The following comment was posted under the name Steve Tuttle (who, if he indeed wrote this, is the Vice President of Communications at Taser International), in response to: RT’s apology to Taser International - the killer of 500 Americans, according to Amnesty International
RT (formerly known as Russia Today)
April 6, 2012
In regards to our recent report on Kenneth Chamberlain, a 68-year-old retired US Marine killed by police officers in his home, RT would like to extend our apologies to Taser International and offer clarification to our readers.
In our article published April 5, “NY cops break into Marine vet's home and Taser him to death,” RT was imprecise in our wording of the story’s headline and would like to formally offer our apologies to Taser, the manufacturer of the electroshock guns used by law enforcement across the country and, unfortunately, also on the late Mr. Chamberlain. We have appropriately retitled our original article.
In addition to saying we are sorry to Taser, who we cannot blame directly in the death of the vet, we would like to clarify that, although the cause of death has not been made available to us, it was incorrect on our part to summarize the story as we did in our original headline. We cannot, with certainty, say that the elderly retired correctional officer that suffered from a heart condition died from injuries suffered as police officers attacked him with a Taser gun. While Mr. Chamberlain did pass away shortly after law enforcement used Taser guns on him, those same officers also fired “nonlethal” beanbag projectiles from a shotgun and used live ammunition on the man before he was transported to an area hospital only to die in front of his family.
"The last time I actually really saw my father, other than the funeral, was at the hospital, with his eyes wide open, his tongue hanging out his mouth, and two bullet holes in his chest," his son, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr., tells Democracy Now.
According to law enforcement accounts, police were dispatched to Chamberlain’s White Plains, New York house last year after he triggered his medical alert pendant. After Mr. Chamberlain failed to respond to calls from LifeAid, the medical alert company, police were sent to his home to check on his health. Chamberlain then greeted them at the door, told them he was alright and refused them entry to his home. Unwilling to take his word, however, police officers demanded they be allowed admittance, but not before eventually removing the door to his home and firing shots at him as he stood in his underwear, arms akimbo.
Audio recorded on the scene allegedly reveals Chamberlain telling the officers, "I’m OK. I didn’t call you. Why are you doing this to me? Please leave me alone,” then warning them, "I’m a 68-year-old man with a heart condition.”
The tape, which has not been made public but has been circulated to attorneys and those close to the matter, also allegedly contains an audio testimony made by Chamberlain in which he says, “I know what you’re going to do. You’re going to come in here, and you’re going to kill me."
Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. adds that officers respond to his father’s plea by saying, "Why would you think that? We’re not going to do that."
"Yes, you are. You have your guns out. Why do you have your guns out? Oh, you have a shield,” the late Mr. Chamberlain allegedly replies in the recording.
The younger Chamberlain also says cops called his father a “nigger” and mocked his military career.
If all goes as planned, a grand jury will begin an investigation into the case later this year and establish whether or not the law officers sent to check on the elderly man’s health were justified in using their Tasers to attempt to incapacitate the man before shooting him to death. His attorney seems certain that the police was in the wrong, though.
“To use a Taser, which is going to send significant electricity through that person’s body, would be, at best, reckless. And that alone could cause his death” attorney Mayo Bartlett tells Democracy Now. “And the thing that’s extremely troubling to me is that, again, the police were not there to respond to criminal activity. They went to the gentleman’s house at 5:00 in the morning to give him assistance. The only reason that he had the LifeAid pendant to begin with was so that his family and that he would be comfortable that if something was to occur, he would be able to get assistance.”
“The first thing they did, as soon as that door was finally broken off the hinges, you could see the taser light up, and it was charged, and you could see it going directly toward him. Now that was 100 percent unnecessary,” adds Bartlett.
In responding to RT’s original article, a representative for Taser International insists that although “Mr. Chamberlain was shot twice with a firearm,” reports filed suggest that the electroshock gun used was “ineffective.” It has yet to be clarified as to if the weapon was discharged improperly, if did not have the desired effect on the man or what, in fact, was ineffective of it, but we would like to state, for the record, that we are sorry if our article misconstrued the facts of the story.
RT understands that Taser International would be upset by our inaccurate reporting, especially after being responsible for so many other deaths in the past. After all, it was only earlier this year that Amnesty International reported that, in only one decade, at least 500 people in America alone had been killed as a result of Taser blasts.
“Of the hundreds who have died following police use of Tasers in the USA, dozens and possibly scores of deaths can be traced to unnecessary force being used,” Susan Lee, Americas Programme Director at Amnesty International, explained in the groups’ report.
Not specifically commenting on Chamberlain’s death, Lee added with her findings, “What is most disturbing about the police use of Tasers is that the majority of those who later died were not a serious threat when they were shocked by police.”
“Most of the deaths have been attributed to other causes,” continued the report. “However, medical examiners have listed Tasers as a cause or contributing factor in more than 60 deaths, and in a number of other cases the exact cause of death is unknown.”
“Even if deaths directly from Taser shocks are relatively rare, adverse effects can happen very quickly, without warning, and be impossible to reverse,” she adds.
Amnesty International published their findings earlier this year, only days after fatality number 500 was added to the list of Taser-related deaths. Earlier this year, a 43-year-old unarmed man was shocked by Tasers by police after being allegedly intoxicated in the state of Alabama. He died in the hospital two hours later.
Last year, a federal judge awarded a $1 million settlement to the family of a 15-year-old boy that died, in part, due to the “application of an electromuscular disruption device.” He was shot with a Taser in 2009.
The website Truth, Not Tasers believes the official Taser-related death toll to be closer to 700 than the 500 reported by Amnesty International.
September 28, 2011
The Charlotte Observer
We don't argue with the idea that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers should be armed with the safest weapons available. So in that sense, the Charlotte City Council's decision to buy new Tasers that prevent officers from firing high voltages of electricity for more than five seconds at a pop makes sense.
But this move does not end concerns over the use of Tasers, associated with the deaths of two suspects in Charlotte in the past three years. These are not truly the "non-lethal" weapons that they are so frequently advertised to be.
