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There are not many states in the nation who have not been involved in a taser-related death this year. Tasers are now deployed in law enforcement agencies in 29 of the 33 largest U.S. cities.
Perhaps the idea of an electric rifle made sense when it was first invented. However, we now see too much taser abuse.
First available to law enforcement in February 1998, now used by more than 14,200 law enforcement agencies in more than 40 
countries. More than 406,000 taser guns have been sold since the product hit the market. It may be time for congressional hearings.
This blog has been pointing out incidents of police taser torture for quite awhile. The work done over the past few years by Patti Gillman and Cameron Ward inspired this post. Gillman and Ward documented over 450 taser-related deaths in North America on their blog.
Our blog has documented 50 taser-related deaths in the United States since the beginning of the year:
- Jan 9, 2009: Derrick Jones, 17, Black, Martinsville, Virginia
- Jan 11, 2009: Rodolfo Lepe, 31, Hispanic, Bakersfield, California
- Jan 22, 2009: Roger Redden, 52, Caucasian, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee
- Feb 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Caucasian, Stockton, California
- Feb 11, 2009: Richard Lua, 28, Hispanic, San Jose, California
- Feb 13, 2009: Rudolph Byrd, 37, Black, Thomasville, Georgia
- Feb 13, 2009: Michael Jones, 43, Black, Iberia, Louisiana
- Feb 14, 2009: Chenard Kierre Winfield, 32, Black, Los Angeles, California
- Feb 28, 2009: Robert Lee Welch, 40, Caucasian, Conroe, Texas
- Mar 22, 2009: Brett Elder, 15, Caucasian, Bay City, Michigan
- Mar 26, 2009: Marcus D. Moore, 40, Black, Freeport, Illinois
- Apr 1, 2009: John J. Meier Jr., 48, Caucasian, Tamarac, Florida
- Apr 6, 2009: Ricardo Varela, 41, Hispanic, Fresno, California
- Apr 10, 2009: Robert Mitchell, 16, Black, Detroit, Michigan
- Apr 13, 2009: Craig Prescott, 38, Black, Modesto, California
- Apr 16, 2009: Gary A. Decker, 50, Black, Tuscon, Arizona
- Apr 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Black, Fort Worth, Texas
- Apr 30, 2009: Kevin LaDay, 35, Black, Lumberton, Texas
- May 4, 2009: Gilbert Tafoya, 53, Caucasian, Holbrook, Arizona
- May 17, 2009: Jamaal Valentine, 27, Black, La Marque, Texas
- May 23, 2009: Gregory Rold, 37, Black, Salem, Oregon
- Jun 9, 2009: Brian Cardall, 32, Caucasian, Hurricane, Utah
- Jun 13, 2009: Dwight Madison, 48, Black, Bel Air, Maryland
- Jun 20, 2009 Derrek Kairney, 36, Race: Unknown, South Windsor, Connecticut
- Jun 30, 2009, Shawn Iinuma, 37, Asian, Fontana, California
- Jul 2, 2009, Rory McKenzie, 25, Black, Bakersfield, California
- Jul 20, 2009, Charles Anthony Torrence, 35, Caucasion, Simi Valley, California
- Jul 30, 2009, Johnathan Michael Nelson, 27, Caucasion, Riverside County, California
- Aug 9, 2009, Terrace Clifton Smith, 52, Race: Unknown, Moreno Valley, California
- Aug 12, 2009, Ernest Ridlehuber, 53, Race: Unknown, Greenville, South Carolina
- Aug 14, 2009, Hakim Jackson, 31, Black, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Aug 18, 2009, Ronald Eugene Cobbs, 38, Black, Greensboro, North Carolina
- Aug 20, 2009, Francisco Sesate, 36, Hispanic, Mesa, Arizona
- Aug 22, 2009, T.J. Nance, 37, Race: Unknown, Arizona City, Arizona
- Aug 26, 2009, Miguel Molina, 27, Hispanic, Los Angeles, California
- Aug 27, 2009, Manuel Dante Dent, 27, Hispanic, Modesto, California
- Sep 3, 2009, Shane Ledbetter, 38, Caucasian, Aurora, Colorado
- Sep 16, 2009, Alton Warren Ham, 45, Caucasian, Modesto, California
- Sep 19, 2009, Yuceff W. Young II, 21, Black, Brooklyn, Ohio
- Sep 21, 2009, Richard Battistata, 44, Hispanic, Laredo, Texas
- Sep 28, 2009, Derrick Humbert, 38, Black, Bradenton, Florida
- Oct 2, 2009, Rickey Massey, 38, Black, Panama City, Florida
- Oct 12, 2009, Christopher John Belknap, 36, Race: Unknown, Ukiah, California
- Oct 16, 2009, Frank Cleo Sutphin, 19, Race: Unknown, San Bernadino, California
- Oct 27, 2009, Jeffrey Woodward, 33, Race: Unknown, Gallatin, Tennessee
- Nov 13, 2009, Herman George Knabe, 58, Caucasian, Corpus Christi, Texas
- Nov 14, 2009, Darryl Bain, 43, Black, Coram, New York
