ACLU wants
Tasers restricted
The group urges Honolulu
and Maui police to use the
devices only in lethal situations
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii appealed to the Honolulu and Maui police chiefs yesterday to restrict the use of high-voltage Taser stun guns solely to situations in which lethal force is justified.
"While it is true that Tasers are less fatal than firearms, the public should know that Taser guns are being used in situations where police use of lethal force could never be justified," said Lois Perrin, ACLU legal director.
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In letters to Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa and Maui Police Chief Thomas Phillips, the ACLU said that since 2001, 50 individuals have died outside Hawaii after being "tased."
Perrin noted that the Taser is often preferable to lethal force. But the ACLU objects to police policy that allows its use in situations that do not require lethal force, including when a suspect is passively resisting arrest.
Former Honolulu Police Chief Lee Donohue had said Tasers could be used in place of pepper spray, which comes before the use of physical confrontation, batons or firearms.
In May, the Honolulu Police Department began its pilot program with the M26 Tasers, which fire two hooklike probes 21 feet. The probes can deliver a 50,000-volt charge and can incapacitate a suspect for five to 10 seconds by overriding the central nervous system.
When the pilot program was announced, Maj. Michael Tamashiro of the Training Division acknowledged 44 deaths nationally where Tasers were used, but said fatalities were not from the direct use of the device. Rather, he said, the deaths were connected either to people's drug use or people falling after being stunned.
Officials at Taser International Inc., the Arizona-based manufacturer, said the stun guns have never caused a death or serious injury.
The ACLU is also asking police to account for each time they deliver an individual burst of electrical shock, Perrin said. Once the probes have attached into a person's skin, an officer can deliver multiple bursts of electrical shock.
In a statement issued yesterday, Correa said, "We respect the ACLU's comments and are looking into the concerns contained in the letter."
Honolulu police have discharged Tasers more than 40 times, Tamashiro said, but he did not have an exact figure yesterday. The department is evaluating the pilot program.
Maui police had their first demonstration of Tasers last month, the smaller X26 model, which delivers the same 50,000-volt charge.
Maui County Deputy Police Chief Kekuhaupio Akana said during its review the department had not received information that the Taser was responsible for deaths.
"We have quite the contrary," Akana said. "Our information says otherwise, that it's a very effective tool that has allowed officers to place violent offenders in custody with a minimum amount of injury."
Akana said the department is scheduled to start a pilot program with the Taser by November.
The ACLU is also requesting mandatory medical treatment for all persons struck with Tasers, which is already an HPD policy.
www.acluhawaii.org/
Honolulu Police Department
www.honolulupd.org
