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Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l

By TChris, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Aug 22, 2005 at 09:49:19 AM EST
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by TChris

To satisfy themselves that the Taser is a safe device to use against individuals who aren't engaged in life-threatening behavior, the police occasionally shoot a volunteer officer with a Taser. The officer rarely volunteers a second time.

In fact, injuries during Taser training have produced litigation against Taser International, including this recent case:

The suit by [Jacob] Herring, chief of police in Hallsville, Mo., says he suffered at least two strokes, loss and impairment of his vision and hearing, neurological damage, a head injury and "significant cardiac damage" after being shocked by a Taser M26 during a class on April 20, 2004.

Taser acknowledges that it has been sued 14 times since 2003 by officers who say they were injured in training.

The report said the company also faces 12 wrongful death lawsuits and four lawsuits alleging injuries during arrest or detention. Three other wrongful death suits have been dismissed, and one is on hold.

Perhaps fearful of being forced to compensate all the individuals who have been seriously injured (or killed) after being shocked with a weapon Taser International claims to be safe, Taser has opted to discourage litigation by refusing to settle any lawsuit. A few multi-million dollar verdicts might produce a change in that strategy. So might an SEC investigation into whether the company has fraudulently misstated the safety of the weapon, and class action lawsuits like this one:

The village of Dolton, Ill., near Chicago, stopped using its Tasers in May and filed a class action lawsuit in federal court last month. That suit says Taser's marketing portrays the unit as safe but that the product "has been involved in numerous deaths and serious injuries across the country" and has never been "adequately or independently tested for safety."

TalkLeft background on the Taser controversy is collected here.

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    • Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:35 PM EST
    The drumbeat of weapons technology is never at rest, and the cash registers keep ringing. If you were worried about the saftey of these baby size stun guns meet the mother of all stun guns , oh, and of course they are totally safe..heh, heh..:
    WEAPONS designed to fire "electric bullets" into crowds are being developed for police and border protection agencies in the US. The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, the domestic equivalent of the defence agency DARPA, has launched an "innovative less-lethal devices for law enforcement" programme to radically expand the capabilities of electric shock weapons. Existing stun weapons, such as the Taser, typically fire a pair of darts trailing current-carrying wires to shock the target, with a maximum range of about 7 metres. The HSARPA programme aims to develop wireless weapons that can be used over greater distances in spaces such as "an auditorium, a city street or a sports stadium"
    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#2)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Huh... Oh well, freedom and safety are not free, and these cops were weak, and the Tasers are safe.

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#3)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    I got tasered and wouldn't volunteer to do it again, but that doesn't mean I think they are unsafe. It was absolutely the worst 5 seconds of my life. I don't recall anyone saying the taser can't cause injury, so someone suing for being injured proves what exactly?

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Oh boo, Patrick had a bad 5 seconds.

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Proves that profit motives are the basis, and court cases are the controlling factor in making profit or convincing police dept's to set themselves up for lawsuits. Is it better than bullets? Yeah, but it replaces the humanity and compassion that good officers develop, which make it unnecessary to endanger the public with either.

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    Tasers are dangerous, but the false sense of safety has caused the police to use them too freely. If I were on Chief Herring's jury the case would swing on one thing. Did he take the Tasers away from his officers, and forbid their use on the public? What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If he let them stay in the field, I would consider a statement by him that they were not that bad.

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#7)
    by Che's Lounge on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    I would like to volunteer my services in training police officers in the effects of Tasers. One commenter over at Crooks and Liars linked to a video of police tasering demonstrators (one already flat out on the ground) in Pittsburg last weekend. F***ing cowards.

    Re: Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:02:36 PM EST
    fortunate for bernie kerik that he cashed out early.

    Police Litigation Against Taser Int'l | 8 comments (8 topical)