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ACLU asks Rhode Island police to stop using stun guns

The Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I.- A Rhode Island civil liberties group wants police departments to stop using Taser guns.

The call for a moratorium comes from the state branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

It’s prompted by the Sunday death of a Woonsocket man who was shocked by a Taser.

Investigators say Woonsocket police used one of the electric stun guns to jolt 41-year-old Timothy Picard when he became unruly.

Picard was handcuffed in the police station at the time.

Police haven’t said exactly what he was doing.

A state medical examiner says determining what killed Picard could take weeks.

Since 1986, more than 180 people nationwide have died after they were subdued with police stun guns.