August 21, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
media@aclu.org PROVIDENCE, RI --
Following the death this weekend of a Woonsocket resident who was “stunned” with
a Taser weapon while in police custody, the Rhode Island American Civil
Liberties Union sent a letter today calling on all police departments in the
state currently using the controversial weapon to impose a moratorium on their
use.
“The death of a Rhode Islander after being stunned with
the weapon was inevitable in light of the continually-growing evidence that stun
guns are not the non-lethal device that proponents purport it to be,” said
Steven Brown, Executive Director of the Rhode Island
ACLU.
Ironically, two years ago this month the Rhode Island ACLU
sent a letter to police departments in the state urging them not to purchase the
weapons, citing research that questioned the Taser’s safety record and the way
it is used on suspects. Since then more questions have been raised about the
weapons use and safety, and as Taser sales have increased the number of deaths
associated with their use has skyrocketed. Even though the guns deliver a 50,000
volt, five-second shock that stuns victims, they continue to be marketed as a
“non-lethal” alternative to handguns, the ACLU said.
In the
letter sent to police chiefs today, the ACLU called on departments that had
purchased the weapons to impose a moratorium on their use “until additional
information can be gathered on this tragic incident, until the safety of the
weapon has been independently and more thoroughly scrutinized by your
department, and until your department has had a chance to carefully review both
its policies and training procedures governing the weapon’s
use.”
When the ACLU wrote to police departments in 2004, five
departments, including Woonsocket, had already purchased the weapons. The others
were Newport, Bristol, Providence and North Providence. Brown said he was not
aware how many other departments had since joined those five.
The
letter also asks those departments that currently use Tasers to provide the
ACLU, under the Access to Public Records Act, copies of their policies governing
the weapon’s use on suspects. The ACLU plans on analyzing those policies to
examine what safeguards departments have in place to limit the use of the
weapon.
The letter sent today to Rhode Island police chiefs is
available online at:
www.aclu.org/police/gen/26503lgl20060821.html The
letter sent in 2004 is available online at:
www.aclu.org/police/gen/26502lgl20060821.html
