canada, not all tasers perform the same way. Many have tested way outside the safety allowables set by Taser International. The medical examiner (and all the doctors in the world) CANNOT rule out the taser until the shock from the weapon itself has been definitively ruled out. Proper measurement is required.

On CBS News last week, Taser International said that proving the taser did NOT play a role in a person's death is an UNPROVABLE supposition. There's your starting point. Click here: http://bit.ly/tT8iYq

It's notable that no one has reported the duration and number of stuns Officer Fung recieved. Usually when a citizen dies after being shocked by a Taser, he or she is blamed, because they had so-called "excited delirium", were on drugs or had a previous medical history (doesn't everyone have a previous medical history??).

Taser International has been warning about multiple and prolonged stuns only in recent years even though, at the beginning, they told police, policy-makers and the public that the taser was "safe to use on any assailant".

That is NOT what they're saying now. One must wonder if Officer Fung was given an opportunity to read the fine print of the latest Volunteer Waiver Taser International put out.

Read closely and it is ALL there: Tasers CAN CAUSE dangerous and deadly metabolic and cardiac changes. Several "suspects" have died MANY HOURS after taser shocks because of changes brought on by acidosis, which causes the muscles surrounding the heart to fail.

The city of Tucson cannot accept the "averages" Taser International spouts -- according to the original spec sheets, the true PEAK OUTPUT of Tasers varies between 151 and 162 milliamps, when "working properly". Any first year med student can tell you that shocks between 30 to 100 milliamps can KILL. Add to that, the invasive nature of a taser used in 'probe mode' - resistance under the skin is next to NIL.

And another shocking revelation: there are NO electrical safety standards for shocks UNDER the skin. Check with the Underwriters Laboratory, the IEC or Canadian Standards Association and you will quickly confirm this fact.

Taser International has some SERIOUS explaining to do. And you can be sure that their damage control machine is in full swing. I follow the company on TWITTER and they are a company which normally posts several TWEETS per day. They've been ominously silent since the day police officer Henry Fung died.

The Department of Justice ought to investigate how this technology was approved without enough rigorous science being applied.

One pig in 1996 and five dogs in 1999 and no true human trials until years after initial sales, should be alarming to all citizens.

ACLU responds to I-Team's Taser investigation

October 28, 2011
Robyn Tyndall, wcpo.com i-team

CINCINNATI - The A.C.L.U. is weighing in on the delays in the investigation into the death of U.C. Upward Bound student Everette Howard.

Howard died nearly three months ago shortly after he was tased by a U.C. police officer.

Over the last two weeks the I-Team has revealed concerns over the safety of the weapons and controversy surrounding the testing of those weapons.

We spoke with the A.C.L.U.'s general counsel Scott Greenwood.

He says it's unacceptable that the Taser used on Everette Howard has not been tested, eleven weeks after Howard died. "Within a three month period after there is a Taser proximate death we should have the toxicology on the deceased person, we should have a whole bunch of reports on the use of force. There should be significant reporting by the law enforcement agency that was involved. There should have been, depending on the jurisdiction, a criminal investigation, and the weapon itself should have been thoroughly tested both independently and by the manufacturer...all of that is possible within that timeframe."

Yet, nearly three months later, we still don't have any results and the investigation is being held up as Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigations, or B.C.I., figures out where to send that Taser.

Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine, who oversees B.C.I. told the I-Team the weapon will be sent to Canada for testing, but it's hung up in customs issues.

Greenwood, who is also a master trainer for Taser International and is considered a "use of force expert", says he believes there are plenty of alternatives to shipping the weapon to Canada. "There are about 10 or 12 in the United States that have the technical ability to test the weapons according to the manufacturers standards and they should have done that by now."

Greenwood also tells the I-Team you never want to store a Taser for an extended period of time so that none of the weapon's data is lost or damaged.

We've been asking Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to respond to these concerns. His office e-mailed us saying they have told B.C.I. "they want their report ASAP".

Taser testing issue delays death investigation

October 20, 2011
Julie O'Neill, WCPO.com

CINCINNATI - A Channel 9 investigation has found that more than 10 weeks after U.C. Upward Bound student Everette Howard Jr. died after he was tased by police, the Taser X26 used to subdue him has still not been tested for its electrical output.

Howard's family, and their attorney, speaking exclusively with 9 News, say they are outraged to learn of a disturbing gap in the investigation, which is apparently slowing it down, regarding the place... and method of the intended testing.

What police and loved ones of Howard agree on is that his death was both unintentional and tragic and finding out exactly why he died is important to his family, to police, and to anyone who might be hit by a Taser-type weapon in the future.

The weapon made by Taser International is used by authorities across the Tri-State and around the globe as a non-lethal police force option. It fires two probes, which send an electric current into the body to incapacitate a subject.

The Hamilton County Coroner's Office has not yet released a cause of death in the Howard case. 9 News has learned the delay may be because the taser used in the Aug. 6 incident has still not been tested for its electrical output.

Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), under Attorney General Mike Dewine, has been charged with finding a lab to test the output. BCI wants to send it to a lab in Canada, but says the process is being stalled by customs issues.

Asked why this weapon needs to be sent outside the country, Attorney General Dewine responded, " The Canadian company has been referred to us by many people and we have checked this out. We believe that they have the expertise to do it."

But 9 News took a closer look at how the Canadian lab will test the weapon and had some serious questions concerning whether this lab will be able to accurately measure how much power came out of the weapon.

The testing procedure protocol the lab would follow states:

"The authors give no warranty or representation of any kind whatsoever that the recommendations contained in this report are comprehensive."

The testing procedure also describes the weapon's waveform as having two parts: the Arc phase (the quick high-voltage phase), and the Main phase (the longer, lower-voltage phase).

To read the entire test procedure, click here.

The people who wrote the protocol state their information will primarily come from the lower energy phase.

Why?

They state that because of potential equipment limitations, "measurements of the peak voltage, peak current and charge of the arc phase may be in error."

