Officers’ wrongful use of Tasers alleged

Jen Lawson

Thursday, July 22, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

At the heart of an excessive force investigation of two officers in the Metro Police Southwest Area Command is an allegation that they used their department-issued Taser guns improperly on at least one citizen, Sheriff Bill Young said Wednesday.

These are "the first and only" internal affairs investigations into inappropriate use of Tasers since the department began using the weapons in April 2003, he said.

"I take use-of-force issues very seriously," Young said. "There were some Taser issues in that case and they could be facing (discipline) up to and including termination."

The officers, Jeremy Krough and James Vargas, were placed on administrative leave when the investigation began earlier this year.

They are part of a group of four officers assigned to the department's Southwest Area Command, a group accused of lying about excessive force incidents, engaging in unbecoming conduct, falsifying reports and disobedience. The officers' sergeant, lieutenant and captain are accused of neglect of duty.

Young declined to elaborate on the Taser investigation or any of the other probes because they haven't yet been presented to the department's pre-termination board.

The board consists of a captain, deputy chief and a civilian and they will recommend what, if any, discipline the officers should receive. The final decision is up to Young.

Young said he didn't believe anyone was injured in the Taser-related case.

Part of the investigation involves allegations that the four officers had T-shirts made that read "BDRT," which Metro officials said had dual meanings, "Baby's Daddy Removal Team" and "Big Dogs Run Together."

There is speculation that the T-shirts refer to the fatal shooting in February 2003 of Orlando Barlow.

Barlow was baby-sitting seven children of a woman he had met about a week earlier when he allegedly began arguing with her and threatening her with a gun.

Hartman shot Barlow as he was on his knees surrendering to police who were handcuffing him.

The department approved a $300,000 payment to Barlow's family to settle a lawsuit stemming from the shooting. Under the terms of the settlement, Metro did not admit fault in the death.

The Taser has been under fire since the New York Times and the Arizona Republic published lengthy articles Sunday that were critical of the weapon and cited numerous deaths.

Earlier this week Young said he was rethinking Metro's policy on Taser use in light of the Taser-related death of a handcuffed man in February. The department allows officers to use the weapons on people who are restrained.

A coroner's inquest jury cleared the officer of any wrongdoing, but it concluded that the Taser played a role in William Lomax's death based on a medical examiner's testimony.

Metro has 400 of the M26 model Taser guns and is seeking funding for 600 more.

The weapons use compressed nitrogen to shoot two small prongs up to 15 or 21 feet. The probes are connected to the weapon by wires that send 50,000 volts of electricity into the body. Tasers have a data port that can download the dates and times that the weapon was fired and Metro's training bureau tracks that data.