- Nov 16, 2009, Matthew Bolick, 30, Caucasian, East Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Nov 19, 2009, Jesus Gillard, 61, Black, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- Nov 21, 2009, Ronald Petruney, 49, Race: Unknown, Washington, Pennsylvania
African American men. We make up about 6% of the total population, yet 42% of the taser-related deaths in America this year are Black men.However, nothing seems to be able to stop the continued taser-related killings. I remain convinced that the 'Use of Force Continuum' needs to show tasers as 'near-lethal' ... definitely an error to claim that they are 'non-lethal'.
Something is wrong! I appreciate the 2,000 or so folks that have signed our online petition asking for congressional hearings on taser torture. We plan to bring our voices together on December 4, 2009 in a Day of Blogging for Justice: Stop Taser Torture. I hope that you will join our effort on that date!
What say are your thoughts about these taser-related deaths?
Posts
22 village voices:
I admire and appreciate the way you keep this in the limelight Villager.
RiPPa - I wonder if it will make a difference?
20 taser related deaths compared with how many uses of Tasers by police?
Gunfighter - I don't know where metrics on overall taser use in America is tracked. Can you point me in right direction for that data?
If there is one death we have to question the use of the taser. 21 deaths in less than six months, this should be the lead story on CNN, MSNBC, and any other alphabet, even Fox News. Instead we haven't seen much of anything on it. WHY??????
coachrlm - I figure that the mainstream media isn't on this story because it hasn't been brought together in one place yet. If the 72-year old grandmother had died ... we would see more action. As it is, the PTB ('powers that be') are content to blame these deaths on the victim ... and they are getting away with it right now!
Villager,
I'm a journalist and am writing about taser related deaths. Any information you could share with me about the recent death of Dwight Madison would be greatly appreciated. If you contact me at this address I'll be happy to share my journalistic credentials with you. mikemetzger9@yahoo.com
Thanks and keep up the great work.
Jaxx - I will contact you offline. Please let me know when your article is published so that we can promote it with our blog readers...
Shawn was a devoted father of 2 small boys. He worked, he lived in society. He wasn't some wacked out phsyco drug addict. Yes, he had a problem. The family called for "help". He didn't deserve to die this way.
I'm disturbed by taser death, too, mainly because it is suppose to be a non-lethal form of restraint of a suspect.
50K volts sounds like a lot. could this excessive amount of electrical energy be the cause of these deaths? Couldn't someone be apprehended and subdued with a fewthousand volts?
Or could it be that some cops are abusing use of the weapon and hitting people too much, resulting in a 100K or more hit to a person which causes these deaths.
At the very least more research seems to be in order on the safety of these devices.
At the very least
Karen - What was the race or national origin of Shawn Iinuma? Our prayers are with his family and children...
Danielle - I'm OK with the use of taser weapons by the police. I simply would like to see these weapons acknowledged as 'near-lethal', not 'non-lethal' in a standardized Use of Force Continuum. I would also like the police to stop their policy of demonizing the taser victims as a way of avoiding responsibility for the unwarranted deaths taking place in our nation...
Thanks for keeping track of this Villager. I had no idea so many people were being killed by tasers.
Yes, I think the issue here is not necessarily the use of police force, but the use of force that is characterized as "non-lethal" but seems to be just that in an alarming number of incidents.
I sense this is an issue for police officers as well. As much as some try to paint them as monsters, most are not bent on going around killing folks. They need a true means of subduing suspects that will not result in harm to officers, other civilians or to the suspects themselves.
