Student death by Taser raises questions for campus security

VERY INTERESTING COMMENT FROM "CONCERNED CANADIAN" FOLLOWING THIS ARTICLE!!

August 9, 2011
Whit Richardson, Security Director News

With campus security departments preparing for the imminent return of students, the recent news of a student’s death after being Tased by a campus security officer at the University of Cincinnati may force a re-examination of policies dictating when Tasers should and shouldn’t be used.

Here’s what happened: UC police officers were responding to an early morning 911 call that reported an assault at a dorm when they encountered an agitated 18-year-old student who wouldn’t back off after being asked multiple times, according to an article from the Cincinnati Enquirer. The student was shot with a Taser stun gun and died of a heart attack, according to the newspaper. UC police have temporarily stopped using Tasers as a result, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper’s report also discusses the liabilities surrounding the use of Tasers and a new weapon being deployed by law enforcement officials: the Mark 63 Trident device from Virginia-based Aegis.

This may be an issue worth a deeper examination by Security Director News. What do you think?

Concerned Canadian says:

August 23rd, 2011 at 6:33 pm

Unfortunately, no police agencies have any ‘black box’ testers to regularly test for output irregularities of Tasers. ‘Output variance’ was proven by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News several years ago — and subsequent government testing reveals numerous weapons perform outside of the safety allowables set by the manufacturers. In British Columbia (Canada), 80% of the M26 models failed; the older devices were eventually shelved across the country. Whenever there is a death proximal to a Taser, it is imperative for a third party to measure the device, to do so accurately with a proper electrical safety standard brought to bear. Medical Examiners cannot rule out a Taser as a contributing factor without proper measurement being done first to ensure it is performing within the manufacturer’s specifications. This is rarely done.

‘Excited Delirium’ is often cited as the cause-of-death, yet this is not a diagnosis that is recognized by either the American Medical Association or its Canadian counterpart. It is a very wide, diverse list of symptoms, which came from a certain Dr. Bell at the Boston Sanatorium For the Insane in the1840’s. They were still using leeches and doing blood-letting back then—but this is where ED was first observed in several dozen patients in as many years. It would be interesting to know who introduced the term to police. You never hear about Excited Delirium until a Taser-related death occurs.

Also of grave concern(and something that must be haunting Taser International in the two major product liability lawsuits it has lost – and the dozens it has settled out of court) is there is no electrical safety standard for shocks IN the body. The electrical safety standard bodies UL, IEC and CSA will tell you, they have never tested Tasers or Conducted Energy Weapons in general — nor would they- because up until the Mark 63, all devices have been INVASIVE, allowing electrical current to pierce the skin, entering the body and passing through it. The Ul says not enough is known about the actual mechanism of shocks, the ‘paths’ such current takes within the body and the physiological effects and/or damage inside the body, where resistance is negligible. No one has ever done any body density mapping to see what damage such current can do. No company testing was ever done to predict effects due to age, weight, gender, ethnicity, mood, electrolyte levels, adrenaline in the system, salt content in the blood, dart placement, dart size, dart depth, number + duration of stuns, etc. The real question is how the devices were approved without anyone in government in either the U-S or Canada,verifying the manufacturer’s safety claims.

Tasers are implicated as either the cause or contributing factor in 682 deaths in North America since they were deployed just over a decade ago. Amnesty International hasn’t updated the numbers but the blog TRUTH NOT TASERS HAS been logging the deaths, regularly and accurately, based on media reports. There is now an average of two deaths per week in the U-S. Yet since the Braidwood Inquiry recommended a tightening of CEW use by Canadian police, there hasn’t been one single death. The weapons are not to be used as compliance tools in Canada – only in truly life threatening situations. In other words, Tasers are now treated as deadly weapons, not cattle prods.

