Taser Electronic Control Devices and Sudden In-Custody Death: Separating Evidence From Conjecture

• NCJ Number: 225061
• Author(s): Howard E. Williams
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 226 pages
• Sale Source: Charles C. Thomas
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Case Study
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Based on 213 cases in the United States from 1983 through 2005 in which an unexpected death in police custody followed the use of a TASER on a suspect, this book examines whether the TASER device was a cause of the death or a significant contributing factor.

Abstract

After reviewing the available evidence for each case--based on news accounts, police reports, and autopsy reports--the author concludes that conducted energy weapons (“TASERS”) can be excluded as the direct cause of death in 182 of the 212 cases. In only two cases did the weight of the evidence suggest that the TASER was either a cause of death or a significant contributing factor. Although arguing that TASER electronic control devices are safe less-lethal weapons, the author advises that they are not always effective in incapacitating resisting suspects. In the 213 case studies, there were 131 cases of fatal police shootings and one police fatality following the failure of a TASER to counter a suspect’s attack on an officer. In addition to the case studies, the book contains a chapter on the features and physiological effects of electronic control devices used by police officers. These devices deliver electrical probes discharged from a gun that penetrate through clothing and into the suspect’s skin, causing his/her muscles to contract, such that the suspect is incapable of physical resistance against an officer. The electrical stimuli from the probes interfere with the signals sent by the command and control systems of the body at the peripheral nervous system level, temporarily impairing a subject’s ability to control his/her body. Another chapter reviews research that has identified several predisposing diseases or physiological factors that can increase the risk for sudden death in association with being exposed to a TASER device. A 697-item bibliography, a glossary, an index, and appended data on unexpected deaths following application of TASER-2006 and unexpected deaths by jurisdiction (1983-2006)