If tasers are not that option, then tasers need to be done away with until they can be investigated further.
But I also agree that we need better data about the deaths from tasers compared to their non-lethal but serious injury use compared to their non-lethal and non injury use.
Joining the thanks for keeping the issue prevalent in the blogosphere.
Monie - I hope that our sharing this information will make a difference...
PPR Scribe - I think that you have hit it on the head! I don't have an issue with the use of tasers. I have an issue that they are being used as a 'non-lethal' weapon in the use of force continuum instead of in the 'near-lethal' category.
DNLee Wrote:
50K volts sounds like a lot. could this excessive amount of electrical energy be the cause of these deaths? Couldn't someone be apprehended and subdued with a few thousand volts? Or could it be that some cops are abusing use of the weapon and hitting people too much, resulting in a 100K or more hit to a person which causes these deaths.
Ehav Ever's Response:
Both scenarios could be true. 50kV could easily kill certain types of people based on where it is applied and the personally physicality. Three primary factors affect the severity of the shock a person receives when he or she is a part of an electrical circuit:
* Amount of current flowing through the body (measured in amperes).
* Path of the current through the body.
* Length of time the body is in the circuit.
Other factors that may affect the severity of the shock are:
* The voltage of the current.
* The presence of moisture in the environment.
* The phase of the heart cycle when the shock occurs.
* The general health of the person prior to the shock.
Effects can range from a barely perceptible tingle to severe burns and immediate cardiac arrest.
The basic problem could also be a police officer's reliance on the device itself rather than using physical restraint or verbal communication to affect situation such as an arrest or post arrest event. In terms of can a person be apprehended with lower voltages. It depends on what the goal of the arresting officer is. If he/she is using the device to simply provide a quick stun to the person thus giving him/her time to use physical means of restraint a lower voltage can be used, or if he/she is using the device to completely incapacitate the person then a higher voltage can be used. The problem in both situations is the unknown of a how a person's body will react.
A couple of things I forgot to mention. Wet conditions are common during low-voltage electrocutions. Under dry conditions, human skin is very resistant. Wet skin dramatically drops the body's resistance.
When muscular contraction caused by stimulation (the electric shock) does not allow the victim to free himself from the circuit, even relatively low voltages can be extremely dangerous, because the degree of injury increases with the length of time the body is in the circuit. LOW VOLTAGE DOES NOT IMPLY LOW HAZARD! Thus the use of even a lower voltage taser can potentially kill someone.
Just as an FYI a Taser X-26 which is pretty much the standard used by most lawenforcement agencies does not use 50,000 volts to disable the suspect. The arc of electricity that you see if you have watched any taser display videos is where the 50,000 volts comes from. When the device probes are deployed into the body of the suspect the current drops dramaticly to about 1200 volts with an amp charge of approximately .000000346.
Tasers are also not classified as "non lethal" the department of defence has classified them as a less than lethal use of force option. Meaning it is lower on the use of force scale than a 40 cal or 9mm but not without some type of risk.
I'm not sure anyone here will argue that a taser is quite a bit safer than a bullet and normally it is safer than the officer having to fight with the suspect to restrain him because if he is close enough to fight then he is close enough for his weapon to be taken away.
T-Man - I appreciate your feedback. I published the Use of Force Continuum that labeled tasers as non-lethal. Can you point me to some documentation that shows that they have been elevated to less-than-lethal status in the Use of Force Continuum?
Thank you in advance for your support in this research...
Sure, here is one study released last year.
Less Lethal Weapon Effectiveness, Use of Force, and Suspect & Officer Injuries: A Five-Year Analysis
Mesloh, C., M. Henych, and R. Wolf. 2008, National Institute of Justice. i've got more just have to dig them out.
I think it will definitely make a difference. You are playing a crucial role in getting the word out about this horrible misuse of a so-called *non-lethal* technology.
This is also very good information for us to include when we write our state and federal representatives. I would have been totally unaware of this phenomenon if you had not called it to my attention.
Ajuan - Thanx for the feedback and encouragement. It has been a learning process for me over the past few months...
T-Man - Thanx for the reference. I hope you will consider participation in the Dec 4 Day of Blogging for Justice: Stop Taser Torture. I'm going to post about it tomorrow morning...
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