9 News discussed the testing concerns with Mike Leonasio of Force Technologies Institute.

Leonasio tests Tasers regularly for law enforcement at his lab in Northern California and was referred to 9 News as an "expert" by a federal agency looking into standardizing the measuring of tasers.

"They specifically talk about some equipment not having the capabilities of measuring that high voltage spike. We don't have that problem," said Leonasio. "The equipment that we utilize has no issues with that whatsoever so we can actually record the entire waveform."

Leonasio says he began testing weapons in response to news reports in Canada three years ago that weapons were failing tests there.

In one case, the Royal Canadian Mounted Patrol pulled hundreds of Tasers after 80 percent reportedly failed tests.

In another case, the Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) had an accredited lab test 44 X26 Tasers in use at that time by U.S. police officers.

CBC reporter Frederic Zalac reported, "The results revealed that four Tasers delivered higher electrical charges, at times up to 50 percent higher than the manufacturer's specifications."

"I think what they proved was what I've seen as well," said Leonasio, "They showed a significant percentage of devices that were outside of manufacturer's specs."

Taser international challenged the method of testing done for that CBC report.

In fact, at an inquiry into a death in Canada following a tasing, Taser International co-founder Tom Smith testified that the weapons did not need testing.

"The device is calibrated such that it can not output any more power. It's running at 100 percent so we do not recommend testing the output," said Smith.

Leonasio says it's very important to test.

"It's important because we need to know what this weapon is doing. And to kind of put it into context a little bit it's not uncommon for us in law enforcement for us to test equipment. Radar guns are tested on a regular basis, blood alcohol testers are tested on a regular basis," said Leonasio.

In fact, the U.S. has standards concerning the testing of X-ray machines, automatic electronic defibrillators, pacemakers etc., but not tasers.

9 News asked Attorney General Dewine whether he thought there should be some standard way of testing these weapons so that we can be perfectly accurate as to what is released from them and protect people who might be hit by them.

"Well again, what we have to do is go to the best place we can find and that's what we're doing," said Dewine. "The report will stand on its own. If there are exceptions in the report, if there are things where they indicate they could not test, that's something that the prosecuting attorney in Hamilton County, Mr. Deters, and whoever else looks at it in Hamilton County, is going to have to take into consideration. I would just emphasize that the report that this lab does and the testing that this lab does is only part of the whole investigation."

"On behalf of the family, we're impatient," said Attorney Al Gerhardstein, who represents the Howards.

"Any testing that's a waste of time is just that. It's a waste of time. If it's going to delay an answer to these parents it shouldn't be done. The right thing should be done. And if we're this far down the road on Tasers and we still don't know how to test them in order to make sure they're safe for deployment into peaceful civilians then we better get on this as quickly as possible and do more to protect citizens," said Gerhardstein.

"I'm not for taking Tasers off the street. I'm for reform. I'm for training. I'm for safety, honesty, tell the truth," said Travonna Howard, Everette's mother.

The Howards say their son, an award-winning wrestler and captain of his team in high school, was a respectful kid who had a bright future.

"He knew authority, his records, his awards, his community involvement, what he did speaks for itself," said Travonna.

"I just think how we sacrificed and we worked hard to get our son for school and overtime and working days and working nights. We sacrificed because we wanted what we didn't have and what was best for him," said his mother.

Everette actually graduated from the Upward Bound program the night before he died.

On the night he died, a report of a fight on campus brought in U.C. police.

According to U.C. police, Everette ignored a warning to back off, so an officer tased him. The accounts given by police and witnesses of exactly what led up to the tasing are still being investigated.

"Sometimes I'm just broke to think what my son's body went through with that," said Travonna.

There is an effort in the U.S. currently to come up with a standard way of testing tasers.

The "National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES)" had a meeting in January of this year, during which industry experts weighed in.

NIST refused any comment, only referring 9 News to Leonasio as an expert sitting on its panel.

Leonasio tells 9 News NIST is working on an international standard, but did not say when such a standard for testing the electrical output of Tasers would be released.

Taser International refused comment, and has thus far denied numerous requests for an on camera interview with 9 News.

9 News is continuing its research into all facets of Taser use and the safety concerns surrounding this electroshock weapon.

As Taser use rises, so do questions about risks of fatalities

September 4, 2011
James Halpin, FayObserver

The prongs from the Taser latched onto Martin Mitchell Sr.'s side, feeling like a knife had stabbed into his torso. Mitchell says he instantly went limp and started convulsing, nearly swallowing his tongue.

"My whole left side went numb," said Mitchell, 45, who was zapped Tuesday by a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy after allegedly assaulting his 16-year-old son outside Westover Middle School. "I couldn't even remember too much that happened, you understand. That's how bad that thing messed me up. I kept blinking in and out."

Mitchell, who disputes deputies' account that he was punching his son and that he ran at one of the intervening deputies, says he believes officers are increasingly likely to use Tasers because they are less lethal than firearms.

Industry watchdogs say Mitchell is not too far off the mark.

Katy Parker, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, said the group has seen an increase in Taser use throughout the state and the country, partly because Tasers have become ubiquitous in law enforcement. As a result, Tasers are increasingly being used in situations where officers would not have pulled a firearm - situations that in some cases don't require much force at all, she said.

"Tasers are weapons that can be very effective if you have a suspect who is putting the officer in danger or someone else at risk of harm," Parker said. "But they're often used in situations where an officer issues an order and the suspect doesn't comply in some way. It's kind of used as pain compliance. ... That's very dangerous."

Fayetteville police have been using Tasers since 1996, and numbers released last week show that their use has been on the rise in recent years. Officers deployed Tasers 20 times in 2007 and only 16 times in 2008. But they stunned suspects 31 times in 2009 and 60 times last year, according to police numbers. Police had used their Tasers 25 times so far through August of this year.

Fayetteville police spokesman Gavin MacRoberts said Taser usage has been on the rise for several reasons. There are more officers in the field than before because the department has been nearly fully staffed in recent years, and those officers are equipped with newer, smaller Tasers that they keep on their belts, rather than in their patrol cars, he said.

Police also have been encountering more incidents each year that meet the department's requirements for using Tasers, MacRoberts said. That has to do in part with police encountering an increasing number of suspects under the influence of drugs or alcohol or with mental-health problems, he said.

