By Glenn Smith
Post and Courier
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Tasers and other stun guns have proved effective in limiting injuries to police and suspects, but law enforcement needs to guard against potential abuse by officers who overly rely on such tools, a three-year study by University of South Carolina researchers found.
The findings are included in one of the largest studies conducted into police use of force and injuries that result from stun guns, pepper spray, batons and firearms. The study, funded by a $650,000 U.S. Justice Department grant, comes at a time when more than 11,500 police agencies use Tasers to control suspects.
Geoff Alpert, a USC criminology professor and principal investigator for the study, said researchers found electrical stun devices and pepper spray clearly reduce the likelihood of injuries to officers and suspects.
But the study also found evidence of “lazy cop syndrome” in which some officers used their Tasers too quickly and too often. “Some officers are over-reliant on (stun guns) and are not putting their hands on suspects,” he said.
The team’s findings were based on data from a national survey of law enforcement policies and practices on the use of force, as well as statistics from police agencies in Miami; Seattle; Columbia; Austin, Texas; and Orlando, Fla. Between 2005 and 2008, researchers reviewed some 24,000 police cases and interviewed more than 250 officers and citizens.
Among other things, researchers found the rate of injuries to suspects and officers in Orlando dropped by more than half after police began using Tasers. In Austin, the rate of injuries to suspects fell 30 percent after Tasers were introduced, while the rate of officer injuries fell by a quarter.
Stun guns use an electromagnetic pulse to override a person’s nervous system, temporarily disabling a suspect and giving officers a brief window to cuff and control him.
A 2006 analysis by The Post and Courier found that North Charleston police fired or threatened to use their Tasers 201 times in an 18-month period.
About 230 Charleston County sheriff’s deputies carry Tasers, and the stun guns have proved “an excellent device” in stopping suspects through non-lethal means, Maj. John Clark said.
Deputies are trained to use their Tasers only when necessary, such as when a suspect resists arrest, threatens an officer or tries to escape. The Sheriff’s Office tracks and reviews Taser use by each officer to ensure no abuse is occurring, he said, adding that “99.9 percent of the time, the use has been justified.”
Still, civil rights groups have questioned the frequency of Taser use and the safety of the devices. Such questions gained traction in 2006 when a man with a history of mental impairment died after being stunned nine times with a Taser by North Charleston police.
The USC study looked at reported deaths related to the use of stun guns like the Taser. While low in rate, a few deaths were associated with excessive rounds of stun gun shocks. Whether stun guns led to or played a role in the majority of deaths in question remains unclear, the study found.
Alpert said Tasers are valuable and effective tools for law enforcement, but they must be accompanied by good policies and training, monitoring and systems for accountability.
“I think police departments have to control their use, just like they do with batons, firearms or any other tool,” he said. “If not, they face the possibility of having these tools taken away from them, and that would be a real shame.”
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