Metro to revisit Taser policy after man’s death

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

Metro Police officers are allowed to use Taser stun guns on handcuffed suspects, but Sheriff Bill Young said Monday that he's rethinking that policy in light of the Taser-associated death of a cuffed suspect in February.

Although a coroner's inquest jury cleared Officer Reggie Rader last month in connection with the death of 26-year-old William Lomax, it concluded that the Taser was a contributing factor based on testimony from a medical examiner.

"That struck me as being a concern," Young said. "I don't like the thought of Tasing someone who has restraints on them already. I just want to look at the issue."

Taser International's protocols say the device can be used on restrained suspects, but "every police department has to find their individual comfort level," Young said.

Metro officials are reviewing the Taser policies of other major police departments to see how they are handling the issue.

Lomax was shocked three times while guards put handcuffs on him, then four more times as he lay on his stomach while officers replaced his cuffs with soft restraints.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said he commended Young for revisiting the policy, but "the department needs to go much further."

"They need to acknowledge that these are powerful weapons and their safety is untested and unproven," Peck said. "They have to be very strict guidelines saying when and how many times" a person can be shocked with the device.

The Taser was the subject of two lengthy articles in the Sunday editions of The New York Times and the Arizona Republic.

The Times reported that since 2001 at least 50 people, including six in June, have died after being shocked with a Taser. The Republic said the death total was five, and Taser International contends that two have died -- Lomax and James Borden in Indiana. Borden died in November 2003.

Steve Tuttle, spokesman for the Arizona-based Taser International, said the company isn't entirely convinced that Lomax's death is Taser-related.

The company "is evaluating legal channels to correct this inquest," he said, chiefly because no Taser experts or company personnel were asked to testify.

However, an officer with Metro's training bureau did explain how the device worked and Metro's policy on when and how they should be used.

A medical examiner testified that Lomax died of a heart attack during restraint, and that the Taser is considered a restraint device. Contributing to his death was PCP intoxication and symptoms of pneumonia.

A study into the safety of Tasers, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, is expected to be released soon, Tuttle said. He hopes the findings will quell the criticism.

"We're fighting back," Tuttle said. "The truth will come forth and we're confident in that."