Last week, the department pulled all of its Taser M26 units off the streets for testing following the death of 56-year-old Michael Wade Evans, a political activist who died after he was stunned by police on Aug. 24. Police say he was acting erratically and trying to jump on vehicles on Eastern Boulevard.

Evans was pronounced dead at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. His cause of death remains under investigation.

Cumberland deaths

Evans is the third person to die in Cumberland County after being hit with a stun gun.

In 2005, a Cumberland County deputy hit 52-year-old Richard McKinnon with a Taser. McKinnon, who had crashed his van after trying to elude deputies, was soaked in gasoline and burst into flames.

Otis C. Anderson, 36, died after Fayetteville police used a Taser to subdue him in January 2008. An autopsy found he had a lethal amount of cocaine in his system.

Earlier this year, Brandon Jolvon "Red" Bethea, a 24-year-old schizophrenic inmate at the Harnett County Jail, died after being shocked with a stun gun multiple times, according to an autopsy report. Deputies left the Fayetteville man lying unchecked on the floor for about 20 minutes before discovering that he was unconscious.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded following the autopsy that his death was caused by "complications of conducted energy device application."

Eddie Caldwell Jr., executive vice president and general counsel of the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association, noted that many deaths associated with Tasers are not caused by the shock but rather by other causes, such as drug overdoses. He said his understanding is that Tasers are safe when used on healthy people and that many law enforcement agencies require officers who carry them to be shocked as part of the certification process so they understand the consequences.

Tasers can help reduce the likelihood of a struggle - and the risk of injury to officers and suspects - during an arrest of an aggressive person, he said.

"If you've got a suspect with a butcher knife coming at you, as an officer, you have the legal right to kill him. But if you've got a Taser, you can tase him and that's more humane and a much better outcome for the suspect," Caldwell said. "The Taser is a device that, as much as anything, helps the citizen who is at that point belligerent and uncooperative."

Taser International says it has sold more than a 500,000 stun guns to more than 16,000 law enforcement and military agencies around the world. The company maintains that its weapons protect life.

Tasers reduce excessive use-of-force complaints and save lives while reducing the risk of injuries to suspects and police, Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle said.

"Although no use-of-force device is risk free - including Taser technology - when used properly, medical and law enforcement experts have concluded that Taser technology is among the most effective response to resistance tools available," Tuttle said. "We continue to stand by the independent peer-reviewed medical studies that have shown that the Taser electronic-control devices are generally safe and effective."

Study

In May, the National Institute of Justice published a study of nearly 300 people who died after being shot with stun guns. In the vast majority of those cases, the devices "played no role in the death," according to the study, which reviewed 22 cases in which a stun gun was listed as a cause of death.

The study found that the risk of death when police deploy stun guns is less than 0.25 percent and says that "there is no conclusive medical evidence" that short-term electric shocks cause a high risk of serious injury or death in healthy, non-stressed and non-intoxicated people.

"However, there are groups who may be at risk for sudden death and those who are more vulnerable to physical insult," the report says. "These disparate but occasionally overlapping groups include small children, those with diseased hearts, the elderly and pregnant women."

It advised officers to avoid continuously shocking suspects for longer than 15 seconds but concluded that law enforcement officers do not need to refrain from using the devices to arrest uncooperative or combative subjects so long as the devices are used properly.

Amnesty International, which counts more than 460 deaths following Taser use since June 2001, responded by saying that the report underscores the need for strict limits on the use of shock weapons.

The group expressed concern that many of the study's nearly 300 people who died after being stunned did not appear to present a serious threat at the time they were shocked.

"Amnesty International believes that, apart from safety concerns, electro-shock weapons are particularly open to abuse as they are easy to use and they can inflict severe pain at the push of a button without leaving substantial marks," the group said in a statement.

Lawsuit

The ACLU's Parker pointed to the death of 17-year-old Darryl Wayne Turner - a teen who suffered a fatal arrhythmia in Charlotte in 2008 after being shocked for 37 seconds by a Taser X26 - as an example of how Tasers can be dangerous when police hold the trigger down.

Dr. Douglas Zipes, an electrophysiologist and former director of the Division of Cardiology at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology, filed an expert report in a civil lawsuit against Taser by Turner's family. In the report, Zipes cites studies on animals conducted before Turner's death that showed Tasers have the potential to produce heart arrhythmias and ventricular fibrillation in the hearts of pigs.

"The medical hazard of ECD shocks resulting in cardiac arrest was foreseeable prior to March 2008 and appropriate testing should have been done to investigate this possibility before placing these products on the market," Zipes wrote.

In September 2009, Taser issued new warnings indicating that the risk of ventricular fibrillation following shocks is 1 in 100,000, he wrote. A federal jury in July awarded Turner's family a $10 million judgment against Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser because of his death.

The day after that award, a 21-year-old man died after a Taser was used on him, prompting the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to pull its Tasers from use pending a review.

Guidelines

Pat Norris, president of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, said the association recommends that departments have policies in place regarding Taser use, but does not itself issue guidelines.

Law enforcement in Cumberland County do have such policies. The Fayetteville Police Department's policy addresses when it is appropriate for officers to use their stun guns. Those situations include:

When officers need to control violent subjects when deadly force does not appear to be necessary.

When conventional tactics including verbal commands and firm grip control are ineffective.

When officers cannot safely get close to a subject.

To keep a person from committing suicide or hurting himself.

After Evans' death, however, the department said it plans to review its Taser policies and procedures, in addition to inspecting the weapons. Police say they have no reason to believe the Taser that was used in Evans' arrest malfunctioned, but they were pulling the devices for inspection as a precaution.

"In light of recent incidents in not only here, but in other jurisdictions as well, it was decided that it was the prudent and responsible action to ensure all Tasers are in proper working condition," said MacRoberts, the Fayetteville police spokesman.

The weapons are being sent to the manufacturer to be tested to ensure the Tasers are operating within factory specifications for output and also to verify that their data recording systems are properly functioning, he said.

