Washington - As police confront
protesters across the United States, they're turning to rubber
bullets, pepper spray, tear gas and other weapons meant to
minimize fatalities.
But some are using a weapon that has potential to kill: the
Taser. When those encounters have turned fatal, black people
make up a disproportionate share of those who die, according to
a Reuters analysis.
Reuters documented 1,081 cases through the end of 2018 in
which people died after being shocked by police with a Taser,
the vast majority of them after 2000. At least 32% of those who
died were black, and at least 29% were white. African-Americans
make up 14% of the U.S. population, and non-Hispanic whites 60%.
“These racial disparities in Taser deaths are horrifying but
unsurprising," said Carl Takei, a senior staff attorney at the
American Civil Liberties Union.
“Police violence is a leading
cause of death for black people in America, in large part
because over-policing of black and brown communities results in
unnecessary police contacts and unnecessary use of force.”
In 13% of the deaths identified in police reports, autopsies
or other records as involving people of Hispanic ethnicity,
Reuters was unable to document race. The race of the person who
died was also unknown in the remaining 26% of the cases.
The deaths illustrate a challenge for US law enforcement
at a time when protests over police killings have thrown a
spotlight on their tactics.
Tasers, which deliver a pulsed
electrical current meant to give police several seconds to
restrain a subject, have been nearly universally embraced since
the early 2000s as a less lethal alternative to firearms. About
94% of America’s roughly 18,000 police agencies now issue
Tasers.
Tasers drew fresh attention over the weekend after the
Friday night death of Rayshard Brooks. A police officer shot the
27-year-old with his handgun after Brooks ran away with an
officer's Taser and pointed it at police following a scuffle,
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
A lawyer for the
Brooks family, L. Chris Stewart, said Brooks’ wielding of the
Taser didn’t justify his shooting, noting that police routinely
argue in court that the devices are non-lethal weapons.
In a series of reports in 2017, however, Reuters identified more than a thousand cases
since 2000 in which people died after being shocked by police
with the weapons, typically in combination with other forms of
force.
Most independent researchers who have studied Tasers say
deaths are rare when they are used properly. But the Reuters
investigation found that many police officers are not trained
properly on the risks, and the weapons are often misused. Tasers
fire a pair of barbed darts that deliver a paralyzing electrical
charge or can be pressed directly against the body – the “drive
stun” mode – causing intense pain.
Some recent examples of Taser misuse highlight the risks and
confusion surrounding the weapon.
On May 30, during nationwide protests over the death of
George Floyd in Minneapolis, two college students, Taniyah
Pilgrim, 20, and Messiah Young, 22, had gone out to get food and
were stuck in traffic due to the demonstrations in Atlanta.
In a confrontation with police caught on bodycam video, one
officer repeatedly struck the driver's side window with a baton
as a second officer stunned Pilgrim with a Taser. A third
officer used a Taser on Young, as the police dragged the black
students out of the car.
Video footage of the officers shocking them drew criticism
around the country. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields
apologized at a news conference the next day.
“How we behaved as
an agency, as individuals was unacceptable,” she said. Young was
treated in the hospital and required stitches. Shields resigned
on Saturday after the Brooks killing.
After the May 30 incident, one officer wrote in a police
report that he used his Taser because he was unsure whether the
students were armed. The Taser’s manufacturer, Axon Enterprise
Inc, warns in guidelines distributed to police departments that
the weapon should not be used on people who are driving or
restrained. And law enforcement experts say Tasers generally
shouldn't be used on anyone who is already immobilized, such as
in a car.
Six police officers involved in the incident -- five of them
black, one white -- were charged for using excessive force. Four
have been fired. Two have sued the mayor and police chief
seeking their jobs back. An attorney representing the two
officers says he believes the firings were politically
motivated.
“The question police should be asking is not: ‘Can I use the
Taser?’ but ‘Should I?’” said Michael Leonesio, a retired police
officer who ran the Oakland Police Department’s Taser program
and has served as an expert witness in wrongful death lawsuits
against Axon.
“This is a dangerous weapon,” Leonesio said. “The
more it’s used, the more people are going to die.”
Axon says its weapons are not risk-free but are safer than
batons, fists, tackles and impact munitions.
