Georgia police have used Tasers on handcuffed suspects
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sat June 27, 2009
Area: Atlanta
Gwinnett County, GA - Gwinnett County police are increasingly shocking suspects with Tasers and have turned the weapons on people they have already handcuffed, according to reports obtained under Georgia's Open Records Act.
Gwinnett police, who have had stun guns the longest among officers from the Atlanta area's largest counties, used their Tasers 122 times in 2008, up from 80 the year before and 75 in 2006, the reports show. Gwinnett police attributed part of that increase to their growing inventory of Tasers.
Police say the weapons are lifesavers because they can help them subdue suicidal people and disarm violent suspects. Gwinnett police, however, have used their Tasers many times under less threatening circumstances, the reports show.
For example, Gwinnett police used their Tasers on at least nine suspects they had already handcuffed last year, stunning some several times. Industry guidelines say Tasers should not be used on handcuffed people unless they are actively resisting or posing a threat.
Gwinnett police also used their Tasers on 17-year-old and 16-year-old boys, a man who they said resisted arrest after refusing to sign a traffic ticket and another man who clung to the bed of his truck as officers attempted to arrest him for disorderly conduct and playing music too loud.
Some of the suspects in these cases fled police or resisted arrest, according to the reports. One handcuffed man, for example, was stunned four times after refusing to get into a patrol car. Other suspects took a fighting stance, struggled with officers, kicked or attempted to kick the officers, or tried to bite them, the reports said. Records indicate none of the suspects sustained serious injuries from the weapons.
George Kirkham, a former criminal justice professor from Florida State University who now testifies in court about use-of-force issues, criticized the use of stun guns on handcuffed suspects.
"Unless you are reasonably sure that you are arresting Bruce Lee's grandson or someone who is a kick boxer who is threatening to kick the hell out of you and is able to do it, that is totally impermissible," said Kirkham, a former police officer. "That is grossly excessive force."
Gwinnett Police Chief Charles Walters declined to be interviewed but said through a spokesman that he stands by his determinations that his officers were justified in using their Tasers in all the incidents from last year that are cited in this article.
"We are standing by our policies and procedures and our investigation of these" incidents, spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli said, adding that Tasers can help reduce injuries to officers and suspects.
In 2007, Gwinnett police drew attention for using a Taser on a handcuffed 14-year-old girl who had been trick-or-treating on Halloween. An officer stunned her because she was combative, police said, and she did not sustain any serious injuries.
This month, Gwinnett police arrested a former officer and charged him with battery and violating his oath of office for allegedly using his Taser on a Waffle House employee in February "without provocation." That officer, who was on duty at the time of the incident, resigned before his arrest, according to a police report. Two Gwinnett officers who were present during the incident and did not report it resigned after the arrest, a police spokeswoman said.
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