Amnesty International says Tasers contributed to about 351 U.S. deaths between 2002 and 2008. The group also says 90 percent of those tasered were unarmed at the time.
Taser International, which provides most such weapons (and the company supplying the guns to the CMPD), points to a different view in a May study by the National Institute of Justice. In a look at Taser use by six police departments nationwide over a two-year period, the institute's researchers found 99.7 percent of those tasered suffered no serious injuries. Their conclusion: "The risk of human death due directly or primarily to the electrical effects of [Tasers] has not been conclusively demonstrated."
It's hard to reconcile those views. Yet even the study provides fodder for concerns. "Risk of human death ... not conclusively demonstrated" is not the same as no risk. And the study says data have shown significant health risks when Tasers are used against small children, people with diseased hearts, the elderly, those who are pregnant and some others. Researchers also acknowledged that many of the deaths after Taser exposure "are associated with continuous or repeated discharge of the CED..., especially when the individual may be under drug intoxication."
These are crucial caveats. In the March 2008 death of 17-year-old Darryl Turner, a CMPD officer tasered the teen for 37 seconds, a violation of police policy. The city paid the family $625,000 as a result, but admitted no wrongdoing. A federal jury ordered Taser International this summer to pay $10 million to the family. The company said it will appeal but in 2009 it released an advisory urging police not to shoot suspects in the chest, where Turner was shot. It also began pushing a version of its gun that allows only five seconds of current before officers can fire again.
The model the council agreed to has that feature and other safety measures including an audible "pre-warning" that the device is about to be used, said CMPD chief Rodney Monroe. Taser officials tout other benefits including the ability to fire a second time quickly without reloading.
Such features are welcome but they remain no substitute for officers having and following good guidelines about the use of these devices. In the past, that has been a problem for CMPD - and a costly one. If the officer in the Turner case had followed policy, the teen might be alive, the city wouldn't have had to shell out $625,000 to a grieving family, and the council might not be approving $1.83 million for new Tasers. That last cost is acknowledgment that officers could not be depended upon to abide by a policy of not tasering suspects past five seconds, the limit on a Taser blast unless the trigger is held down.
This move won't force officers to show good judgment and abide by strong guidelines. The new Taser allows more blasts in the Taser's battery life, and two blasts in quick succession. Studies show multiple Taser shots pose health risks even in healthy adults.
Tasers have been welcome tools to police officers in protecting the public, suspects and themselves. They have helped reduce the numbers of lethal incidents in which an officer is forced to discharge a gun. But Tasers carry dangers that should not be ignored. Training, officers following sound guidelines and vigilance about health risks are crucial to helping ensure tragedy does not result from Taser use.
September 24, 2011
Jamie Doward, The Guardian
Amnesty International has written to the coroner conducting the inquest into the death of Raoul Moat questioning how police came to fire a non-lethal weapon at him despite a Home Office study concluding it was inaccurate and unreliable.
The human rights group said it wanted to establish whether the officers who fired the experimental Xrep Taser were aware of research conducted on behalf of the Home Office Scientific Development Branch, the body that evaluates specialist equipment. The research found the weapon was unlikely to be effective and had a high risk of missing its target. Officers using the weapon shot at Moat twice. One round missed and the other appeared to strike him without effect.
Oliver Sprague, Amnesty's UK arms programme director, said: "It's alarming that officers chose to deploy a weapon whose testing data had shown it to be highly inaccurate and highly likely to fail. Lessons must be learned from this and no weapon should be deployed by any UK police force until it has been officially sanctioned by the Home Office."
The Moat inquest is expected to last a further four weeks.
August 17, 2011
Amnesty International has today (17 August) reiterated its concern of the wider deployment of Tasers after a man living in Barrow, Cumbria died after he was struck by the weapon.
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May 27, 2011
Dave Collins, Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Police officers using stun guns should avoid shooting suspects multiple times or for prolonged periods to reduce the risk of potential injury or death, according to a new U.S. Justice Department study prompted by hundreds of police-involved deaths across the country.
Coroners and other medical experts on the study panel concluded that while the effects of prolonged and repeated stun gun use on the body are not fully understood, most deaths officially attributed to Tasers and similar devices are from multiple or lengthy discharges of the weapons.
The panel reviewed nearly 300 cases in which people died from 1999 to 2005 after police shot them with stun guns, but found that most of the deaths were caused by underlying health problems and other issues. Of those cases, the experts examined 22 in which the use of stun guns was listed as an official cause of death.
The study released Tuesday by the department's research arm, the National Institute of Justice, concludes that it's appropriate for officers to use stun guns to subdue unruly or uncooperative suspects, as long as police adhere to "accepted national guidelines and appropriate use-of-force policy." It also makes several recommendations, including medical screenings for all people shot with stun guns.
The experts also noted that evidence shows the risk of death from a stun gun related incident is less than 0.25 percent, and there's no conclusive evidence that stun guns cause permanent health problems.
"What this study suggests is, indeed, less-than-lethal technologies ... can be effectively used by law enforcement," said John Laub, director of the National Institute of Justice.
Justice Department officials said the study began more than six years ago after Amnesty International and other groups blamed many death of suspects in police custody on stun gun. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations Committee Against Torture have called the use of stuns guns a form of torture in some cases.
More than 12,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide had issued about 260,000 stun guns to officers as of spring of last year, the study said. Of the more than 600 arrest-related deaths in the U.S. each year, there are very few cases in which stun guns are cited the cause or contributory factor, the report said.
Officials at Taser International, the maker of the leading stun guns, said Thursday that there are no peer-reviewed medical studies that have found that prolonged or repeated use of Tasers cause death. In 2009, however, the company advised Taser users to try to avoid shooting people in the chest, because of a very low risk of a health problem.
Alvaro Garzon, a 46-year-old drug and alcohol addiction counselor from New Haven, said the study's cautions about firing stun guns multiple times make sense. Garzon has filed a brutality complaint with New Haven police saying a city officer shot him with a stun gun four times last year during a domestic disturbance call.
