Tasers can be vey harmful

Friday, February 10, 2012

Dear Editor,

Minister of National Security Peter Bunting would be wise to think again about adding Tasers to police weaponry.

Tasers deliver jolts of electric shock that can lead to heart failure. People at greatest risk include those under stress; suffering lung, heart, spine or mental conditions; taking psychiatric medications; and women who are pregnant. Further, Tasers can cause damage if fired into sensitive areas of the body such as the head, eyes, throat, or genitals. Tasers can also cause fire if used in the presence of flammable liquids.

People least at risk from Taser damage are calm, relaxed, and healthy, in a controlled environment, and not subjected to repeated or prolonged jolts of electric shock. Nonetheless, data show that police officers have suffered serious injuries after volunteering to be shocked with the device during training classes.

The Taser is potentially a torture device, according to a 2007 report from the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations.

In addition, Amnesty International been concerned that, in practice, police have used Tasers as "tools of routine force - rather than as an alternative to firearms." This organisation also pointed out that Tasers were open to abuse by unscrupulous police officers, particularly as the weapons leave none of the tell-tale signs of a beating.

An estimated 515 people in the United States have died after being shocked by a Taser between 2001 and 2011. A majority of these people were black or Hispanic, and some were elderly. In about 80 per cent of these cases, police allegedly used Tasers in situations where neither firearms nor even batons would have been justified.

A 2010 Canadian study reviewed 26 Taser fatalities in Canada. The study concluded that the police tend to use Tasers on the most vulnerable and least regarded members of society: the poor, the drug user, and the mentally ill. Recommendations were made for a moratorium on Taser use in Canada.

Introducing Tasers into Jamaica's policing system may have the same effect as trying to put out a fire by adding straw. The police force has a 140-year history of impunity for injury and death of the most vulnerable in society. Out of every 2,000 killings of civilians, only about one policeman is likely to be held accountable in a court of law.

Placing added firepower in the hands of the police seems a recipe for further alienating the poor who remain the butt of injustice. Minister Bunting needs to think more creatively about securing lives and liberties in ways consistent with the goals of empowering the Jamaican people.

Yvonne McCalla Sobers

sobersy@yahoo.com

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Tasers can be vey harmful