These remain untested, unregulated electrical devices. They do not bear certification marks like every other electrical product sold or used in Canada and the U-S. Police in Canada are in violation of the Electrical Safety Standards Act. Because of this, the liabilities could be huge. Now the manufacturer has abdicated legal responsibility with its long list of risks and warnings, hanging law enforcement out to dry when someone dies. All you need to read is the fine print of Training Bulletin # 17 and the latest Volunteer Waiver, which tells the whole story. In a decade, we have gone from non-lethal to less-lethal… and now an admittance the devices are LETHAL. Has human physiology changed in that ten years? Or the design of the device? No – the only change is the manufacturer’s opinion of the safety of its products. What should insurers, shareholders and forward-thinking police officers make of all this,now that the Braidwood Inquiry, the U-S Courts and Taser International itself are in agreement that Tasers KILL? This is not what anyone was told a decade ago, when the promotional material maintained the devices were “safe to use on any attacker”?

Individuals in government and law enforcement in both countries either dropped the ball- or worse, co-operated— in allowing a weapon to be deployed prematurely without enough scientific scrutiny to ensure the manufacturer’s medical & safety claims were true. The promise of public safety was broken. And people continue to die.

Concerned Canadian

Taser policies slow to form on college campuses

August 15, 2011

Allie Grasgreen, USA TODAY

The death of an 18-year-old high school graduate after University of Cincinnati police used a Taser on him is likely to reopen an intense debate on whether or how the weapons should be allowed on college campuses. Yet since the last time that debate was had - following high-profile incidents at the University of California at Los Angeles and University of Florida in 2006 and 2007, respectively - it seems that not much has changed.

After investigating the incidents, those two universities, to be sure, revisited their own police department policies regarding how and when Tasers should be used. Both determined their officers acted appropriately, but UCLA issued new guidelines allowing Taser use only on "violent subjects," and Florida created a more formal, step-by-step confrontation approach that makes the weapons more of a last resort at public events.

At the macro level, perhaps because the weapons are rarely used, nothing really changed.

"I'm not sure if it's any different," said Anne P. Glavin, president-elect of the International Association of College Law Enforcement Administrators and chief of police and director of public services at California State University at Northridge. "It's considered in the profession to be a so-called less-lethal weapon. And the notion behind that is it provides an alternative to using deadly force."

But at the institutional level, policies have slowly have become less vague and less broad than they used to be, said Camelia Naguib, deputy director of the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC).

"I think those incidents and a number of others [not at colleges] have really changed the way people are looking at policies," Naguib said. "They encouraged departments to more carefully look at circumstances under which use of Tasers is appropriate." There have been myriad reports on Taser deaths and safety, though not specifically in higher education. Even Taser International, the company that creates the original product, has itself released more safety guidelines over the years. For instance, officers now know to avoid aiming the weapon at a person's chest to reduce the risk of cardiac arrest.

Florida's new "tiered approach" mandates additional steps to subdue a disruptive individual before the police intervene. Linda Stump, director of the university's police department, said she didn't know whether more informal contact with the person before the officers approached would have altered the outcome of the notorious "Don't Tase me, bro" incident, in which officers forcibly removed a student from the microphone during a John Kerry speech. But under the new system, someone from the venue's staff would have approached the student first and asked him, non-forcibly, to leave, rather than the initial response being police escorts - and ultimately, use of a Taser when the student resisted their grasp. (That was, of course, after he uttered the quote that launched a thousand YouTube videos.)

At UCLA, police confronted an Iranian-American student who refused to show identification in the library. After handcuffing him, officers shocked him multiple times with a Taser, even when he appeared handcuffed and subdued, and critics complained about the use of force, though at the time the UCLA police department's policy allowed for Taser use for "pain compliance against passive resisters." Many of those angry about the use of a Taser suggested that the student's ethnicity influenced the way he was handled -- a charge denied by UCLA.

Eight months later, PARC concluded an outside investigation of the incident with a report recommending that UCLA make a number of changes to its use of force and Taser policies to align them with best practices. (Naguib said the best practices have not changed significantly since the recommendations were made, but today PARC would advise against pointing the Taser at the chest. Cincinnati's policy says police should aim for the back; the second-best option is the front torso, but officers should avoid the head and neck. The policy does not mention the chest, and police have not released details about where Everette Howard, the student who died at Cincinnati, was hit.)

The report does not, however, suggest that UCLA or other institutions abandon the Taser. "Mindful of the risk of injury or death, we nonetheless conclude that the Taser's benefits outweigh those risks as long as policies for use of this instrumentality are narrowly tailored and properly restrictive."

An initial review has found the Cincinnati police followed proper procedure, but the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is now conducting its own review. (The university released some records to Cincinnati.com, which said Howard "appeared to be very angry and agitated but not at anyone in particular," and that an officer could not understand what he was saying.)

Judging by PARC standards, Cincinnati police acted appropriately by reportedly warning Howard that the Taser could be deployed if he continued to advance toward them. The warning, which should always be issued when an officer is not in imminent danger, is an important step that had been removed from UCLA's rules when it revised its policy prior to the incident in the library, but has since been added back.

Best practices, PARC said, restrict Taser use to "violent, actively aggressive or imminently violent subjects, currently engaged in physical or active resistance, where the suspect has been given a warning and a reasonable opportunity to comply, and where milder uses of force could be reasonably judged as likely ineffective." Departments should also define those states of violence or aggression, so that when officers have to make snap judgments, they have something clear-cut to base them on, the report said.

Best practices go even further in making predetermined responses aligned with different levels of aggression. A "force options" or "force continuum" system provides "an explicit range of appropriate responses for each level of subject resistance or threat," PARC says.

Cincinnati's policy does contain such a feature, but whether the officers used it is less clear.

Local media reported that Cincinnati police said Howard "appeared agitated, angry, and had balled fists" while approaching officers, who had arrived at the residence hall after a 911 call reported an assault. Howard allegedly did not back off when they asked him to. Based on definitions from PARC and the Police Executive Research Forum, that would indicate either "passive or mild resistance" or "active physical resistance," if Howard could have defeated or significantly impeded an attempt to take him into custody. Based on Cincinnati's own policy, Howard's actions would fall under "Uncooperative: refusing to comply with commands." The appropriate officer response would be to exercise "Restraint Techniques" such as verbal commands or balance displacement, according to the policy; while Howard reportedly did not respond to verbal commands, Tasers are not listed as appropriate responses until the suspect's behavior escalates to "Resisting Officer": actions such as wrestling with an officer or pulling away.

"The central component of any constitutional use force policy is that officers only use the level of force that is reasonably necessary to safely resolve any given situation, taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances, including the suspect's actions, the risk of death or injury to officers and others, and the availability and efficacy of lesser force options," the report reads. Force continuums take table or chart form to help officers better visualize the appropriate action and when they might need to escalate or de-escalate their responses.

Because multiple shocks have been correlated with increased likelihood of death, PARC says repeated use of the Taser should be discouraged. But if officers must fire more than once, they should do so each time only after reassessing the situation and determining that the subject still poses a threat significant enough to fire again. Police stunned Howard once before he went into cardiac arrest. The coroner's office later announced Howard had been struck by a Taser and hospitalized, after he fell ill and became combative, once before, in 2010.

"In sum, cumulative research and the experience of law enforcement agencies that equip their officers with Tasers tends to suggest that the use of the Taser generally carries few health risks to subjects," the report concludes. "Indeed, many departments have found that it actually increases overall safety to subjects by reducing or making the use of injurious or deadly force less likely.

"Nonetheless, Tasers are not considered - by research, most law enforcement agencies or departments, and even Taser International - entirely risk-free. As such, departments should take care to monitor usage and to ensure that its use is restricted to those situations when it is the most appropriate force option."

Three deaths in one weekend puts Taser use by cops in crosshairs

"The website Truth Not Tasers claims that 39 people have died in relation to "conducted energy devices (CEDs)" this year in the United States, an average of five per month."

