Use of Force Continuum needs revisiting due to lethal nature of taser guns (Day of Blogging for Justice)

We have talked quite a bit about the lethal nature of tasers here at Dallas South.  Most recently the device also known as a “stun gun” was in the news due to the death of Baron “Scooter” Pikes.  Pikes was shocked nine times with a Taser in the town of Winnfield, Louisiana.

It’s time for law agencies across the country to revisit the use of this device.  The rate at which African-Americans are subject to taser shocks seems out of whack to say the least.  But a revision in the Use of Force Continuum could make this deadly tool less likely to be used as an instrument of torture and retaliation.

As documented here by way of Electronic Village, the use of force continuum provides law enforcement with a guide of how much force to use against a resisting subject.  Those guidelines go as follows:

Level One * Officer Presence

Level Two * Verbal Commands

Level Three * Empty Hand Control

Level Four * Pepper Spray, Baton, Taser

Level Five * Less Lethal

Level Six * Deadly Force

My suggestion would be that law enforcement consider moving the Taser away from level 4 and creating a 7th level.  The new continuum might look like this:

1) Officer Presence – 2) Verbal Commands – 3) Empty Hand Control – 4) Pepper Spray/Baton – 5) Less Lethal Force – 6) Taser – 7) Lethal Force

The reason for this change would be that tasers have been shown to be quite lethal.  Taser Nation reports that there have been  360 people to die in North America as a result of tasers since 2001.  Truth Not Tasers posts a lists 363 individuals that they report have been killed by tasers.  Here is a list of 46 people that they say have died in 2008 from tasers, which includes a recent death in Dallas.

318. January 2, 2008: Brandon Smiley, 27, Mobile, Alabama
319. January 5, 2008: Ryan Rich, 33, Las Vegas, Nevada
320. January 9, 2008: Otis C. Anderson, 36, Fayetteville, North Carolina
321. January 11, 2008: Xavier Jones, 29, Coral Gables, Florida
322. January 15, 2008: Mark Backlund, 29, New Brighton, Minnesota
323. January 17, 2008: Baron Pikes, 21, Winnfield, Louisiana
324. January 18, 2008: Daniel Hanrahan, 44, Staten Island, New York
325. February 3, 2008: Louis Cryer, 32, Port Arthur, Texas
326. February 3, 2008: Joseph Davis, 50, Brandon, Mississippi
327. February 7, 2008: Richard Earl Abston, 53, Merced, California
328. February 19, 2008: Garrett Sean Farn, 41, Bakersfield, California
329. February 26, 2008: Barron Harvey Davis, 44, Mayes County, Oklahoma
330. March 4, 2008: Christopher Jackson, 37, Clay, New York
331. March 6, 2008: Javier Aguilar, 46, Roswell, New Mexica
332. March 18, 2008: Roberto Gonzalez, 24, Chicago, Illinois
333. March 20, 2008: Darryl Wayne Turner, 17, Charlotte, North Carolina
334. March 21, 2008: James Garland, 41, Deerfield Beach, Florida
335. March 29, 2008: Henry Bryant, 35, Indianapolis, Indiana
336. March 30, 2008: Walter Edward Haake Jr., 59, Topeka, Kansas
337. April 2, 2008: Jason Jesus Gomez, 35, Santa Ana, California
338. April 6, 2008: Yvelt Occean, 31, New Kent County, Virginia
339. April 22, 2008: Uriah Samson Dach, 26, Richmond, California
340. April 24, 2008: Kevin Piskura, 24, Cincinnati, Ohio
341. April 24, 2008: Dewayne Chatt, 39, Memphis, Tennessee
342. April 27, 2008: Paul Thompson, 24, Greensboro, North Carolina
343. April 28, 2008: Jermaine Ward, 28, Jackson, Tennessee
344. May 4, 2008: Joe Kubat, 21, St. Paul, Minnesota
345. May 6, 2008: James S. Wilson, 22, Alton, Missouri
346. May 28, 2008: Ricardo Manuel Abrahams, 44, Woodland, California
347. May 31, 2008: Robert Ingram, 27, Raceland, Louisiana
348. June 5, 2008: Willie Maye, 43, Birmingham, Alabama
349. June 6, 2008: Donovan Graham, 39, Meriden, Connecticut
350. June 8, 2008: Quintrell T. Brannon, 25, Vincennes, Indiana
351. June 9, 2008: Tony Curtis Bradway, 26, Brooklyn, New York
352. June 23, 2008: Jeffrey Marreel, 36, Norfolk, Ontario
353. June 24, 2008: Ernest Graves, 26, Rockford, Illinois
354. June 27, 2008: Nicholas Cody, 27, Dothan, Alabama
355. July 2, 2008: Isaac Bass, 34, Louisville, Kentucky
356. July 4, 2008: Othello Pierre, 23, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
357. July 8, 2008: Samuel DeBoise, 29, St. Louis, Missouri
358. July 8, 2008: Carlos Vargas, 42, San Bernardino, California
359. July 14, 2008: Marion Wilson Jr., 52, Houston, Texas
360. July 14, 2008: Deshoun Keyon Torrence, 18, Long Beach, California
361. July 22, 2008: Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, Manitoba
362. July 23, 2008: Richard Smith, 46, Dallas, Texas
363. July 26, 2008: Anthony Davidson, Statesville, 29, North Carolina

The uneven use of tasers against African-Americans is alarming and is documented at Tasered While Black.  But a common sense solution by law enforcement could make it more difficult for officers to misuse this deadly weapon.  We must continue to put pressure on the agencies involved until the changes are made.