[Peace] Another Taser letter to Council

Sat Mar 13 19:01:31 CST 2004

Hi, folks.

If you haven't sent your letter to Champaign City Council about Tasers yet,
there's still time.

Kimberlie

-----Original Message-----
From: Kranich, Kimberlie [mailto:Kranich at WILL.uiuc.edu]
Subject: Taser safety questioned (Rocky Mountain News - 03/12/04) 

Dear Aldermen Bruno, Green, Pirok and McIntosh.

Hi, This is Kimberlie Kranich.  I am the Champaign voter who has been
mailing you all kinds of information on Tasers and posing to you many
questions regarding their safety, demonstrated need for, and possible
purchase of by the City of Champaign for our police force.

I keep finding more information in newspapers this month and last month that
refer to deaths after being shot with Tasers.  Below is the latest article.
Please note that the family of the deceased man from Denver is filing a
lawsuit against the police department for using a Taser on their loved one.

I am hopeful that you will weigh this information against the publicity
materials about Tasers that was distributed by Taser International to the
City of Champaign police.

I haven't emailed you before because I don't know how often you check your
email.

Would you mind letting me know that you have received this email?

Thanks so much.

Sincerely,
Kimberlie Kranich
1731 West Haven Drive

================================================ 

040312tasersafetyquestioned.txt

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2724165,0
0.html

Rocky Mountain News 
(Denver, Colorado) 

Taser safety questioned 

ACLU seeks curbs in response to death of man having seizures 

By Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News

March 12, 2004 

The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the Glendale Police
Department's training procedures as a result of the death of a man who was
repeatedly shocked with a Taser while suffering drug-induced seizures last
fall.

In a letter sent to city officials Thursday, Legal Director Mark Silverstein
said the officer used the Taser on Glenn Leyba on Sept. 29 because she was
told there are "no documented cases of permanent injury or death caused by
Taser use." 

Silverstein, in a letter earlier this month asking Denver police to curb
their use of Tasers, cited several reports that raise questions about the
weapons' safety.

"The training failed to inform officers of medical evidence indicating that
electroshock weapons may be dangerous, or even lethal, to extremely agitated
or psychotic persons; persons suffering from high levels of drug
intoxication; and persons with heart disease," Silverstein wrote.

The ACLU's challenges come at a time when police agencies across the country
are purchasing more and more Tasers in the hope of reducing suspect and
officer fatalities. Tasers fire needle-like probes up to 21 feet. The probes
are connected to a wire that delivers a 26-watt charge, causing a suspect's
muscles to lock up for five seconds.

The manufacturer says the weapon is safe.

"We stand by the safety of our product. It does not cause death," Taser
International co-founder and president Tom Smith said Thursday. "We've done
medical testing and field testing to support this. In fact, 14.6 percent of
all of our documented uses involve suspects using dangerous narcotics."

The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office ruled that Leyba, 37, died as a result
of cardiac arrest, which occurred in the midst of a cocaine-induced
agitation. Coroner Michael Doberson found that the Taser was not a
contributing factor.

"The Taser was not listed, never has been listed, as a cause of death.
Period," Smith said.

Glendale police issued a written statement Thursday, saying they support the
use of Tasers.

"All officers of the Glendale Police Department have been trained and
certified in the use of M-26 Tasers in accordance with Taser International
standards," according to the statement.

The Glendale officer fired the Taser three or four times in an effort to
subdue Leyba, who was flailing on the ground and was not cooperating with
medical personnel.

But the ACLU contends that paramedics at the scene disagreed with the
officer's repeated use of the weapon. At least one paramedic, in a report
submitted after the incident, said "the patient only seemed to become
worse."

According to the paramedics' report, Leyba became limp, unconscious and
stopped breathing after the last shock. He was pronounced dead a short time
later.

Silverstein's letter was sent as a notice to the city that Leyba's family
may file a lawsuit in connection with the incident.

The family is seeking at least $500,000, the letter says.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS: talktous at rockymountainnews.com

================================================ 

--------------------

Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes,
there is the least of real liberty. 
     -- Henry M. Robert (Robert's Rules of Order) 

http://www.bartleby.com/176/

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