August 8, 2011
Patrik Jonsson, Christian Monitor

A naked man on drugs died in Wisconsin this weekend, after police used a Taser stun gun to subdue him. A student died at the University of Cincinnati after balling his fists and getting tasered by police. A man high on drugs in Manassas, Va., also died this weekend after police tasered him as he escaped, partially handcuffed, after punching an officer and a firefighter.

All three deaths are being investigated. One of the departments, the University of Cincinnati Police Department, has suspended the use of Tasers by its officers.

About 15,000 US police departments, including 29 of the nation's 33 largest cities, use a total of 260,000 Tasers. The devices have been the objects of controversy since first being deployed broadly in the 1990s. Some describe them as an alternative to the nightstick that reduces officer injuries and saves lives. Others see the stun guns as instruments of torture whose growing use make them a symbol of reckless policing.

In some cases, the Tasers are only tangentially related or unrelated to the actual cause of death, and that may be the case in the three incidents from this weekend. But recent studies have shown that the weapons can have an outsized impact on people with health problems or who are very high on drugs and in a state of "excited delirium."

Tasers contributed to some 351 US deaths between 2001 and 2008, says Amnesty International, which adds that 90 percent of those tasered were unarmed at the time they were electrocuted. The website Truth Not Tasers claims that 39 people have died in relation to "conducted energy devices (CEDs)" this year in the United States, an average of five per month.

On the other hand, 99.7 percent of people who are tasered suffer no serious injuries, according to a May report from the National Institute of Justice. "The risk of human death due directly or primarily to the electrical effects of CED application has not been conclusively demonstrated," says the report.

A growing number of police departments have begun to limit Taser use, imposing stricter policies for use or even taking the instruments out of officers' hands. Memphis, San Francisco, and Las Vegas police departments have all opted out of Taser use recently, amid growing questions about the level of threat necessary to justify electrocuting someone with 50,000 volts delivered through barbed bolts.

"Because of the criticism and the deaths, there's been a lot of people backing off of Tasers," says Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, who studies police accountability. "The fact is, a lot of departments are taking some very positive, proactive steps to ensure accountability, and controlling Tasers is one of part of doing that," he says. But in other departments, he adds, "they're using it much too broadly and recklessly, where it isn't appropriate."

The current Taser debate hinges on when, not if, the stun guns should be used. Few disagree with the use of Tasers as an alternative to deadly force, but in some departments, officers can employ Tasers when someone is simply refusing to obey an order.

Tasers are often most used when police officers are dealing with unruly people who themselves are unarmed, but whose failure to comply with police instructions make officers to feel threatened. Most departments use the "billy club policy," which holds that Tasers are appropriate in any situation where an officer would otherwise pull and be ready to use a billy club, or night stick, which tends to lead to more serious injuries than a Taser.

Taser opponents point to the public outrage over the tasering of a fan at a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game, and various lawsuits documenting officers using Tasers on subdued, non-aggressive, or even handcuffed people. Tasers "can be used too much and too often," the National Institute of Justice found in its May report.

At the same time, some law enforcement officials have pushed back against setting higher standards for Taser use.

"Police chiefs are saying, don't write the standards so that it's going to take away decision-making ... when I write my own policies," says John Gnagey, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, in Doylestown, Pa. "The argument that Tasers should only be used when the use of deadly force is authorized is asinine."

After releasing an advisory in 2009 urging police not to shoot suspects in the chest, Taser International is now marketing the old version of its gun, which allows for only a five second blast of current before officers have to make the decision to hit the suspect again. A newer version of the gun allowed officers to apply continuous current, which the NIJ said in a separate May report has been associated with deaths.

In all three cases from this weekend, the victims were acting erratically and, in at least one, in Manassas, Va., the man had already physically assaulted a police officer. But whether the occasions rose to a level where officers would have used deadly force is far from clear. None of the three men were armed.

In Kaukauna, Wisc., police responded to a report of a naked, out-of-control man running across a city bridge. When police reached him, the man appeared to be in the throes of a drug overdose, claiming he was covered in snakes. When he refused to comply with officers, a Taser was used to knock him down.

