Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | 10:56 a.m.
For the first time, the company that manufactures Taser stun guns, used by Metro Police and other local police departments, is now saying that the 50,000-volt weapons can be deadly.
Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union have urged police across the country to shelve the weapons in light of this admission, made last week, but a top Metro Police official said the department considers them to be effective tools and will continue to use them.
"We're more closely monitoring the studies that are ongoing throughout the nation regarding Taser deployments and I continue to get updates on these studies and conclusions," Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said, citing a recent study by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies that deemed Tasers "relatively" safe.
Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, called Metro's stance distressing.
"It's a response that seems to be disconnected from what has transpired," he said. "They talk about the need for independent, third-party studies when the manufacturer itself has said they aren't safe."
He also pointed out that last month the Homeland Security Department's two largest law enforcement divisions, the bureaus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, rejected the use of stun guns for about 20,000 agents and officers because of questions about the safety of the devices.
The disclosure about the potential lethality of Tasers, the most detailed to date, came Thursday in Taser International's 25-page annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Our products are often used in aggressive confrontations that may result in serious, permanent bodily injury or death to those involved," it says. "Our products may cause or be associated with these injuries."
Tasers send 50,000 volts of electricity through the body, immobilizing the person who receives the shock. The Tasers Metro uses have a range of 21 feet and fire darts attached to electrical wires that deliver the charge.
Metro Police began using the weapons two years ago as an alternative to lethal force.
"We see the Taser as a very effective, low-lethality piece of equipment," Gillespie said.
Taser International, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., says the weapons do not emit enough electricity to stop a heart and points out that electricity does not remain in the body.
Company officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday -- the company's media line was busy, calls to the main line were not answered and a spokesman did not respond to an e-mail.
The disclosure was made in the context of the potential for a rise in lawsuits against Taser International for personal injury, wrongful death, negligent design, dangerous product or inadequate warning.
Between March 2003 and this month, 18 federal lawsuits were filed against the company, alleging wrongful death or personal injury. Two of the lawsuits have been dismissed by a court.
One of the active lawsuits, filed in August 2004 by Metro Police Officer Chad Cook, alleges that he suffered permanent shoulder and arm injuries during a fall after being shocked during a training exercise.
If the suits are successful, the filing notes that the company's financial condition could suffer and negative publicity could damage the company's reputation.
Lawsuits are something police should be concerned about as well, Peck said.
The police stance "puts the public at unnecessary risk and exposes law enforcement agencies to greater legal liability," he said, now that Taser International has disclosed the risks.
Two men died last year after being shocked with Metro Police officers' Tasers. The families of both men have filed wrongful death suits against the department.
Last February, a Metro officer used his Taser in the "drive-stun" mode on Wiliam Lomax. In that mode the weapon is held against the skin, causing pain only in that part of the body, officials say.
Lomax, 26, allegedly was struggling violently with apartment complex security guards and was under the influence of PCP. The Metro officer held the Taser against Lomax's body three times while security guards were putting handcuffs on him, then four more times as he lay on his stomach while officers replaced the cuffs with soft restraints, police said.
Lomax died the next day. A medical examiner determined he died of a heart attack during restraint.
A coroner's inquest jury cleared the officer of any wrongdoing, but it concluded that the Taser played a role in Lomax's death based on a medical examiner's testimony.
Keith Tucker, 47, died shortly after being shocked with a Taser gun in August.
A Metro officer used the drive stun method on Tucker four times while he and another officer were holding him down and putting him in handcuffs.
An autopsy showed that Tucker died of a heart attack caused by narcotics during restraint, and part of that restraint involved immobilization by the officers' Taser guns. The two officers involved in that incident were also cleared.
In the drive stun mode, a person is not completely immobilized and can still struggle, which could result in a heart attack as the Lomax and Tucker cases show.
Late last year, in light of the deaths, Metro revised its policy on Taser use, discouraging officers from using the drive stun method and from using the weapon on people who are handcuffed.
"As the bodies pile up, other law enforcement agencies have begun to realize that the devices are potentially deadly and they are trying to do the responsible thing by either not using them or severely limiting their use," Peck said.
"Why our department refuses to do that is deeply distressing and befuddling."
Henderson Police don't plan to take any action on their use of Tasers in light of the company's disclosure, but will continue to monitor their use, spokesman Keith Paul said.
North Las Vegas Police could not be reached for comment.
In dueling press releases last week, Amnesty International said 103 deaths have been linked to Tasers in the United States and Canada between June 2001 and last month, while Taser International touted the not-for-profit Potomac Institute for Policy Studies report that said Tasers were not listed as the primary cause in any of the deaths, and deemed them "relatively safe."
The odds for stunning to contribute to death are, at worst, one in 1,000, with the ratio of lives saved to lives lost at more than 70 to 1, the report says.
The Potomac report does, however, "strongly recommends that additional research be conducted at the organism, organ, tissue and cell levels."
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