NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

Taking
Tasers
Seriously:
The Need for
Better Regulation
of Stun Guns
in New York

NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
125 Broad Street, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10004
www.nyclu.org

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This paper was written by Corey Stoughton, Taylor Pendergrass, Helen Zelon and Alia Al-Khatib.
It was edited by Mike Cummings, Helen Zelon and Jennifer Carnig.
Graphics were created by Sara LaPlante.
It was designed by Li Wah Lai.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation’s foremost defenders of civil
liberties and civil rights. Founded in 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties
Union, we are a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with eight chapters and regional
offices and nearly 50,000 members across the state.
Our mission is to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values embodied in the
Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and the New York Constitution, including freedom of speech
and religion, and the right to privacy, equality and due process of law for all New Yorkers.
For more information about the NYCLU, please visit www.nyclu.org.

Taking Tasers Seriously:
The Need for Better Regulation
of Stun Guns in New York
C ont e nts

2011

1	 Executive Summary
5 	 Introduction
7 	 PART I: Taser Dangers: A Growing Recognition	
		

Concerns about Lethality	

		

Concerns about Taser Abuse

		

The Courts’ Increasingly Serious Approach

		

Nationwide Calls for Reevaluation

17 	Part II: Tasers in New York: Overuse and Dangerous Deployment	
		

The Use of Tasers Where the Suspect Poses No Danger or Risk of Injury to Anyone

		Excessive Number and Duration of Shocks
		

Targeting of Dangerous and Sensitive Areas of the Body

		

Failure to Warn Prior to the Use of a Taser

		

Over-Reliance on Drive-Stun Mode

		

Targeting At-Risk Populations and Using Tasers in Dangerous Situations

		

The Disproportionate Use of Tasers on People of Color

27	 Part III: Recommendations
		Recommendation 1
		Recommendation 2
		Recommendation 3
31 	End Notes	

I

n 1911, intrepid adventurer
Tom Swift “invents” an Electric
Rifle, with which he slays rhinos,

elephants and other fearsome
African beasts, in Volume 10 of the
beloved science-fiction series.
In the late 1960s, physicist John
(Jack) Higson Cover—who earned
his doctorate at the University of
Chicago studying under renowned
nuclear physicists Enrico Fermi
and Edward Teller—invented a real
electric weapon, and named it for
his childhood hero: He called it
the Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle,
or TASER.
A century after the novel’s
release, Tasers are nearubiquitous in law enforcement.
How they are used, and how
officers and their superiors
monitor their use, are the
subjects of this report.

Image used under Creative Commons from Cea. via Flickr.

Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

Executive Summary

T

 asers or “stun guns,” deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity intended to
incapacitate their victims. Long lauded as safer alternatives to deadly force,
Tasers are in use by 16,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S.—including
350 in New York State—and have been linked with hundreds of deaths.

Agencies Purchasing Tasers
Law Enforcement, Correctional, and Military Agencies
16,000
15,108

14,000

16,009

13,938
12,500

12,000
10,567

10,000

If

close to 65,000 agencies

7,073

6,000

first quarter sales
are indicative of sales for the year,

8,764

8,000

4,000

16,224
(as of March)

will purchase Tasers

in 2011.

4,300

2,000

2,010
1,100
500
2000
2001
2002
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

More than a dozen New Yorkers have died after Taser shocks, some in police
custody and others with mental illness whose families turned to law enforcement
for help, only to suffer mortal loss. Since February 2004, news reports have documented five deaths after Taser shocks in Suffolk County alone. Scores more across
the state have been hurt or humiliated when officers, lacking consistent guidelines
and thorough training, deployed Tasers inappropriately.

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

To better identify and understand patterns of Taser use in New York State, the
New York Civil Liberties Union analyzed 851 Taser incident reports from eight
departments across the state as well as 10 departments’ guidelines for Taser use,
obtained through the state Freedom of Information Law and public sources. These
records show that officers misuse and overuse these weapons, resorting directly to
Tasers rather than less intrusive police tactics to calm, subdue or arrest people they
encounter. They also suggest a lack of awareness of the risks of multiple, prolonged
shocks; of the particular danger Tasers pose to vulnerable populations; and of the
need to avoid sensitive areas of the body, including the chest. While some studies tout the benefits of Tasers as a tool for law enforcement, the absence of sound
policy, training and guidelines to direct the powerful weapons’ proper, lawful use
contributes to this disturbing pattern of misuse and overuse and puts the state’s
residents and visitors at unnecessary and unjustifiable risk.

The NYCLU’s analysis found:
●● Nearly 60 percent of reported Taser incidents did not meet expertrecommended criteria for justifying Taser use—criteria that limit the
weapon’s use to situations where law enforcement officers can document
active aggression or a risk of physical injury.
●● Fifteen percent of incident reports indicated clearly inappropriate
Taser use, such as officers shocking people who were merely passively or
verbally noncompliant with a police order, or where a suspect was already
handcuffed or restrained.
●● Only 15 percent of documented Taser incidents involved people who
were armed or who were thought to be armed, belying the myth that
Tasers are most frequently used as an alternative to deadly force.
●● More than one-third of Taser incidents involved multiple or prolonged
Taser shocks, which experts link to an increased risk of injury and death.
●● More than 1 in 4 (27 percent) of Taser incidents involved shocks directly
to subjects’ chest area, despite explicit 2009 guidelines by the weapon’s
manufacturer instructing users to avoid firing Tasers at the chest area,
citing a risk of “potential cardiac consequences.”

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

February 2004, Southampton Village,
Suffolk County. David Glowczenki, 35,
died after being Tasered nine times in a
confrontation with police on Southampton
Village’s Main Street. Glowczenki’s family
had called the Southampton Village
Volunteer Fire Ambulance Corps because
he became agitated after learning that his
family sought to place him in a psychiatric
hospital for treatment of his schizophrenia.
Glowczenki, carrying a Bible, fought with
police officers, knocking one officer to
the ground. In the struggle that followed,
Glowczenki was beaten, maced, sprayed
with pepper spray and shocked nine times
with the Taser. “He had no weapon and

committed no crime,” said his sister, Jean
Griffin, after her brother’s death.
An independent pathologist conducted
an autopsy on Glowczenski’s body and
documented evidence of excessive force,
including electrical burns consistent with
Taser shocks.
(A $75 million civil lawsuit was filed by the
family against four village police officers,
the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, the
Southampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps
and the Suffolk County Police, and a second
lawsuit filed against Taser International, for
$55 million.)

●● In 75 percent of incidents, no verbal warnings were reported, despite
expert recommendations that verbal warnings precede Taser firings.
Half of the jurisdictions surveyed do not, in fact, require officers to issue
verbal warnings.
●● Forty percent of the Taser incidents analyzed involved at-risk subjects.
Taser experts caution against Taser use on children, the elderly, the visibly
infirm and individuals who are seriously intoxicated or mentally ill — “the
very individuals” most likely to be in contact with police, according to the
International Association of Chiefs of Police. Of these incidents, 30 percent
involved situations where officers were called to assist with a mentally
disturbed individual with no indication or suggestion of criminal activity.
●● People of color are overwhelmingly represented in Taser incidents.
Of all incidents in which race was recorded, 58 percent involved black
or Latino New Yorkers. In Albany, where 28 percent of the population
is black, 68 percent of Taser incidents involved black subjects; similar
disproportionalities were evident in Syracuse and Rochester.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

