Pubdate: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2005 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/ Website: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 Author: Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) IN SOME CASES, TASERS CAN KILL, COMPANY WARNS The Stun Gun Maker Says Subjects In A State Of Excited Delirium Are At Risk, And Law Enforcement Officials Say They Are Training Users To Recognize Symptoms TAMPA - Taser International, maker of the controversial stun guns used by thousands of law enforcement agencies from Tampa Bay to London, has issued a training bulletin that warns repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair breathing and respiration." For subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal health risks," according to a recent posting on Taser International's Web site. The three-page bulletin, which comes as the Tarpon Springs and St. Petersburg police departments prepare to outfit officers with stun guns, appears to counter instructions in a training manual issued last year by Taser International last year. It also departs from the manufacturer's previous dismissals of safety concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers. Most deaths were later attributed to drugs, pre-existing heart problems and excited delirium, a psychotic and typically drug-induced state in which the heart is susceptible to cardiac arrest. But last month, a medical examiner in Chicago became the first in the United States to attribute a criminal suspect's death to a Taser. The suspect had methamphetamine in his system when the officer stunned him, the Chicago Tribune reported. Taser vice president of communications Steve Tuttle wrote in an e-mail this week that the company is simply reminding officers to use "only the necessary amount of force" when stunning suspects. St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon is aware of the bulletin, but it won't affect his recent decision to let officers carry Tasers, said agency spokesman Bill Proffitt. "People in this excited delirium state are already at death's doorstep, and we already have to restrain them to get them medical care," Proffitt said. "The training that we provide officers will include the ability to recognize symptoms, and it will go over the limitations on use of the weapon and the necessary medical procedures." Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said agency leaders attended a seminar in April in which excited delirium and the use of Tasers were discussed. Since then, deputies have been advised during roll call about the symptoms, he said. The department's policy, like those of other large agencies in Tampa Bay, does not address the issue of multiple, prolonged firings. But it advises deputies to consider other options besides Tasers for subjects who are very young or very old. Pinellas deputies are not to use Tasers on pregnant women. "At this point it doesn't appear the bulletin will impact our policy," McMullen said. Tampa police Cpl. Tommy Downes, a longtime sniper team member, said any use of force - hand-to-hand, Tasers or pepper spray - is more of a health risk for subjects high on drugs or in some other psychotic state. "Their pain receptors aren't working, they're overheated, they're super strong," Downes said. "Yet if you have someone who's tearing up a place or attacking people and exhibiting all the hallmarks of excited delirium, you have to do something." The Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough Sheriff's Office are working to craft new Taser use policies that mirror each other. Neither policy currently addresses multiple firings, but they prohibit "indiscriminate or punitive" Taser use. Hillsborough deputies are trained to use the Taser "until the person quits resisting arrest," Sheriff David Gee said. * * * A Taser looks and fires like a gun. But instead of bullets, it shoots two dart-like probes that deliver about 50,000 volts of electricity, according to Taser International. Unlike other stun guns, which have to be pressed to the skin to deliver a shock, the Taser's probes can travel more than 20 feet. With the first pull of the trigger, it shocks the target for five seconds. Hit the trigger again, and it blasts for another five seconds. Keep holding the trigger, and it can deliver a continuous shock until the battery wears down. More than 7,000 police, detention and military agencies in 43 countries now have Tasers, according to Taser International. "It's a lifesaver," said Tampa police Officer Mike Collins, who patrols east Tampa. "We don't fight suspects as much as we used to, and the word has spread to most of the bad guys that we carry these." Tasers are used by deputies in Pasco and Citrus, and police officers in Clearwater, Temple Terrace, Dade City and Port Richey. Tarpon Springs police recently got the okay to carry them. Longtime holdout Harmon gave in last month. "I'm more comfortable now," Harmon said this week. "There's a lot more research and data than there was before on how these work and whether they are effective." The Pinellas and Hillsborough sheriff's offices are seeing fewer officer injuries since arming deputies with Tasers. Between 2003 and 2004, the first full year that Pinellas sheriff's deputies carried Tasers, the agency saw a 37 percent decline in the number of deputies injured while using force on a suspect, records show. It was the lowest number of injuries in five years, said McMullen, agency spokesman. In Hillsborough, Taser use declined even though more deputies carried them, said Col. Carl Hawkins. In the first six months of this year, when 1,362 deputies carried Tasers, the number of Taser firings fell to 60, from 93 the year before. Administrators credit the results to policies that require deputies to document Taser use, even if they miss. The agency also downloads information regularly from the data chips in deputies' Tasers. Gee's agency has dealt with one in-custody death following Taser use. Henry Lattarulo, a Seffner man, died in May 2004 after a Hillsborough sheriff's deputy hit him with a Taser. The medical examiner's office concluded the cause of death was "accidental cocaine-induced agitated delirium." Taser International's bulletin warns that repeated shocks can impair breathing and cause strong muscle contractions that can injure "tissues, organs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints." Yet on Page 157 of the November 2004 Taser training manual, instructors are advised that "students should anticipate using additional cycles to subdue suspects." The next page does tell trainees that "especially when dealing with persons in a health crisis such as excited delirium, it is advisable to minimize the physical and psychological stress." Tampa police Officer Sarah Hinsz has fired a Taser once in the past few months since she started carrying one. She used it when a mentally ill man she had encountered a few days earlier grew agitated, tearing off his clothes and telling her, "You'll have to kill me." "If I hadn't used my Taser, I would have had to pull out my pepper spray and get close to him, and probably wouldn't have been able to overpower him," she said. "Then we're going toe to toe, and he's a threat to me. Then I have to pull out my gun." [Sidebar] Tasers At A Glance Pinellas County Sheriff's Office: 460 Tasers issued. January to March: 294 reported uses of nonlethal force, 112 of them Taser firings. No deaths following Taser use. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office: 1,362 Tasers issued. January to July: 116 reported uses of force, including 60 Taser firings. One suspect died in May 2004 following Taser use. Death was later determined to be drug-related. Tampa Police Department: 924 Tasers issued. January to July: 152 Taser pointings and 108 firings. No deaths following Taser firings. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth