AI Asks Police to Stop Using TASERs on Children, the Elderly, and Persons W/ Disabilities

Amnesty International Calls on Police to Stop Using TASERs on Children, the Elderly, and Persons With Disabilities

2/9/2005 3:08:00 PM

To: City Desk

Contact: Edward Jackson of Amnesty International, 202-544-0200 ext. 302 or 202-251-3894 (mobile)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is calling for US law enforcement to stop using TASERs on children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities unless those individuals pose an immediate threat to themselves, the life of an officer or a member of the public. AIUSA renews its call following the shooting on Monday of a 14-year-old Chicago boy, who was unconscious for two days after being shot with a TASER and then going into cardiac arrest. There have been other recent new reports regarding children, seniors, and person with disabilities being shot with TASER guns.

"The gun's manufacturer tested TASERs on a few dogs and pigs and has extrapolated from that limited research that the product is safe to use on children, seniors, and people with disabilities," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, AIUSA. "Before those claims can be taken seriously, parents should know the potential effects of being shot with a TASER - that it might affect their child's development. The families of people dealing with mental illness or neurological disorders have a right to know how a 50,000 volt shock will affect a loved one with Alzheimer's or Multiple Sclerosis."

Dr. Schulz went on to say, "TASER abuse in the US has risen to a level that now demands the immediate attention of lawmakers. Instead of being an alternative to lethal force, police departments are clearly using TASERs in situations where they would have never used guns, batons, pepper spray, or any other type of force. These guns were not designed to be used cavalierly on nonviolent, vulnerable populations."

In November 2004, Amnesty International released a report, Excessive and Lethal Force?: Deaths and Ill-treatment Involving Police Use of TASERs, that documents 74 TASER-related deaths in the US and Canada and finds that the widespread use of TASERs has dangerously expanded the boundaries of "acceptable" levels of force.

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For more information, please visit: http://www.aiusa.org

For a copy of Amnesty International's report on TASERs, please visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/Taser_report.pdf

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1. 5 Children (1)

Several of the cases described above involve use of electro- shock weapons against unarmed children, including use of a taser against a child in school and another in a public library. Amnesty International considers that the use of electro-shock weapons against recalcitrant or disturbed children is an inherently excessive and cruel use of force, contrary to international standards recognizing that children are entitled to special care and protection (2). While no national statistics are available, such cases may not be isolated. Amnesty International has received reports of tasers being used by police in schools to break up fights or when dealing with other incidents. In some cases, police reportedly fired their tasers when juveniles walked or ran away from officers.

According to Dr. Anthony Bleetman, one of Taser International, Inc.,'s consultants:

"Elderly subjects and those with pre-existing heart disease are perhaps at an increased risk of cardiac complications and death following exposure to large quantities of electrical energy." (3) Although Dr. Bleetman maintains that TASERs are safe, in the same report he also stated, "The risk of harm might well be higher for using these devices on patients with pre- existing heart and neurological diseases." (4)

Dr. Wayne McDaniel, the primary researcher on Taser International, Inc.'s main heart study told the Miami Herald that, "he didn't design the experiments with kids in mind."(5):

"I don't know that I had ever envisioned the use of this thing on small children, " said Wayne McDaniel, a University of Missouri-Columbia electrical engineer who ran the Taser studies. "I don't think anyone has ever tried to draw any inferences as far as use in children . . . The design of this device is for bad guys. "

Kenneth Foster, a bioengineer who reviewed research on TASERs for the U.S. Department of Defense said:

"I don't think anybody really knows what the risks are using them with people. There's no data whatsoever to justify saying there are no risks. (6)" (NOTE: The Department of Defense was reviewing the military applications of TASERs for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Roger Barr, a Duke University biomedical engineer who studies how electricity affects the body said "kids could suffer nerve or muscle damage from being shot with a (TASER)" (7):

"Kids are going to be more at risk because they're smaller. That means the current is going to be more intense."

A 2002 Australian report exposes even more potential dangers posed by TASERs (8):

Population groups for which tasers carry additional risks:

36. There is a range of population groups which it is likely to be inappropriate to use a taser at any time, as to do so would carry additional health- and life-threatening risks over and above those for other sections of the community.

37. This group would include pregnant women (risk of abortion), people with cardiovascular disease (risk of heart attack and stroke), and people affected by the use of stimulant drugs (risk of sudden death). Other groups to be considered in this context would include children, adolescents, older and people with mental illness. Of course, any risk assessment in this context must be made in the knowledge that the alternative is a firearm and lethal force.

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NOTES:

(1) Page, 22. Excessive and Lethal Force?: Deaths and Ill- treatment Involving Police Use of TASERs, Amnesty International, http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/Taser_report.pdf.

(2) Such standards include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, signed but not ratified by the USA. As a signatory to the treaty, the US is bound not to do anything to undermine the object and purpose of the treaty. The treaty further enshrines the right of those under 18 to protection "from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse ...". A child is defined under international standards as a person under 18.

(3) Page, 17. http://www.taser.com/documents/UK_Review%20_Bleetman.pdf

(4) Page, 20. http://www.taser.com/documents/UK_Review%20_Bleetman.pdf

(5) Experts dispute data on stun guns, Miami Herald, 12/05/04.

(6) Ibid.

(7) Ibid.

(8) The Ministerial Advisory Group's report to the Honorable Andre Haermeyer, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Victoria Police, Melbourne, Australia on the possible introduction of Air Tasers.

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