Oahu police will give
stun guns a shotThe Taser fires "probes"
up to 21 feet, delivering
a 50,000-volt shock
Honolulu police will begin testing high-voltage Taser guns in the downtown Honolulu and Chinatown areas later this month as a way to subdue suspects without physical violence.
CORRECTION
Tuesday, May 4, 2004A photo on Page A1 Saturday showed a different model of Taser stun gun than will be purchased by the Honolulu Police Department. Officers will carry the yellow M-26 model, not the black X-26 model pictured.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
The Taser sends two hooklike probes attached with monofilament lines, which can deliver a 50,000-volt charge, incapacitating a suspect for five to 10 seconds by briefly overriding the central nervous system.
"It hurts," said Sgt. Fabian Loo, chief instructor for HPD's Control and Arrest tactics, who has been shot multiple times during training. "It's like a total body cramp."
He likened it to having a grand mal seizure.
"The mind is working but the body is not functioning," he said.
Police Chief Lee Donohue said Tasers will be used at the same level of force as pepper spray, which comes before physical confrontation, batons or firearms are used.
Donohue said the department received federal money to purchase 95 M-26 Advanced Tasers at a cost of $705 apiece.
He said police departments on the mainland and in Canada that have used Tasers have shown reductions in injuries to officers and suspects.
The weapon has a range of between three and 21 feet, and is equipped with laser sighting.
More than 70 officers have gone through a six-hour training class to use the device.
The department will evaluate the use of the Taser for six months beginning later this month or until it has been discharged 20 times.
If it proves its worth, police might expand the program.
Police Maj. Michael Tamashiro said there were 44 deaths nationally where Tasers were used, but the fatalities were not from the direct use of the device and were connected either to drug use or from falling after being stunned.
Taser International Inc. officials have refuted any implications that such deaths were caused by Taser use.
As a precaution, all persons struck by Tasers will be taken to a medical facility, police said.
Police said the Tasers do not affect heart rhythms or interfere with pacemakers.
But the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii's legal director, Lois Perrin, said the ACLU will be monitoring the Taser pilot project.
"The ACLU will strictly scrutinize any policy HPD adopts and will monitor the situation to ensure there is no abuse," she said.
"A weapon that can be that harmful does need to be limited to a situation where lethal force is justified," Perrin said. "Fifty thousand volts is a lot of shock."
At a news conference yesterday, police showed news video clips of police in other cities shooting Tasers. When one suspect was hit, he crumpled to the ground as if shot by a firearm, while another suspect complied with police by lying on the ground and placed his hands behind his back.
"It's another very excellent tool ... to stop violent and uncontrollable suspects," said Alex Garcia, Oahu Chapter chairman of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.
HPD officers will strap the bright yellow Tasers to the opposite leg from regular firearms. They are instructed to yell "Taser" before firing the device.
To prevent abuse, the M-26 model is equipped with a dataport that records the time and date of discharges, and officers will file a "Use of Force Report," which is required whenever force beyond routine handcuffing is used.
The probes can penetrate up to two inches of clothing but can penetrate a person's flesh by only a quarter of an inch.
The Taser can be safely used without causing electrocution in wet environments, including pools and beaches.
"They're not going to electrocute somebody, at least not a normal person under normal circumstances," said Todd Reed, University of Hawaii-Manoa Electrical Engineering Department chairman.
However, he noted Tasers could hurt someone with a heart condition.
