Winston-Salem Journal: Local police to track details of Taser death (North Carolina)

Guilford inmate dies after being stunned; officers here getting ready to use devices

Published: August 20, 2009

As the Winston-Salem Police Department prepares to distribute Tasers to its officers, the death of an inmate in the Guilford County Jail after a Taser was used on him is under investigation.

Police Chief Scott Cunningham said yesterday that his department will monitor the circumstances involved in the death

<snip>

In the Guilford County incident, a detention officer used a Taser on Ronald Eugene Cobbs during a scuffle in the jail Tuesday night.

Cobbs, 38, of 1406 Hamlet Place in Greensboro, died later at Moses Cone Hospital, a hospital spokesman said.

<snip>

Some research shows that they have reduced injuries for police and the civilians they apprehend.

However, statistics from U.S. Department of Justice, published in 2007, show 36 Taser-related deaths at the hands of police officers between 2003 and 2005.

Read more

The last three paragraphs here are particularly interesting.
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published on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:48 PM MDT

A second lawsuit filed against the Bozeman Police Department this month accuses two officers with using a stun gun on a man without justification when they conducted a welfare check at his home in 2007.

The use of a stun gun resulting in a serious, life-altering head injury, the lawsuit, filed Aug. 11, says.

In the Gallatin County District Court complaint, Soheil “Jesse” Verdi claims Bozeman police officer Mark Ziegler shot him in the back with a Taser about 11 seconds after making contact with him “without any justification, causing him to fall face down onto the outside deck and crush his skull.”

The lawsuit states that minutes after emergency medical personnel took the unresponsive and bleeding Verdi to the hospital, Sgt. Greg Megargel is heard on a police recording saying to Ziegler, “Now we’re (expletive)!”

“Yeah ... what am I gonna clear this as?” Ziegler responds, the document says. “Public assistance ... with a Tasing?”

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Their only concern was how to hide what they did and get out of any punishment. :grr:

Cops are using tasers too often, too freely, too brutally on people just because they can and because they know they can almost always get away with it. It is police brutality, and police brutality goes unpunished.

We need to stop enabling this police brutality. Every time a cop uses his taser he (or she) should be required to prove that it was absolutely necessary. Not with some presumed or default bureaucratic justification they have now that whitewash everything, but with real evidence that it was really absolutely necessary. And if they can't prove that it was necessary then they should be investigated to within an inch of fucking retirement.

36 deaths. O.K., I'll buy that (grudgingly). How many disabled or scarred for life? How many deaths are listed as "other" or "natural causes"?

It's clearly got to the point where the Taser is considered non-lethal by enough sadistic cops that they're just shooting people for "fun".

establishing and maintaining a thread in GD of mainstream reportage of stun-gun incidents. Law enforcements benefits from the fact that "incidents" are so spread out and episodic, and apparently is confident that limited local reporting of such "incidents" will keep information abut this horsesh!t (pardon me) contained and out of the public eye. Daylight is a good thing, in my opinion.

The plaintiffs' personal injury Bar takes a lot of crap in this country, even at DU, but it is the plaintiffs' bar and their lawsuits which will file the cases and do the research needed to prove the dangers of this product and those who use it.

Just like gun discharges are. But not reviewed by their peers (isn't it amazing how every time a cop shoots his or her gun, it turns out to be completely justified!), but by an independent panel.

New Taser stun gun can shock 3 at a time

Jul 27, 2009

FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. — Stun gun maker Taser International has unveiled its first new stun gun since 2003, a device that can shock three people without reloading.

Older Taser models now used by law enforcement agencies and civilians throughout the country have to be reloaded after one shot, which can be a problem for an officer who has missed a target or has more than one suspect to subdue

Read more

Something needs to be done to curtail the use of these things. I am sure it is a great tool under challenging circumstances, and it is far better than using a gun. However, if news reports are any indication, the taser is being used far too often and much too casually.


People should not be seriously injured or die from a police effort to subdue. Being unruly should not be a capital crime.

If there were a review panel, cops would not be so quick to pull out the taser.

NY deputy in Taser incident suspended without pay

August 20, 2009 By The Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — The sheriff's deputy who zapped a Syracuse-area woman with a stun gun during a traffic stop earlier this year has been suspended without pay.

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Department says Sean Andrews was suspended from his job for 30 days after an administrative hearing Wednesday that's part of ongoing disciplinary proceedings.