It was not known how long it would take Taser to complete the inspections, MacRoberts said.

Numbers for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office use of Tasers were not available as of Friday.

Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said deputies have no plans to change their policy on using Tasers.

Deputies are sometimes confronted with aggressive people while alone, and Tasers offer them a way to subdue the suspects without bloodshed or causing permanent injury, she said.

Deputies carry batons, pepper spray and Tasers, but not all deputies carry all of those tools, Tanna said. When confronted with a threatening situation, the deputies must make a split-second decision on how best to negate the threat, she said.

"Our deputies don't have the luxury, in most cases, of making a decision by sitting around and mulling about it," Tanna said. "We feel that (Tasers) are safe. We like the fact that it is an option for us when trying to subdue a violent suspect or in a situation that is out of control."

In 2008, the ACLU helped start the N.C. Taser Safety Project, which sought to have law enforcement agencies develop policies to ensure people are safely subdued when Tasers must be used. Parker said that because of a number of recent high-profile cases involving Tasers, the ACLU is planning to send out a new records request to all 100 sheriff's offices in the state and 25 police departments seeking an update on their policies on using Tasers. Law enforcement agencies should have policies limiting Taser use on the old, young and sick, Parker said.

They also should prohibit officers from holding the trigger down or repeatedly pressing the trigger when unnecessary, she said.

"It can be an effective weapon, but there ought to be reasonable limitations and restrictions put on those weapons to keep people safe," Parker said. "I think most of the time law enforcement is trying to do the best job that they can. But Tasers are still relatively new, and I think a lot of times people aren't aware of the risks."

Billings inquest: Bain's death in custody due to meth

A concerned Canadian wrote a very interesting comment on the news reports that follows below. Here's the Canadian's take on the matter:

As you reported in "Bain's Incustody Death Due To Meth", there can be no doubt the drug played a part, but to rule out the multi-stuns of the Taser as possible contributing factor, shows just how ignorant or biased this "medical expert" is. Taser shocks, especially when repeated or prolonged can cause cardiac arhythmias BUT can also lead to life-threatening metabolic acidosis.

In the only successful product liability case against Taser (Heston Vs. TI) two years ago, lawyer John Burton argued successfully that the company's scientists never tested for possible changes to blood chemistry caused by Taser shocks. The Six-Million dollar judgement is on appeal, but the point was made: Tasers can cause acidosis. Please realise Tasers cause muscle strands to twitch uncontrollably. This results in an unnatural surge of lactic acid throughout the blood stream. The acid/base balance in the blood is extremely narrow. If your PH falls fast and far enough, it can cause the muscles around the heart to cease operation, with often deadly effect.

Taser International has acknowledged this, albeit in the fine-print of the latest Training Bulletin # 17 issued quietly last May, for company insiders, Taser trainers and anyone willing to take the 40-minutes needed to download the bulletin from the company's website. Every police officer, share-holder, investor, insurer and government official who sanctions the use of Tasers should read the very long list of risks and warnings, including that of acidosis caused by Taser stuns.

A decade ago when ECDs began flooding the market, everyone was reassured by the manufacturers and the police that these new electrical devices were "safe to use on any assailant" and were "non-lethal". Within several years, especially after the related death toll began to climb, the wording was changed to "less than lethal". Somehow now, after 537 deaths in North America, proximal to Taser use, the language used to describe the devices has changed again to LETHAL. This was the conclusion of the Braidwood Inquiry in Canada. And now in the fine print, ostensibly to reduce the sting of future liabilites, Taser International is admitting the same thing-- Tasers can KILL. This is not what we were all told a decade ago. Did human physiology somehow change in the last ten years, making Tasers more deadly? Or was there a distinct lack of science applied to ensure the weapons were as safe as advertised?

And before a definitive cause of death is decided in the Bains case, the medical examiner should have the Taser involved tested independently, to ensure there is no 'output variance', because as we discovered in Canada, not all Tasers perform the same way. Eighty percent of the older model tasers tested in BC failed, after being sent to the one lab in the country equipped for such tests; eighty percent of the weapons had outputs outside of the safety allowables set by the manufacturer. Those older M26 models were pulled from service, coast-to-coast. Since there is no way of testing Tasers regularly in any police detachment in North America, how do your police or ME know for sure, if they have a defective Taser on their hands or not?

Concerned Canadian,
Vancouver, BC.

April 7, 2011
KRTV.com (Montana)

A coroner's inquest in Billings has determined that the death of Ryan Bain was not a crime.

The jury determined that Bain's death was caused by methamphetamine use.

The coroner's inquest was investigating the death of Bain after he was Tased multiple times and died later in custody.

On October 10, 2010, law enforcement authorities say Bain was seen running naked down the street and stole a van. Officers eventually caught up to him and tried to take him into custody. Officers believed he was under the influence of drugs and say he was non-compliant.

Bain was Tased multiple times and taken to YCDF where authorities say he refused to cooperate and was Tased again. He was placed in a holding cell and a short time later suffered cardiac arrest.

During the second day of the inquest, two medical doctors testifying in the inquest into Ryan Bain's death said that his death appeared to be the result of a methamphetamine overdose and not the direct result of being tasered.

A large amount of medical testimony was presented at day two of the inquest.

American Medical Rescue paramedic Robyn Harper testified saying when she arrived, Bain was essentially dead. Harper called St. Vincent Healthcare emergency room Dr. Sheldon Nelson. After 21 minutes of working on Bain, Dr. Nelson told medics they could stop CPR efforts. That was at 12:19 am. Seconds later, Harper was unplugging a monitor and was "surprised" to see that Bain had a pulse. They took to the emergency room.

St. Vincent Emergency Doctor Sheldon Nelson treated Bain when he arrived at he hospital. He told the jury there is no specific treatment plan for someone who is has taken methamphetamine and that it just has "to wear off." Dr. Nelson said Bain was comatose the entire time he saw him. However his heart rate was up, but that his blood pressure was adequate to extremely low. Bain had multiple medical test done. Dr. Nelson said he believes Bain's death was the cause of an "extremely significant overdose of meth."

