Maryland police routinely use tasers in non-threatening situations and disregard safety guidelines

RT
Mon, 21 Mar 2016 04:23 UTC

© Reuters/Sebastien Nogier

Police officers in Maryland regularly used Tasers in "non-threatening situations" and disregarded safety guidelines, according to an investigation examining three years of Taser incidents in the state.

The Baltimore Sun created a database of every reported Taser use by police from 2012 to 2014 with information obtained through the Maryland Public Information Act, in the first-ever analysis of Taser use in Maryland.

Out of nearly 3,000 Taser uses over three years almost 60 percent of the people that police hit with Taser guns were described as "non compliant and non-threatening"; 64 percent of those hit were black men.

Only 20 percent of suspects who were tased were armed with a weapon and only 2 percent were in possession of a gun.

The investigation also revealed that the recommended guidelines for Taser use were not followed in hundreds of incidents;

Police discharged the weapon for longer than 15 seconds in one out of every ten incidents.
Officers fired the weapons at the chest in 119 incidents in 2014 - even though Taser has warned since 2009 that this could cause cardiac arrest.

Three people died after being repeatedly hit by a Taser in "drive-stun" mode, when it is pushed directly onto the body, and two died after being hit with multiple asers at the same time.

#Taser safety bulletin advises user to avoid chest due to excessive use of force claims. https://t.co/qzf6I84tNK pic.twitter.com/2Vutmeln5r

— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) March 20, 2016

The case of Anthony Howard in 2013, who died after being tased by police in Montgomery County was one such incident where there was a huge violation of guidelines.

Howard, who was high on cocaine, came to police attention for dancing on an SUV roof.

Officers claimed he had thrown boulders and charged at them but a 17 minute long video taken by a local resident showed Howard standing still, holding a child's scooter as police approached him.

Police in Maryland didn't follow Taser safety recommendations in hundreds of incidents. https://t.co/HGOHiZhb4g pic.twitter.com/v611g7iLH7

— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) March 19, 2016

Police fired two Tasers at Howard nine times for a total of 37 seconds, after he fell to the ground.

Tasers or similar stun guns have resulted in more than 400 deaths nationwide since 2009.

California had the highest number of fatalities at 60, while Maryland ranks in the top 15 with 11 deaths - five of these were as a result of Tasers being used for longer than recommended.

In four Taser-related deaths in Maryland, the state medical examiner's office found that "excited" or "agitated" delirium was a contributing factor

Sun analysis: Agencies with the highest Taser use, 2012-2014: https://t.co/A7NAdHTRWD pic.twitter.com/bpONi4HVuu

— Sun Investigates (@SunInvestigates) March 20, 2016

Comment: Cops in Maryland are not the only ones with a cavalier attitude toward the use of tasers. According to a recent report in The Guardian:

...many police departments are still not regulating the use of Tasers in accordance with nationally accepted standards. According to 29 guidebooks on ECWs obtained by the Guardian from police departments where a death has occurred after the weapon was deployed this year, an overwhelming majority of them flout key tenets of the expert advice:

• Twenty police departments do not guide officers against more than three shocks in all but exceptional circumstances.
• None of the 29 departments, according to their use of force guidelines, mandate use-of-force investigations into incidents where an ECW is deployed for more than 15 seconds.
• Twenty-two departments do not advise against deploying ECWs if the sole justification is that the suspect is fleeing.
• Twenty-five departments do not advise against using an ECW's "drive stun" mode, when the weapon is thrust directly into the skin to cause pain, as a compliance technique.
• Thirteen departments do not explicitly restrict officers from deploying their ECWs if a suspect is already in handcuffs and does not pose an exceptional threat.
• Eight departments do not even explicitly require officers to give a warning, when possible, before the ECW is deployed.