Mick
04-07-2006, 10:01 AM
CHP weighs adding Tasers
Officials will look at results of a 7-month trial of stun guns.
By Christina Jewett -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 7, 2006
The California Highway Patrol is evaluating whether to arm its officers with Taser stun guns, potentially becoming one of the nation's largest police forces carrying the weapons, officials said.
CHP officers at the Capitol, in Stockton, Oakland and South Los Angeles carried 34 stun guns during a seven-month trial period that ended March 31, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said. The CHP commissioner's office will decide whether to equip the patrol's 7,287 officers after a report on the pilot project is filed later this month.
CHP officials in Sacramento are weighing the decision whether to buy - and how many of the $800 Tasers the department would order, Clader said. They are tabulating results of the pilot project, which detailed each time the officers showed or used the Taser.
"The results so far have indicated that the less-lethal weapons systems are an effective means of force when used appropriately," Clader said.
Jon Hamm, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, said members of the union are hoping to add the stun gun to their belts.
"We are pursuing this in response to members' request," Hamm said. "We have situations where fights break out, and this would definitely make the job safer for our members."
Currently, CHP officers carry a .40-caliber handgun, baton and can of pepper spray, Hamm said.
"The problem is that the pepper spray and the (baton) require close contact," he said. "If someone's coming at you in a threatening manner, they're trained to shoot to kill. With the Taser, what we're looking for is just another option."
The CHP is looking toward implementing Tasers in the wake of six officer deaths that have shaken the department since September.
The stun guns shoot two barbs that are attached to wires that reach up to 35 feet. The barbs deliver a five-second electrical jolt that seizes the body's major muscle groups and incapacitates the person.
Taser use has drawn controversy in Sacramento and nationwide over concerns about the gun's safety. Six Sacramento-area men have died after being hit with the stun gun in about five years since 755 Tasers were issued to Sacramento police and 523 to Sacramento County sheriff's deputies.
According to an Amnesty International report on the Taser that was issued in March, more than 150 people nationwide have died after being hit by a Taser since 2001. The stun gun was officially ruled at least a contributing factor in 23 deaths nationwide.
Many questions linger about the guns' impact, said Amnesty International spokesman Gerald LeMelle.
"We have not looked at the effect of Tasers on pregnant women, at Tasers on children or at Tasers' effect on people with mental disorders, yet we continue to unleash these on the public," he said.
Research on the Taser is largely funded by the company, or focused on healthy police recruits or anesthetized pigs, said Dr. Zian H. Tseng, a cardiologist at UC San Francisco.
Tseng said his reading of the research has quelled some of his initial concerns, "but I'm still not comfortable."
He said there are points of vulnerability in every beat of the heart - when an electric shock could trigger a heart attack.
"Is it absolutely safe with regards to health? I'm not convinced yet," Tseng said.
Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International, said the stun guns are not free of risk.
But he said some agencies have recorded drops in injuries to officers and suspects after they began using Tasers.
In Cincinnati, he said, the stun guns were used 1,000 times and officials tracked a 56 percent drop in injuries to officers and a 35 percent drop in injuries to suspects.
"Risk managers and citizens should be screaming at these statistics with joy," he said. "These are incredible numbers."
Clader said the CHP report based on the pilot project will look at injuries to those who were shocked with the Taser.
Clader said officials reviewed policies of other departments and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "The guidelines we developed meet or exceed the standards used by other departments," she said.
She said officers who receive the guns would be trained in the effects, use and maintenance of the Taser.
Adrian Quintero, a CHP officer in Stockton, participated in the pilot project. He said the stun gun's mere presence caused unruly suspects to cool off.
"Just exposing it and showing it to someone who's about to become physical or is resisting arrest - it's a deterrent," he said.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14240151p-15060034c.html
Officials will look at results of a 7-month trial of stun guns.
By Christina Jewett -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 7, 2006
The California Highway Patrol is evaluating whether to arm its officers with Taser stun guns, potentially becoming one of the nation's largest police forces carrying the weapons, officials said.
CHP officers at the Capitol, in Stockton, Oakland and South Los Angeles carried 34 stun guns during a seven-month trial period that ended March 31, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said. The CHP commissioner's office will decide whether to equip the patrol's 7,287 officers after a report on the pilot project is filed later this month.
CHP officials in Sacramento are weighing the decision whether to buy - and how many of the $800 Tasers the department would order, Clader said. They are tabulating results of the pilot project, which detailed each time the officers showed or used the Taser.
"The results so far have indicated that the less-lethal weapons systems are an effective means of force when used appropriately," Clader said.
Jon Hamm, president of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, said members of the union are hoping to add the stun gun to their belts.
"We are pursuing this in response to members' request," Hamm said. "We have situations where fights break out, and this would definitely make the job safer for our members."
Currently, CHP officers carry a .40-caliber handgun, baton and can of pepper spray, Hamm said.
"The problem is that the pepper spray and the (baton) require close contact," he said. "If someone's coming at you in a threatening manner, they're trained to shoot to kill. With the Taser, what we're looking for is just another option."
The CHP is looking toward implementing Tasers in the wake of six officer deaths that have shaken the department since September.
The stun guns shoot two barbs that are attached to wires that reach up to 35 feet. The barbs deliver a five-second electrical jolt that seizes the body's major muscle groups and incapacitates the person.
Taser use has drawn controversy in Sacramento and nationwide over concerns about the gun's safety. Six Sacramento-area men have died after being hit with the stun gun in about five years since 755 Tasers were issued to Sacramento police and 523 to Sacramento County sheriff's deputies.
According to an Amnesty International report on the Taser that was issued in March, more than 150 people nationwide have died after being hit by a Taser since 2001. The stun gun was officially ruled at least a contributing factor in 23 deaths nationwide.
Many questions linger about the guns' impact, said Amnesty International spokesman Gerald LeMelle.
"We have not looked at the effect of Tasers on pregnant women, at Tasers on children or at Tasers' effect on people with mental disorders, yet we continue to unleash these on the public," he said.
Research on the Taser is largely funded by the company, or focused on healthy police recruits or anesthetized pigs, said Dr. Zian H. Tseng, a cardiologist at UC San Francisco.
Tseng said his reading of the research has quelled some of his initial concerns, "but I'm still not comfortable."
He said there are points of vulnerability in every beat of the heart - when an electric shock could trigger a heart attack.
"Is it absolutely safe with regards to health? I'm not convinced yet," Tseng said.
Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International, said the stun guns are not free of risk.
But he said some agencies have recorded drops in injuries to officers and suspects after they began using Tasers.
In Cincinnati, he said, the stun guns were used 1,000 times and officials tracked a 56 percent drop in injuries to officers and a 35 percent drop in injuries to suspects.
"Risk managers and citizens should be screaming at these statistics with joy," he said. "These are incredible numbers."
Clader said the CHP report based on the pilot project will look at injuries to those who were shocked with the Taser.
Clader said officials reviewed policies of other departments and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "The guidelines we developed meet or exceed the standards used by other departments," she said.
She said officers who receive the guns would be trained in the effects, use and maintenance of the Taser.
Adrian Quintero, a CHP officer in Stockton, participated in the pilot project. He said the stun gun's mere presence caused unruly suspects to cool off.
"Just exposing it and showing it to someone who's about to become physical or is resisting arrest - it's a deterrent," he said.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14240151p-15060034c.html