At the University of Cincinnati, a recent high school graduate, at the university for college-preparatory summer classes, was approaching the police with an "altered mental status" and balled fists when he was brought down with a Taser. The University of Cincinnati Police Department has suspended the use of Tasers as it investigates the case. One newspaper account said the officer who fired the Taser was "very distraught" by the young man's death.

Some police departments, including Kansas City, Seattle, and Madison, Wisc., have begun publishing their Taser policies on their public websites, in an effort to increase transparency and respond to public concerns. None of the three police departments involved in this weekend's incidents publish their policies on Taser use, with one – Prince William County – citing "tactical concerns." Calls to the other two departments were not returned by the time this story was posted.

"This is a very important point of accountability that goes beyond Tasers, a form of openness and transparency," says Professor Walker.

Some battles over Tasers have played out in the courts.

"Tasers and stun guns fall into the category of non-lethal force; non-lethal, however, is not synonymous with non-excessive force," ruled the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009. "All force – lethal or non-lethal – must be justified by the need for the specific level of force employed."

In July, a North Carolina jury returned a $10 million verdict against Taser International, the maker of the stun guns, for the 2008 death of a 17-year-old in Charlotte, N.C., ruling that company failed to provide police with adequate warnings or instruction. Taser International plans an appeal.

The day of the North Carolina verdict, another Charlotte man died in a Taser-related incident, prompting that city's police department – considered one of the most professional in the nation – to impose a 45-day suspension on the use of the weapons, to review their polices.

"My personal opinion is that when departments become restrictive and take away a tool, it's generally because they're afraid of some sort of public pressure coming from a certain segment of society," says Mr. Gnagey. When public pressure does succeed in restricting or banning Tasers, he adds, "Later on, when things die down, we'll just quietly introduce it back into the population."

Unedited reports reveal details of Turner incident

August 10, 2011
By Scott Winfield, The News Record

University of Cincinnati Police Division reports indicate two separate assaults taking place prior to the death of Everette Howard Jr. near Turner Hall Saturday.

One day after UCPD released a heavily redacted report – which left out basic public information including names and ages – concerning Saturday's events, a full, unedited report was released as public record Wednesday.

The withholding of information was to prevent interference with investigations on the incident conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI), which is assuming full investigatory control of the incident, said Mitchell McCrate of the General Council in an email to The News Record and other Cincinnati media.

"All are now in agreement that the information requested is subject to release," McCrate said. "If the university has proceeded cautiously in the release of information the sole reason is to ensure that it does not in any way affect the ability of BCI to conduct this investigation."

McCrate stressed that UCPD is not trying to withhold information from the public.

"Ironically, this caution may have subjected us to the charge that we are concealing information, but nothing could be further from the truth," McCrate said. "At the end of the day our interest in the independence and integrity of the investigation is our overriding concern."

UCPD received a 9-1-1 call shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday from a resident adviser in Turner Hall concerning an assault in room 141, the reports said.

UCPD Officer Rick Haas arrived on scene to find Officer Brian McKeel questioning parties involved outside, according to Haas' report. Haas entered the building and began questioning people in room 141.

According to Haas' report, roommates Nemuel Bonner, 18, and Everette Howard Jr. had friends visiting. A third roommate, Desean Cook, 18, also had visitors not known to Bonner or Howard.

When Cook's friends began to leave, one tried to take a hat that belonged to Bonner, prompting Bonner to demand it back.

The unidentified man refused and struck Bonner with his shoulder. His friends attacked Bonner, at which point Howard and Bonner's friend intervened, according to reports. Shortly after the fight, Cook's party left the room.

Haas tried to question Howard after the incident occurred, but Howard was reportedly unable to speak coherently.

As the aggressors were unavailable for questioning, the matter was dropped.

An hour later, McKeel received a call describing a second fight on Jefferson Avenue behind Turner Hall.

According to McKeel's report, he was first to arrive on the scene followed by Haas and Lt. Elliott. As McKeel arrived, a large group of individuals scattered in all directions.