As the NYCLU’s analysis demonstrates, these problems are directly linked to
the fact that use-of-force policies governing the use of Tasers lack consistency
and, with the exception of the NYPD, do not comply with the recommendations of national law enforcement experts that have developed model policies for Taser use. Moreover, seven of the eight jurisdictions surveyed by the
NYCLU analysis appear to rely exclusively on training materials provided by
TASER International, the weapon’s manufacturer—an approach that experts
widely condemn as inadequate preparation for crucial decisions in the field.
In addition to these fundamental flaws in policy and training, law enforcement
agencies are not doing enough to monitor and supervise the use of Tasers in
the field. The incident reports obtained by the NYCLU showed grossly inconsistent and incomplete record-keeping, a significant obstacle to accountability
and proper assessment of the risks and rewards of Tasers.
Defining and practicing the “appropriate use” of Tasers remains the outstanding
challenge in the effort to ensure that Tasers do not cause more harm than good.
Accordingly, the NYCLU recommends the following:
1.	 New York State law enforcement agencies must reform use-of-force polices and Taser training programs to comply with nationally recognized
expert guidelines, such as the guidelines created by the United States
Department of Justice and the Police Executive Research Forum.
2.	 The State of New York must play an active role in promoting and
achieving universal adoption of these expert-recommended policies
and guidelines, and in ensuring that local agencies coordinate their
Taser policies and training programs.
3.	 The State of New York and local law enforcement agencies must require
accurate, complete reporting and robust monitoring of Taser use. Such
reporting should be made available to the elected officials responsible for
oversight of law enforcement agencies and to the citizens whose taxes
support them. n

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

Introduction

S

ince their widespread introduction more than two decades ago, Tasers
have been lauded by their manufacturer and by law enforcement as a
safe and effective way of subduing criminal suspects. At the same time,
they have been condemned by critics as dangerous and routinely misused.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently noted that more than 200
Americans have died after being shocked by Tasers.1
Notwithstanding the controversy, Tasers are here to stay: In the U.S., 16,000
law enforcement agencies now use Tasers, including 350 in New York State.2

Despite their widespread use, there has been little
systematic reflection by state law enforcement or
other government officials on the use of Tasers. National experts have developed comprehensive model
use-of-force
use-of-force policies and training recommendaand Taser
tions, but no studies have compared how New York’s
programs.
varied policies and training programs compare to
those models and recommendations. And there
has been no meaningful examination of whether
the thousands of New York law enforcement officers who carry Tasers deploy
them safely and consistently, within sound use-of-force guidelines.

Reform

policies

training

This report is a first step to filling the research gap. Between April of 2009
and January of 2010, the New York Civil Liberties Union requested, pursuant
to New York’s Freedom of Information Law, use-of-force policies and training materials governing Tasers from 10 law enforcement agencies representing urban, suburban and rural areas of the state.3 In addition, the NYCLU
requested reports detailing individual incidents in which officers used or
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

displayed a Taser from eight police departments statewide.4 Combined, the
eight departments provided 851 individual reports.
Our review reflects poorly on New York. The incident reports show that
many officers use Tasers in inappropriate and potentially dangerous ways.
The policies we examined are inconsistent and, with the notable exception
of the NYPD’s policy, generally fail to comply with the recommendations
of national law enforcement experts, particularly those recommendations
designed to avoid dangerous and inappropriate Taser use. Most departments
queried rely solely on training materials prepared by the weapon’s manufacturer, Taser International—a widely-condemned approach that fails to fully
prepare officers for when and how to deploy Tasers. n

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

PART I:
Taser Dangers:
A Growing Recognition

T

 asers have two modes: In “probe mode,” an electro-shock projectile
delivers up to 50,000 volts in a series of pulses through barbed wires
shot at a person. In “drive-stun mode,” the stun gun delivers its charge
at close range directly from metal contacts on the weapon.

March 2008, Clay, outside of
Syracuse. Police officers summoned
to the Norstar apartments were
confronted by a resident, Christopher
H. Jackson, shortly after 9 p.m.
Officers used a Taser to subdue
Jackson. Within 90 seconds of
the Taser shock, Jackson was
unresponsive to direct questions,
witnesses said, and paramedics were
summoned. Jackson experienced
cardiac arrest in the ambulance and
was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s
Hospital and Health Center.

In probe mode, the weapons are designed to disrupt the
central nervous system and temporarily incapacitate the
subject. The barbed wires attach directly to the skin or
clothing of the subject to deliver the electrical charge
and the barbs are meant to be removed only by a medical professional.5 In drive-stun mode, which does not
require the use of barbed wires, the electric shock is
designed to cause sufficient pain to induce compliance.
Taser International, the weapons’ primary manufacturer, has aggressively marketed Tasers as a safe method
of controlling dangerous or combative subjects.

Concerns about Lethality
As Taser use spread in the United States, so did reports
of their lethality. A 2005 report from the American
Civil Liberties Union of Northern California documented several fatalities associated with Tasers and
highlighted the lack of independent medical studies of their effects, especially the effect of multiple
shocks.6 That same year, the Arizona Republic reviewed
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

autopsy reports in several dozen Taser-related deaths.
In at least 18 cases, the medical examiner listed Tasers
as a cause or contributing factor.7
In 2006, both the United Nations Committee Against
Torture and the United Nations Human Rights Committee raised concerns about American law enforcement’s Taser use, and Amnesty International called for
a Taser moratorium.8 In 2008, Amnesty linked Tasers
to the deaths of 334 people in the United States,9 and
Canadian authorities undertook a comprehensive
review of their policies and practices following reports
of a high number of Taser-linked fatalities.10

June 2008, Southampton,
Suffolk County. Brooklyn native
Tony Curtis Bradway, 26, died shortly
after police officers shocked him
twice with a Taser. The officers had
been called to a Southampton
home on unrelated matters when
one noticed a plastic bag of white
powder, thought to be cocaine.
Bradway tried to swallow the plastic
bag as police officers Tasered him.

Even today, with nearly two decades of experience,
The coroner’s report said Bradway’s
scientific evidence of Taser safety is lacking. In May
death was due to cardiac arrest,
2011, an independent study published by the DOJ
raised serious concerns about the possibility of serious
although it could not be determined
injury and death from continuous or prolonged Taser
whether possible cocaine ingestion
activations, as well as their use in and around water
or shock-induced ventricular
or hazardous materials and on vulnerable populations
such as persons prone to dangerous falls, persons with
fibrillation—a disturbance of the
pacemakers or defibrillators, intoxicated or mentally
heartbeat linked to Taser use—was
disturbed persons, and “small children, those with
the primary cause.
diseased hearts, the elderly, pregnant women and other
potentially at-risk individuals.”11 These are not merely
exceptional situations; according to the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, mentally disturbed, intoxicated, stressed and
otherwise “unhealthy” subjects are “the very individuals most likely to come
into contact with police.”12
Academic studies acknowledge Tasers’ potential lethality and have raised
concerns about the ongoing lack of authoritative studies establishing their
safety.13 Concerns over lethality increased in October 2009, when Taser
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

March 2005, Guilderland.
Fifteen-year-old Stephen Bishop,
a student at Colonie High School,
and a 16-year-old friend were at the
Crossgates Mall food court when a
mall security guard called them “fruit
loops” and asked them to leave. The
boys complained to mall security;
security personnel then called the
security officer who had asked them

International’s new targeting guide recommended that
officers avoid firing in the chest area due to potential
cardiac consequences.14
Nonetheless, several studies link Tasers with reduced
injury rates among both law enforcement personnel
and the people they encounter, as well as reductions
in the use of lethal force.15 These studies suggest that,
despite their risks, Tasers can be important and useful tools, provided they are deployed with appropriate
training and within adequate use-of-force policies.
The question then becomes whether Tasers are deployed appropriately in practice.

to leave and two police officers.
When Bishop’s friend, whose name
has not been released, reached for a
book, an officer mistook his gesture
and grabbed his arm, causing a
scuffle, in which both teenagers
were shocked twice with Tasers and
handcuffed. Both boys were charged
with resisting arrest, misdemeanor
assault and obstruction of justice.
“He was only hit twice,” Police Chief
James Murley said later of Bishop.
His friend, who weighed 114 pounds
at the time, was left with burns and
significant bruises.

Concerns about Taser Abuse
The DOJ recently noted that Tasers “are rapidly
overtaking other force alternatives. Although injury
findings suggest that substituting [Tasers] for
physical control tactics may be useful, their ease of
use and popularity among officers raise the specter
of overuse.”16
This concern is not hypothetical. Amnesty International
has documented multiple incidents of repeated or prolonged shocks, in which subjects were unarmed and did
not appear to present a serious threat and in which subjects were handcuffed or otherwise already restrained.17
The ACLU of Northern California’s study noted that
most police department policies fail to limit multiple
shocks, permit Tasers against passive subjects and those
already handcuffed or restrained, and do not prevent the
use of Tasers on particularly vulnerable people, including pregnant women, small children and the elderly.18
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

Expert guidelines caution against
multiple shocks and require officers to
justify each additional application of
force. Here, the young man was Tasered
twice, but the arresting officer provided
no justification for the need to
administer a second Taser application.

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

Expert guidelines caution against
multiple shocks and require officers to
justify each additional application of
force. Here, the young man was Tasered
twice, but the arresting officer provided
no justification for the need to
administer a second Taser application.

The young man was Tasered in his
chest and lower torso, despite
Taser International’s warning that
shocking someone in the chest
area creates a heightened risk of
cardiac arrest.

This report shows that the
arresting officer did not attempt
any other police tactics before
Tasering the young man in the
chest. There was no documented
threat of violence toward the
officer or the public. This is a
prime example of how officers
often default to using Tasers even
when other options are available.

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

A 2006 study by the Louisville Courier-Journal showed that officers “used the
weapons in dozens of situations in which neither they nor others appeared to
be at risk,” including situations of “verbal non-compliance,” and when subjects showed no active resistance or aggression or were handcuffed.19 Tasers
were frequently used against the mentally ill, juveniles and people fleeing
after minor crimes, such as shoplifting.20 That same year, the PERF noted that
the results of studies then available showed that “multiple and continuous”
Taser activations “may increase the risk of death or serious injury, and that
there may be a higher risk of death in people under the influence of drugs.”21
The review “indicated a real need for more attention to the issues related to
[Taser] activation on persons operating vehicles, handcuffed persons, and
fleeing suspects.”22

The Courts’ Increasingly Serious Approach
Advocates and law enforcement experts are not alone in raising concerns
about Taser misuse. Courts, too, acknowledge Tasers’ potential dangers in
evaluating the liability of law enforcement officers and municipalities for
injuries caused by their use.
The use of Tasers, like any use of force by law enforcement officers, is governed
by constitutional principles that prohibit excessive and unreasonable force.23
Graham v. Connor 24 makes clear that the use of force is constitutional only if
it is objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.25
In the first generation of Taser litigation, some courts credited now-abandoned,
overbroad claims about the safety of, and relatively minimal harm caused
by, Tasers.26 In recent years, however, as the public, law enforcement experts,
medical professionals and advocates have become better educated about the
risks Tasers pose, so too have the courts. Police officers who deploy Tasers do
so knowing that the Taser inflicts extreme pain and may cause serious injury
or death. An officer may be liable for an unreasonable Taser use and municipalities may be liable for policies that promote Taser overuse or misuse, and for
the failure to adequately supervise and train their officers.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

September 2008, Brooklyn. Iman

911,” another neighbor, Sharonnie Perry,

Morales, 35, had a long history of

said. “She called for assistance and the

emotional disturbance and mental

assistance she got was her son being killed.”

illness. When police arrived in response
to Morales’ mother’s call for help, saying
he had stopped taking his antipsychotic
medications, a naked and agitated
Morales stepped out of his mother’s
Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building
and onto a narrow second-floor ledge,
brandishing an 8-foot fluorescent light
bulb as if it were a light saber. As his
mother pleaded with officers not to shoot
her son, saying “he’s sick,” Emergency
Services Officer Nicholas Marchesona fired
his Taser at Morales, on the orders of Lt.
Michael Pigott.
No air bag was in place to break Morales’
fall (officers had radioed for an airbag; it
hadn’t arrived). Morales fell 10 feet to the
pavement and died. “He just fell face first,”
said a neighbor, Sean Brown. Morales
was pronounced dead on arrival at Kings

On the day of Morales’ funeral, Lt. Michael
Pigott took his own life with another
officer’s handgun. Earlier, Pigott, a 21-year
veteran officer who was distraught since
Morales’ death, apologized to Morales’
family for the Taser death and asked that
Officer Marchesona not be blamed for
Pigott’s decision. A suicide note found
near Pigott’s body said that he did not
want his three children to see him in
handcuffs, as he feared arrest. Pigott died
on his 46th birthday.
The NYPD analysis later said that “the
order to employ the Taser . . . appears
to have violated guidelines” that were
issued in June 2008, including directions
that prohibit Taser use “when the subject
is in a position where a fall may cause
substantial injury or death.”

County Hospital. “His mother called

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

In Tennessee v. Garner, the Supreme Court prohibited deadly force “unless
it is necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to
believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical
injury to the officer or others.”27 While a Taser may not always be a deadly
weapon, it clearly constitutes the use of deadly force. For example, courts
have held that use of a Taser on a person who is standing at a substantial
height constitutes the use of deadly force.28 In addition, prolonged or multiple
Taser discharges may be recognized by courts as deadly force, particularly
when applied in combination with face-down restraint or to at-risk individuals such as the mentally ill and individuals under the influence of narcotics.29
Courts also recognize the “increased potential for possibly lethal results created by newer models” of Tasers.30
Even when not used in a manner that constitutes deadly force, Tasers may
still “pose a risk of permanent or significant injury.”31 As early as the mid1980s, a New York court noted with regard to Tasers that “there has been
great concern about the impact on people with heart problems ….”32 Courts
have specifically recognized that Tasers cause “serious and substantial harm”
to persons taking psychotropic medication and the mentally ill.33 (It is important to note that it is the risk of injury that is important to the Fourth
Amendment analysis, not whether that risk was realized.)34
The pain Tasers inflict is another factor in determining reasonable force
under the Fourth Amendment. Courts have described the effect of a Taser
discharge as “shocking, burning, and even rendering numb its target;”35 and
“a painful and frightening blow, … temporarily … rendering the victim
helpless.”36 Courts agree that a Taser used in drive-stun mode causes acute,
significant and severe physical pain.”37 One court cited the testimony of a law
enforcement officer who compared a Taser shock to “being hit on the back
with a ‘four-by-four’ by Arnold Schwarzenegger.”38
The growing legal consensus about the serious risk of pain, injury and death
with Taser use parallels an increasing number of court decisions finding
Taser use unconstitutional and sanctioning officers and law enforcement
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

agencies for their improper use. Courts have found Taser use unconstitutional
in scenarios that New York police departments appear to have implicitly
or explicitly permitted (see Parts II and III below.) For example, courts
have held it is unconstitutional to use a Taser multiple times on an already
restrained person39 and on a mentally unstable individual who was not
suspected of a crime and posed no immediate threat to officers.40 It is also
unconstitutional to use a Taser even once on a nonviolent, noncompliant
person suspected of only a minor crime,41or a nonviolent person suspected
of a traffic violation who was not threatening or fleeing.42
Law enforcement agencies that fail to provide officers with appropriate training
and guidance about constitutional Taser use may be held responsible for the
misuse of the weapons. For example, courts have permitted claims against
municipalities where a police department failed to provide timely periodic
trainings after the manufacturer updated safety information;43 where a police
department failed to train officers regarding the use of Tasers on the mentally ill;44 and where Taser use was authorized against individuals who were
“passively resisting” police orders.45 Law enforcement agencies must appropriately instruct and train their officers on the use of Tasers and must require
sufficient reporting on Taser use to promptly analyze, identify and correct
any misuse.

