Photo: jasonbain

The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported on the use of tasers in Utah.  They analyzed 180 Taser deployments to see the circumstances under each one and found some interesting results:

21% of suspects were fleeing the cops
12% of suspects were ignoring police
39% of suspects resisted without violence by laying on their hands or refused to get out of vehicles.
79% of suspects didn’t have a weapon
73% of suspects were never given a verbal warning

It seems like police are using Tasers as a “quick fix” to getting suspects to calm down.  Rather than verbally warn a suspect or use less dangerous methods to subdue them, police are resorting to currents of electricity to do the dirty work.

It would be one thing of Tasers were used exclusively on suspects who were accused of murder or rape, or if the suspect had a knife and was a serious threat to the safety of the public.  However, a Taser was used against an 11th grader in Logan who ran away from police because he was suspected of carrying alcohol.  Was a Taser really necessary for this non-threatening and minor crime?

Taser use against harmless suspects is dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed.  Officers know nothing of the medical history of a suspect and putting jolts of electricity through their body is dangerous if the person’s health cannot handle it.  Rather than risking the death of the suspect, police should use less dangerous means to subdue a suspect.  Until Tasers are 100% safe, their use should be restricted.

Taser proponents argue that Tasers save lives because police do not have to resort to using traditional firearms.  This is probably true.  But because Taser’s are seen as non-lethal, police officers feel like they can use them more often.  When an officer uses a Taser against an old woman resisting arrest, it should be obvious that this is a problem.

Requiring police to only use Tasers as a substitution for firearms should be the policy of Utah police departments.  This would save lives of suspects, and it would also prevent against situations where Tasers are used against suspects who do not warrant that level of force.