Report Recommends Limits on Taser Use
by TChris
Finally realizing that Taser weapons aren't as safe as their manufacturer claims them to be, the International Association of Chiefs of Police "recommended Sunday that law enforcement agencies closely monitor their use and avoid issuing them to every officer." The organization's decision to study Taser use is reported here.
The strategy also asks agencies to add conditions for use of the weapons to their policies governing the use of force. Those policies generally govern when officers are permitted to use firearms and less-than-lethal options such as batons and pepper spray.
Police agencies may have a financial motive to limit the use of Tasers in light of successful litigation arising out of the weapon's abuse.
Mesa paid $2.2 million to a man who fell out of a tree onto his head last year after he was hit with a Taser stun gun fired by a police officer. The city paid another $200,000 to the hospital where Bruce Bellemore, 43, was treated after the Feb. 11, 2004, incident. Bellemore, a West Valley resident, became a quadriplegic after he was shot twice with a Taser stun gun by Officer Maxwell Van Natter and fell about 10 feet from a citrus tree in front of a house.
TalkLeft's background on the controversy surrounding Taser use is collected here.
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