Nationwide Calls for Reevaluation
Departmental policies often exacerbate the dangers of Taser misuse and
provide insufficient guidance to officers on the weapons’ proper use. A 2005
study of use-of-force policies by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed enormous inconsistency among law enforcement
agencies as to when it is appropriate to use Tasers.46 Some policies permitted use only when there is a risk of physical harm. Other policies are much
broader, permitting Taser use when a person is passively resisting an officer,
for example. As a result, the GAO report concluded that “a standardized
training program on the use of Tasers is needed.”47

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Some law enforcement agencies have begun to reevaluate the rush to adopt
Tasers. In Maryland, the Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic Weapons issued a 2009 report urging greater accountability and community
involvement in local decisions to adopt Tasers, as well as more stringent
training and use-of-force policies.48 The report noted that training materials
provided by the Taser manufacturer “tended to significantly understate the
risks.” Underestimating risk, coupled with the ease of Taser use, “appears to
have led to over-reliance on [Tasers]… particularly in response to low-level
threats of harm and situations that have now been shown to involve a heightened risk of injury or death.”49
In light of this nationwide controversy surrounding Tasers, there is strong
reason to believe that New York law enforcement authorities should carefully evaluate their approach to these weapons, consider measures to decrease
over-reliance on Tasers and limit their misuse, and monitor policies and
practices governing the use of these weapons. To date, however, no such
efforts have occurred. n

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Part II:
Tasers in New York:
Overuse and Dangerous Deployment
	

T

 he NYCLU’s review of several hundred incident reports involving
Tasers, as well as the policies and procedures governing Taser use,
paints a disturbing picture. Inconsistent and incomplete reporting
means that the data presented here only provide a rough sense of the reality
on the ground. Nonetheless, the information that can be gleaned from these
reports and policies shows that improperly trained law enforcement officers
are using Tasers in ways that are ineffective, unnecessary and expose people
in New York to the risk of serious injury or death.
The pattern of misuse and overuse of Tasers fall into seven distinct categories:
the use of Tasers where the suspect poses no demonstrated danger or risk of
injury to any person; the administration of excessive numbers of or excessively long shocks; dangerous targeting of vulnerable areas of the body, such
as the chest, neck or genitals; the failure to warn a subject prior to using a
Taser; the over-reliance on drive-stun as opposed to probe mode; the use of
Tasers on vulnerable populations or in dangerous situations; and the disproportionate use of Tasers on people of color.
These failings can be linked directly to inadequate policies and training
governing the use of Tasers in New York. Drawing on recommendations and
model policies prepared by national law enforcement experts, the NYCLU
found that the policies and training of New York police departments are
severely lacking, specifically with regard to the issues identified above. While
a few departments across the state, including the NYPD, comply with expert
recommendations, most miss almost every mark. On the whole, the policies
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

January 2009, Salina, Onondaga

her children protested. When Harmon

County. Onondaga County Deputy

resisted his efforts, he used his Taser to

Sean Andrews pulled Audra Harmon, 38,

shock her twice, landing a barb in her

over on a routine traffic stop, charging

upper left chest, despite Harmon’s plea

that she had been speaking on her

to stop: “Don’t do this in front of my

cell phone while driving, which she

children,” she begged. After the second

denied. Andrews next said Harmon

Taser shock, Harmon fell to her knees.

was speeding, asserting that she had

Andrews pushed her to the ground and

driven 50 miles an hour in a 45 mph

handcuffed her. Andrews took Harmon

zone. Harmon stepped out of her van

into custody on charges of disorderly

to confront Andrews. He told her to get

conduct and resisting arrest. Her children

back into the minivan, but asked her to

were left unattended in the family van

step outside her vehicle shortly thereafter.

until their father arrived, 40 minutes later.

(A video camera on Andrews’ squad car

Prosecutors dropped all charges against

captured the scene.)

Harmon after they viewed the video from

Harmon, accompanied by her 15-year-

Deputy Andrews’ squad car.

old son and 5-year-old daughter, was

(In December, 2009, Onondaga County

frightened by what she perceived as

legislators unanimously agreed to award

Andrews’ erratic behavior. She clung

a $75,000 settlement in response to a

to the steering wheel. Andrews pulled

lawsuit Harmon filed.)

Harmon out of the van by her arm as
surveyed revealed a patchwork of inconsistent and often inadequate policies.
Most departments appear to rely solely on training materials prepared by
the manufacturer of these weapons, suggesting that officers are not receiving
proper guidance on when and how to use Tasers.

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Each of these issues is discussed in more details in the sections that follow.

The Use of Tasers Where the Suspect Poses No Danger or Risk
of Injury to Anyone
Experts and advocates alike agree that Tasers should be used only where there
is active aggression by a subject or a documented threat of physical harm to
another person.50 Unfortunately, less than half of the incident reports reviewed
(42 percent) documented facts showing such a justification for the use of the
Taser. In 35 percent of incident reports reviewed,
documentation provided in the reports indicated that
the subject was only engaged in defensive or pasNearly
sive resistance, establishing that the use of the Taser
percent
affirmatively did not conform to expert recommenof Taser use
dations. Fifteen percent of incident reports reviewed
did not meet
expert
involved officers firing Tasers without documenting
recommended
any justification for the weapon’s use beyond the fact
use.
that the subject was fleeing or non-compliant with a
police order. This misuse appears to be widespread.
With the exception of Nassau County, every law
enforcement agency surveyed reported at least one
incident of Taser use against a merely passively resisting or verbally noncompliant person.

60

Particularly disturbing were the number of incidents in which Tasers were
used on people in flight or in handcuffs, a use of force condemned by law
enforcement experts.51 In 7 percent of incidents, officers’ reports showed that
subjects were handcuffed or otherwise restrained, and 4 percent of the reports
indicated that the individual was merely fleeing from the officers.
The data, while imperfect,52 shatter the illusion that Tasers are primarily used
as an alternative to deadly force on armed or otherwise dangerous subjects.
Indeed, only 15 percent of Taser incidents reviewed for this report involved a
subject who was armed or thought to be armed.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

These disturbing statistics reflect the fact that
In at least
almost none of the departmental use-of-force
of
policies reviewed for this report complied
with expert recommendations governing the
, subjects were
appropriate circumstances for the use of Tasers.53 Most of the policies surveyed defined
already
the proper use of Tasers far more broadly
than experts recommend or in a vague manner not reflective of the careful recommendations of experts, creating the likelihood if not
the certainty of overuse and abuse of Tasers.
The Glens Falls Police Department, for example, permits the use of a Taser
whenever it is deemed “reasonable and necessary,” in light of the “totality of
circumstances surrounding the incident.” Indeed, some policies authorized
Tasers in circumstances
specifically condemned
by experts, such as use
on already restrained or
handcuffed individuals.

7 percent

incidents

restrained.

In only

of incidents,

15
percent

subjects were

A few departments admirably specify that Tasers
may never be used for
punitive or coercive purposes. Fewer still say that
Tasers may not be used to
compel compliance with
a police order. But even
these departments fail to
require documentation of a specific threat of harm or injury. Such vague and
facially inappropriate policies make it inevitable that a substantial percentage—well over half—of the incident reports reviewed for this report failed to
document active aggression or a threat of harm to a person as a justification
for using the Taser.

armed

or thought
to be.

