HOUSTON - A national law enforcement organization recommended Wednesday that police use Taser stun guns only on people who actively resist officers and for only five seconds at a time.
The recommendations suggest that only one officer use a Taser on a suspect at any one time and that only a five-second charge be used before police re-evaluate the situation.
The stun gun‘s manufacturer, Arizona-based Taser International Inc., maintains that no deaths have been directly caused by the device alone.
Wexler said police departments should use Tasers in "the most surgical and strategic way possible" until more is known, but to ban the weapons would be a mistake.
About 6,000 of the nation‘s 18,000 law enforcement agencies use Tasers, including the Houston Police Department.
When Hurtt came to Houston in 2004, he ordered 3,700 Tasers.
-"Now that torture is OK abroad and at home, we apparently need guidelines to manage it.." (story/comment from Unknown News)
~Note that "no deaths have been directly caused by the device alone": is not the same as saying no one has died after or while being tasered. It's interesting that this newspaper and the national law enforcement organization both choose not to acknowledge the deaths indirectly caused by tasers. Tasers are cost effective. Police-officers no longer need to routinely wrestle, beat or shoot most individuals resisting arrest. Saving them from (delaying the onset of) career-ending injuries and their departments from budget-busting police brutality/shooting lawsuits.
Still I imagine Taser International Inc. press releases will soon need a further addendum: "no deaths have been directly caused by the device alone...when used following manufacturer's instructions". With so many tasers being out there, people who have the means to hire lawyers are bound to be affected.
>related Spitting Image posts
Posted by Cieciel at October 24, 2005 10:07 PM