Haas and Elliott pursued a group heading southbound on Jefferson Avenue, while McKeel stayed to question those in the immediate vicinity.

The second assault was initiated when Cook's friends found a member of Bonner's group, Demonte Mingo, 18, waiting on the corner of Jefferson and University avenues for a ride from his brother, Tyrone Scruggs, 22, according to McKeel's report.

Once Scruggs arrived, the group began attacking Scruggs, prompting Bonner, Howard and others to retaliate once more.

During questioning, McKeel heard a transmission from Haas asking Elliott for assistance after Haas used his model X26 Taser on Howard who was with the first group heading southbound, according to McKeel's report. It is not clear why Howard was Tasered.

At 3:17 a.m., the Cincinnati Fire Department was contacted for assistance with Howard after he was shocked by Haas' Taser, according to reports.

Howard was later pronounced dead at University Hospital.

A statement and account by Haas of the Taser incident was not filed, according to UCPD, and it is unclear where and how Haas used his Taser to subdue Howard.

No charges have been filed against the parties involved, who appear to be members of UC's Upward Bound Program – a pre-college program administered by the U.S. Department of Education and UC designed to motivate and provide academic skills for eligible students interested in education beyond high school – and it is unclear who initiated some of the attacks.

All investigations into this matter will now be handled by the BCI.

University of Cincinnati deletes large portions of Taser death incident reports

The University of Cincinnati deleted large portions of public police records about Saturday’s fights and Taser incident that culminated in a death.

In response to the Enquirer’s public information request, the university released 14 pages of incident reports and dispatch logs.

But the university “redacted,” or blacked out, even basic information from the reports such as names, birthdates and addresses, despite Ohio law’s presumption that public records, including police reports, are open.

“An incident report … is required to be turned over, unredacted, upon request under the Public Records Act,” said Jack Greiner, attorney for the Enquirer.

The newspaper sought the records in hopes of shedding light on incidents preceding the death of Everette Howard, 18, of North College Hill, on Saturday – an incident that has gained some national attention. The Christian Science Monitor reported Monday that Howard was among three people in the U.S. to die after being shocked with Tasers this past weekend.

It’s unclear whether a police officer’s use of a Taser to shock Howard caused his death. The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office estimated it would take a month or longer to finish lab tests that could help pinpoint a cause of death. While that investigation continues, the university has discontinued its use of Tasers.

Meanwhile, the Enquirer maintains that the records about the incident are public, Greiner said. Under Ohio law, the records ought to be released in their entirety, except for any Social Security numbers, Greiner said. Ironically, one Social Security number remained visible, unredacted, on the report provided to the newspaper; the Enquirer removed that number from the report it posted online.

On Tuesday, when a reporter told UC Assistant General Counsel Doug Nienaber that the police document was probably the most heavily redacted she had seen in her 25-year newspaper career, he replied, “Thank you.”

Asked for legal justification for the deletions, Nienaber cited a section of Ohio law that allows “law enforcement investigatory” information to be concealed from the public.

Greiner said that, by law, an incident report is not part of the investigation. "It starts the investigation," he said, and therefore cannot be considered a "law enforcement investigatory record."

Nienaber said the name of the officer who used his Taser weapon to shock Howard was withheld because he is potentially an “uncharged suspect.”

While Ohio law allows names of uncharged suspects to remain secret, that’s only when the names are contained in investigative records, not in incident reports, Greiner said.

Nienaber said the redactions were extensive because the university did not want to risk releasing anything that would jeopardize the investigation that an outside agency has been asked to conduct.

“The last thing I want to do is flood the public with information” while the investigation is pending, he said.

UC police said their initial review of the incident showed that all departmental policies and procedures were followed. But an outside investigator, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, has been asked to perform an independent review of circumstances surrounding Howard’s death.

Hamilton County Coroner Amant Bhati has said the honor roll student and football standout had a heart murmur and had undergone surgeries to remove his appendix and fix a hernia. But those issues wouldn’t have caused his sudden death, Bhati said.