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

	

Excessive Number and Duration of Shocks
Most deaths associated with Taser use involve multiple or prolonged discharges,54
which experts say are extremely dangerous. Model policies require individualized assessment of the need for additional shocks or shocks longer than the
standard five-second cycle.55 Unfortunately, more than one-third (38 percent) of the incidents reviewed by the NYCLU involved multiple shocks, with
16 percent involving three or more shocks. Prolonged shocks were reported
less frequently, appearing in 3 percent of records reviewed, with the majority occurring in one department—the Glens Falls Police Department. There,
nearly 20 percent of the Taser incidents reported involved prolonged application of the Taser.
Rarely do officers justify the reasons for additional or prolonged shocks. For
example, the Glens Falls Police Department reported 15 instances in which
Tasers were deployed three or more times. In none of these reports did the
officer provide any specific indication of why the weapon was used in this
dangerous manner. Frequently, the officer said nothing at all. In a 2008 incident, an officer applied four cycles in drive-stun mode against an uncooperative individual, but provided only a single sentence explanation.
This situation plainly is linked to the fact that the majority of departments
surveyed provide no caution against multiple or prolonged Taser discharges
in their use of force policies.56 The silence of these policies invites abuse.
The Albany Police Department policy stands out in this regard. Contrary
to expert recommendations, it appears to endorse repeat Tasering, without
precaution or limitation, until people are compliant or apprehended. The
policy states, “Compliance through incapacitation is the desired goal, and
to that end the officer should be prepared to administer continued electrical charge(s), in the event that the initial 5-second charge is not effective,
until the subject is compliant and/or apprehended.” This language embodies no recognition or warning of the dangers of prolonged or repeated Taser
cycles, sets no limit on the number or duration of cycles and does not require
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

individualized assessment of the need for repeated or
prolonged Tasering.

June 2008, Harlem. Alexander

A few departments, recognizing if not fully responding
to the risks associated with multiple Taser cycles, urge
caution before Tasering someone multiple times, but
set no specific limits or a requirement for individualized assessment for consecutive cycles.57 The inconsistency and incompleteness of New York’s policies in
itself raises serious concerns.

retired NYPD Lieutenant Alexander

Targeting of Dangerous and Sensitive
Areas of the Body

the neck, shoulder, face and rib cage,

The matter of targeting Tasers at particularly sensitive
areas of the body has generated a great deal of controversy in the wake of Taser International’s 2009 warning against targeting the chest area.58 Even before this
announcement, expert recommendations encouraged
departments to avoid sensitive areas of the body, such
as the head, neck and genitalia.59

mental anguish, according to his

In 27 percent of the reports NYCLU reviewed,
an officer fired at a person’s chest, the very
area the manufacturer warns against. In 14
incidents, individuals were shocked in the
head, neck or groin.

Lombard III, the 18-year-old son of
Lombard II, was Tasered four times
at a Harlem barbeque when police
intervened in a fight between two
female guests.
Lombard received Taser shocks to
resulting in permanent scarring and
father. The teenager was also beaten
with a nightstick and placed in a
choke hold.

In more than 1 out of 4

incidents,

an officer fired at a

person’s

chest.

Although most departments surveyed provide
some targeting guidance, some provide no
guidance whatsoever, licensing officers to
target subjects without limitation.60 Even among those that guide Taser
targeting, many policies are incomplete, covering only some of the most
vulnerable areas, or limiting targeting guidance to drive-stun mode only.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

September 2009, Syracuse.
A.E., a 15-year-old student at Fowler
High School, was shocked by a
Taser meant for another student,
school officials later stated, as school
resource officers attempted to stop
an afterschool fight between two
girls. School officer James Stone shot
his Taser toward one of the girls in
the fight. But Stone’s Taser missed its
mark and struck A.E., who was trying
to stop the fight. The officers did not
announce their intent to use the Taser,
and students had no warning before
the officers fired the Taser barbs.

Two departments—the NYPD and the Suffolk
County Police Department—appear to follow Taser
International’s warnings about targeting the chest,
suggesting that most New York State officers operate
Tasers with insufficient guidance.

Failure to Warn Prior to the Use of a Taser
In light of the dangers of Tasers and their purpose to
de-escalate potentially violent situations, experts recommend that officers issue a verbal warning before
using the weapons.61 In 75 percent of the incidents
reviewed, however, there was no documentation
of a verbal warning in the use-of-force report. The
departmental policies surveyed do not uniformly
require a warning before firing a Taser at a subject; indeed, the surveyed departments split almost
evenly between those requiring a warning and those
that do not.62

Over-Reliance on Drive-Stun Mode
A.E. was shocked and handcuffed
in full view of 30 to 40 students who
pleaded with the police officers to
stop, saying that he was not part of
the fight. He suffered pain, injury and
emotional distress as a result of the
Taser shock. In 2010, the NYCLU filed
a suit against the Syracuse Police
Department on behalf of A.E.

Experts strongly emphasize that Tasers are meant
to be used in probe mode whenever feasible, both
because it is more effective and because it is safer.63
Only two departments surveyed—the Guilderland
Police Department and the NYPD—incorporate this
concept into practice, by requiring that drive-stun
mode be used only as a last resort or in exceptional
circumstances. One department, Saratoga Springs,
cautions that drive-stun mode is less effective, with no
mention of the dangers of over-reliance on this method. The remaining departments either are entirely
silent or leave the decision to the officers’ discretion.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

					
Unsurprisingly, among those departments that document the mode of use,
drive-stun mode was used in 47 percent of Taser deployments. Probe mode
accounted for 53 percent, suggesting that officers use the more dangerous,
less effective mode with alarming frequency.

Targeting At-Risk Populations and Using Tasers in
Dangerous Situations
In addition to the dangers of targeting specific areas of the body, experts
warn of the dangers of targeting physically or mentally vulnerable people,
including the inebriated.64
Despite these warnings, our analysis suggests
that Tasers are regularly used on intoxicated
people. In 40 percent of incidents surveyed,
officers reported that the subject showed signs
of intoxication.

In almost

HALF of the incidents,

officers used the

‘drive-stun’ mode

last resort.

-meant only as a
Although Taser use on children and the elderly
are relatively rare, they provide disturbing examples of Taser misuse. In a 2005 report from
the Guilderland Police Department, an officer Tasered a 13-year-old boy who
had allegedly been involved in a fight at a shopping mall. During the arrest, the
officer gave no indication that he felt threatened or that the boy had threatened
himself or those around him. Nonetheless, the officer deployed a Taser and
struck the boy’s thigh. The officer’s narrative indicated nothing more to justify
the Taser’s use than that the weapon was fired in order “to gain compliance.”

Experts caution that an apparent mental health crisis or mental distress
should not be a justification for using a Taser to subdue a subject.65 Yet in
about 30 percent of the incident reports reviewed, the officer using a Taser
was responding to a “mental health” call (with no suspicion of criminal activity) or the officer reported that the subject was seriously mentally ill.

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August 2004, Queens. Terence
L. Thomas, 35, of Hempstead,
Long Island, was under arrest in a
holding cell in the 105th Precinct
in Queens when he became
agitated and banged his head
into the holding cell wall. Thomas
refused medical attention and
resisted officers’ attempts to calm
him; police said later that Thomas
might have swallowed crack
cocaine to avoid its discovery
after his arrest. Four police officers
and four fire department medical
workers tried to subdue Thomas,
who was shocked with a Taser at
3:45 a.m. Thomas experienced
cardiac arrest in the ambulance en
route to Queens Hospital Center,
where he was pronounced dead
at 4:30 a.m. (Analysis of Thomas’
stomach contents revealed
cocaine.) Thomas’ family was
not permitted to see his body at
the hospital, and charged that his
face was bruised and beaten in a
Polaroid they were shown.