"After two times it should be enough," Garzon said in Spanish on Thursday while his daughter, Lina, interpreted for him. "You don't feel good after the second shot. I felt like I was burning inside."
Garzon, who was accepted into a probation program on a charge of assault on a police officer, said he was treated at a hospital for lung problems, and he continues to suffer from the trauma. The status of Garzon's police complaint wasn't immediately clear Thursday night.
Police across the country have faced heated criticism for stun gun deaths.
Connecticut state police are investigating the May 1 death of 26-year-old Marcus Brown, who authorities say was shot with a stun gun by Waterbury police while he was in the back of a police cruiser and handcuffed. Brown's family is calling for federal authorities to investigate; the official cause of death is still pending.
Waterbury police say Brown, who was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 125 pounds, became combative. The officer who shot Brown, Adrian Sanchez, had been placed on administrative duty under normal procedures.
Earlier this month, Connecticut state police released an investigation report that showed how Middletown police last year shot 35-year-old Efrain Carrion 34 times with stun guns to subdue him while responding to a report that he was despondent and violent. Carrion died later that day.
The medical examiner concluded Carrion died of "excited delirium," a cause of death not recognized by many medical groups but one the Justice Department says is well documented. Several officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the incident.
Last year, a jury in Louisiana acquitted former Winnfield officer Scott Nugent, who was accused of shooting handcuffed suspect Baron Pikes eight times with a Taser gun and charged with manslaughter. Pikes later died.
In 2006, police in Green Cove Springs, Fla., shot a 56-year-old woman in a wheelchair 10 times with a stun gun and she died. Police say Emily Marie Delafield was swinging knives and a hammer at relative and police, and officers had tried to talk her into dropping the weapons before they were forced to subdue her. The officers' actions were found to be justified.
Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for Connecticut state police, said police officers never want to get into a situation where they're forced to fire Tasers or other weapons.
"Certainly you're looking for voluntary compliance from a suspect ... but unfortunately that's not always achievable," Vance said.
April 16, 2011
Calgary Herald
The Tasering of an 11-year-old by a junior RCMP officer in British Columbia has rightfully put the controversial use of these weapons back under public scrutiny.
The RCMP have so far released little information about the April 7 incident in Prince George, other than a brief statement saying the boy was a suspect in the stabbing of a 37-year-old man at a group home. The boy fled to a neighbouring property, where he was found by police and arrested.
"Efforts were made to get the individual out of the house, and when he emerged from the home, a conducted energy weapon was deployed by a member," said the statement.
The officer, who has just 18 months experience, has been placed on administrative leave while the West Vancouver Police Department investigates the case.
The first disappointment is that police are using other police to investigate their conduct more than three years after the Robert Dziekanski tragedy and despite two public inquiries that recommended the establishment of a civilian-based investigative body, modelled on Ontario's Special Investigations Unit.
The lack of information at this stage is perhaps understandable after the Mounties mangled the media response to Dziekanski's death in October 2007 at Vancouver International Airport. RCMP released factually inaccurate information in the early stages of the criminal investigation, and then chose not to correct the inaccuracies.
The report from the internal investigation into the Prince George incident must be made public -the sooner, the better. The incident is another blow to the reputation of the once-proud Canadian institution, with strong criticism coming from high-profile observers.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.'s representative for children and youth, believes police should never be using Tasers on children.
She'll be conducting her own review into the case, because it's the province's responsibility to ensure the safety of kids in foster care or group homes.
"When we think about this being a very young aboriginal, vulnerable child, 11 years old, living away from home, in a group home, I can't think of a more vulnerable child," she said, adding the boy was assessed in hospital and released back into custody.
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP issued a news release saying it too is "closely monitoring the case."
Amnesty International Canada believes this is the youngest person to ever be Tasered by police in Canada.
Central Saanich Police Service is the only force in B.C. to prohibit the use of stun guns on children, the elderly, pregnant women and other vulnerable people.
Ultimately, clear regulations restricting the use of conducted energy weapons on children are needed, and they should be consistent across all police forces in the country.
The use of a Taser on a child should be permitted only in the rarest of circumstances. It should be deployed only if there is an immediate threat to life and after all lesser ways of de-escalating the situation have been exhausted.
April 13, 2011
Vancouver Sun
The Prince George RCMP officer who Tasered an 11-year-old boy last week has been placed on administrative leave, says the West Vancouver police department which has been assigned to investigate the case.
The officer involved has 18 months experience, West Vancouver Police Cpl. Fred Harding said in a press release Tuesday.
The West Vancouver police "operate with the knowledge that there is a public concern with the perception of police investigating police. (West Vancouver Police) Chief Lepine is confident that the officers assigned to the investigation will ensure that as with all West Vancouver Police investigations, the highest levels of integrity and policing standards will be applied," Harding said.
A prominent human rights groups said Monday it is "very troubled" by the case and said federal leadership is needed to ensure the weapon is not used unnecessarily against children.
Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, said strict guidelines are needed to govern the use of Tasers, especially on children, and that alternative and less dangerous methods of enforcement should be exhausted before the device is used by police.
"Police forces should adopt guidelines which prohibit the use of Tasers against children unless there is an immediate threat to life that cannot be dealt with though lesser means," Neve said Monday. "It's a pretty high standard — it's an immediate threat to life, not an immediate threat of harm or injury. That's the only circumstance, in our view, police should even consider resorting to a Taser when dealing with a child.
"It needs to be a consistent guideline applied across the country. What we are often faced with in Canada, because we have a multitude of different policing jurisdictions, is different policing forces being subjected to different standards and regulations. When it comes to something this profoundly important — what kind of weapon is going to be used against a child — it can't come down in the end (to) what municipality and province that child happens to be in. We need to see some real federal leadership here."
The 11-year-old boy was Tasered by police after he was accused of stabbing a 37-year-old man in a group home on April 7. The child was taken to hospital for assessment, while the stabbing victim was brought to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond — B.C.'s child and youth advocate — is reviewing the case. She said she expects she will launch a formal investigation, noting the youth is an aboriginal living in care and is therefore among the "most vulnerable" youths in B.C.
