[Peace] Article: Another death adds to Taser questions

[Kranich, Kimberlie]

Hey, all.

If you need more reasons why Tasers are not a good idea as you write letters
and make phone calls  to Champaign City Council members, please consider
this article from the Bloomington, IN Herald Times from today entitled,
"Another deaths adds to Taser questions."

Please do email, snail mail or call Champaign City Council. I believe that
it  is very important that we make our arguments to them directly. It's less
persuasive to read about why constitutents might be against Tasers ONLY in
the News Gazette than it is to hear from that consitutent directly. It's
about building a relationshop between you, your argument and the city
council member. 

We can stop Tasers!  Sign the petiton at the Whip Barbershop at 904 N. 4th
Street in Champaign. 

Another death adds to Taser questions 
IU doctor says stun guns can kill; 40 deaths occurred after Taser shock 
By Katy Murphy, Herald-Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2004 
A cardiologist from the IU Medical Group in Indianapolis said Monday that
the electrical energy administered by Taser stun guns has the potential to
provoke sudden death. 
Dr. Douglas Zipes, an electrophysiology specialist, said the 50,000 volts of
energy delivered to a person's skin by the Taser could be transmitted to the
heart. 
Depending on the precise timing of the heartbeat, this transmission can
induce cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death by causing the heart to beat
400-600 times a minute, Zipes said. 
A local debate over the safety of Taser stun guns was sparked by the
November death of James Borden, a 47-year-old man who was stunned repeatedly
with the "less lethal"-category weapon at the Monroe County Jail before he
died. 
But Bloomington is by no means the only community grappling with complicated
Taser questions. Last month, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that a
40-year-old man went into cardiac arrest shortly after he was stunned by
Minneapolis police. The man, Raymond Siegler, died in the hospital less than
a week later. 
As of Monday, 40 people nationwide since 1998 had died in police custody
after being subdued by a Taser gun. The technology was developed in 1998 by
Taser International Inc., according to the company's spokesman, Steve
Tuttle. 
But Tuttle said the Taser has not been listed as the primary cause of death
in any of these cases. "We have been cleared every time," he said. 
Borden's official cause of death does not contradict Tuttle's statement: In
December, Monroe County Coroner Dave Toumey ruled that Borden died of
cardiac dysrhythmia - disorder of the heart beat - caused by an existing
heart condition, pharmacologic intoxication and electric shock. 
But Zipes said that in cases involving sudden cardiac death, it can be
difficult, if not impossible, to detect what triggered it. 
In many of these cases, Zipes said, there are "no tell-tale clues." 
If someone dies in police custody, for example, a medical examiner might not
be able to determine whether a physical confrontation or electric shock
actually induced the cardiac death, Zipes said. 
Last month, Borden's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court.
The suit blames the man's death on lack of medical attention and the Taser
stun gun. 
Tuttle insists the 50,000-volt, 26-watt Taser shock - which overrides the
central nervous system and causes the subject's muscles to fail - is "in no
way, shape or form" risky. 
"A child can sample it, and the elderly can sample it," Tuttle said. He
argued that it is riskier not to use the tool in cases where a violent
person remains unfazed by other means of force, such as pepper spray. 
Increasingly, law enforcement agencies are turning to the Taser technology,
which is commonly considered appropriate for use before resorting to
handguns and when pepper spray is deemed ineffective. 
Tuttle said that well over 4,300 agencies - including an estimated 1,000
correctional facilities - use Tasers. And each month, he said, about 170
departments add Tasers to their arsenal. 
For this reason, Tuttle said, the public should expect the number of
Taser-related deaths to rise. "It's a matter of numbers; it's not a matter
of safety," he argued. 
So far, well over 70,000 uses of the weapon have been reported to the
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company, Tuttle said. "We have an enormous amount of
uses out there on a daily basis," he said. 
Bloomington police, Indiana University police and Indiana State Police have
yet to adopt the Tasers, which are currently available to Monroe County
jailers, sheriff's deputies and bailiffs in the justice building. 
Corrections officers reportedly used Tasers 14 times in 2003. The weapon was
not used for the rest of 2003 following Borden's Nov. 6 death, but it has
been used three times this year, according to jail reports. 
Monroe County Sheriff Steve Sharp said last week that jail policy on Tasers
has not changed in light of the controversy. 
When asked if the 40 Taser-related deaths could prompt the county to
reconsider its Taser policy, Sharp said he couldn't respond without knowing
the circumstances surrounding the deaths. 
"You have to look at the whole picture," he said.