By Marisa O’Neil, Daily Pilot (Los Angeles, California)
COSTA MESA, Calif. - The image of cops blasting away at robbers is becoming more and more a thing of the past, a relic more typical of the movies than the mean streets.
Today, police officers have a cache of “less lethal” weapons to subdue combative suspects, from Taser stun guns to shotguns that fire racquetball-like rounds. But these still pack a mean punch and are usually reserved for worst-case scenarios.
“These tools are like an insurance policy,” Costa Mesa Cpl. Mark Manley said. “We have to have them there if we need them, but most of the time we don’t have to use them.”
Such devices are designed to battle dangerous suspects or for those who are actively resisting arrest. Using them helps officers temporarily incapacitate a person who poses a threat to the public or to officers without having to resort to lethal force, Manley said.
Among those tools are Costa Mesa’s new, .40-caliber shotguns that fire blue, rubber rounds the size of a racquetball. The department also has five new Taser stun guns.
Sergeants in the department got the Tasers this summer. So far, they haven’t had to use them, Manley said. Just the sight of them has been enough to coax a surrender.
But even the less lethal weapons have their risks.
The Brea Police Department is facing a lawsuit from the family of a man who died after being shot with a Taser stun gun last year. The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating the incident.
A Question Of Use
Last month, Las Vegas Police reviewed its use of Tasers after two in-custody deaths since the department started using the stun guns last year. Both deaths occurred after officers used the Taser guns on handcuffed prisoners, prompting officials to restrict their use in such cases.
“We’re training officers to use them effectively,” said Jim Owens, captain of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department training bureau. “They’re a tool like everything else on the belt. We have to decide when to use them.”
Miami-Dade Police in Florida have received harsh criticism since officers there shot a 6-year-old boy with a Taser gun last month, when he threatened to cut himself with a glass shard. That department has also reviewed its use of the weapons.
Costa Mesa Police want to avoid any such problems, Manley said. Its policy states that officers can’t use stun guns on handcuffed suspects, children, the elderly or pregnant women, he said.
The United States Department of Defense Human Effects Center of Excellence looked at the stun guns and last month released some initial data on their effectiveness and safety. Some in-custody deaths associated with the Taser may also be drug-related, but the weapon isn’t totally without its dangers, the study said.
“Although likely to be uncommon, some severe, unintended effects might occur,” a summary of the report read.
Full results of the study are yet to be released.
Not Always The Best Solution
The Taser shoots two barbs that can latch on to a person’s clothing or skin and deliver a five-second, 50,000-volt shock. That causes the muscles to momentarily stiffen, temporarily incapacitating the suspect, in most cases without causing long-term effects.
“It hurts like the dickens for about five seconds, then it’s over,” Owens said.
If a suspect continues to act combatively, the officer can pull the trigger to deliver another five-second shock.
But it isn’t the best solution in every situation, Manley said. The barbs can hit someone up to about 20 feet away, but they aren’t recommended for use at close range.
“The Taser is a tool, and if it’s not the right tool, there are others available,” Manley said.
Some of those include pepper spray, the baton and a retractable baton. Costa Mesa Police also have the new shotguns that fire .40-caliber rounds similar to a racquetball at 325 feet per second, said Dave Kress, the department’s range master.
It works like a long-distance baton strike.
“It’s like getting hit with a Nolan Ryan fastball,” he said.
The shotguns are designed so they can only be loaded with the less lethal ammunition, unlike some other guns that can accidentally be loaded with lethal rounds, Kress said. They have far more accuracy than beanbag guns, he said.
That precision is important because officers are trained to shoot at bodily areas with a large amount of muscle mass. If someone were struck in the head, they could die.
A Boston woman died last month when she was struck in the eye with a ball filled with pepper spray. A police officer fired the round while trying to control a crowd after a Boston Red Sox playoff game.
“Using the sponge-round projectile, it flies extremely accurately,” Kress said of Costa Mesa’s .40-caliber guns. “Even with minimal instruction, if someone’s aiming at a guy’s thigh, they’re not worried about it flying erratically and hitting him in the groin.”
Officers have eight hours of training before getting the guns and are required to pass annual recertifications. The department has similar requirements for the Tasers.
And that, Kress said, is the key to preventing injuries to officers, the public and suspects. Using tools like the Taser and .40-caliber gun keeps officers from getting into physical fights to subdue combative or intoxicated arrestees, fights that might result in broken bones for both parties.
“It’s that 1% [of people] we worry about,” Kress said. “It could happen here tomorrow. And if [officers] aren’t trained, we’re in trouble.”
Costa Mesa Police officers are not given hard-and-fast rules about when to use which weapon, Kress said. For that, they must draw on their training.
“Officers are trained to make split-second decisions that are ones they have to be able to justify later,” Manley said. “That’s why we’re trained and retrained and held to a high standard of training. We’re constantly asked to polish our skills.”
Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley, who previously worked with the Tasers in the Cypress and Manhattan Beach police departments, said the department will get a few more Tasers in the near future. Officers will use them only if the situation warrants, he said.
“I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of use of the Taser, but it’s good to have if we need it,” he said.