Andrews used a Taser to subdue Audra Harmon after pulling her minivan over in a Syracuse suburb in January. The dashboard camera in Andrews's patrol car shows him yanking the 38-year-old mother out of her van and knocking her down with two Taser shots.

Read more

Video, police report conflict on Tasered attorney

9 hours ago

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut police department's surveillance video appears to contradict an officer's report of an incident that ends with police subduing a former state agency lawyer with stun guns.

Officer Erik Hansen was fingerprinting former Connecticut Freedom of Information attorney Henry "Hank" Pawlowski Jr. on Aug. 5 on allegations he assaulted another officer in June.

The video, which has no sound, shows Pawlowski slightly raising his right arm when Hansen roughly drives him to the floor and two other officers shoot Pawlowski with stun guns. Police then charged Pawlowski with interfering with an officer.

According to Hansen's report, Pawlowski stepped back and took a threatening stance while he was being fingerprinted.

"Twice he pulled his hand away and I cautioned him to keep his fingers flat on the scanner," Hansen wrote. "The third time he pulled back his hand, stepped back, focused on me and took a stance as if to attack me. I then grabbed Pawlowski around his neck and shoulders and drove him to the floor."

The video, obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information request, doesn't show Pawlowski taking time to focus on the officer and going into a threatening stance. As soon has he pulls his arm back, Hansen tackles him.

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Nice to know stun guns are being used to keep police car hoods and headlights safe. I certainly feel safer knowing that police were able to able to repeatedly use their stun gun, pepper spread, pummeling with a flashlight and "other fighting techniques" to subdue a nekkid, 150-pound, 5'8" guy.
______________________________

Stun gun, pepper spray needed to calm naked man

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

UMATILLA -- A 27-year-old inmate likely woke up in a lot of pain Tuesday -- and fully clothed -- after he apparently fought naked with officers, paramedics and firefighters the night before.

Umatilla police said a sargeant was responding to a call about 11 p.m. Monday on Lake Shore Drive when an unclothed Joseph Stephen Carroll jumped from the bushes and onto his squad car and started banging on the hood with his fists.

Carroll then allegedly jumped off and slugged the car's headlight, shattering part of it.

After a struggle that police said included repeated use of a stun gun, pepper spray and even strikes with flash lights and other fighting techniques, officers were finally able to get the 150-pound, 5-foot-8 Carroll under control.

Carroll was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting an officer with violence and criminal mischief. He also was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer in the incident, which left Sgt. Christopher Bell with a fractured hand.

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duh!

But maybe there'll be a public outcry. Ya never know. :hi:

I'll think about it more

:hi:

SH commissioner protests proposed purchase of taser

One Spring Hope commissioner walked out of the town board meeting last week during a discussion about purchasing a taser for the town’s police department.

Officer C.R. Smith made a presentation to the board about officer safety, specifically an incident that occurred July 26 on East Nash Street. Smith said that incident, which turned physical, proved the need for tasers.

<snip>

While most of the board said they would approve the request, commissioner Bill Newkirk said he would not.

Newkirk, who asked Smith what race the suspect was, the officer said the man was African-American.

“That’s why I have a disagreement with the taser,” Newkirk said. “There is always a sheriff’s department Within two or three minutes you can call for backup.


Read more

Posted on Thu, Aug. 20, 2009

FORT WORTH — A defibrillator used by MedStar paramedics shortly after a Fort Worth police officer shot a mentally ill man with a Taser in April apparently did not work, a paramedic reported, according to documents obtained by the Star-Telegram.

But a MedStar official said this week that the machine was operational. Its monitor gave no readings, he said, because the man’s heart had stopped and because cellphone and radio transmissions at the scene could have interfered.

Matt Zavadsky, MedStar associate director, also pointed out that police initially turned paramedics away. Officers later called them back but had not begun cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he said.

<snip>

Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, was pronounced dead about noon April 18, two hours after his parents called 911 because he was causing a disturbance at their east Fort Worth home, according to police reports.

When officers arrived, Jacobs would not cooperate with them, and one officer shot him with a Taser when he became combative, police have said.

Read more

Aug. 25, 2009, 9:46PM

FORT WORTH, Texas — The family of a mentally ill man who died in Fort Worth police custody says they are tired of waiting on two investigations to be completed.

Dallas-Fort Worth television station KTVT reports that 24-year old Michael Jacobs, Jr. died April 18 after police officers shot him with a Taser.