“Any loss of life
is a tragedy regardless of the circumstance, which is why we
remain committed to developing technology and training to
protect both officers and the community,” the company said in an
email to Reuters.
“TASE HIS ASS”
On a hot July day in 2017, Eurie Martin, 58, wanted a drink
of water. After walking more than 12 miles to visit relatives
for his birthday, he stopped to ask a homeowner for water in
Deepstep, a town of about 130 people in central Georgia. The
homeowner refused and called police to check out Martin, “a
black man,” according to the district attorney.
Martin was walking on the side of the road when a Washington
County Sheriff’s deputy arrived and tried to speak with him.
Martin, who suffered from schizophrenia, ignored him and kept
walking. The deputy called for backup.
The officers said Martin got “defensive” and “clinched his
fists,” ignoring commands to place his hands behind his back,
the district attorney said. One deputy told another to “Tase his
ass,” according to the officers’ dashboard camera video.
When the deputy fired the Taser, Martin fell to the ground,
removed the Taser prong from his arm, and walked away. A third
deputy arrived and fired his stun gun at Martin’s back, causing
him to fall.
The deputies surrounded Martin as he lay face down, applying
the weight of their bodies and deployed their Tasers 15 times.
Martin could be heard crying out in pain saying, “they killing
me.” He died of cardiac arrhythmia during police restraint,
according to an autopsy.
“He was a victim of walking while black,” said Mawuli Davis,
an attorney representing Martin’s family. The deputies, who were
fired after they were indicted, said they followed their
training on use of the stun gun.
Last November, a judge granted the three deputies – all
white - immunity from prosecution just weeks before they were to
go trial on murder charges in Martin’s death.
In its guidelines distributed to police departments, Axon
warns against using multiple Tasers at the same time. Law
enforcement experts say repeated applications and continuous use
of stun guns can increase the risk of death and should be
avoided.
The sheriff’s office declined to respond to multiple
requests for comment.
The judge ruled the deputies acted in self-defense and that
their use of the Taser was “justified” and “reasonable under the
circumstances.” Citing Georgia’s Stand Your Ground Law, the
judge wrote all people have the right to use reasonable force to
protect themselves against “death or great bodily injury.”
The district attorney appealed the ruling, and the case is
scheduled to be heard before the state Supreme Court in August.
If the high court overturns the lower court’s ruling, the murder
charges against the deputies will be reinstated.
Martin died “for daring to ask for a drink of water in the
Georgia sun,” said his sister Helen Gilbert. “Every person of
common sense knows he did nothing to deserve his death. I will
not rest until this long walk to justice is complete."
SCRUTINY
Deaths involving Tasers typically draw little public
scrutiny – no government agency tracks how often they’re used or
how many of those deployments prove fatal. Coroners and medical
examiners use varying standards to assess a Taser’s role in a
death. And there are no uniform national standards governing
police use of Tasers.
Late in 2009, as evidence of cardiac risks from Tasers
mounted, the manufacturer made a crucial change: It warned
police to avoid firing its stun gun’s electrified darts at a
person’s chest.
But on March 3 in Tacoma, Washington, that warning wasn’t
heeded.
Newly released video and audio recordings show Tacoma police
officers using a Taser and beating a black man as he shouted, “I
can’t breathe” -- similar to George Floyd’s desperate cry when a
white police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee into his neck
on May 25.
Police said they found Manuel Ellis, 33, trying to open
doors of unoccupied cars and that he attacked a police vehicle
and two officers. An attorney for his family said he was walking
home from a convenience store when the confrontation with police
took place.
Police handcuffed Ellis and bound his legs with a canvas
strap after firing a Taser into his chest, according to an
autopsy report. He lost consciousness, and efforts to
resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The medical examiner ruled
his death a homicide. An autopsy listed his cause of death as
respiratory arrest due to hypoxia as a result of physical
restraint.
His death sparked protests in Tacoma on June 5 after video
of the incident surfaced. The governor called for a new
investigation, and the city’s mayor demanded the four officers
involved be fired and prosecuted. Two officers are white, one is
black and the other is Asian. They have been placed on
administrative leave, but have not been charged.
One of the officers, Christopher Burbank, declined to
comment. Attempts by Reuters to reach the other three were
unsuccessful. The Tacoma Police Department said it was
cooperating with county and state investigators.