LAW ENFORCEMENT - The Taser Issue

"Did a Court Just Deal a Fatal Blow to Tasers for Police?" by Raj Jayadev and Aram James, New America Media

Excerpts

In what is being heralded as a landmark decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently declared that police officers could be held liable for using a Taser without proper cause. And in making their determination, the court also set new legal parameters on how law enforcement is to use Tasers, stating, "The objective facts must indicate that the suspect poses an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public." The federal finding substantially changes the landscape of Taser usage, and may signal the end of Tasers for law enforcement agencies who are now more vulnerable to civil and criminal action then ever before.

And while any regulation on Taser use is a move forward from the status quo, which repeatedly has left civilians tased for innocuous circumstances, and the decision acknowledges some of the inherent dangers of the weapon, it falls short in a most critical way. The instruction is based on a false premise that Tasers "fall into the category of non-lethal force" as stated in Judge Wardlaw's written opinion. By denying the lethality of Tasers, the court mistakenly treats Tasers as an intermediary weapon, like a baton, when it should be treated as a deadly weapon, like a firearm.

According to Amnesty International, there have been more than 350 deaths due to Tasers. In San Jose, which was the first city to arm every one of its officers with the weapon in 2004, there have been six Taser-involved deaths, more than a death a year since its inception.

I personally think the overall decision is sound, the opinion of the writers that the fundamental flaw is NOT treating the Taser as a lethal weapon I also agree with.

I consider that law enforcement have any trouble with this decision is an issue of laziness on their part. Not wanting to take the time to implement sound Taser policies and proper training.

I also suspect, if closely examined, that many of the agencies having problems using Tasers are also the ones who have a history of excessive-use-of-force in general.