At that time the Fort Worth Police Department said there would be a formal investigation into the incident. But the family has waited months for police and medical examiner investigations to conclude.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

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Aug. 27, 2009, 7:13PM

FORT WORTH, Texas — A mentally ill man's death after he was shocked twice by a police Taser was a homicide, a medical examiner's office ruled Thursday.

The family of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., 24, called for help April 18 saying he was causing problems, and Fort Worth police have said officers used the Taser after he became combative. Jacobs had difficulty breathing after he was handcuffed, and he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Jacobs was stunned with the Taser twice — the first time for 49 seconds and the second time for 5 seconds, with a 1-second interval between the shocks, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office report issued Thursday.

Neither paramedics at the scene nor emergency room personnel could revive him, according to the report. He was pronounced dead about noon that day — an hour after police used the Taser, the report said.

An autopsy showed no traces of alcohol or drugs, electrolyte imbalances, or signs of heart or lung disease, all of which can be contributing factors in a death.

Read more

August 20, 2009 05:21 PM

COLUMBUS — A Polk County deputy was convicted Wednesday of one count of assault for shocking a woman with a stun gun while in custody

Joshua Denton received a suspended 30-day jail sentence and a $500 fine, according to a news release from Polk County District Attorney Jeff Hunt.

The charge stemmed from an Oct. 28 incident when Allison Howard was taken into custody on charges of larceny, damage to personal property and assault on an officer.

Howard was taken to the jail and at some point, became disruptive, according to the news release. According to testimony, Howard was Tased several times, but once subdued and handcuffed to a chair, Tased again by Denton.

Read more

US Justice Department Previously Looked Into OCSO Taser-Related Deaths

UPDATED: 8:50 pm EDT August 20, 2009

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Florida Civil Rights Association said Thursday that it wants to know more about local deputies and how often they use Tasers.

It has been a year since the U.S. Department of Justice released a 25-page report on the Orange County Sheriff's Office's use of Tasers.

"The Orange County Sheriff's Office is the first law enforcement agency in our nation who has been targeted for this federal investigation in regards to Tasers," said J. Willie David III, president of the Florida Civil Rights Association.

David said he wants to make sure the county is following the dozen Department of Justice recommendations in wake of alleged Taser-related deaths, including Jose Amro last October. Deputies used a Taser three times during his arrest, and he died after being taken to a nearby hospital.

<snip>

"I think one of the most things is to revitalize their polices," David said. "One thing is not to Taser a person with special needs or a person that's helpless."

Officials at the sheriff's office said they have looked the justice department's recommendations but cannot comment on alleged Taser-related deaths. That determination must come from the medical examiner's office.

Read more

August 21, 2009 By The Associated Press

GLENROCK, Wyo. (AP) — The town of Glenrock has hired a consultant to investigate the actions of two police officers who used a Taser on a 76-year-old man driving an antique tractor in a parade.

Mayor Steve Cielinski said Thursday the consultant is a "neutral party" with a background in law enforcement. Cielinski declined to identify the consultant.

The state Division of Criminal Investigation is also looking into the incident.

Bud Grose was hit with a Taser during the Deer Creek Days festival on Aug. 1. State investigator Tim Hill has said the two officers contended Grose disobeyed orders. Grose hasn't commented publicly.

Read more

7 hours ago

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Prosecutors say they won't file any charges after police used a Taser to try to subdue a 76-year-old man driving an antique tractor during a parade in Glenrock.

County and Prosecuting Attorney Quentin Richardson released a statement Monday after reviewing the state Division of Criminal Investigation's report into the Aug. 1 incident.

Read more

Friday, August 21, 2009

What we know is that a 38-year-old inmate in the Guilford County jail in Greensboro died after being Tasered by a guard during an altercation. And that's all we know.

Only after thorough investigations by the N.C. State Medical Examiner's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation will what happened and why come into focus.

<snip>

However, it's worth noting that the downsides are enough for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to ban, at least for now, their use in local detention facilities participating in the federal 287(g) program for housing immigration detainees.

Uppermost must be the safety of both inmates and jail employees. Sheriff BJ Barnes has said that the mere presence of Tasers in the county's jails helps defuse potential confrontations.

Other factors also must be considered. The jail was well over capacity Tuesday, and overcrowding only leads to trouble. Moving ahead promptly with construction of a new downtown facility is bound to help.