In a particularly disturbing report from the Syracuse
Police Department, a total of three officers each used
their Tasers against a mentally ill man. In their individual reports, each officer reported firing and applying
multiple Taser cycles. The first applied five to six cycles,
the second four to five cycles, and the third three to six
cycles. The man had refused the officers’ orders to get
on the floor, yet at no point in the report did the officers
document any risk of harm. Only one officer issued a
verbal command to attempt to control the situation before the man was Tasered – more than a dozen times. No
charges were ever filed against the man.
The failure of many departments’ policies to caution
officers against using Tasers on vulnerable populations
contributes to this problem.66 Even in departments that
do provide guidance, the lists of “vulnerable populations”
are inconsistent with one another and incomplete relative
to expert recommendations.
Expert guidelines deliberately enumerate risky situations in which Tasers should be avoided. Once again,
many departments’ policies are silent on this subject, and
the guidance that is provided is often inconsistent and
incomplete. Reliable data on how frequently Tasers are
used in identifiably risky situations could not be gathered from the incident reports surveyed because police
departments across New York do not require detailed
reporting of this kind of information.
	

The Disproportionate Use of Tasers on
People of Color

Among departments that track race in their incident
reports, black and Latino New Yorkers accounted for
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

58 percent of Taser incidents.67 Closer scrutiny of the
data illustrates precisely how disproportionate that
statistic is to the relative population. For example,
according to the most recent census data available,

December 2004, Guilderland.
On the day after Christmas, Swahiti
S. “Chevron” Bolden, 34, of Albany,
was outside a Houlihan’s restaurant

40

percent
of incidents
involved

at risk subjects:
children
elderly
infirm
intoxicated
mentally ill

with his family in the Crossgates
Mall. Mall police called local police
officers at 1:30 p.m. when Bolden was
acting “belligerently.” Once police
officers arrived, Bolden declined to
show them his identification. Officers
Tasered Bolden twice: The first shock
did not penetrate his winter clothing,
but a second shock was applied
directly to his groin. Witnesses say
that Bolden was handcuffed before

28 percent of the population in Albany is black, yet
68 percent of those Tasered were black.68 Similarly,
in Syracuse, 56 percent of individuals involved in a
Taser-related incident were black – more than twice
their presence (25 percent) in the total population.
In Rochester, 48 percent of those Tasered were black,
while 38 percent of the population is black.

being Tasered; police officers say that
Bolden was resisting arrest and that
the Taser shocks permitted them to
handcuff him.

Full analysis of this troubling pattern of heightened Taser use in communities of color falls outside of the scope of this report. But it echoes consistent
and disturbing practices of over-policing in communities of color and the
disproportionate impact of abusive police practice on these communities. n

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Part III:
Recommendations

T

  hese troubling statistics of misuse and overuse of Tasers are clearly
linked to the inadequacies of New York law enforcement agencies’
use-of-force policies and training governing Tasers. Moreover, the data
are incomplete because of extremely lax reporting on Taser incidents within
individual departments and a complete lack of such reporting at the state level.
These problems suggest three necessary steps to begin to address the problems
association with the use of Tasers by New York law enforcement officials.

Recommendation 1
New York law enforcement agencies must reform their use-of-force
policies and training programs to comply with national expert
guidelines governing Tasers.
The essential elements of an appropriate Taser use-of-force policy and training
guidelines are by now well established. The Police Executive Research Forum
(PERF) and the DOJ have combined their expertise to produce guidelines,
updated most recently in 2011, establishing the essential elements of sound
use-of-force policies and practices governing Tasers.69 One New York law
enforcement agency, the NYPD, uses these recommendations in its departmental policy. Other New York law enforcement agencies should review their
policies in light of these recommendations and the inadequacies details in
this report, and make changes to address the clear deficiencies and inconsistencies in their policies and training programs.
In addition to the need for reform of policies and procedures, information
obtained by the NYCLU suggests that many New York police departments
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have grossly inadequate Taser training. Experts recommend that departments provide their own training curriculum, 70 but of the departments that
responded to the NYCLU’s Freedom of Information request, only the Rochester Police Department reported used independent training materials in
addition to protocols issued by the manufacturer. Expert recommendations
also suggest annual recertification to carry Tasers. Nonetheless, more than
half of the departments surveyed did not require annual recertification.71
Given that new information about the safety, reliability and proper Taser use
emerges every year, the failure to ensure annual recertification across the
board must be addressed.

Recommendation 2
The State of New York should do more to encourage reform of, and
uniformity among, law enforcement agencies’ use-of-force policies.
PERF and the DOJ specifically recommend that law enforcement agencies
coordinate their Taser policies and strive toward multi-jurisdictional training programs and policies.72 Such coordination can only occur with the
assistance of state agencies such as the Division of Criminal Justice Services
(DCJS), and in particular the Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC).
In September 2009, the MPTC, a department of the DCJS, published recommended guidelines for Taser use.73 These recommendations have some
positive elements, but they are relatively weak and far from comprehensive.
Indeed, they do not address the fundamental question of when the use of a
Taser is authorized and appropriate, leaving law enforcement agencies on
their own in answering this difficult and controversial question.
Moreover, MPTC has done little to see that its recommendations are followed.
Although the agency conducted a series of trainings for willing departments
in 2009, participation in the training and adoption of MPTC recommendations was entirely voluntary, and did not gain momentum statewide. No

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indications suggest that MPTC is continuing its push to bring more coherence
to Taser policies.

Recommendation 3
The State of New York should require statewide comprehensive
reporting and monitoring of Taser use.
Accurate, comprehensive data on Taser use and misuse in New York is unavailable because of poor recordkeeping by law enforcement agencies and
a lack of monitoring or oversight by state and local authorities. New Yorkers deserve a complete and well-grounded understanding of the costs and
benefits of Taser use. Such an understanding cannot occur until and unless
responsible state officials demand appropriate reporting from local law enforcement agencies.
Given the rapid spread of this relatively new technology, one would expect
law enforcement agencies and government officials to carefully monitor and
review Taser use. Expert recommendations emphasize the importance of
such review,74 and say that incident reports should include copious information, such as the facts supporting the officer’s decision to fire a Taser; specific
justification for a prolonged cycle or multiple discharges; whether the person
Tasered was a juvenile, elderly or a person obviously under the influence of
drugs or alcohol; the range at which the Taser was deployed; where on the
body the person was Tasered; and the injuries, if any, to the subject.75
All departments queried require officers to complete an incident report following the use of a Taser. But only two departments surveyed, Rochester and Saratoga Springs, required reporting of the specific information deemed necessary
by experts. Indeed, some departments’ policies and practices actively interfere
with attempts to provide sufficient information. For example, incident report
forms in the Syracuse and Greece police departments provide little physical
room to describe a Taser incident. Even when forms are nominally adequate,

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many reports were incomplete or had a number of fields left blank. The absence
of proper documentation results in grossly inconsistent and incomplete recordkeeping, forming a clear obstacle to understanding Taser use and holding
law enforcement accountable.
	
Even if the reporting in individual incident reports were complete, it is not
clear how departments use the information they collect. According to the
policies provided to the NYCLU, almost no police departments surveyed
mandate comprehensive departmental review of incident reports to assess
their Taser program.
The state should step into this void. At the present time, there is no independent
or state-level evaluation or assessment of Taser use, whether by the MPTC or
any other state agency. Such statewide mandates are not unprecedented. In
2007, the State of New Jersey passed a law requiring specific reporting whenever a Taser is discharged or displayed.76 The law also requires supervising officers, the chief executive of the law enforcement agency, the county prosecutor
and, ultimately, the state attorney general, to review such reports.77
These relatively modest first steps will lay the foundation for a more sound
approach to the use of Tasers in New York. Better policies and training, consistent with the recommendations of law enforcement experts, will curtail the
overuse and misuse of Tasers while ensuring that they remain a viable and
appropriate law enforcement tool. Better reporting will contribute to a more
robust understanding of the risks and benefits of Tasers and create stronger
mechanisms of accountability for officers who continue to overuse or misuse
these weapons. Ensuring the responsible and appropriate use of Tasers is in the
interest of law enforcement officers and the citizens they serve. n

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End Notes:
1

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, NIJ Research in Brief: Police Use of Force, Tasers and
Other Less-Lethal Weapons (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, May 2011) 2.