The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP issued a news release saying it is "closely monitoring the case."
Neve noted that last week's case involves the youngest person that, to Amnesty International's knowledge, has ever been Tasered in Canada. He said any potential police review of the B.C. case "will almost certainly point to a very serious need for much clearer guidelines that determine when and if Tasers will ever be used against children."
The president of the Vancouver Police Union said officers must carefully weigh the use of a conducted energy weapon (CEW) such as a Taser.
"It's generally not something that a police officer would consider doing lightly," Tom Stamatakis said. "We would see using a charged electric weapon against a minor, an elderly person, a pregnant woman or someone with a known medical condition as a higher risk application of that level of force. We would be much more cautious about discharging a CEW in those circumstances."
Stamatakis also said that officers face unique challenges in policing situations involving minors.
"Dealing with youth is challenging for police officers, especially youth that are at risk," he said. "It's not like you're dealing with an adult that's more developed physically and mentally. You're dealing with a child that's still a child, regardless of what they're doing."
Neve said Canada's reputation regarding Taser use isn't the cleanest, tainted by other headline-grabbing cases such as the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski after he was Tasered by Mounties at Vancouver's airport.
"Because of the Robert Dziekanski incident in particular, the world is very much aware of the fact that Canada does not yet have its act together when it comes to ensuring proper regulation of Taser use by police in this country," he said. "This case is almost inevitably going to deepen those concerns, therefore all the more reason why we need to hear very quickly — in a detailed and transparent way from the police — as to how this all transpired."
Nick Bala of Queen's University's faculty of law said that to have a child so young Tasered by police is "unprecedented" in Canada, adding there are "grave concerns" about the situation.
Bala, who has authored several books on youth justice in Canada and a paper on criminal acts by children under the age of 12, said it is difficult to know where the onus lies in the most recent incident, but added the use of a Taser on a child that young would be extreme in most cases.
"We've never had a case like this in Canada when it would have been appropriate," he said. "And unless he had a firearm or possibly was threatening someone with a knife at the moment he was Tasered, it would not be appropriate physically, psychologically or legally."
Bala said until an investigation sheds more light on what actually happened, there will be many unanswered questions, but added the level of risk in Tasering is elevated in a child that young.
He noted the early indicators from last week's case in B.C. do not point to a justified use of a Taser.
"In fairness to the officer, we don't know whether the officer was aware of (the boy's) age ... but even with an adolescent, there are concerns about the use of Tasers," he said. "Officers are required to use reasonable force. There are situations where you have a large, threatening adult where a Taser may be appropriate, but this does not seems to be one of those cases.
"I'm not saying it would never be appropriate, but there would be very grave concerns about the situation and it would take most unusual circumstances to justify and I certainly hope the details of the investigation will be made public in due course."
April 12, 2011
By Sean Sullivan, The Province; With Files From Postmedia
West Vancouver police say it may be some time before the public learns why a Prince George RCMP officer used a stun gun on an 11-year-old boy last week.
The West Vancouver Police Department has been called in to investigate Thursday's Tasering after Prince George RCMP responded to an emergency call.
"Our chief constable has made this investigation the top priority of his department," WVPD Sgt. Paul Skelton told The Province on Monday. "Our goal is to determine whether the RCMP officer was justified in using this level of force."
Officers at the scene found a 37-year-old man suffering from stab wounds that he said were caused by the boy. Officers located the child at a nearby home, where he was Tasered.
The boy was taken to hospital but did not suffer physical injuries, Skelton said.
Detectives from West Vancouver began their investigation Sunday and expect to wrap up this afternoon.
Skelton said the detectives will also review the RCMP's policy on Tasers, as well as the RCMP officer's record and Taser training.
The Mountie involved has 18 months' experience on the job. He has been placed on administrative duties, Skelton said.
It's not known why the officer used a Taser on the boy. Skelton said police can't divulge that information during their investigation.
The incident touches on two hot-button issues in B.C.: Taser use, and the practise of police investigating other police, both of which Skelton said are being taken into account. "We're sensitive to the public perception of police investigating police," Skelton said. He said the RCMP officers involved are co-operating fully with the detectives.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International Canada weighed in on Monday, saying it is "very troubled" by the incident. "Police forces should adopt guidelines which prohibit the use of Tasers against children unless there is an immediate threat to life that cannot be dealt with through lesser means," secretary-general Alex Neve said.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.'s child and youth advocate, is reviewing the case. She said she expects she will launch a formal probe of the case, noting the youth is an aboriginal living in care and among the "most vulnerable" group in B.C.
April 11, 2011
Bradley Bouzane and Frank Appleyard, Postmedia News
Vancouver Sun
A prominent human rights groups said Monday it is "very troubled" by the recent Tasering of an 11-year-old boy by B.C. Mounties and said federal leadership is needed to ensure the weapon is not used against children in unnecessary circumstances.
Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, says strict guidelines are needed to govern the use of Tasers, especially on children, and that alternative and less dangerous methods of enforcement should be exhausted before the device is used by police.
"Police forces should adopt guidelines which prohibit the use of Tasers against children unless there is an immediate threat to life that cannot be dealt with though lesser means," Neve said Monday. "It's a pretty high standard — it's an immediate threat to life, not an immediate threat of harm or injury. That's the only circumstance, in our view, police should even consider resorting to a Taser when dealing with a child.
"It needs to be a consistent guideline applied across the country. What we are often faced with in Canada, because we have a multitude of different policing jurisdictions, is different policing forces being subjected to different standards and regulations. When it comes to something this profoundly important — what kind of weapon is going to be used against a child — it can't come down in the end what municipality and province that child happens to be in. We need to see some real federal leadership here."
The 11-year-old boy in Prince George, B.C., was Tasered by police after he was accused of stabbing a 37-year-old man in a group home on April 7. The child was taken to hospital for assessment, while the stabbing victim was brought to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond — B.C.'s child and youth advocate — is reviewing case. She said she expects she will launch a formal investigation of the case, noting the youth is an aboriginal living in care and among the "most vulnerable" group in B.C.
