IN SOME CASES, TASERS CAN KILL, COMPANY WARNS

The Stun Gun Maker Says Subjects In A State Of Excited Delirium Are At
Risk, And Law Enforcement Officials Say They Are Training Users To
Recognize Symptoms

TAMPA - Taser International, maker of the controversial stun guns used by
thousands of law enforcement agencies from Tampa Bay to London, has issued
a training bulletin that warns repeated blasts of the Taser can "impair
breathing and respiration."

For subjects in a state known as excited delirium, repeated or prolonged
stuns with the Taser can contribute to "significant and potentially fatal
health risks," according to a recent posting on Taser International's Web site.

The three-page bulletin, which comes as the Tarpon Springs and St.
Petersburg police departments prepare to outfit officers with stun guns,
appears to counter instructions in a training manual issued last year by
Taser International last year.

It also departs from the manufacturer's previous dismissals of safety
concerns raised by groups such as Amnesty International, which has
documented 129 U.S. and Canadian deaths of people stunned by Tasers.

Most deaths were later attributed to drugs, pre-existing heart problems and
excited delirium, a psychotic and typically drug-induced state in which the
heart is susceptible to cardiac arrest.

But last month, a medical examiner in Chicago became the first in the
United States to attribute a criminal suspect's death to a Taser. The
suspect had methamphetamine in his system when the officer stunned him, the
Chicago Tribune reported.

Taser vice president of communications Steve Tuttle wrote in an e-mail this
week that the company is simply reminding officers to use "only the
necessary amount of force" when stunning suspects.

St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon is aware of the bulletin, but it
won't affect his recent decision to let officers carry Tasers, said agency
spokesman Bill Proffitt. "People in this excited delirium state are already
at death's doorstep, and we already have to restrain them to get them
medical care," Proffitt said. "The training that we provide officers will
include the ability to recognize symptoms, and it will go over the
limitations on use of the weapon and the necessary medical procedures."

Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said agency leaders attended a
seminar in April in which excited delirium and the use of Tasers were
discussed. Since then, deputies have been advised during roll call about
the symptoms, he said.

The department's policy, like those of other large agencies in Tampa Bay,
does not address the issue of multiple, prolonged firings.

But it advises deputies to consider other options besides Tasers for
subjects who are very young or very old. Pinellas deputies are not to use
Tasers on pregnant women.

"At this point it doesn't appear the bulletin will impact our policy,"
McMullen said.

Tampa police Cpl. Tommy Downes, a longtime sniper team member, said any use
of force - hand-to-hand, Tasers or pepper spray - is more of a health risk
for subjects high on drugs or in some other psychotic state.

"Their pain receptors aren't working, they're overheated, they're super
strong," Downes said. "Yet if you have someone who's tearing up a place or
attacking people and exhibiting all the hallmarks of excited delirium, you
have to do something."

The Tampa Police Department and Hillsborough Sheriff's Office are working
to craft new Taser use policies that mirror each other. Neither policy
currently addresses multiple firings, but they prohibit "indiscriminate or
punitive" Taser use.

Hillsborough deputies are trained to use the Taser "until the person quits
resisting arrest," Sheriff David Gee said. * * *

A Taser looks and fires like a gun. But instead of bullets, it shoots two
dart-like probes that deliver about 50,000 volts of electricity, according
to Taser International.

Unlike other stun guns, which have to be pressed to the skin to deliver a
shock, the Taser's probes can travel more than 20 feet.

With the first pull of the trigger, it shocks the target for five seconds.
Hit the trigger again, and it blasts for another five seconds. Keep holding
the trigger, and it can deliver a continuous shock until the battery wears
down.

More than 7,000 police, detention and military agencies in 43 countries now
have Tasers, according to Taser International.

"It's a lifesaver," said Tampa police Officer Mike Collins, who patrols
east Tampa. "We don't fight suspects as much as we used to, and the word
has spread to most of the bad guys that we carry these."

Tasers are used by deputies in Pasco and Citrus, and police officers in
Clearwater, Temple Terrace, Dade City and Port Richey. Tarpon Springs
police recently got the okay to carry them.

Longtime holdout Harmon gave in last month.

"I'm more comfortable now," Harmon said this week. "There's a lot more
research and data than there was before on how these work and whether they
are effective."

The Pinellas and Hillsborough sheriff's offices are seeing fewer officer
injuries since arming deputies with Tasers.

Between 2003 and 2004, the first full year that Pinellas sheriff's deputies
carried Tasers, the agency saw a 37 percent decline in the number of
deputies injured while using force on a suspect, records show.

It was the lowest number of injuries in five years, said McMullen, agency
spokesman.

In Hillsborough, Taser use declined even though more deputies carried them,
said Col. Carl Hawkins. In the first six months of this year, when 1,362
deputies carried Tasers, the number of Taser firings fell to 60, from 93
the year before.

Administrators credit the results to policies that require deputies to
document Taser use, even if they miss. The agency also downloads
information regularly from the data chips in deputies' Tasers.

Gee's agency has dealt with one in-custody death following Taser use.

Henry Lattarulo, a Seffner man, died in May 2004 after a Hillsborough
sheriff's deputy hit him with a Taser. The medical examiner's office
concluded the cause of death was "accidental cocaine-induced agitated
delirium."

Taser International's bulletin warns that repeated shocks can impair
breathing and cause strong muscle contractions that can injure "tissues,
organs, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints."

Yet on Page 157 of the November 2004 Taser training manual, instructors are
advised that "students should anticipate using additional cycles to subdue
suspects."

The next page does tell trainees that "especially when dealing with persons
in a health crisis such as excited delirium, it is advisable to minimize
the physical and psychological stress."

Tampa police Officer Sarah Hinsz has fired a Taser once in the past few
months since she started carrying one.

She used it when a mentally ill man she had encountered a few days earlier
grew agitated, tearing off his clothes and telling her, "You'll have to
kill me."

"If I hadn't used my Taser, I would have had to pull out my pepper spray
and get close to him, and probably wouldn't have been able to overpower
him," she said. "Then we're going toe to toe, and he's a threat to me. Then
I have to pull out my gun."

[Sidebar]

Tasers At A Glance

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office:

460 Tasers issued.

January to March: 294 reported uses of nonlethal force, 112 of them Taser
firings.

No deaths following Taser use.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office:

1,362 Tasers issued.

January to July: 116 reported uses of force, including 60 Taser firings.

One suspect died in May 2004 following Taser use. Death was later
determined to be drug-related.

Tampa Police Department:

924 Tasers issued.

January to July: 152 Taser pointings and 108 firings.

No deaths following Taser firings.