Officer, suspect safety cited as main reason more area agencies will begin using TASER guns
By T.J. Pignataro
Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Fight with a police officer and, in the past, you risked being on the wrong end of a billy club.
In Erie County next year, more of those who physically challenge police will be shocked by the results.
That’s because the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, Cheektowaga and possibly Amherst police intend to introduce the Taser -- billed as a nonlethal, electroshock weapon. They will join police in the Town of Tonawanda and the cities of Niagara Falls, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda and Lackawanna who already use Tasers.
Buffalo police, however, do not.
“We’ve done a lot of research on them, and we’ve determined they’re worthwhile,” said Capt. John Glascott of the Cheektowaga police. “It’s just another tool in the toolbox.”
The Taser’s use is not without controversy, though, following some isolated tragedies across North America, including last year’s death of a Polish immigrant at a British Columbia airport and September’s death of a mentally disturbed man in New York City.
But area police agencies that already use them hail their safety as well as effectiveness to stun combative people. That in turn has reduced the number of injuries to officers and suspects.
“I know for a fact we have people alive in our town because of them,” said Lt. David Baumgartner of the Town of Tonawanda department, citing at least one case where a suspect attempted to commit “suicide by cop” and was disappointed after police had him in custody moments later without injury.
Capt. John DeMarco of the Niagara Falls police said 16 officers there were injured grappling with suspects -- mostly sprains or muscle injuries -- in the year before the department started using Taser guns.
In the 12 months following, only one was injured.
“And that officer didn’t have a Taser,” DeMarco said. “Instead of having to use a baton or an impact weapon, you hit someone with a Taser and down they go.”
When an officer fires the Taser gun, the weapon delivers 50,000 volts of energy, rendering the target immediately immobile and allowing police to make quick apprehension.
“It shuts down your brain’s ability to talk to the muscles,” said Baumgartner of the Town of Tonawanda, one of the first local law enforcement agencies to use Tasers.
The device, which is usually yellow, is similar in shape to a gun but works differently. When carried by police, it’s usually stored on the opposite hip of the gun belt from an officer’s service pistol to reduce the chance of grabbing the wrong weapon by mistake. The officer pointing the Taser uses a red laser sight to aim.
When the officer pulls the trigger, the weapon deploys two charged micro harpoon-shaped metal probes that lodge into the skin or clothing of the target. Between the probes and the officer’s Taser weapon are thin wires that transmit the electrical charge that incapacitates the suspect for five seconds.
The charge renders the individual unable to continue his fight with police and usually allows authorities to make an arrest with relative ease. In some cases, officers say they’re forced to initiate a subsequent five-second charge on suspects who continue to be combative.
The Taser, which is designed to leave the suspect without any lasting adverse effects, is considered less violent than being struck with a baton and equal to that of pepper spray.
Controversy about the Taser’s use arose this fall in a highly publicized case involving New York City police.
There, officers used the weapon to subdue a distraught naked man in Brooklyn. It resulted in his falling about 10 feet from a ledge to his death. The NYPD supervisor who ordered the use of the Taser was subsequently stripped of his command post and later committed suicide.
Defenders of the Taser said it wasn’t the weapon that caused the man’s death, but rather an ill-advised choice by police to use it in a situation where the man could foreseeably have been injured or killed.
Local authorities refused to comment specifically on the New York City incident.
But being “aware of the situation” and “using common sense” when operating the Taser are important, they added.
Taser use also remains a hot issue in Canada following the October 2007 death of a Polish immigrant at the Vancouver, British Columbia, airport.
The 40-year-old man reportedly became irate after being forced to wait eight hours at customs and was simultaneously Tasered by at least two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers. His heart stopped, and he died at the scene, according to reports.
Locally, though, departments that use Tasers say they have not had negative experiences.
In fact, they say that the number of injuries to police officers and suspects has decreased since officers started using them and word about the new police weapon has spread on the streets.
Local officers have a chance to gain an appreciation for the power of the device when they are subjected to being Tasered during training.
“It’s the most pain I’ve ever felt,” said Town of Tonawanda Officer Patrick Day, who has been Tasered three times. “It’s so intense. It disrupts your nervous system.”
New York State is one of six states nationwide that prohibits the possession of Taser weapons by anyone other than law enforcement.
The Town of Tonawanda introduced Tasers to its officers in 2000. In the eight years since, word has gotten around on the street not to fight with the cops and the mere appearance of the yellow gun on an officer’s belt keeps many suspects in line, police say.
“They call it ‘the chair,’ ” Baumgartner said.
Although the town now equips many of its officers with Tasers, they are used only about once or twice per month.
“As soon as you put the red dot on somebody, they don’t want any trouble,” said Day.
Agencies like the Sheriff’s Office and Cheektowaga that intend to implement Tasers in 2009 plan to gradually introduce a few devices at first. That’s mainly due to cost. Each new X-26 Taser unit runs about $899. The cost of equipment, training officers and putting a Taser program in place runs in the tens of thousands of dollars, police said.
Then there is a continuing cost of training, equipment upgrades and qualifications.
But proponents say those costs are easily offset in the long run by what the department would incur in officers’ time off for injuries and medical bills.
Cheektowaga cautiously studied the effectiveness of Tasers in other towns before deciding to use them, Glascott said. Now, with money in place, the town is poised to move ahead in buying the equipment and training officers.
At the onset, Glascott said, six officers will have Taser guns, and one will be on the road at all times.
Buffalo police have not ruled out Tasers. However, a Taser program in Buffalo is not “on the front burner,” according to Dennis J. Richards, chief of detectives.
Like Glascott, Erie County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Kaderli said the impetus behind his department’s study and planned use of the Taser is officer and suspect safety.
“It’s something we’d like to have as a tool in 2009,” Kaderli said. “It gives us another means to bring an aggressive subject under control.”
Meanwhile, officials in Amherst say they’re still in the process of collecting data and studying the possible implementation of a Taser program.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about them,” said Timothy Green, assistant police chief in Amherst. “We’re taking a good look at it.”
Copyright 2008 Buffalo News