New Taser warning prompts police to avoid aiming for chest

Andrea Jackson

Nov. 8, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office claims a perfect record from last year of hitting a target that officers now plan to avoid.

The aim that law enforcement officers take with their Taser guns to incapacitate unruly people is changing, authorities said, since Taser International (NASDAQ:TASR) recommended on Oct. 12 that police avoid aiming for center mass, or the chest area.

The Arizona-based company cites risk management as a top reason agencies such as the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office should consider moving the target.

"Should sudden cardiac arrest occur in a scenario involving a Taser discharge to the chest area -- it would place the law enforcement agency, the officer, and Taser International in the difficult situation of trying to ascertain what role, if any the Taser (electronic control device) could have played in a unique situation that cannot be replicated," according to Taser International.

Aiming at least a few inches lower for frontal shots is "not a significant change" according to Taser, which maintains that the preferred target continues to be the back.

According to Taser, the risk of an adverse cardiac event is "extremely low."

"However, it is not possible to predict, nor test against the entire spectrum of potential human physiologies or conditions such as unpredictable combinations of drugs of unknown concentration or origin in the presence of underlying cardiac or other disease," according to Taser.

Not everyone is a fan of police using stun guns.

Rather than just changing officer's target, Amnesty International wants law enforcement to stop using Taser's -- at least until more safety research can be done -- or limit their use to only situations where firearms would be used.

"Medical studies so far on the effects of Tasers have either been limited in scope or unduly influenced by the weapons' primary manufacturer," according to Amnesty's Web site. "Amnesty International is concerned that Tasers are being used as tools of routine force -- rather than as an alternative to firearms."

According to Taser's Web site, though, its products have reduced injuries to suspects by up to 79 percent and "an estimated 9,000 lives have been saved by use of the Taser."

Amnesty says that "more than 351 individuals in the United States have died after being shocked by police Tasers" since June 2001.

Taser claims its product "has one of the lowest liability and litigation risk profiles of any use-of-force tool or technique."

The sensation of electric current passing from two Taser probes into the body has been described as feeling similar to sticking a finger in an electric socket. Charged by two, three-volt batteries, Taser Electronic Control Devices used by the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office are designed to emit 50,000-volts of electricity, with 17 pulses per second, for up to five seconds.

The weapons can also be used to "drive-stun" people -- directly applying the gun to the body instead of shooting the electric probes -- and can be equipped with an optional Taser Cam audio and video recorder.

Tasers are the best non-lethal tool that law enforcement has used during the past 20 years, according to the sheriff's office, which plans to change policies and training to have officers aim away from the chest area.

It will be an adjustment, though, since deputies aimed for center mass -- as they are trained to do with firearms -- all 28 times that TASER guns have been used on people since 2003, according to the sheriff's office. Last year, deputies used Taser guns on seven people, hitting center mass each time.

"They were all center mass," said Lori Stewart, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. "That was the prescribed target area, up until this point."

But there are no promises that people stunned in the future will not be hit in the chest area, authorities said.

The Twin Falls Police Department has never taught officers to aim for the chest or center mass, said Lt. Craig Stotts. They're trained to aim for the back.

"If the situation dictates that they have no other option and they have to deploy it at the chest area or front area, then officers, they will do that," Stotts said. "But again, the primary target is the back."

Since 2007, when city police adopted Taser, they have been used on people 33 times, with 16 deployments hitting the back, Stotts said. According to city police numbers, five times Taser probes have hit people in the chest area, six struck the torso and arm areas, four were individual drive stun, one hit in the legs and one was unknown because the suspect got away.

Every time that Twin Falls police use a Taser gun on someone they must complete a "Use of Force" report that is reviewed within their departments to determine if policy was followed.

The sheriff's office and police department in Twin Falls cite those reports in saying where people have been shot over the years with Taser's. The reports are considered confidential because they contain identifying information about officers involved.

About 54 Twin Falls police officers carry Taser guns. Each costs more than $800. Each time they are fired, a wire cartridge that costs about $25 must be replaced, Stewart said.

That's money well spent, Stotts said.

"We believe it has cut down on injuries," he said. "... We're able to incapacitate them and put handcuffs on them before anyone gets hurt."

Injuries or deaths connected to Taser guns appear rare locally, though one case made local headlines last year.

In 2008, a doctor and graduate of Minico High School, Ryan Rich, 33, died after being hit with a police Taser in Las Vegas, Nev. Calls to his family were not returned for this story, but a jury inquest in April 2008 found the trooper who shocked Rich committed excusable homicide. The Taser "did its job," Nevada Highway Patrol Capt. Pat Gallagher said last year.

There are no district or federal court cases listing Taser as a plaintiff or defendant in Idaho, according to an online search of the state's court records system.

But according to Taser, legal issues are a key reason for the recommendation to shoot away from center mass.

"We believe this recommendation will improve the effective use of Taser ... While also further increasing safety margins and enhancing the ability to defend such cases in post-event legal proceedings," the company wrote in its recent training bulletin.

Ninety-six of 131 law enforcement agencies in Idaho use Taser products, according to Taser International, though (OOTC:ITGH) the company declines to say which ones because of competition.

But a telephone survey of law enforcement officers in south-central Idaho shows that most do have Tasers on their belts. Exceptions include Rupert Police, Minidoka County Sheriff's Office and Idaho State Police.

Former ISP officer and Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said Taser "has its place" and supports its use in his new department.

"We will most likely be adopting whatever protocols come about and what ICRMP (Idaho Counties Risk Management Program) recommends," he said.

State police, however, found that "the benefit wasn't there" and never jumped on the TASER bandwagon, according to McFall.

"At some point you can have only so many tools," he said. "Tasers, I believe, have definitely saved lives ... more than caused death."

Idaho State Police Capt. Kedrick Wills, who supervises Jerome's ISP branch, said that "since we don't use them, and I have never used them in my career, I don't know enough about them to speak intelligently about them at all."

Alternatives to Tasers can include pepper spray, batons, bean bag guns and physical force, which McFall says can cause even greater injury.

The Idaho Sheriff's Association, along with the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training agency, and government insurer ICRMP, all do not track what agencies use Taser guns, but recommend they consider Taser's warning and a policy change.

After Taser issued its October bulletin, ICRMP got "numerous inquiries and expressions of concern," according to an e-mail from ICRMP provided by the Idaho Sheriff's Association.

"ICRMP continues to believe that, used appropriately, the TASER is an effective law enforcement tool," the e-mail reads.

ICRMP last week denied a Times-News public records request records of any stun gun-related paid claims. ICRMP Director Rick Ferguson said in a Nov. 2 letter that ICRMP's "system does not identify stun gun or 'Taser' related claims."

Whether or not a law enforcement agency uses Taser guns is not an underwriting question for county or city insurance coverage, said Ferguson.

But changing aim takes away "one more possibility of the officer maintaining compliance," said McFall, who adds that "if the level of force has reached deadly force then those rules don't apply anyway."

Since Taser's bulletin, Stotts said Twin Falls Police will continue to aim for the back and away from center mass.

"We will reiterate through training the importance of target areas," Stotts said. "We've always taught our officers that if they had to deploy it at somebody's chest, we aim low to minimize the chance of the neck or the face (being hit)."

McFall says deputies may need to train more in light of Taser's announcement.

"It would cause officers to have a higher skill level to avoid certain areas," he said. "It's not a totally new thing to identify target areas."

Andrea Jackson may be reached at ajackson@magicvalley.com or 208-735-3380.

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