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AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2007 > August > 09
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Tasers: Pros and cons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have not been able to spend any time writing the normal mindless dribble due to little distractions, such as the double homicide and our little problem with that warrant thing.
OK, here is a good topic: Tasers. Tasers are new enough that spell-check doesn’t recognize the word.
If you don’t want to write about something controversial, don’t write about Tasers. I have never been Tased, if that’s a word, but, most likely I will, because we are going to have them issued in the fall. This comes on the heels of some rather significant controversy.
On one side, Tasers represent a good alternative to deadly force. Deadly force means shot with the intent of shooting dead, thus deadly. I still get questions about guns and people learning to shoot them, telling me that they intend to learn to shoot the gun only to wound the perpetrator in the arm or leg. Good luck with that. Sounds good but not practical. Deadly force situations usually involved two people using it at the same time, therefore your bodily functions all function at once during this very short time. This accounts for the fact that in more cases than you would think, there are shootouts as close as seven feet apart, where there are more misses than hits.
Tasers are designed to represent an option between non-deadly and deadly force. There are many cases where someone’s violent behavior went beyond control by pepper spray and/or blows by an Asp baton. In a case like this, the Taser would be another option short of deadly force. It is on record that a lot of people who would have been shot were Tased instead and are alive and disgruntled today. That’s a fact.
The training on the taser takes eight hours. This includes, although not mandatory, taking the zap for a couple of seconds. Why? It actually gives the officer credibility when testifying about the use of the Taser.
Now the cons. People have died from complications after being tased. Some of you probably read the article in the paper this week where a man in custody at the Gwinnett County Jail died in July after being Tased once or twice after he began fighting deputies. The autopsy, at this point, doesn’t conclude the cause of death. In an earlier case, the medical examiner ruled that the Taser could have contributed to a victim’s death.
The fact is that it is possible. Could a person hit with the Taser die? Yes, possibly. Could a person shot with a .40 or 45 caliber bullet or multiple bullets die? Very likely. Where do the odds lie?
Most likely you’ll see policies with restrictions depending on the department. We were going to start the training this week but we want to complete more research on other department’s policies and track record with the Taser. We decided that we will continue researching for our policy but I fully expect the officers will be carrying Tasers in the fall.
Regardless where you stand on the subject, the fact that they represent an option to deadly force is a critical and to me, a valid point.
