Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2006
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A02
Copyright: 2006 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: David Brown
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/stun+gun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?246 (Policing - United States)

RIGHTS GROUP RENEWS CALL FOR BAN ON USE OF STUN GUNS

More than 150 people in the United States died in the past five years
after being shot by electrical stun weapons wielded by law enforcement
officers, Amnesty International reported today.

The human rights organization renewed its call -- first made in
November 2004 -- for a moratorium on police use of stun guns pending
"a rigorous, independent and impartial inquiry into their use and effects."

The devices shoot a dart connected to a wire up to 25 feet. The wire
delivers a jolt of electricity that briefly paralyzes muscles. The
shock can be delivered without the dart by pressing the pistol-like
weapon directly against a person. Most of the devices are made by
Taser International, based in Arizona.

Among the 85 people who Amnesty International says died in the past 16
months, 44 went into cardiac or respiratory arrest immediately after
being stunned. They were often shot multiple times, and most were
intoxicated.

The 51-page report recounts the case of Patrick Lee, 21, who died last
September after being ejected from a Nashville nightclub. He took off
his clothes, fought with police, and was shot 19 times with two Taser
devices. He was high on LSD and marijuana. His cause of death -- like
that of many others -- was ruled "excited delirium," although coroners
increasingly are citing the shocks as contributing events, the report
said.

Amnesty International was especially critical of stun-gun use on
prisoners and people already restrained.

It described a nonfatal case in Orlando last year in which a man
arrested on drug charges was shocked twice after fighting emergency
room workers trying to insert a catheter. He was tied to a gurney at
the time. The organization concedes there may be a use for the devices
but says they should be considered "deadly force" weapons.

Taser's Web site includes a document with 901 anecdotes in which
law-enforcement officers say they believe the use of a stun gun saved
a life. About 7,000 American police agencies employ the weapons.
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