San Francisco police commissioners got a demonstration and a sales pitch Wednesday from the Arizona-based maker of an electric stun gun pitched as a way to reduce injuries while safely subduing combative suspects.
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Mindfully.org note: The manufacturer considers this a "less lethal weapon," which logically means that in some instances it is lethal. The education of police does not adequately prepare them to make the appropriate decisions in those instances where the Taser has been lethal. |
The devices have recently come under fire as possibly contributing to deaths, something the head of Scottsdale's Taser International disputed before the commission.
So far, the department has not formally asked the commission to adopt the device, but Chief Heather Fong said Wednesday that she would like every officer on the 2,200-member force to be armed with them.
Taser International officials showed off the new X26, a plastic gun that officers can wear on their belts.
It fires two darts on wires that carry a jolt of electricity sufficient to travel through clothing, cause muscles to tense and render a person immobile for up to five seconds at a time.
"It was intense. I had no control over my muscles, and I had to go down, '' said Sgt. Steve Shanahan, who was zapped in the back with the device for the demonstration.
Critics say that in the last five years, 71 people have died after being hit by Tasers, 10 in the last month alone. They cite published accounts of at least eight deaths in which Taser use has been listed as a contributing factor.
In Vallejo, a hit-and-run suspect died last Thursday after being shot in the chest by a Taser while being chased by police over a fence. The cause of 21-year-old Andrew Washington's death is under investigation.
Use of the devices in the Bay Area is spreading. On Friday, the first day Fremont police were deployed with Tasers, officers used the device to stun Michael Shuss, 36, of Fremont, while he was armed with two knives and refused to leave a hospital parking lot, police said.
Rick Smith, the founder and head of Taser International, said concerns that the devices could kill people were "hogwash.''
He said that suspects who die in custody have other contributing problems, including excessive weight, lack of exercise, heart disease and drug-induced delirium.
However, he acknowledged, the stress of undergoing the electric shock administered by the device has been labeled a contributing factor in at least one death.
"It is not-risk free, but it lowers the risk'' of injuries to suspects and officers, he said.
Mark Schlosberg, police practices policy director for the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, urged the San Francisco commission to authorize the use of Tasers only as a last resort, in potentially deadly confrontations. He said not enough independent study has been done to measure the risk of the device.
"After there have been some independent studies, I might change my mind about their use,'' Schlosberg said. "All we have right now is very limited studies, sponsored by the company itself.''
Chronicle staff writer Henry K. Lee contributed to this report.
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