2

This information was reported to the NYCLU following a press inquiry to the primary manufacturer of
Tasers, TASER International, and is available on file with the NYCLU.

3

Those departments include the Albany Police Department, the Glens Falls Police Department, the Greece
Police Department, the Guilderland Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office, the Nassau
County Police Department, the Rochester Police Department, the Saratoga Springs Police Department, the
Suffolk County Police Department, the Syracuse Police Department and the New York Police Department.
The policies of each of these departments are available upon request from the NYCLU. The NYCLU also
requested policies from the Buffalo Police Department and the New York State Police but, at the time they
responded to the request, neither of those two departments used Tasers.

4

Those departments include the Albany Police Department, the Glens Falls Police Department, the Greece
Police Department, the Guilderland Police Department, the Nassau County Police Department, the
Rochester Police Department, the Saratoga Springs Police Department and the Syracuse Police Department.
A spreadsheet containing the data points from these many hundreds of reports is available upon request
from the NYCLU. Original copies of the incident reports are also on file with the NYCLU.

5

See U.S. Department of Justice & Police Executive Research Forum, 2011 Electronic Control Weapon
Guidelines (Washington: March 2011).

6

Mark Schlosberg, Stun Gun Fallacy: How the Lack of TASER Regulation Endangers Lives, ACLU of Northern
California, September 2005. Since that time, at least one study concluded that “more than 99% of subjects
do not experience significant injuries” after the use of Tasers, based on an examination of 1,200 incidents
from six American law enforcement agencies. William P. Bozeman et al., “Safety and Injury Profile of
Conducted Electrical Weapons Used by Law Enforcement Officers Against Criminal Suspects,” Annals
of Emergency Medicine, April 2009. Like this report, the Bozeman study was based on a review of officer
reports, “which has well-recognized limitations.” Id. at 485.

7

Robert Anglen, “144 Cases of Death Following Stun Gun Use,” Arizona Republic, Aug. 8, 2005.

8

United Nations Committee Against Torture, CAT/C/USA/C)2 (New York: United Nations, July 25, 2006);
United Nations Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/USA/CO/3 (New York: United Nations, Sept. 15, 2006);
Amnesty International, Continuing Concerns About Taser Use, May 2006.

9

Amnesty International, ‘Less than Lethal’? The Use of Stun Weapons in U.S. Law Enforcement, December
2008.

10

Nova Scotia Department of Justice, Conducted Energy Device (CED) Review (Nova Scotia: March 5, 2008).

11

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, NIJ Special Report: Study
of Deaths Following Electro Muscular Disruption (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, May 2011) viii –
ix, 6, 10, 16, 22, 23, 24.

12

IACP National Law Enforcement Policy Center, Electronic Control Weapons: Concepts and Issues Paper,
August 2005, 4.

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13

See Bozeman et al., supra note 6 at 487; Michael Cao et al., “Taser-Induced Rapid Ventricular Myocardial
Capture Demonstrated By Pacemaker Intracardiac Electrograms,” Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology
18:8 (2007) 876-879; P.J. Kim et al., “Ventricular Fibrillation After Stun-Gun Discharge,” New England
Journal of Medicine 353 (2005) 155, 156.

14

Taser International, “Training Bulletin 15.0 Medical Research Update and Revised Warnings,” Oct. 12, 2009.

15

Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons, supra note 1 at ii; J.M. MacDonald et. al, “The
Effect of Less-Lethal Weapons on Injuries in Police Use-of-Force Events,” American Journal of Public Health
99 (2009) 1-7; M.R. Smith, et al., “The Impact of Conducted Energy Devices and Other Types of Force and
Resistance on Officer and Suspect Injuries,” Policing 30 (2007) 423, 446; E. Jenkinson et al., “The Relative
Risk of Police Use-of-Force Options: Evaluating the Potential for Deployment of Electronic Weaponry,
Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine,” 13 (2006) 229, 241. As another academic study points out, however,
many of these studies may significantly overstate the value of Tasers because their data are based solely on
internal agency reviews of the use of Tasers. See Bozeman et al., supra note 6, at 485.

16

Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons, supra note 1 at 15.

17

Less Than Lethal?, supra note 9, at 3-4.

18

Stun Gun Fallacy, supra note 6, at 12-13.

19

Andrew Wolfson, “Tasers Help Save Lives But Use Also Criticized,” The Courier-Journal, Oct. 2, 2006.

20

Id.

21

James Cronin et al., Conducted Energy Devices: Development of Standards for Consistency and Guidance,
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and Police Executive Research
Forum (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, 2006) 7.

22

Id. at 8.

23

This report focuses on the use of force by patrol officers, but excessive use of force is also prohibited on
persons held in detention. For convicted prisoners, the standard derives from the Eighth Amendment’s
ban of cruel and unusual punishment. See Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 395 n.10 (1989). For pretrial
detainees, the Due Process Clause controls. Id.

24

490 U.S. 386. The Graham test requires an analysis of “the totality of the circumstances” in order to
determine whether the use of force by a law enforcement officer was reasonable, and the Supreme Court
and lower courts have identified a range of factors to be considered when analyzing whether the use of
force was excessive. Many of these factors have particular relevance to the question of when Taser use is
constitutionally appropriate, including: the degree or severity of the force applied; the risk of significant
injury from the use of force; the severity of the crime; whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to
the safety of the officers or others; whether the suspect was actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade
arrest by flight; whether a warning was given prior to the use of force; whether the use of force complied with
manufacturer’s instructions and safety warnings; whether there were available alternatives to the use of force
deployed; and the officer’s opportunity for deliberation prior to the use of force.

25

Id. at 395. Graham left open the question whether the Fourth Amendment continues to apply between the
time of arrest and the initial appearance before a judge. Id. at 395 n.10. Many lower courts have held that
the Fourth Amendment applies after arrest until the initial appearance before a judge. See, e.g., Luck v.
Rovenstine, 168 F.3d 323, 326 (7th Cir. 1999); Frohmader v. Wayne, 958 F.2d 1024, 1026 (10th Cir. 1992).

26

See, e.g, Bronson v. Mitchell, 1995 U.S. Dist. Lexis 21651, *12 (N.D. Miss. 1995).

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

27

471 U.S. 1, 3 (1985).

28

Snauer v. City of Springfield, 2010 WL 4875784, *6 (D.Or., 2010).

29

See, e.g., Estate of Mathis ex rel. Babb v. Kingston, 2009 WL 1033771, *6 (D.Colo., 2009).

30

McKenney v. Harrison, 2011 WL 1104528, 5 (8th Cir. 2011).

31

See, e.g., Headwaters Forest Defense v. County of Humboldt, 240 F.3d 1185, 1199 (9th Cir. 2001), vacated 534
U.S. 801 (2001), aff ’d on remand, 276 F.3d 1125 (2002).

32

People v. Sullivan, 116 A.D.2d 101, 107 (1 Dep’t 1986).

33

Id. at 1322 n.58.

34

Cf. Ryder v. City of Topeka, 814 F.2d 1412, 1417 n.11 (10th Cir. 1987) (“[T]he use of deadly force does not
occur only when the suspect actually dies.”); Shillingford v. Holmes, 634 F.2d 263, 266 (5th Cir. 1981) (“That
the results of the attack on Shillingford’s person were not crippling was merely fortuitous. That same blow
might have caused blindness or other permanent injury.”).