Neve, noting that last week's case involves the youngest person that Amnesty International is aware of to face a Taser in Canada, said any potential police review of the B.C. case "will almost certainly point to a very serious need for much clearer guidelines that determine when and if Tasers will ever be used against children."
The president of the Vancouver Police Union said officers must carefully weigh the use of a conducted energy weapon (CEW) such as a Taser.
"It's generally not something that a police officer would consider doing lightly," Tom Stamatakis said. "We would see using a charged electric weapon against a minor, an elderly person, a pregnant woman or someone with a known medical condition as a higher risk application of that level of force. We would be much more cautious about discharging a CEW in those circumstances."
Stamatakis also said that officers face unique challenges in policing situations involving minors.
"Dealing with youth is challenging for police officers, especially youth that are at risk," he said. "It's not like you're dealing with an adult that's more developed physically and mentally. You're dealing with a child that's still a child, regardless of what they're doing."
Neve said Canada's reputation regarding Taser use isn't the cleanest, with other high-profile cases such as the Taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski making international headlines.
"Because of the Robert Dziekanski incident in particular, the world is very much aware of the fact that Canada does not yet have its act together when it comes to ensuring proper regulation of Taser use by police in this country," he said. "This case is almost inevitably going to deepen those concerns, therefore all the more reason why we need to hear very quickly — in a detailed and transparent way from the police — as to how this all transpired."
Nick Bala of Queen's University's faculty of law, said to have a child so young Tasered by police is "unprecedented" in Canada, adding there are "grave concerns" about the situation.
Bala, who has authored several books on youth justice in Canada and a paper on criminal offending by children under the age of 12, said it is difficult to know where the onus lies in the most recent incident, but said the use of a Taser on a child that young would be extreme in most cases.
"We've never had a case like this in Canada when it would have been appropriate," he said. "And unless he had a firearm or possibly was threatening someone with a knife at the moment he was Tasered, it would not be appropriate physically, psychologically or legally."
Bala said until an investigation sheds more light on what actually happened, there will be many unanswered questions, but said the level of risk in Tasering is elevated in a child that young.
He noted the early indicators from last week's case in B.C. do not point to a justified use of a Taser.
"In fairness to the officer, we don't know whether the officer was aware of (the boy's) age . . . but even with an adolescent, there are concerns about the use of Tasers," he said. "Officers are required to use reasonable force. There are situations where you have a large, threatening adult where a Taser may be appropriate, but this does not seems to be one of those cases.
"I'm not saying it would never be appropriate, but there would be very grave concerns about the situation and it would take most unusual circumstances to justify and I certainly hope the details of the investigation will be made public in due course."
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.
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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.
(GIN)—The killing of an African immigrant last week by French police armed with Taser electric stun guns has revived a debate over use of the deadly weapon.
The immigrant, from Mali, whose name has not been released, died after Parisian police shot him twice with a Taser, tear-gassed and struck him with a night stick. Police said the 38-year-old man had attacked officers with a hammer after being asked for identity papers.
French prosecutors have ordered an inquiry to determine the exact cause of death.
The use of the Taser which fires darts carrying a 50,000 volt shock, has caused controversy around the world. A five-year study in Australia published in October found that police there had used Taser guns against people with mental illness in a disproportionately high number of cases.
In June, a Canadian inquiry ruled that officers were not justified in using a Taser gun five times on a Polish immigrant at Vancouver airport in 2007.
“A Taser has never killed anyone,” the director of the Taser’s French subsidiary, Antoine di Zazzo, told the news agency AFP.
Opposition to Tasers is mounting, lead by the French group RAIDH (Intervention Network for Human Rights) and in the U.N. where the Committee against Torture has expressed concern that “the use of these weapons can cause acute pain, constituting a form of torture, and in some cases it can even cause death.”
Amnesty International has also documented more than 351 individual deaths by police Tasering in the U.S. alone since June 2001. Most of the victims were not carrying a weapon.
Oct 21 2010
Daily Record
A HUMAN rights group today called for a "thorough evaluation" of the use of Taser stun guns by police forces. Amnesty International has already branded a six-month pilot scheme in the Strathclyde force area as "unlawful" - a position rejected by the First Minister and police.
Now, one day after the trial ended, the group demanded a probe and called on the Scottish Government to take control.
John Watson, Scottish programme director for Amnesty International, said: "The Firearms Act clearly states that new police deployments of Taser must have written authorisation from Government ministers. And court judgements have made it clear that police use of Tasers must be bound by an appropriate legal and administrative framework. Alas, Strathclyde Police do not want to be bound by these controls and the Scottish Government are failing to exercise them."
Thirty officers took part in the latest trial in South Lanarkshire.
Amnesty said Tasers, which deliver electric shocks to their targets, "have a role" in policing but should be handled by properly-trained people acting on decisions by senior officers. Mr Watson added: "It is controls such as these which have set our policing apart from countries such as the USA and Australia, where the use of Tasers to force compliance on non-violent subjects has become commonplace. The Strathclyde pilot reduces the threshold for use of Taser, removes key safeguards governing their use and normalises the presence of these weapons on Scottish streets."
Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown MSP backed the group's call and said: "For months now I have been calling on the SNP Justice Secretary to take full policy responsibility for the use of Tasers in Scottish police forces.
"The Justice Secretary must also clear up the issue over the legality of tasers that Amnesty International Scotland continues to raise."
Campbell Corrigan, Assistant Chief Constable at Strathclyde Police, said: "Our position is that the chief constable has the lawful authority to carry out the Taser pilot and that it was European Convention on Human Rights-compliant."
29 September 2010
Amnesty International UK
Amnesty International has expressed grave concern that the Taser XREP projectile and X12 shot gun were used without having gone through the official weapons testing and approval process. The organisation expressed its concern following the recent revelation that the weapons distribution company – Pro-Tect Systems – had issued the police these weapons without Home Office authorisation. Pro-Tect Systems has since had its licence suspended.