Dr. Kristin Spanjian, an intensivist who oversees care at the Intensive Care Unit at St. Vincent's testified by video. The interview was conducted March 17. Dr. Spanjian says the cardiac arrest was due to "acute methamphetamine intoxication." She said the taser likely did not play a role in his death because he would have suffered cardiac arrest shortly after the incident.She went on to explain that people with severe acute meth intoxication display signs of severe acidosis, which is increased acidity in the blood. Bain had a ph of 6.9. The normal ph level is a 7.4. She said some of the factors leading to his cardiac arrest were the acidosis, the chemical reaction in his body and dehydration.

Bain's former fiancee Kalli Ackerman took the stand saying she lost contact with Bain for 45 minutes on October 10, 2010. When she saw him again at her father's house, he appeared to be fine at first and then quickly did not make sense and was hot to the touch. She tried taking him to the hospital, but Bain's mental state quickly changed and he did not recognize her and appeared to be afraid of her. She said she was begging him to get help when he took off running down an alley. That was the last time she saw Bain alive.

Taser maintenance issue raised in Palo Alto independent police auditor's report

March 19, 2011
Jesse Dungan, San Jose Mercury

Palo Alto's independent police auditor is keeping an eye on Taser maintenance following an incident in which one of the devices malfunctioned when it was used on a combative suspect, according to a report released this week.

"It hasn't risen to the level where we think things have really gotten haywire and no one's taking care of their Tasers, but if we do see a pattern, we may recommend more needs to be done," said Michael Gennaco, one of the report's authors.

The auditor's report details complaints against the police department, changes in policies and Taser use by officers, but it does not provide times or locations of incidents.

The incident that caught the auditor's attention involved a nearly hour-long search for a burglar, which ended with officers and a police dog trying to nab the suspect. He resisted arrest when confronted in a fenced-in area, didn't show any pain when bitten and may have been under the influence of a controlled substance, according to the report.

During the seven-minute scuffle, two officers used their Tasers, including a sergeant whose device didn't produce an electric shock when he fired it at the suspect's back. The other officer fired her Taser at the man's chest and cycled it for 10 seconds, but it had little effect. She then pressed the Taser against the man's back as he continued to struggle.

The officers were justified in their use of Tasers and the police department did a good job of documenting the incident, according to the auditor's report. Another officer used the camera on his Taser to record part of the incident.

But the report noted, "One of the two Tasers deployed did not seem to work at all. After the incident, there were problems downloading the data and getting an accurate time stamp on it. The department has acknowledged these issues from previous Taser uses and we will continue to monitor its efforts to perfect maintenance and infrastructure for this weapon."

Palo Alto police Lt. Sandra Brown said Friday the incident examined by the auditor was an anomaly. The sergeant's Taser experienced some sort of software malfunction, which may have been a manufacturer problem, and the device later had to be rebooted. There is no widespread mechanical problem with the Tasers used by members of the Palo Alto Police Department, she said.

However, the department has taken steps to improve maintenance since Tasers were introduced four years ago, Brown said. For example, officers on Thursday were trained how to take apart and clean their stun guns, she said.

Previously, officers turned their Tasers in to be cleaned periodically, but that practice resulted in less frequent maintenance.

Brown said officers also "spark test" the devices before their shifts to make certain they're in working condition.

According to the auditor's report, no officers have fired a Taser since the police department revised its policy to reflect recent court opinions about stun gun use.

"It would be entirely speculative to conclude whether this is the result of fear of criticism by officers, a misunderstanding of the policy, or simply the absence of appropriate circumstances in the field necessitating the use of a Taser," the report states.

Canadian medical study to look at Taser research gaps

February 15, 2011
The Canadian Press/CTV

OTTAWA — Gaps in the research on how Taser stun guns affect people will be one focus of a federal program aimed at better understanding the powerful weapons used for years by Canadian police.

Other studies will look at test procedures to ensure Tasers operate properly and ways to evaluate new weapons police might adopt, records obtained under the Access to Information Act show.

The $1.8-million Taser research program is overseen by the federal Centre for Security Science, a joint initiative of the Public Safety Department and Defence Research and Development Canada. The effort is slated to run through 2012-13.
,
Civil liberties advocates say the work is overdue given long-standing questions about stun gun safety.

"It's certainly welcome, we just wish it had been there a lot earlier," said Hilary Homes, a human rights campaigner with Amnesty International Canada.

"We hope it moves ahead on time -- ahead of time, if possible."

David Eby of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association said it's positive that government recognizes the need for study, but he argued some topics have already been researched elsewhere.

"What I don't understand is why they're only doing this work now."

Almost a decade after police forces began using the Taser, the law enforcement community is still grappling with its effects.

In an effort to see common threads, the watchdog over the RCMP looked at the 10 cases, spanning 2003 to 2008, in which someone died in Mountie custody after a Taser had been used.

It urged the police force not to hog-tie people and called on the Mounties to better train officers on identifying, dealing with, and using force on the mentally ill and those with drug and alcohol problems.

Martin Champoux, a spokesman for Defence Research and Development Canada, acknowledges a need for more research to give policy makers and the policing community "scientific methodologies and tools that they need to make sure that they've got this right."

A panel of biomedical experts will deliver a report by August on existing research about the physiological effects of the Taser. That will help identify gaps and lay the groundwork for a strategy to fill them, Champoux said.

Another study will develop test procedures and performance measures to ensure Tasers are operating according to the manufacturer's specifications. Police forces will then be able to use it as a tool for checking their Tasers, he said.

The program will also include development of a protocol for "testing the next big thing" police might adopt to control suspects, Champoux added.

Though it is unclear what that might be, there has already been chatter about experimental weapons that emit sound, heat and noxious smells to disperse crowds or incapacitate would-be attackers.

"Nobody's brought anything to us to evaluate in the policing context," Champoux said.

Holmes applauded the move to create an approval process, saying it could have helped avoid the worldwide furor over safety of the Taser. "Some of that might have been mitigated if there had been a proper approvals framework in the first place."

