Halting Tasers in San Francisco Misses the Point

Tasers can kill, maim and needlessly injure. But that doesn't mean they don't have a place in law enforcement. If used correctly, they've been shown to save lives and money.

San Francisco police chief George Gascón tried and failed to make that point to the city, which will stand by Detroit and Memphis as one of the U.S.'s three major urban centers that don't equip their cops with tasers. The city's refusal to use tasers is a case study in why cops, as well as the public, need more education about the weapon.

Gascón quoted a study saying as many as a third of 15 officer-involved shootings in the last five years could have been prevented if S.F. cops weren't forced to work with a half-full tool bag. By contrast, opponents of Gascón's plan said adding a taser to that tool bag could lead to incidental deaths and police misuse.

Well, they're right -– not because a taser is inherently evil, but because there's a lack of an education about what it really is, what it can do and what it should be used for.

Tasers are regarded by many police departments as a non-lethal weapon, but it's really a “semi-lethal” weapon. And it's the misconception that tasers can't kill that has lead to police misuse and over 400 taser-related deaths nationwide. Cops need to be trained to treat a taser as a weapon that can kill. Repeated tasings, chest shots and unnecessary use need to be educated against and as severely reprimanded as the misuse of a gun.

There is anecdotal and hard evidence that underlines the extent to which cops don't understand tasers. Take the example of Iman Morales. In 2008, the 35 year-old, mentally ill man was tased on top of a building and fell 10 stories to his death. An officer fully aware of how a taser debilitates the central nervous system wouldn't shoot someone on a roof.

There have been cases where multiple shocks and shots to the heart have induced heart attacks. Steven Butler suffered extreme brain damage because of a cardiac arrest brought on by three successive tasings. A properly trained and informed cop would have only tased once and nowhere near the heart.

During the debate in San Francisco, two USF cardiology professors presented a study showing how tasers caused a first-year spike in officer-caused shootings and deaths in 50 California police departments. That spike represents deaths due to a lack of education. As cops learn, studies by the Police Executive Research Forum think tank have shown that rates of shootings in departments with tasers go down dramatically.

A taser isn't always the best option, but it is an option that needs to be available and understood. That re-education needs to start with the makers of tasers. They need to own up and admit their product is a “semi-lethal” weapon.

Cops have to follow through as well, and their record so far has been spotty. There was a recent workshop on tasers in Manhattan, but not a single police officer showed. So much for learning how to save lives.

Photo Credit: Junglecat