And Cobbs, who faced serious charges of kidnapping and robbery, reportedly had been in local custody for about a year. That's hardly in keeping with his right to a speedy trial.

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Making it look like a gun only makes cops more likely to use it. They can get the thrill of pulling and firing a weapon without all that messy paperwork which accompanies shooting someone with a real gun.

if they don't die from it, are left forever to live with the effects.

Have you ever known of law enforcement officers to _not_ use a weapon they were provided? I haven't. Odd to me how the typical DU badge sniffers are steering clear of this thread. Perhaps they've learned the definition of indefensible.

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - Mesa police say a man who was running around naked in a convenience store parking lot died hours after being shocked with a Taser stun gun.

A police statement released on Friday said officers found the naked man near the front door of the store just before 2 p.m. on Thursday. Witnesses told police the man had been jumping on cars.

Officers restrained the man after stunning him with a Taser, but then noticed that he had stopped breathing. They were able to revive him, but he died about seven hours later at a hospital.

Read more

© August 22, 2009
NORFOLK

The city will pay $65,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought after a police officer used a Taser on the woman known to many as the Hula Hoop Lady of Granby Street.

Attorneys for Pamela Brown filed the suit, seeking $5 million, against a police officer who used a Taser on her during an October arrest. The suit claimed Brown's civil rights were violated and that the officer used excessive force.

Under the terms of the agreement, there is no finding or admission of liability on the part of the officer, Nicholas G. Parks, or the city.

<snip>

Brown sustained a brain injury when she was hit by a truck on the day of her high school prom. Now 50, she lives independently and is a fixture on Granby Street, where she likes to hula-hoop in the median as motorists pass by. Even the judge told Brown on Friday that he often passed her on his way to work.

<snip>

During the confrontation, he drew his Taser, which had a camera that captured two minutes of the incident. Brown is seen shouting, one hand cuffed. She does not put her other hand behind her back as the officer repeatedly demands.

Her words are difficult to understand; she referred to prior injuries and her "medic alert." Parks said that only by later viewing the video did he understand what Brown was saying.

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Police officers won't have to write reports for drawing Tasers withouth using them

Ashland police officers will no longer be required to write a report if they unholster their Tasers after Police Chief Terry Holderness voiced his concerns that the reporting requirement might cause officers to feel inhibited about having the non-lethal weapons at the ready.

Officers will still write reports if they actually use their Tasers, which deliver an electric shock.

APD purchased Tasers for all officers and issued the weapons in April 2008.

Back then, the Ashland City Council asked that the department track the number of times Tasers were unholstered in a field situation and when they were used.

Officers have unholstered their Tasers eight times since April 2008 but have not used them, Holderness reported to the City Council on Tuesday.

<snip>

In 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union said Ashland police erred in using Tasers in five out of six cases dating back to 2004, including the case involving the SOU student.

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Aug. 23, 2009 12:00 AM

The Arizona Department of Public Safety said a drug suspect is dead after swallowing an unknown substance and struggling with officers who shocked him with a Taser.

A statement issued by the DPS duty office on Saturday said officers were conducting an investigation late Friday when the incident happened.

The statement said medical personnel were unable to revive the man.

Other details were not immediately available.

Link

Public Complaints Commission report opposes use of Tasers as a "compliance device."
_________________________________________

August 22, 2009

The provincial body that investigates complaints against municipal police officers says Tasers should be allowed for front-line police, but with strict guidelines for their use.

Bob Mitchell, chair of the Public Complaints Commission, said the panel believes there is value in officers having conducted energy devices (CEDs), even though he expects there will almost certainly be complaints about Taser use brought to the commission if it is tasked to handle them.

<snip>

In a submission to the Saskatchewan Police Commission -- a separate agency that regulates municipal police services and is examining the use of Tasers -- the complaints commission said it supports the use of the stun guns as an alternative to firearms.

"In other words, rather than shoot a person, an officer would have the option of disabling the person with the CED. Our commission certainly supports a policy to this effect," reads the report in part.

"The more difficult question is what other circumstances would justify the use of this weapon. Over the years of its use, we have seen the weapon increasingly used as a compliance tool. We strongly oppose a policy that would allow CEDs to be used by a police officer for this purpose."

<snip>

Under police commission rules for Saskatchewan's municipal police services, Tasers currently can only be utilized by members of special weapons and tactical teams.

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Researcher at WFU calls it one of the best

Published: August 24, 2009

Winston-Salem police officers can stun people with Tasers on their torsos and legs when those people are fighting or resisting them, according to a policy released last week.

Officers should use caution "to avoid firing probes to a subject's head, neck and genital areas," the policy says.

Officers are not allowed to use the devices when people are near flammable or explosive material or have been exposed to them, when people are in water or when people may fall causing a serious injury or death, the policy says. Officers also cannot use Tasers as a coercive measure.

Officers also should be careful when using a Taser on pregnant women, someone running or driving a vehicle, an older or younger person who is frail and someone who is handcuffed.

<snip>

The city's Taser policy coincides with an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation of an inmate's death last week in the Guilford County Jail. The inmate died after a detention officer stunned him with a Taser during a scuffle inside the jail

Dr. William Bozeman, a medical researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, said he has reviewed the police department's Taser policy. He said it was one of the best policies for using Tasers that he has seen among the police departments across the country that use Tasers.

Read more

Commentary.
_____________________________________
Taser use info hard to access
Police, council skirt Sunshine Law rules

BY ED BERG

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Columbia residents need information from the Columbia Police Department regarding adherence to proper procedures, guidelines and accountability for Taser use since its adoption of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) standards in May.

The Aug. 1 incident in which officers accused Alan Giles of urinating in public and subsequently shot him with pepper spray and then twice with the Taser intensifies our concern about whether the Columbia department follows PERF standards in training, regulations and oversight.

Past cases involving Ricky Coleman, Phillip McDuffy and Stanley Harlan provide graphic examples of the grave harm Tasers can cause. These serious injuries and one death underscore how essential it is for the public, through the Missouri Sunshine Law, to have access to all pertinent information about Taser use by Columbia police.

<snip>

In the spirit of participatory democracy and invoking the Sunshine Law and Columbia ordinance, the coalition again insists our police department release, with fees waived, all documents regarding people threatened or shot with a Taser since May.

The public’s eye on the public’s Taser documents is the only way to verify compliance with PERF standards.

Attorney Ed Berg is a member of the Coalition To Control TASERs, on whose behalf he wrote this commentary.

Read more

Taser: Amnesty alarmed at claims that Home Office is considering new taser that fires electric bullets

Posted: 24 August 2009

In response to claims that the Home Office is considering issuing UK police forces with the new wireless stun gun called the Taser X-REP, Amnesty International UK's Arms Programme Director, Oliver Sprague said:

'We're seriously concerned about this latest weapon by Taser. This is effectively a shotgun that fires electric-shock bullets.

'Because this bullet can be fired wire-free from a standard shotgun there is a heightened risk of causing serious injury to the face and head.

'We're also concerned by the fact that these weapons will deliver an excruciatingly painful shock for 20 seconds.'

The Taser XREP Extended-Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) is a capsule containing electrodes which can be fired wire-free from a standard 12-gauge shotgun or a new-style Taser weapon.

Read more[/b

August 24, 2009 By The Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — An officer's use of a stun gun while arresting a city councilman's daughter appears to have been an unnecessary use of force, Cincinnati's police chief said Monday.

The officer's police powers have been suspended while the investigation continues, Chief Thomas Streicher said. He said initial review indicates that the officer's use of the Taser gun wasn't in line with police department policies.

<snip>

The councilman, Cecil Thomas, who is a retired Cincinnati police officer, said he wants to see the results of a full investigation of the arrest of Celeste Thomas, 26, early Sunday.

Police said she was a passenger in a vehicle allegedly involved in a hit-skip accident. She was charged with obstructing official business and possessing an open container.

She kept asking officers why she was being detained, Thomas said.

"While that was taking place, that type of conversation, she felt a sharp pain in the back. She said she felt like she was having a seizure," he said.

Read more

Source: wtte28 (Fox28)
August 28, 2009 06:19 EDT

CINCINNATI (AP) -- The police chief has told Cincinnati community leaders that an officer was wrong to use a stun gun on a city councilman's daughter because she posed no threat.

Chief Thomas Streicher said at a meeting of NAACP members and Baptist ministers Thursday that 26-year-old Celeste Thomas was on her knees with her hands up, asking "What did I do?" when she was zapped with the Taser gun early Sunday. Thomas is black.

Streicher says an internal review of the traffic stop should be finished soon but six supervisors have already found excessive force was used. The chief has taken away the officer's police powers.

Read more

Published August 30, 2009

LA MARQUE — A Galveston County grand jury this week will hear the evidence collected in the investigation into a case where a man died after getting into a tussle with La Marque police and was shocked by a Taser three months ago.