The teen also had been shocked with a Taser before.

In January 2009, North College Hill police used the weapon to subdue him after he was combative at his school, a report says.

After medics treated him for low blood sugar, he was cooperative, police said.

In Saturday’s incident, police said Howard appeared agitated and angry when he approached officers in a dorm hallway. After an officer used his Taser on Howard, the teen appeared incoherent. After paramedics arrived, he went into cardiac arrest.

He died at University Hospital.

The death is hitting hard at the 48-member UC police department, which covers four campuses, including the main one in University Heights, University Hospital and smaller campuses in Blue Ash and Clermont County.

“This is devastating to all of us,” UC Police Chief Gene Ferrara said Tuesday. “It’s terrible. Nobody wants this to be the outcome.”

The officer who stunned Howard remains on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure, until he is cleared by a psychologist to return to work, Ferrara said.

A Taser administers 50,000 volts, intended to temporarily immobilize a person’s muscles so officers can gain control of a combative person.

While police say the device helps them avoid resorting to firing bullets at a person, critics argue that Tasers, while considered non-lethal weapons, sometimes have been linked to deaths. Since 2001, Amnesty International has recorded more than 340 deaths in North America following police use of Tasers.

Two years ago, Taser’s manufacturer, Arizona-based Taser International, began warning law enforcement agencies to avoid stunning suspects in the upper chest, a way of alleviating concerns that the weapon’s volt shock could affect the heart.

UC police follow that guideline, Ferrara said. It is not yet clear where the Taser’s probes contacted Howard’s body, the coroner said.

Death raises Taser safety questions - High school grad died after being stunned by police officer

August 8, 2011
Cincinnati.com

University of Cincinnati officials said Monday the university has asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to review the circumstances surrounding Everette Howard's death during a campus incident over the weekend.

Howard, 18, died about 2:30 a.m. Saturday after an officer Tased him.

The university's assistant police chief, Jeff Corcoran, said the student approached officers in a dorm hallway, and appeared agitated and angry. Officers ordered Howard to back off, but he refused, Corcoran said. Howard was then hit once by an officer's stun gun.

Afterward, Howard appeared incoherent, according to UC police. He went into cardiac arrest after paramedics arrived and was pronounced dead at University Hospital.

UC has not yet released an incident report.

Hamilton County Coroner Anant Bhati, who is investigating the death, said the teen was shocked with a stun gun once before, and rushed to a hospital.

North College Hill police said Monday that Howard was Tased in January 2009 by an officer at North College Hill High School after he fell ill and became combative.

Once medics got him into an ambulance, they realized he had low blood sugar. A relative said Monday Howard did not suffer from diabetes.

Howard had thrown up the night before and hadn't eaten because he was trying to lose weight to wrestle in a lower weight class, according to the police report.

UC police have temporarily stopped their use of electroshock Taser stun guns.

"Initial review by UC Police suggests that all departmental policies and procedures were followed appropriately," UC's Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration Robert Ambach said in a statement. "The tragic outcome, however, resulting in the death of a young man, calls for extraordinary and objective measures to ensure that the collected facts are independently arrived at and beyond reproach" he said in explaining the decision to involve the Ohio BCI. Howard's parents said they have retained a lawyer but declined to name their attorney. They declined to speak further, saying their focus must now be on burying their son.

Howard was an honor roll student and football player nearing graduation from UC's Upward Bound program, which helps prepare high school students from low-income families for college. He had enrolled this fall in sports and exercise science at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky., where he earned a scholarship and planned to join the wrestling and football team.

Family members want more information about what happened and insist the police version of the story conflicts with Howard's character and upbringing.

"My cousin was not in a fight. He was trying to break up a fight," said Stephanie Brown, 40, of Montgomery. "It's devastating. He had a promising future. He had a full scholarship. Why would he put that in jeopardy?"

At least two local suburban police agencies - Colerain Township and Fairfax - stopped using Tasers in the past year over safety and liability concerns in favor of a new tool.

