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Dec. 16, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

LV ranks high in study of suspect Taser deaths

By ANTONIO PLANAS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas leads the nation's cities in suspect deaths involving law enforcement use of Tasers, an Amnesty International study to be released today concludes.

The study found that between June 2001 and August 2008, seven people died after Tasers were used on them. The figure tops that for Phoenix, where five people died after Tasers were used on them, according to the study.

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    • Dalia Hashad, director for the USA program for Amnesty International, said the nonprofit study indicates that more research has to be done to determine the safety of Tasers. At the very least, she said, police should not use Tasers in confrontations with suspects who do not have weapons.

    Hashad said the fact that Las Vegas leads the nation with the most Taser deaths is a possible sign that Southern Nevada law enforcement is using the weapon negligently. A Taser delivers 50,000 volts of electricity to the target, which tenses muscles and incapacitates the body.

    "Behaving erratically, not responding to police, talking back, these are not invitations to use a Taser," Hashad said.

    The study said six of the seven deaths in Las Vegas followed Taser use by the Metropolitan Police Department. One death involved Taser use by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

    Nationwide, 334 people died after they were shot with Tasers, the study said. California and Florida had the highest number of deaths among states, with 55 and 52 respectively.

    Las Vegas police spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said her agency began using Tasers departmentwide in July 2004.

    She said that although people have died after being shot with the weapon, the Clark County coroner never concluded that the use of a Taser was the cause of death.

    "We have no deaths caused by Tasers," Morgan said. "Some of them were narcotics or heart problems."

    The study asserted that in four of the Las Vegas deaths, Taser use was at least a contributing factor.

    In 2004, three suspects died in a six-month period after Las Vegas police used Tasers on them. In one of those cases, a medical examiner did conclude that a Taser contributed to the suspect's death although it was not the primary cause. In three cases, the suspects had cocaine or PCP in their systems. In one case, the suspect on PCP was struck with a Taser seven times while handcuffed.

    Hashad said one of the more egregious cases involving a Taser happened this year in Southern Nevada.

    In early January, doctor Ryan Rich, 33, died after a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper fired a Taser at him. Authorities said Rich was fleeing from a trooper when he crashed his pickup into the center median on Interstate 15, near the Las Vegas Beltway. Moments earlier, he crashed his pickup into at least two other vehicles.

    Rich then fought with the trooper and a motorist who had stopped to help. He tried to run into traffic as he was being subdued, police said.

    Hashad said the trooper should never have used a Taser on an unarmed man who probably was disoriented after crashing his vehicle. "It's really an unfortunate example of how this weapon is used when really no weapon should be used at all," she said.

    Trooper Kevin Honea, spokesman for the highway patrol, said Tasers are safe.

    "We've used them hundreds of times without the same result," he said. "They are a very useful tool. They are classified as a less lethal option."

    The trooper's actions were cleared when a coroner's inquest jury in April found that Rich's death was excusable.

    A forensic pathologist determined the cause of the death was a seizure disorder with other conditions, including police "restraining procedures."

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    Paul wrote on December 16, 2008 11:20 PM: ANTONIO PLANAS:

    You wrote: "She said that although people have died after being shot with the weapon, the Clark County coroner never concluded that the use of a Taser was the cause of death."

    Oh, really?


    bond213 wrote on December 16, 2008 10:12 PM: Tell Dalia to go become a cop and try it sometime


    J Williams wrote on December 16, 2008 09:36 PM: So, had the officers not used the Taser and just shoot these people, how many more would have otherwised died. So, lets get off the Taser issue folks, it's better than having to shoot someone. Think about it.


    Herb wrote on December 16, 2008 03:59 PM: It's not that the police in LV are different than anywhere else, it's just that we have more than our share of riff-raff.


    You must be joking wrote on December 16, 2008 01:06 PM: I agree that the police should not use Tasers when ecountering a person with a weapon. Since that's a deadly force situation, they should go straight to guns. That would in the long run make the world a safer place.

    One of the greatest forms of natural selection is some boneheaded criminal presenting a deadly threat to a police officer. That slowly tends to clean up the gene pool.

    Okay, so there have been a few people who died because of cocaine overdose or their heart exploded while high on crack or meth and the Taser was an aggravating factor.

    But how many people has the Taser saved? If the police didn't have the option of the Taser, many more would simply be justifiably shot.

    Anyone ever think of that?

    Amnesty International. Not really interested in the truth. Not really interested in what is right. Only interested in making headlines, getting donations and making money. When was the last time Amnesty International succeeded in doing anything good for truly oppressed people? Take a look at Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, N. Korea, many more. When was the last time they accomplished anything there?

    When the bullets fly and you are afriad, run to them. Run to the cops who will protect you despite who you are.


    You must be joking wrote on December 16, 2008 01:05 PM: I agree that the police should not use Tasers when ecountering a person with a weapon. Since that's a deadly force situation, they should go straight to guns. That would in the long run make the world a safer place.

    One of the greatest forms of natural selection is some boneheaded criminal presenting a deadly threat to a police officer. That slowly tends to clean up the gene pool.

    Okay, so there have been a few people who died because of cocaine overdose or their heart exploded while high on crack or meth and the Taser was an aggravating factor.

    But how many people has the Taser saved? If the police didn't have the option of the Taser, many more would simply be justifiably shot.

    Anyone ever think of that?

    Amnesty International. Not really interested in the truth. Not really interested in what is right. Only interested in making headlines, getting donations and making money. When was the last time Amnesty International succeeded in doing anything good for truly oppressed people? Take a look at Rwanda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, N. Korea, many more. When was the last time they accomplished anything there?

    When the bullets fly and you are afriad, run to them. Run to the cops who will protect you despite who you are.


    Ben Dover wrote on December 16, 2008 12:50 PM: Why would any cop in this valley bother using a taser. These clowns in uniform havve been given carte blanche to shoot anyone they want, knowing they'll get a pass from the ridiculous coroners inquest system.


    John wrote on December 16, 2008 11:07 AM: Clark County should also be listed as the most dangerous in the country for police shootings and prison overcrowding and judicial abuse and corruption.. How many cops got away with murder over the past 8 years??

    You complain of prison overcrowding and you complain of police shootings! Think about it! If there were no police shootings, the prisons would be more crowded!

    Stick to the article. This is about tasers. Less lethal force. The point of them is to not kill people. But more important not get harmed themselves.

    Maybe you need to focus on the crime. If nobody breaks the law, then nobody gets tased or shot.


    Yes wrote on December 16, 2008 10:54 AM: Clark County should also be listed as the most dangerous in the country for police shootings and prison overcrowding and judicial abuse and corruption.. How many cops got away with murder over the past 8 years??

    People, you need to join The October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. Fight for American Freedoms.

    http://october22-ny.org/





    See wrote on December 16, 2008 10:00 AM: Las Vegas leads the nation's cities in suspect deaths involving law enforcement.

    So what is anybody to do about this?

    Its called Domestic TERRORISM, and its the cops and judges that are doing it and supporting it.

    Citizens lives are at risk. Contact your congressmen, senators and future President. Call for a Citizens Protective Act. Anything.

    Stop the police abuse..

    This is Nazi Germany ALL OVER AGAIN.


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