Face the Facts
Innocent Lives Lost and
In Houston, fatal police shootings did not
decrease after tasers were introduced.
Over 70 people have died after being shocked
Destroyed by Tasers by a taser in 2007 alone, bringing the number of Tasers
deaths to more than 230 since 2001 in the US.
In Seattle, over ¾ of the people tasered were
unarmed and were not a threat to the police.
and the Police:
In Houston, more than half of the taser
incidents resulted from traffic stops, disturbance A Deadly
In February of 2007 a and nuisance complaints, and reports of
wheelchair bound woman died suspicious people. And in more than 350 of the Combination
900 taser incidents no crime was committed.
from electrocution from Tasers Taser International has every reason to lie
used by police. The police knew about the lethalness of its gun – profit rules.
of 56-year-old Emily Marie Taser Intl has pressured coroners to not list
the taser as a cause of death.
Delafield’s mental illness and Taser Intl has given lucrative stock options to
poor physical condition. Yet she police officers who then promote the technology Tasers do not decrease the
held a knife and a hammer and in their respective cities. likelihood that police will use
threatened police from her Sources & More Info
deadly force. In fact, tasers
wheelchair - the police chose to Amnesty International. Amnesty International’s are deadly force, yet are
electro-shock her, 10 times for a Continuing Concerns About Taser Use . compliance. Let’s use our tax
Amnesty International Report, 2007: USA. dollars to properly educate and
In 2005 police officers in 5 . train police, not to electrocute
states sued Taser International our citizens.
Alex Berenson, The Safety of Tasers Is
for injuries sustained during Questioned Again, N.Y. Times (May 25, 2006).
police training sessions. 1 police Roma Khanna. The Taser Effect, Houston
chief suffered heart damage and Chronicle (Jan. 14, 2007). The case against tasers
Robert Anglen, Taser Shocks Ruled Cause of
two strokes when he volunteered Death. Arizona Republic (July 30, 2005).
to be shocked while hooked up Robert Anglen, Police in 5 States Sue Taser in
to a cardiac monitor as a way to Past 2 Weeks, Arizona Republic (Aug. 20, 2005).
A.J. Heightman, Don’t be Shocked, 30 Jems 5
demonstrate the safety of the (May, 2005).
Taser to his officers. Other IACP Natl. Law Enforcement Policy Ctr. Electronic
officers suffered multiple spinal Control Weapons Concept and Issue Paper
(August, 2005).
fractures, burns, shoulder Kevin Johnson, Federal Bureaus Reject Stun
dislocation, hearing and vision Guns, USA Today (March 17, 2005).
Kevin Johnson, Police on Weapon Company
loss, and neurological damage—
Payrolls, USA Today (April 24, 2005).
Civil Liberties Defense
under controlled conditions. Jacob Quinn Sanders, Medical Examiners Walk Center
Uneasy Path, Portland Tribune (March 24, 2006).
Dana Treen, State Rules Taser Death Homicide, 259 E. 5th Ave #300A
Florida Times Union (Feb. 13, 2007). Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: (541) 687-9180
Web: www.cldc.org
The Taser Tragedy
False rationale behind tasers
According to Taser International (the What is it like to be tasered? Unreliable Science
company that manufactures tasers), No independently reviewed
tasers are a non-lethal alternative to “A shock wave of excruciating comprehensive scientific study has
deadly force. This corporation states pain running through the body.” been conducted on this potentially
that tasers are an alternative to “Like getting hit with a lightning lethal weapon.
firearms, claiming they reduce the bolt through the top of your head.”
number of injuries to officers and Taser International’s primary
suspects, such as incapacitating a “It locks you up like a board.” safety studies on the M26 [taser]
suspect in the early stages of a “Paralyzed.” consist of tests on a single pig in
confrontation. Actually, police already “It feels as if a big bull is goring 1996 and on five dogs in 1999 by
have numerous weapons such as me over and over.” company-paid researchers.
chemical weapons, asps, batons, guns,
rubber bullets, voice control, and A 1999 study by the Department
physical restraints. Aren’t there MANY of Justice on an electrical weapon
better uses for our limited tax dollars much weaker than the Taser found
than another violent weapon to be used that it might cause cardiac arrest in
against citizens? Let’s support better
training and oversight for police, rather
people with pre-existing heart
than the electrocution of our citizens! conditions.
A recent US study showed that
How a taser works tasers can cause the hearts of healthy
Tasers are shaped like a pistol, and use
compressed nitrogen gas to fire sharp pigs to stop beating.
barbed darts up to 21 feet. The darts 2 of Homeland Securities largest
can penetrate up to 2 inches of clothing The effects of being tasered departments, ICE and CBP, banned
and conduct 50,000 volts of electricity the use of tasers in 2003 due to
through small wires that are connected Lethal effects: Irregular heart safety concerns, and a lack of
to a battery inside the gun. The beats, ventricular fibrillation (the
electrical shock can continue for as long independent research.
as the trigger is depressed, and multiple
heart muscles spasm
uncontrollably), metabolic At-risk groups for sudden
shocks can be inflicted as long as the
darts are still in the subject. Police don’t acidosis (upsetting pH balance of death from tasers:
have to exert themselves and don’t the body), restraint asphyxia The elderly, children, pregnant
have to get their hands dirty. The shock (suffocation). women, those in ill-health,
induces a muscle spasm that causes a
Non-lethal effects: Falling and small people in general, those
person to become temporarily using drugs, the mentally Ill,
paralyzed. Emergency staff are being severe head injuries, skin burns
trained to remove barbed darts stuck in and piercing, broken bones and people who have come into
the eyes, face, neck or genitals. Many spinal fractures from convulsions contact with flammable liquids,
injuries also result from falling. Tasers and spasms, loss of bowel or a flammable atmosphere,
can also be used as stun guns. In stun
control, loss of memory & mental people in a position to fall to
mode they inflict pain through smaller their death.
electric shocks, but may not trauma.
incapacitate.