Larger departments such as Cincinnati police and sheriff's offices in Hamilton and Butler counties continue using Tasers. Officials have credited them with helping to reduce fatal police incidents. Cincinnati police began using Tasers after the Nov. 30, 2003, death of Nathaniel Jones in police custody. The 41-year-old man's violent struggle with officers ended when his heart stopped. Jones had cocaine, PCP and methanol in his system.

Cincinnati defense attorney Mike Allen predicts the UC case cause more police agencies to drop the use of Tasers.

The device administers 50,000 volts that usually temporarily immobilize a person's muscles so officers can gain control of the subject. They have a range of 35 feet.

Critics argue that Tasers, while considered non-lethal weapons, too often have a deadly outcome. Since 2001, Amnesty International has recorded more than 340 deaths in North America following police use of Tasers.

Since 2009, Taser's manufacturer, Arizona-based Taser International, has warned law enforcement agencies to avoid stunning suspects in the upper chest, a way of alleviating concerns the weapon's volt shock could affect the heart.

"I see the tide turning," said Allen, a former UC police officer and board of trustee. Allen was also a Cincinnati police officer, Hamilton County Municipal Court judge and Hamilton County Prosecutor before starting his law firm downtown.

Colerain Township and Fairfax officers use the new "Mark 63 Trident" device. Manufactured by Virginia-based Aegis, the device essentially is several weapons rolled into one with high intensity light, pepper spray and a stun gun, although the electrical prongs on the front do not shoot out and enter the body, said Colerain Township Police Chief Dan Meloy.

Colerain officers are completing training on the device this week.

Fairfax Chief Rick Patterson suspended use of Tasers in September over safety concerns.

"I do not know the facts of the UC case so I will not comment on the UC case,'' Patterson said. "I just feel that I didn't want that liability out there for myself, my department and my officers."

Last month a jury handed down a $10-million judgment against Taser International, finding the company and its device partially responsible for the death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner after police in Charlotte, N.C., used a Taser device on him during an altercation at a grocery store in 2008.

Taser officials expressed their condolences to the Turner family, but insist their device was not responsible for his death. Taser plans to appeal the court decision.

A spokesman for Taser did not return a call Monday for comment on the UC case.

Student dies after Taser shocking at University of Cincinnati

August 6, 2011: Everette Howard, 18, Cincinnati, Ohio

August 6, 2011
Cincinnati.com

An 18-year-old man attending college preparatory classes at the University of Cincinnati died Saturday after a campus police officer used a Taser on him.

Officers rushed to Turner Hall about 3 a.m. after receiving a 911 call about an assault. The dormitory is located on Jefferson Avenue near the intersection with University.

As officers were trying to figure out what had happened, the teenager approached them outside the hall. The teen appeared agitated, angry and had balled fists, UC Assistant Police Chief Jeff Corcoran said.

Officers ordered the teen to stop approaching them more than once but he refused, Corcoran said. The teen was stunned by one cycle of the Taser and subdued.

Following protocol, the officer checked his condition. Corcoran said the teen had a good pulse and was breathing but that officers said he appeared incoherent and seemed to have an “altered mental status.”

The fire department and paramedics were called to examine the teen. As he was in their care, he went into cardiac arrest was taken to the nearby University Hospital, where he could not be resuscitated.

Two investigations have been launched because of the incident. An internal investigation will look into the use of force by the officer, who was immediately placed on mandatory administrative leave. Corcoran said the department has suspended the use of Tasers until they can determine what caused the teen’s death.

An autopsy has been ordered.

“I want to emphasize we don’t know what the cause of the death is at this point,” Corcoran said.

The second investigation is trying to determine what initiated the original 911 call and whether an assault has taken place. There have been no arrests or criminal charges filed.

“We are extremely unhappy and upset at the outcome of this call,” Corcoran said. “No one wants to see the death of an 18-year-old. It was not anyone’s attention. The officer is very distraught.”