Amnesty International’s Arms Programme Director Oliver Sprague said: “No new weapon or equipment should used by the police until it has passed a rigorous and transparent safety, testing and approvals process. The Taser XREP is far more powerful than the traditional Taser with a considerably longer 20-second shock cycle. As a projectile fired from a shot gun, there are serious concerns over its accuracy and reliability as well as the risk of causing unnecessary injury.”
Results from a 2008 independent assessment funded by safety testing authorities in the UK, the USA and Canada have found the XREP projectile to be inaccurate with a high failure rate.
Amnesty is urging the Home Office to review its decision to enable Chief Constables to authorise the use of any weapon as long as its use is "lawful, reasonable and proportionate", apparently even if these weapons have not been thoroughly tested or approved for use. At a minimum Amnesty believes that this should include testing the efficacy of the weapon, medical safety testing and evidence that its use is compatible with proportionate and lawful use of force, in line with international human rights standards.
Oliver Sprague continued: “The UK has in place some of the world’s toughest approvals and testing processes for new police weapons. What is the point of having such a robust system if Chief Constables are, it seems, able to bypass rigorous testing and approvals and deploy any weapon they see fit? Any new police weapons should only be considered following a needs and risk assessment that identifies a recognised gap in their capability that cannot be overcome in any other way.”
International standards on police use of force and weaponry encourage the development of ‘less lethal’ weapons, but also stipulate that any such weaponry should be very carefully evaluated and controlled.
These same standards also set requirements on how and when police officers should carry weapons, including the circumstances in which they can be used and comprehensive training and accountability policies and procedures. The decision to allow discretion for Chief Constables to deploy XREP or any similar emerging technologies in absence of rigorous testing and approvals process, including clear procedures set in place for how and when they can be used, is a clear breach of these international standards
Oliver Sprague added: “A weapon like the XREP should not be in the UK police force’s arsenal until it has gone through all the necessary checks and is shown to be safe to use. If and when such approval is given, the XREP should be given only to specialist firearms officers and used when there in an imminent threat to life.”
September 23, 2010
CBS - The Early Show
Three men in South Florida are facing multiple charges after leading police on a high-speed chase. Two of the suspects were subdued by officers using tasers, which are becoming more and more popular with police, and more and more controversial with critics. The chase, in Miami, led police on dangerous pursuit across highways, over sidewalks and through heavy traffic. It ended with a dramatic crash but no injuries, as Broward County officers took down the driver by taser.
CBS News correspondent Don Teague reported on "The Early Show" tasering happens more often than ever -- the taser has become weapon of choice for police. Teague pointed out more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies have now added tasers to their arsenals. Houston police alone have discharged them 2,500 times since 2004.
But some are questioning just who is getting shocked.
From incapacitating a disruptive student in Florida to a great-grandmother in Texas, you can go online and find one shocking example after another of tasering, Teague said.
Peter McFarland, who was tasered by police in California, told CBS News, "All of a sudden, they just showed up. And they came in here like there was a fire going on or some gunfight was going on." McFarland, who suffers from a heart condition, is suing Marin County police after he was tased four times in his own home.
In other cases, the device has proved fatal. A study by Amnesty International says that, in at least 35 states, taserings have led to deaths -- 55 fatalities in California and 52 in Florida, alone.
Thomas Ruskin, a former detective with the New York Police Department, told CBS News, "In most cases, the tasers have been a very good tool. It's a lot better to think of someone possibly being tasered than being shot."
On "The Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez spoke with Bill Stanton, a former New York police officer and security expert with Qverity.com.
Rodriguez said, "It is easy for us all to watch the video and make our judgment about the decision at the time. We haven't been there arresting a suspect. You have, many times. Is there any time you wished you would have had a taser?"
He responded, "Good point. It is easy for us when we sit on the couch and watch this stuff go down. Though cop should have to meet a bad guy one on one. They have a fist, you take your nightstick. They take your stick, it will either be a taser, now the taser stops us from using a gun in many cases, and that's a good thing."
Rodriguez, who was tased for research purposes, said it was "the most excruciating pain followed by, literally, paralysis." She asked, "Could they be more dangerous than people think?"
Stanton replied, "I'll ask you this. You've been tased. Have you been shot?"
Rodriguez responded, "I haven't been shot, it's better than being dead, but if an officer used it on me unjustifiably, as we've seen many instances, it would have been inhumane."
Stanton said, "Right. Those officers should be investigated and locked up, but in many professions there`s malpractice with doctors, lawyers, et cetera."
John Burton, a civil rights attorney, weighed in on Stanton's remarks, saying the taser is not a substitute for lethal force. He explained, "Lethal force is used very, very rarely, 95 percent of police officers never fire their sidearm in their entire career. It's only to be used in the most extreme circumstances. When those are present, no rational officer would use a taser because lethal force is used to stop a lethal threat. Tasers are used on people frequently who are doing very little, other than not going along with the program of the police."
"Just making the officers mad?" Rodriguez offered.
Burton replied, "Well, right. And it's, also, and another point you made is that it's much more dangerous than the manufacturer, who provides a training, tells the officers. There have been over 500 fatalities associated with taser use or extreme injuries caused by falling, darts hitting people in the eye, people exploding because of being near flammable liquids, et cetera."
Rodriguez said to both men, "I think the point both of you can agree on is that tasers should not be abused. But is there anything that can be done to prevent abuse?"
Stanton said, "A cop tells you to pull over, pull over. Don't ram him three times, don't take a swing at a cop."
"You know full well some people do that and officers, you never know how they will react," Rodriguez said. "Is there anything you can do to teach officers not to do that?"
Stanton said, "Absolutely, more comprehensive training for the officers. Teach them how to use the tools in their tool bag."
September 5,2010
Daniel Tencer, The Raw Story
The rate of deaths in Taser-related incidents is rising as police forces ncreasingly adapt the conducted energy weapons, a Raw Story analysis finds.
A 2008 report (PDF) from Amnesty International found 351 Taser-related deaths in the US between June, 2001 and August, 2008, a rate of just slightly above four deaths per month.
