http://www.saveourcivilliberties.org/en/2005/05/1086.shtml
HPD use of Tasers in 14 cases of 'verbal aggression' debated
author: ROMA KHANNA [Houston Chronicle] e-mail:
[email protected]
Houston police officers have used Tasers to subdue "verbally aggressive" people at least 14 times since early December, according to department figures that raise concerns among activists about possible infringement on free speech.
Houston Taser Usage
Houston Taser Usage
Houston police officers have used Tasers to subdue "verbally aggressive" people at least 14 times since early December, according to department figures that raise concerns among activists about possible infringement on free speech.
A high-ranking police official defended the incidents Tuesday, saying the vocal outbursts led officers to believe that "assault was imminent" in each case.
Executive Assistant Chief Charles McClelland added that some comments were accompanied by gestures, although the instances are listed separately from those in which people were combative or resisted officers.
The "verbal aggression" incidents account for about 7 percent of all Taser use between Dec. 3 and March 24, according to a Houston Police Department summary report. The 50,000-volt stun guns went into widespread use by HPD officers on Dec. 3.
Community activists questioned how officers distinguish between aggressive talk and comments that signal a true threat.
"The policy needs to be pointed as to where to draw the line because, right now, it seems it is up to the officer," said Quanell X, a leader of the New Black Panther Party. "If a cop doesn't like you questioning them in a loud tone of voice, that does not give them the right to (shock) you. A person has a constitutional right to speak their minds."
The police department has refused to release reports on the 191 incidents in which officers used their Tasers between Dec. 3 and March 24, citing concerns for the privacy of those who were shocked. McClelland said, however, that aggressive speech alone did not provoke the officers to use their Tasers.
"The verbal words were accompanied by a belief that a suspect was about to assault them," he said. "(Officers) don't have to wait to be hit to use their Tasers. No Houston police officer is trained to use any force (in response to) words alone."
HPD purchased 3,700 Tasers last year as Police Chief Harold Hurtt sought to meet Mayor Bill White's mandate to ensure that officers use their firearms only when justified.
Since Tasers went into widespread use, officers have used them at a rate of more than once a day, employing them as an alternative to guns and in situations when they might otherwise have used batons or other physical force.
The rate of use, and the death of a man after he was shocked by Harris County Precinct 1 deputy constables in February, prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to call for a moratorium on Taser use by police in Texas until policies, training and safety are reviewed.
When HPD statistics revealed in March that nearly 90 percent of the people shocked by officers were minorities, other groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also voiced concerns.
David Klinger, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who studies use of force, noted that widespread use of Tasers is new. He said it will take time for police agencies and communities to settle on how they are best used.
"There is a movement afoot around the country among police executives to limit the use of the Taser when there isn't an overt attack on the officer," said Klinger, a former police officer. "Several agencies that located Tasers at the lowest level on their use-of-force continuum have moved it higher because of concerns that officers are using the Taser when lesser force would have been appropriate."
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Tommy LaFon, who spent five years in the police integrity division, said public acceptance will play a large role in determining how officers use Tasers when they do not face an active threat.
"I don't think society is prepared to say 'OK, any time you have to lay hands on somebody, it is OK to Taser them," said LaFon, who last year prosecuted a Baytown police officer who had used a Taser on a 59-year-old woman who he said threatened him with a brick.
Randall Kallinen, president of the ACLU's Houston chapter, said Taser policies should remind officers that they cannot shock people just for speaking.
"That violates the First Amendment, which prohibits hindering free speech," he said. "Verbal aggression is protected."
McClelland emphasized that no officers or citizens have been seriously injured as a result of HPD's Taser use.
"I know that would not be the case in 200 incidents where officers and citizens engaged in physical confrontations with batons and (pepper) spray," he said.
Quanell X argued that Tasers have injured people. He said the New Black Panther Party plans to hold a town hall meeting this month for people to share their accounts of being shocked.
Quanell X has criticized HPD officers' use of force and has led several protests in the past year. He was convicted of fleeing a police officer in November after attempting to arrange the surrender of a man suspected of wounding a Houston officer. He is appealing the conviction.
No HPD officer has been disciplined in the Taser incidents since December, McClelland said, but residents have filed complaints in four or five incidents.
Hurtt met Quanell X and other activists last month and announced that a committee of police and civilians will review the first instances of Taser use.
The committee has not yet been formed because the community groups have not submitted a full list of potential panelists from which Hurtt can choose, McClelland said.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3166871