In May, the Mounties introduced a new Taser policy, saying they would fire them at people only when they're hurting someone or clearly about to do so.

The directive mirrored a recommendation from a B.C. public inquiry on Taser use prompted by the 2007 death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport.

Researchers develop new system for testing Tasers

August 20, 2010
Montreal Gazette

OTTAWA — A team of researchers led by a Carleton University professor has developed a new system for consistently testing the thousands of Tasers used by Canadian police.

Andy Adler, a Canada Research Chair in biomedical engineering, working with five other academic and industry experts has established a method for agencies across the country to test Tasers and other "conducted-energy weapons" and determine whether the devices are operating within their manufacturers' specifications.

The procedure will also define data collection requirements so that information from the testing of any CEW in Canada can be used for forensic analysis of that particular weapon and be added to a central database for future research.

In a 2009 report, commissioner Thomas Braidwood concluded that "conducted-energy weapons do have the capacity to cause serious injury or death" — but the manufacturers say there's no danger if the devices are used as specified.

"Clearly, the government wants to do testing, but we felt if, as experts, we provide a detailed recommendation of how testing should be done, that would help everybody," Adler said.

He added the authors represent the labs that have done almost all the Taser testing in Canada. About 6,000 of the estimated 15,000 Tasers in use in Canada have been tested.

Adler said the testing procedure the authors are recommending goes beyond the guidelines proposed by manufacturer Taser International.

"Taser has their guidelines, but they needed to be augmented," Adler said. "We made a much, much more specific protocol."

For example, instead of just reporting the average values of electrical impulses from the weapons — as the company does — the report says all electrical pulses should be analyzed and the maximum and minimum values should be reported, in case they're dramatically different from the average.

A maximum-charge limit is also being proposed based on electrical safety specifications.

Currently, Taser calls for an average charge of 125 microcoulombs, a measurement derived by combining the intensity of a charge and the time it lasts. The new protocol calls for a maximum charge of 182 microcoulombs.

Adler said a consistent testing protocol is something federal and provincial officials, as well as the Braidwood Commission — which investigated the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport — have called for.

With the protocol now in print, he's hoping officials adopt the recommended measures.

"We did the work because we hope it will be taken up," he said.

Taser tests find variation in weapon force

August 20, 2010
CBC News

Researchers led by a Carleton University professor have found the charges delivered by some Tasers and other conducted-electricity weapons can vary from the manufacturer's specifications, delivering either too much or not enough charge.

Andy Adler, the Canada Research Chair in biomedical engineering at Carleton, said three to 10 per cent of the 6,000 Tasers and other stun guns tested were found to be delivering charges that were outside specified thresholds, or tolerances.

Weapons that deliver a more powerful shock than they are rated for could put the target at greater risk, said Adler. And weapons that deliver too little charge can also pose dangers too, he said.

"The weapon that is below tolerance would have less effect on the subject," said Adler. "That would worry a police officer because they are looking for a particular effect. They are relying on their equipment to do something and if the equipment doesn't do it, it puts everyone involved in a dangerous scenario."

As a result of the preliminary findings, Adler and four industry researchers are recommending a new testing procedure that goes beyond the guidelines specified by the manufacturer — one that tests the minimum and maximum charges reported, and not just the average. The recommendation also proposes a maximum charge limit for the weapons.

Welcomed by police
Adler said he hopes the report will help inform police in Canada on whether the age of the weapon has an impact on its performance over time. He said police welcome the research.

"Police are fascinated by the research we're doing. They very much want to know that they're functioning correctly, that they're within specifications, that they can be relied on," he said.

The recommendations are limited to testing the weapons and do not address questions of when and where the weapons should be used.

Last year, former B.C. Appeal Court justice Thomas Braidwood issued a report on the use of Tasers after the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport. Braidwood found that stun guns can be deadly and said police should have stricter limits on when the weapons should be used.

On April 21, 2010, I sent an e-mail to the Mayor, Chief of Police and all City Commissioners of Dothan, Alabama:

Further to a report in the April 20, 2010 edition of the Dothan Eagle entitled “Police selling old tasers for public safety use only,” you may be interested to know that, in Canada, it was reported last weekend that our national police force – the RCMP – destroyed and/or pulled hundred of tasers *out of service* after laboratory tests found that they were not functioning properly. 149 M26s and 60 X26s from across the country did not perform within specifications.

Before you consider donating and/or selling your older stock of tasers to other law enforcement agencies, it is imperative that you have the units laboratory tested to ensure that they *are* functioning properly. Otherwise, I suggest that the city of Dothan could indeed be faced with potential liability issues. Please see: Hundreds of faulty RCMP Tasers destroyed or pulled

I signed my name at the bottom of the e-mail followed by

Owner of http://truthnottasers.blogspot.com/


TODAY, I visited the City of Dothan website and found the Minutes of the May 4, 2010 Board of Commissioners meeting, which addressed the city's liability for these old tasers in the following manner:

Mayor Schmitz introduced Resolution No. 2010-134 (recorded in Ordinance Book
No._______at Page_______), declaring one hundred and ten (110) M26 Tasers as obsolete and no longer needed for public or municipal purposes and authorizing the sell, exchange or donation of the said Tasers. Commissioner Reading moved for adoption, motion seconded by Commissioner Barbaree. Commissioner Seagle said we have received communication from other companies saying in other cases cities have had to retain some liability for passing this on. He asked if we are protected from any liability that may remain attached to these Tasers. Police Chief Benton stated that the only liability we would have is if we do not tell the recipients of the Tasers that they had to get training on the Tasers. Commissioner Newsome asked how we hold anyone who buys these Tasers through GovDeals to that standard. Chief Benton said they would have to sign the waiver of liability and there would be certain restrictions set out on GovDeals. There being no further discussion the resolution was unanimously adopted.

TO WHICH I SAY: Dear City of Dothan: Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You really haven't been following along, have you?



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


Police selling old Tasers for public safety use
By Debbie Ingram
Published: April 20, 2010
Updated: April 21, 2010
» 1 Comment Post a Comment


The Dothan Police Department is planning to dispose of more than 100 obsolete Tasers through donation and direct sale to other law enforcement agencies.