The district attorney said the case will be presented to the grand jury panel Wednesday.

District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk’s office and the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office took the lead in the investigation after Jamaal Valentine, 27, died May 17 after he wrestled with three La Marque police officers as they attempted to arrest him. During the struggle, one of the officers shocked Valentine with a Taser.

Motorists called police, saying they saw Valentine walking down Main Street in La Marque and acting erratically. One witness told investigators and The Daily News that Valentine approached his car and asked for help because he thought he was having a heart attack.

The Texas City man died a few hours later after going into cardiac arrest. The Galveston County medical examiner, at the request of the district attorney, won’t release the cause of death or autopsy report pending the outcome of the investigation.

Read more

(AP) – 10 hours ago

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A sheriff's deputy said in an e-mail that he made the right decision when he zapped a woman with a stun gun during a traffic stop in a Syracuse suburb this year, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Sean Andrews, in a message obtained by the Post-Standard and published Sunday on its Web site, said the video taken from the dashboard of the Onondaga County officer's car "alone does not look good to the public because the general public have difficulty putting themselves in a cop's position." But he says he was justified in using the Taser on her.

Andrews, 37, was suspended for 30 days after an administrative hearing Aug. 20 and could face further disciplinary actions over the Jan. 31 traffic stop in Salina.

The sheriff's deputy used a Taser to subdue the woman, Audra Harmon, after pulling her minivan over. The 38-year-old mother was driving with two children in the car.

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

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Tuesday September 01, 2009, 2:00 PM

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

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

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

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

Officers also have department-issued .45-caliber semi-automatic pistols, pepper spray, collapsible nightsticks and non-lethal bean bag shotguns, Scott said.

Read more

Updated: 9/1/2009

The city of Stanley has received a grant to buy four Tasers, but Mayor David Jankoski isn't sure if the city should accept it.

"I have some questions, primarily because have (our police) established a policy for using the Tasers?" Jankoski said.

"I'm trying to do some research on it myself. The things I've heard about Tasers in the past have been negative."

Stanley Police Chief Roy Fredrickson will give a presentation to the Stanley City Council on Tasers at its Tuesday, Sept. 8, meeting. Fredrickson didn't return calls Monday.

<snip>

Jankoski was surprised the city received a grant for four Tasers. Information on the amount and source of the grant wasn't available.

"My most serious question is why does a small department like ours need four Tasers?" Jankoski said. "And how often will it be used?"

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AURORA - Two people, including an Aurora Police officer, were taken to the hospital on Thursday morning after a man was shot with a Taser and then given CPR.

<snip>

Police had gone to the home and found a 19-year-old man, Markus Gabel, wanted on a felony warrant. They arrested him and also found drug paraphernalia.

<snip>

Police chased the man across the street, through Mission Viejo Park and into a canal area.

When they caught the man, there was some sort of fight and police shot the man twice with a Taser and arrested him.

Officers say the man then started to have a medical issue and needed CPR. He was taken to a local hospital. His condition and name were not immediately released.

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

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

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

Officers then say Ledbetter then became unresponsive and began CPR. Ledbetter was taken to a local hospital.

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Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian state of Queensland may scrap the use of Taser stun guns following a review that says the weapons could kill, the Australian newspaper said.

The police review follows the heart attack death in June of a north Queensland man who was shot 28 times with a Taser, the Australian reported, without saying where it got the information.

The review will conclude for the first time in Australia that Taser stun guns carry the potential to injure or kill, particularly when fired repeatedly, the newspaper said.

Read more

POSTED: 8:27 am EDT September 4, 2009

Waterbury, Vermont - More than a dozen Vermont police agencies use Tasers-- officers are trained with the stun guns all the time. They are immobilizing, but not lethal. They are effective but also expensive. They cost more than a thousand dollars each, but State Police Commissioner Tom Tremblay now wants troopers to have them.

"The truth is that when an electronic control device is mentioned or threatened against the offender, oftentimes just that threat alone ends the confrontation," Tremblay said.

Tremblay says it would cost about $260,000 to provide Tasers to the state's 250 uniformed troopers. They have been in use in his old department-- Burlington-- for three years.

<snip>

Now Tasers are not infallible-- there are half a dozen lawsuits stemming from Tasers and three police departments have paid out-of-court settlements to people who were tased. But the police argue that overall, they are useful law enforcement tools that stop short of deadly force.