A database of Taser-related deaths maintained at the African-American issues blog Electronic Village counts 96 deaths related to the use of Tasers since January, 2009.
Assuming the statistics are correct, that indicates the death rate has increased to an average of five per month.
Electronic Village counts the 96th Taser-linked death as being that of Adam Colliers, a 25-year-old resident of Snohomish County, Washington, who was reportedly "running up and down" a street and causing a disturbance when he was Tased by two officers. He stopped breathing shortly afterwards, and was pronounced dead in hospital a short while later.
It was the second Taser-related death, and the fifth death in a police encounter, in the Seattle area over the past week.
Truth Not Tasers, which maintains an extensive list of deaths linked to conducted energy weapons going back to the 1980s, says Colliers is the 507th person in the US to die in incidents linked to the weapons.
Electronic Village reports that Tasers "are now deployed in law enforcement agencies in 29 of the 33 largest US cities."
But, the blog notes, "the tide may be turning."
As taser-related deaths and injuries have continued to rise (as well as the amount of Taser litigation), many departments are starting to abandon the weapon in favor of other means of suspect control. Currently, Memphis, Tennessee, San Francisco, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada have opted to ban the use of tasers by law enforcement. Additionally, a federal court has ruled (PDF) that the pain inflicted by the taser gun constitutes excessive force by law enforcement. The courts don't want police to electrocute people with their tasers unless they pose an immediate threat.
Amnesty International notes that efforts to determine the lethality of Tasers are being frustrated by the weapon's manufacturer, Taser International.
"Medical studies so far on the effects of Tasers have either been limited in scope or unduly influenced by the weapons' primary manufacturer," the group states.
"Given the unresolved safety concerns, Amnesty International recommends that police departments either suspend the use of Tasers and stun guns pending further safety research or limit their use to situations where officers would otherwise be justified in resorting to firearms," Amnesty says.
June 10, 2010
The Daily Gleaner
The annual national meeting of the Canadian Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement is being held in Fredericton this week, and among the topics delegates examined is Taser use by police officers.
It's certainly a controversial issue about which there have been vigorous debates in recent years.
We were pleased to see that one of the conference's speakers - Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada - acknowledges that Tasers and similar conductive weapons have a role to play in law enforcement.
However, he rightly points out that Ottawa needs to take the lead and establish clear standards for Taser use.
There's no denying that some police and security officials in North America have employed Tasers in inappropriate ways and unnecessarily given the circumstances of specific situations.
If officers were informed of clear limits on use of the weapons, and if they were trained properly, Tasers would become a more effective and appropriate tool for law-enforcement, Mr. Neve suggested.
We agree, but we feel other limits and stricter guidelines are necessary as well - for those wielding these weapons.
Setting new federal restrictions on Taser use won't prevent some of the more egregious abuses of the technology that we've seen reported in the news over the past few years.
Guidelines, regulations or orders from on high in a police force can do little to curb terrible judgment. And the most serious of instances of Taser abuse are more often than not the result of serious errors in or complete lacks of judgment on the part of the people pulling the triggers.
We're not suggesting that a lack of good judgment is a widespread problem among police officers. However, it seems undeniable that a few with less than admirable decision-making abilities have made their way through the screening process.
While training is an important part of responsible and appropriate Taser use, so is evaluation.
The casual way a minority of police officers and security officials approach the use of Tasers and like weapons can stem not only from a lack of education and awareness but from shortcomings in attitudes and empathy.
The men and women entrusted with the protection of the public must also consider the well-being of those who violate the laws and the public peace.
Those responsible for training and hiring peace officers must ensure that appropriate psychological testing is not only in place but is always being updated to reflect changing realities of society and the jobs for which these people are being considered.
How a police cadet would view the use of a firearm, for example, could differ a great deal from his or her attitudes about Taser use.
One commenter on our website summed up the argument succinctly Wednesday.
He wrote, "(Tasers) do have their place in law enforcement ... But, it all comes down to the brain behind the Taser."
Furthermore, we would argue that not only must the screening process and restrictions on Taser use be examined and improved, so must the repercussions for instances of Taser misuse be strengthened.
With greater deterrents to misuse should come more responsibility.
The Canadian Press
FREDERICTON — The secretary general for Amnesty International Canada says while there have been great strides to improve stun gun use in Canada, there needs to be a strict set of national standards.
Alex Neve said Tuesday the federal government needs to show leadership to ensure new standards for use of the weapons apply to all police forces, and not just the RCMP.
"We've seen some very welcome restrictions placed on RCMP use of the Taser," said Neve, who was attending a conference in Fredericton organized by the Canadian Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. "What we don't have though is consistency and coherence across the country. There are a multitude of different policing jurisdictions in Canada."
Neve said there is a place for the use of stun guns as long as they are used in accordance with the law and proper training.
"We have been calling for very careful guidelines and restrictions to be imposed on how Tasers get used, by whom, under what circumstance, how often, on what parts of the body, and many other aspects," he said in an interview.
In May, the Mounties announced they would fire stun guns at people only when they are hurting someone or clearly about to harm them.
"We would have liked there to have been an adjective there for serious bodily harm or grievous bodily harm," Neve said.
The use of the weapons has come under public scrutiny as the result of numerous incidents across the country, including the death of airline passenger Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver, which prompted the Braidwood inquiry in British Columbia.
Kevin Brosseau, senior director of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP said he believes public scrutiny may be one of the reasons for nearly a 50 per cent drop in stun gun use by the Mounties over the last couple of years.
He said their use fell from about 1,200 uses in 2007 to about 650 in 2009.
"From my point of view, the reports -- whether it's the Braidwood inquiry or our report -- the significant media attention paid to this thing has given members of the police a greater appreciation of what this thing is and how it needs to be used in a more judicious way," Brosseau said in an interview.
Like Neve, Brosseau said stun guns are an important part of a police officer's arsenal as long as they are used properly.
Brosseau said a national policy is needed, but believes some forces may be reluctant to agree to a "one size fits all" set of guidelines.
"Every police force has its own terminology and is reluctant to change terminology to someone else's, but that is really what is going to have to happen," he said.
NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Amnesty International is calling for a review of the U.S. border patrol's policy on use of electro-shock weapons following the death of a Mexican national, Anastasio Hernandez, who was tasered. The human rights organization also demanded a full, impartial investigation of the facts in this case, with the results -- including the autopsy findings -- made public as soon as possible.
The organization is also calling for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency to either suspend using Tasers or limit their use to situations where officers are faced with an immediate threat of death or serious injury that cannot be contained through lesser means.
According to police sources, Hernandez was detained last Friday after re-entering the United States illegally over the Mexican border. He reportedly had been deported two months earlier. Customs and Border Patrol police reportedly hit him with a baton and used a Taser gun on him when he became "combative" as they tried to deport him to Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing in California. He reportedly stopped breathing shortly after being tasered and was pronounced brain dead in hospital some 21 hours later; he was removed from a life support machine on Monday.
The San Diego medical examiner announced on Wednesday that he died of a heart attack, with signs of methamphetamine abuse and high blood pressure contributing factors; the manner of death was ruled a homicide. The amount of methamphetamine in his system was not reported.
While Amnesty International does not have full details of the incident, which remains under investigation by the U.S. authorities, the organization is concerned by allegations that police resorted to unnecessary levels of force.
Amnesty International has serious concerns about the safety of electro-shock weapons such as Tasers, and considers them to be potentially lethal as well as open to abuse. The organization is calling for such weapons to be strictly regulated and used only in situations where they are necessary to protect life and avoid the use of firearms.
Since 2001, more than 400 people have died in the United States after being shocked with police Tasers. Although coroners have attributed most deaths to other causes, the Taser has been cited as a cause or contributing factor in more than 50 deaths. In many of these cases -- like that of Anastasio Hernandez -- the deceased stopped breathing shortly after being shocked. There are other cases where the cause of death remains unclear.
Background
Although some studies have found the risk of injury from Tasers and similar weapons to be generally low in healthy adults, there is concern that some individuals may be particularly vulnerable to adverse reactions from the shocks, for example, people suffering from underlying heart problems or being of small build. There is also concern by some medical professionals that the electro-shocks may contribute to cardiac or respiratory problems in people already compromised by police struggle, stress or drug abuse.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Please visit www.amnestyusa.org for more information.
May 10, 2010
Washington Post
TASERS, IN USE by police departments for more than a decade, are meant to be a weapon of last resort against dangerous suspects who pose a serious threat to police officers or a risk of flight. They are also supposed to subdue suspects, not kill them. But in too many cases, including at least one recent incident in Arlington County, suspects have died after being Tasered. And there is disturbing evidence nationwide that police officers are using them when less drastic, and less potentially deadly, measures would suffice.
Police routinely insist they fire stun guns only in dire situations, and most of the time no eyewitnesses materialize to contradict them. But for an object lesson in Taser misuse -- and a clue as to how itchy-fingered police officers can be -- look no farther than the outfield of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where the Phillies hosted the Cardinals last Monday before 45,000 witnesses. What they saw was a scrawny, unarmed teenager who jumped on the field and ran figure eights around huffing and puffing security and police officers. After a few seconds of this, a Philadelphia police officer took aim with his Taser and dropped the youth in pop-fly territory. As he lay face down on the grass, the crowd booed the police lustily -- and with good reason.
Fans who disrupt games should be prosecuted and fined and possibly face jail time; they should not be Tasered unless they appear violent or pose a threat more serious than disrupting a game. Still, the Philadelphia police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, who reviewed video of the incident, said his officer had acted within department guidelines. That's the problem. While Tasers have been useful in protecting officers from dangerous and out-of-control suspects, in too many police agencies the policy on using them is so loosely defined that officers can fire the weapons more or less when they feel like it.
Amnesty International, which has conducted detailed studies of the use of Taser guns, concluded that in about 90 percent of cases involving Tasers, the weapons were used on unarmed suspects. In many of those cases, the suspects may have been disrespectful, strange or defiant but seemed to pose little danger to themselves, others or police.
Most disturbingly, Amnesty found that 334 people had died after being Tasered between 2001 and 2008. And while most of the deaths were attributed to drug and alcohol intoxication, medical examiners and coroners found that Taser shocks caused or may have contributed to at least 50 deaths in that period. Based on that, and numerous studies suggesting that Tasers can have lethal effects on some people, Amnesty has called for a halt to the use of stun guns.
Unsurprisingly, Taser International, a 17-year-old firm based in Arizona, has disputed the studies and Amnesty's conclusions. But if police and the weapons' manufacturers want to avoid a public backlash, they'd be wise to tighten rules to preclude using the weapons on suspects who may be annoying or disruptive but ultimately pose no threat of harm.
See the archived map for the period February 2009 to February 2010 here.
This isn't my first rodeo RT, but if you call that a retraction you may want to use the word sandbag instead. Your RT TV America producer contacted me before this retraction came out to go on air after you stated that a man was killed by a TASER. Turns out he was shot by bullets.
A retraction after unbelievable amounts of RTs to your Tweet was certainly good to hear but I doubted it would be so interesting to read. You put it this as if, Oh we were wrong but as it turns out "the killer of 500 Americans, according to Amnesty International."
Turns out RT is wrong once again. Is that what Amnesty really put on record? When I read AI's report, it states clearly, "Most of the deaths have been attributed to other causes. However, medical examiners have listed Tasers as a cause or contributing factor in more than 60 deaths, and in a number of other cases the exact cause of death is unknown."
Anyone see 500 deaths caused or contributed to the TASER in AI's report?
Check your facts here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/usa-stricter-limits-urged-deaths-following-police-taser-use-reach-500-2012-02-15
If you mess up, you fess up. However, that just seems to be yet another reason to mess up here. Not one ounce of professional journalism in that retraction.
So it seems that once again, RT is in need of yet another correction. I tried to speak with the writer after speaking with the producer of RT TV America. So far, my phone is ringing and whoever wrote it doesn't have a voicemail.
While we may disagree, at least get the fact straight.