A Taser is an electroshock weapon most often used by police to subdue dangerous or fleeing suspects. The Taser, manufactured by Taser International, uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles.

The department currently owns 110 Police M26 Tasers, which were purchased in 2003 and 2004 at about $400 each. Those Tasers are no longer used since the department upgraded to X26 models in September 2006, but they are still usable.

Police plan to donate 30 used Tasers to the Dothan Police Auxiliary Unit, six to the Dothan-Houston County Airport Police and keep 10 for exchange on 10 new X26 models.

The remaining 64 Tasers will be sold to area law enforcement agencies at $100 each. If not sold after 60 days, they will be offered to other agencies on Govdeals.com.

City Manager Mike West said parts can no longer be obtained for the old models, but they are still in demand from other departments which cannot afford to purchase new Tasers. The city has received several calls from area law enforcement agencies interested in purchasing the Tasers.

One city commissioner asked if they might end up in the hands of private citizens and if there are any liability issues for the city.

Police Chief Greg Benton said the police Tasers can only be sold to certified law enforcement agencies. The city attorney said the city has no liability on the equipment, once sold. City commissioners are expected to approve the disposal at their May 4 meeting.

The use of Tasers has become controversial following instances of excessive Taser use in some areas of the country. Some use has resulted in serious injury and death. The newest Taser introduced last year, the X3, can subdue three suspects without reloading.

New Taser rules a continuation of ongoing process: top cop

May 6, 2010
Jack Wilson - Red Deer Advocate

New rules governing how the RCMP use stun guns are basically a continuation of the process started a few years ago, Red Deer’s top policeman said on Wednesday.

“In the last few years, there has been a complete evaluation of the process of the use of the conducted energy weapon guidelines and rules,” Supt. Brian Simpson said. “This is just the continuation of that process and at the end of the day we want to be open and transparent in terms of how we do business,” he added.

New rules were unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa. The rules limit RCMP officers to using their stun gun in cases where a person is causing bodily harm or an officer has “reasonable grounds” to believe a person will “imminently” harm somebody.

“Members’ actions must be reasonable and the force used must be necessary in the circumstances,” according to the revised policy.

Simpson said the use of the Taser stun gun has decreased in the last several months.
Simpson said the city detachment has about five Tasers available for use per shift. There are four shifts.

RCMP officers must always give a verbal warning, “where tactically feasible,” that they are about to use their stun gun, the policy says. In medically high-risk situations, officers will be required to request medical assistance, when feasible, before using their stun guns, policy states.

Simpson said all officers authorized to carry the weapon are well trained and undergo updated training when time allows. He said every time officers deploy the weapon, they must “articulate and justify their reason for doing so. There’s been a lot of negative headlines about the weapon but there are many positives too,” Simpson said. Many times the weapon has “helped neutralize a potentially dangerous situation,” he added.

Some Tasers used by city detachment officers have been sent away for regular maintenance and found to be firing at a lower amperage than called for, he said.

The RCMP changes come in response to the B.C. inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, new Alberta guidelines and persistent criticism from human-rights advocates that the Taser was often being used to make people obey police commands, not to defuse the most serious threats.

Bob Paulson, an assistant RCMP commissioner, said the threshold is more specific than the previous one, defined as “a threat to officer or public safety.”

In 2006, Jason Doan, 28, died after being tasered three times by police in Red Deer following a complaint to RCMP about a man smashing car windows.

Machine tests Tasers' zapping strength

A new machine will allow police to test the strength of their Tasers, but that doesn't necessarily mean B.C. law enforcement will put it to use.

Datrends Systems, a Richmond, B.C., medical instrument manufacturing company, has created Verus One, a machine that will provide the exact measurement of the electrical output of Tasers.

"If you're over-producing, there may be a problem with the person that you've shot – in damage to them," Ron Evans of Datrends told CTV News. "If it is under-producing, it may not have the effect that the officer expects, putting him in danger."

It's taken Datrends six months to create the machine, which is the first to measure Taser power.

"A test will tell you if it meets the specification as Taser put them out originally," Evans said.

After the death of Robert Dziekanski, the Braidwood inquiry recommended police find a way to test their weapons regularly as each Taser performs differently.

But the Taser specifications pre-programmed into the machines have yet to be verified independently.

"We need someone independent of Taser to look at that protocol and say, yes, this is actually something that will ensure the device performs as expected, that it will not unexpectedly kill people," executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association David Eby said.

Despite the Braidwood recommendation, the B.C. solicitor general's office will only say it's interested in learning more about the machine.

Datrends will be holding a demonstration at the international policing conference this weekend to showcase the item.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger

Taser performance testing instrument unveiled at international police show

April 29, 2010
TASERS: PERFORMANCE TESTING INSTRUMENT UNVEILED AT INT'L POLICE SHOW
Richmond BC Company Makes Testing of TASER® Weapons Easy and Affordable With New Device
Attention: Health/Medical Editor, News Editor, Tech/Telecomm Editor, World News Editor, Government/Political Affairs Editor

RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, MEDIA ADVISORY--(Marketwire - April 29, 2010) - Datrend Systems Inc., a Richmond BC company, has developed a new device which will enable police services to test and confirm the electrical performance of its TASER® arsenal on a routine basis. Designed for use by police officers rather than laboratory specialists, the tabletop device automatically performs the electrical tests recommended in the Report of the Braidwood Inquiry(1) in addition to tests specified by the weapon manufacturer. Test records produced and maintained by the device provide objective, documented evidence of weapon conformance. Cost-effective and flexible, the device may be set to pass or fail a weapon based on acceptability criteria defined by the manufacturer, law enforcement agency, or government.

"As a leading supplier of biomedical test instruments to hospitals around the world, our testers are used every day to assure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices that apply electricity in treatment or diagnosis" says Ron Evans, President of Datrend Systems Inc. "We've adapted years of experience and know-how in testing of electromedical devices to the needs of the public and the police for greater, ongoing assurance of TASER® electrical output."

