TASER USE VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL LAW

by Kenneth Wayne Yarbrough

Makers of the Taser, the popular stun guns that delivers 50,000 volts through two prongs attached to 21 inches of wire, deceptively promoted their weapons as a safe alternative to lethal force.

But what Taser International, Inc. failed to reveal is that the Taser itself is a lethal weapon that inflicts pain, serious injury, and even loss of life.

Amnesty International (AI), an internationally recognized human rights group, issued a statement last November claiming more than 70 people since 2001 were reported to have died in the United States and Canada after being struck by the Taser International's M26 or X26 Tasers. Several victims had died of cardiac arrest or respiratory failure immediately or soon after being tasered multiple times.

AI called on law enforcement agencies to suspend use of electro-shock weapons, pending urgent rigorous, independent and impartial inquiry into the weapons' uses and effects.

In response to AI, Rick Smith, CEO of Taser International, Inc. said in a press release he was disappointed in AI's disregard for health and safety of men and women in law enforcement and he maintained that Taser technology is medically safe and effective.

However, medical reports show physical damage caused by Tasers includes bruises, fractures, ruptured disks, dislocations, joint injuries, spinal fractures, severe chest pains, rotator cuff injuries, arm and shoulder injuries as well as muscle and nerve injuries.

Furthermore, people suffering from osteoporosis, which afflicts 55 percent of all people over the age of 50, are susceptible to Taser-induced bone fractures.

The Taser is also suspected to have caused a woman who was 12 weeks pregnant to miscarriage.

Research shows Tasers in the US are deployed on non-violent offenders, such as those who are unarmed, already handcuffed, verbally abusive, engaged in passive resistance, or who refuse to follow police instruction. A statistical analysis of 2,690 field applications across the US, produced for Taser International in May 2003, showed that suspects were unarmed in 83 percent of the cases.

AI says law enforcement agencies are violating international standards established under the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms. It says the use of Tasers against people who are non-compliant, but who do not pose a probable threat of serious injury to themselves or others, is an excessive use of force, which may also constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Last January, Scott & Scott, LLC, filed a securities class action lawsuit against Taser International, Inc. for allegedly issuing false and misleading statements in describing the safety of its products and for failing to warn the public of potential harm in order to preserve company profits.

It's very important to remind your elected officials, as you voice your opposition to Taser abuse in your community, that the United States has approved and formally sanctioned international agreements, such as the UN Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which prohibit torture and other degrading treatment.

The human rights community applauds two Georgia police agencies, Macon Police Department and Forsyth County Sheriff's Department, for both voluntarily suspending uses of Tasers.

Kenneth Wayne Yarbrough is a legislative writer in the City of Boston, a certified emergency medical technician for the State of Massachusetts and a certified COBRA with the US Department of Homeland Security.

Some recent Taser deaths:

• James Borden, 47, died of cardiac arrest in Monroe County, Georgia, November 2003, after being tasered six times.
• Eddie Alvarado, 32, died of cardiac arrest in Los Angeles, California, June 2002, after being tasered five times.
• Glenn Leyba, 37, died of cardiac arrest in Glendale, Colorado, September 2003, after being tasered five times.
• Roman Gallius Pierson, 40, died of cardiac arrest in Yorba Linda, October 2003, California after being tasered twice.
• Gordon Randall Jones, 37, died of respiratory failure in Orange County, Florida, July 2002, after being tasered 12 times.
• Dennis Hammond, 31, died of cardiac arrest in Oklahoma City, October 2003, after being tasered five times.
• Michael Sharp Johnson, 32, died of cardiac arrest in Oklahoma City, November 2003, after being tasered five times.
• William Lomax, 26, died of cardiac arrest in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2004, after being tasered seven times.
• Frederick Jerome Williams, 31 died of cardiac arrest in Gwinnett County, Georgia, June 2004, after being tasered twice.
• William Teasley, 31, died of cardiac arrest in Anderson County, South Carolina, August 2004, after being tasered once.
• Keith Tucker, 47, died of cardiac arrest in Las Vegas Nevada, August 2004, after being tasered once.