The commissioner will recommend, a police advisory committee will then consider it, and the attorney general, and eventually the Legislature will either approve or deny funds for the stun guns.

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11079805">Read more

UPDATED: 5:29 pm EDT September 6, 2009

CINCINNATI -- A Riverfest event to honor soldiers was marred by a late night altercation.

On Friday night, one of the men who was supposed to be recognized at the USO Riverfest Gala was shocked by a police Taser after police said he tried to punch an officer.

Investigators said Army Cpl. Joshua Schichtl got into an argument at the Cadillac Ranch nightclub that night. Officers said that after fighting with several people, an officer asked him to leave and he refused.

Police said Schichtl became belligerent and shoved the officer. Officers said that as Schichtl tried to throw a punch, he was hit with the Taser.

<snip]

Schichtl has spent the past year and a half recovering from severe head injuries and will have to spend the next two years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to continue his rehabilitation.

The gala officials said that while they are not condoning his actions, they believe the incident is a sad reminder of the ongoing struggles veterans face after injury.

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September 6, 2009 9:42 AM

A man living at a group facility at 90 Park St. was “off his meds” and “breaking windows” around 5 p.m. Saturday. Cops showed up; when they weren’t allowed access, a SWAT team arrived, including negotiators, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avey. The cops forced their way inside and tasered the man off his meds. The cops took him to the hospital to evaluated and charged him with disorderly conduct and interfering with an officer.

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Sunday, September 6, 2009

By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer

Local policies governing the use of Tasers may be reviewed soon following an autopsy report that could not exclude the Taser as a factor in the death of a Martinsville teen.


The investigation into the Jan. 8 incident in which Derek Jones, 17, died after a Martinsville police officer used a Taser to subdue him cleared the officer of any wrongdoing in the case, according to Botetourt County Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom.

But the written four-page autopsy report, accompanied by three pages of diagrams, did not conclusively show what caused the teen’s death, Branscom said. It also did not definitively exclude the Taser “as a causative or contributive factor” in Jones death, Branscom said.

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When a perfectly healthy person dies about the same time he is hit with a Taser, you may conclude it was the Taser,” but that cannot be proven definitively, Branscom said.

Tasers are intended to be non-lethal tools of compliance.

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Jones’ case is the first Branscom has worked involving a Taser, and “I don’t have the faith in them I once had,” he said.

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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.07.2009

A University of Arizona student is suing the Oro Valley Police Department on claims of reckless assault and detention as he headed to a football game last fall.

John Wisner’s suit, filed Aug. 11 in Pima County Superior Court, states he was detained and shot with a Taser gun by Oro Valley police officer Bryan Wiggins, which caused him “to fall face first onto a concrete sidewalk.”

Oro Valley Police Department officials declined to comment on the suit. Wisner’s attorney, James Marner, did not return calls seeking comment.

At the time of the Oct. 25 incident, Wiggins was off-duty from his Oro Valley job and working in uniform for the university.

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September 09, 2009

A Volusia County sheriff's deputy is under fire himself after a video surfaced on the Internet showing him apparently using a department-issued Taser to stun a friend.

Mathew Tremblay, 36, a motorcycle deputy who patrols in Deltona, remains on the job while under internal investigation for the possible misuse of a department-issued Taser, Sheriff Ben Johnson said Tuesday.

"I've seen the clips. He's a good deputy, but he used very poor judgment," Johnson said of his employee who has worked in his office since 2004. "And, he'll have to face the music."

The clips, which were aired on a television news program after being captured from a MySpace page, show a man kneeling willingly, while the off-duty deputy -- identified by his sheriff -- fires the Taser gun and the kneeling man falls flat and shouts out in pain.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 9:35 p.m

Authorities say the 49-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Brunswick County sheriff’s deputy Sunday night went for the deputy’s gun before the fatal shot was fired.

Alton Lawrence Walters had also been shot by a Taser, but the jolt did not stop his approach toward Deputy Bradly Hardee, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.

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She also said Walters didn’t have any weapons other than a “hickory stick,” and that he had recently hurt his knee in an accident on a scooter.

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The statement from Sheriff John Ingram’s office says Hardee tried to arrest Walters, but Walters resisted and also ignored the deputy’s orders.

After giving a warning, Hardee shot Walters with a Taser, but Walters removed the Taser’s electronic probes and continued advancing toward the deputy, according to the statement.

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