The test device, Verus One, is relevant to any jurisdiction worldwide in which TASERS may be deployed, including the Department of Defense, Corrections Facilities and others. Verus One will be demonstrated at the 2010 International Conference for Police and Law Enforcement Executives in Toronto Canada on May 2. The product is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2010.

(1) Restoring Public Confidence: Restricting the Use of Conducted Energy Weapons in British Columbia, (http://www.braidwoodinquiry.ca/)

Hundreds of faulty RCMP Tasers destroyed or pulled

April 18, 2010
The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The RCMP has destroyed or retired hundreds of Tasers after laboratory tests found some Mountie stun guns were not performing properly.

Internal RCMP notes obtained by The Canadian Press say 15 per cent of the older M26 model Tasers and one per cent of the newer X26 models did not test within technical tolerances.

Draft statistics provided by the force say that as of December, 149 M26s and 60 X26s from across the country had not performed within specifications.

The Tasers that did not meet tolerances "were destroyed and replaced by divisions," says a December briefing note to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott, released under the Access to Information Act.

In addition, the draft figures indicate several RCMP divisions had either replaced or planned to retire more than 200 other M26 stun guns.

The RCMP declined to provide additional updates, saying the force would publish the final test results this spring.

It's "inherently problematic" that the RCMP, which has been using Tasers for more than eight years, didn't test the devices before putting them in the field, said Rob Holmes, president of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

"It should have been done from the get-go."

Serious questions of stun gun reliability first arose in December 2008 when a scientific review commissioned by the CBC and French-language Radio-Canada concluded that four out of 41 guns tested actually discharged more electrical current than Taser International says is possible.

In some of the test firings the police weapons delivered 50 per cent more current.

Last June, Elliott ordered all Tasers in the RCMP inventory be tested. A short time earlier, he directed all divisions to pull their M26s from service until testing could confirm they were operating within specifications.

The RCMP's testing protocol was developed in January 2009 by MPB Technologies, an independent electronics lab, with input from the government-run Canadian Police Research Centre, Carleton University scientists and stun gun manufacturer Taser International.

The RCMP has long maintained the Taser contributes to officer and public safety when properly used in appropriate situations by well-trained officers.

Critics say police use the powerful devices to make unco-operative people comply with orders even when they don't pose a threat to officers or bystanders.

The force is working on an overhaul of its Taser policy following recommendations from inquiries prompted by the death of air passenger Robert Dziekanski.

Dziekanski, en route to British Columbia from Poland to join his mother, Zofia Cisowski, died in October 2007 after being hit with a Mountie Taser at the Vancouver airport.

A video of the confrontation filmed by a fellow passenger, in which an agitated and disoriented Dziekanski is zapped repeatedly, was seen by millions of people -- stirring public outrage and widespread re-examination of stun gun use.

The RCMP recently apologized to Cisowski and agreed to a financial settlement.

The RCMP's Taser destruction and retirement program represents a shift towards the newer-model stun gun, seen as more technically reliable than the older version.

As of mid-March there were 1,114 M26 Tasers in use by the RCMP, down from 1,623 when testing began, and 2,262 X26 Tasers in the Mountie inventory, up from 1,561.

Former judge Thomas Braidwood, who led a B.C. public inquiry on Taser use, said while the guns can kill or gravely injure people, they can also be a valuable option for officers.

In an initial report, Braidwood said police should use a Taser only when someone is causing harm to another or there's a possibility they will imminently do so. He also recommended that stun guns be tested periodically.

Alberta has declared that Tasers used in the province be tested annually and that any new ones be scrutinized before being put into service.

"As a result of the guidelines issued by B.C. and Alberta, a long-term strategy will have to be developed for ongoing testing," says the RCMP briefing note.

Taser International did not respond to a request for comment on the RCMP-commissioned lab tests.

Cops say stun guns safe

February 25, 2010
CARY CASTAGNA, Edmonton Sun

Despite public concern about stun guns sending out more electrical current than specified by the manufacturer, Edmonton police say that most of their small percentage of defective Tasers have registered below-tolerance readings.

And the few deemed to be above tolerance were still within safe parameters, said Const. Olena Fedorovich, of the Edmonton Police Service officer safety unit.

“There’s an assumption that they’re above tolerance. They’re not. They’re below most of the time,” she told the Edmonton Sun.

“There have been a few where either their pulse rate or main phase was slightly above manufacturer’s specifications — but they’re still considered safe.”

Chief Mike Boyd told the Edmonton Police Commission last week that 23 conducted energy weapons (CEWs) were pulled from service in 2009 because they failed independent testing. That amounted to about 6% of the EPS’s stock last year.

Statistics on how many were under or above tolerance weren’t available.

But an April 2009 report made public by the Ottawa-area engineering firm that tests them, MPB Technologies Inc., shows that out of 175 Edmonton police CEWs tested, six were under tolerance, five were above and five others were both under and above.

The under-above results occur because five aspects are tested on each CEW: pulse duration, pulse rate, main phase net charge, main phase peak current and main phase peak voltage.

Of the 23 CEWs taken out of service last year, 17 were returned to Taser International to be replaced under warranty.

The remaining six are being stored for at least two years pending complaints and investigations, according to an EPS report.

The EPS plans to buy 15 new CEWs from Taser International this year at a cost of about $23,000, giving the service a total of 431, said Fedorovich.

Each CEW, including a holster, costs about $1,500 plus GST, Fedorovich added.

“It’s not a cheap program,” she said. “This is a very expensive and important program. We don’t take it lightly and we don’t take our training lightly.”

Fedorovich admitted that some officers have some apprehension about using CEWs stemming from recent controversy.

“The hassle of being questioned regarding your use of force is very stressful,” she explained. “But we do not have droves of members turning in their Tasers. That is not happening. Members are still carrying their Tasers and they’re still using their Tasers.

“It is a very valuable weapon and our operators recognize that. They also have a heightened understanding of the liability and accountability associated to it.”

CEWs are tested every 12 months, as dictated by the Alberta solicitor general. In addition, each EPS stun gun is subject to maintenance up to four times a year, Fedorovich said.