35

DeSalvo v. City of Collinsville, 2005 U.S. Dist. Lexis 23180, *13 (S.D. Ill. 2005).

36

Hickey v. Reeder, 12 F.3d 754, 757, 758 (8th Cir. 1993). See also Preston v. Pavlushkin, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis
14357, *4 (D. Colo. Mar. 16, 2006) (describing plaintiff as “writhing in obvious pain” after being Tasered).

37

Crowell v. Kirkpatrick, 667 F.Supp.2d 391 (2d Cir. 2010).

38

Madrid v. Gomez, 889 F. Supp. 1146, 1175 n.43 (N.D. Cal. 1995).

39

Roberts v. Manigold, 240 Fed.Appx. 67, (6th Cir. 2007).

40

Oliver v. Fiorino, 586 F.3d 898, (11th Cir. 2009).

41

Brown v. City of Golden Valley, 574 F.3d 491, (8th Cir. 2009).

42

Casey v. City of Federal Heights, 509 F.3d 1278, (10th 2007) .

43

Estate of Mathis ex rel. Babb v. Kingston, 2009 WL 1033771, *6 (D.Colo. 2009).

44

Id.

45

Oliver v. City of Orlando, 2008 WL 4000863, *5 (M.D.Fla. 2008) (“[I]t should have been obvious to the
City that training officers to use this excessive force against passively resistant individuals would result in
constitutional violations.”).

46

United States General Accounting Office, Taser Weapons: Use of Tasers by Selected Law Enforcement
Agencies, (Washington: GAO-05-464, May 2005).

47

Id. at 9 n.10.

48

Maryland Attorney General’s Office, Report of the Maryland Attorney General’s Task Force on Electronic
Weapons, (Baltimore: Office of the Attorney General, December 2009). See also Report of the Use of Force
Working Group of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh: Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office,
October 8, 2009) (conducting a comprehensive review and recommending changes to Allegheny County’s
approach to using Tasers).

49

Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 2.
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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

50

United States Department of Justice & Police Executive Research Forum, 2011 Electronic Control
Weapon Guidelines (Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, March 2011) [hereinafter “DOJ/PERF 2011
Guidelines”], Guideline 25, 20; Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 3. The
International Association of Chiefs of Police takes a slightly more permissive approach, suggesting that
Taser use be prohibited “unless the person demonstrates an overt intention to use violence or force against
the officer or others or resists detention and arrest and other alternatives to controlling them are not
reasonable or available. The use of ECWs [electronic control weapons] against passively resistant individuals
who do not pose an immediate threat of violence to officers or others would not normally be permitted.”
IACP Concepts and Issues Paper, supra note 12. Even judged by this standard, however, the policies we
reviewed fall far short.

51

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guideline 26, at 20 (Tasers should not be authorized merely
because a suspect is fleeing); Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 3 (same); DOJ/
PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guideline 29, at 20 (Tasers should generally not be used on handcuffed
persons); Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 3 (same).

52

The frequent absence of factual narratives and the over-reliance on vague or undefined terms such as “active
resistance” or “uncooperativeness” complicated our analysis. For example, some departments only ask an
officer to tick a box labeled “Active Resistance (pulling away, striking or attempting assault).” The conflation
of “pulling away” with “attempting assault” blurs a crucial distinction – the presence of absence of an actual
risk of injury. In other instances, the failure to provide certain details flouts established departmental policy.

53

Of the policies collected and reviewed by the NYCLU, only the Suffolk County Police Department and the
NYPD’s policies comport with this aspect of expert recommendations. All of these policies are available
upon request from the NYCLU.

54

Study of Deaths Following Electro Muscular Disruption, supra note 11 at ix.

55

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guidelines 13, 21, at 18, 20; Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Report, supra note 48, at 4-5. In addition to these national guidelines, standards promulgated by the
Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC), a department of the New York State Division of Criminal
Justice Services, urge “extra caution” with consecutive Taser discharges and encourages re-evaluation of the
approach after three discharges. Municipal Police Training Council, New York State Division of Criminal
Justice Services, Recommended Guidelines for the Use of Conducted Energy Devices (Albany: New York State
Division of Criminal Justice Services, September 2009) (hereinafter “MPTC Recommended Guidelines”),
Recommendation IV.I.1, IV.I.2.

56

The exceptions are the Guilderland Police Department, which requires an independent assessment and
“elevated justification” for more than three consecutive cycles of a Taser, the Monroe County Sheriff ’s
Department, which prohibits more than three cycles “absent exigent circumstances,” and the NYPD, which
requires an officer to “reassess the situation” after the first discharge cycle, use the minimum number of cycles
necessary, and in “no situation [use] more than three (3) standard discharge cycles against any subject.

57

Such departments include the Rochester Police Department and the Saratoga Springs Police Department.

58

Taser International Training Bulletin, supra note 14.

59

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guideline 28, at 20; MPTC Recommended Guidelines, supra note
55, Recommendation IV.E.2. In 2009, Taser International discouraged targeting in the chest area because of
heightened risk of heart failure. The Maryland Attorney General’s recommendations, which were published
following Taser International’s announcement, include a caution against targeting the chest area, in addition
to the other areas mentioned previously. Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 4.

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Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

60

Those departments are the Nassau County Police Department, the Rochester Police Department and the
Glens Falls Police Department.

61

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guidelines 22-23, at 20; Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Report, supra note 48, at 43; MPTC Recommended Guidelines, supra note 55, Recommendation IV.H.1.

62

Six departments do require some kind of warning (the NYPD, Albany, Guilderland, Monroe, Rochester and
Syracuse), while four do not (Glens Falls, Nassau County, Saratoga Springs and Suffolk County).

63

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guidelines 16, at 16; Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report,
supra note 48, at 5; MPTC Recommended Guidelines, supra note 55, Recommendation IV.C.1, IV.C.2, IV.E.3.

64

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guideline 27, 34, at 20-21; Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Report, supra note 48, at 4; MPTC Recommended Guidelines, supra note 55, Recommendation IV.G.

65

Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 4.

66

In particular, the Glens Falls, Nassau County, and Syracuse police departments’ policies provide no caution
or limitation on the use of Tasers on vulnerable populations.

67

The Greece and Nassau County police departments did not record the race of any of the individuals who
were Tasered.

68

U.S. Census Bureau, State and County Quick Facts, available at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/
states/36/36001.html. Last visted Aug. 17. 2011.

69

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 50.

70

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guideline 12 at 18; Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report,
supra note 48, at 3; MPTC Recommendation IV.C.1.

71

These departments were the Albany Police Department, Glens Falls Police Department, Nassau County
Police Department and the Saratoga Springs Police Department. Suffolk County requires “periodic
retraining” but does not specify the period.

72

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 50, Guideline 3, at 17.

73

MPTC Recommended Guidelines, supra note 55.

74

DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051, Guidelines 42-50, at 22-24; Maryland Attorney General’s Office
Report, supra note 48, at 5.

75

IACP Concepts and Issues Paper, supra note12, at 5; id. at 2 (recommending that officers justify in their
use-of-force reports any instance in which “subjects are energized more than three times” or “subjects are
subjected to any energy cycle longer than 15 seconds in duration”); DOJ/PERF Guidelines, supra note 5051,
Guidelines 21, 50, at 20, 23; Maryland Attorney General’s Office Report, supra note 48, at 57-58.

76

State of New Jersey, Office of the Attorney General, Department of law and Public Safety, Revised Supplemental
Policy on Conducted Energy Devices, (Trenton: Office of the Attorney General, Oct. 7, 2010). Available at
http://www.state.nj.us/lps/dcj/pdfs/NJ-OAG-Stun-Gun-Policy-10-2010.pdf. Last visited Aug. 17, 2011.

77

Id.

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