Md. Report Calls for More Taser Restrictions

23 Comments

Barry Kissin, a Frederick lawyer who worked with Djoken in the aftermath of the two Frederick Taser cases, faulted the report for not putting more blame on Taser International.

“The report also states that ‘training materials provided by the manufacturer of these devices e tended to significantly understate the risks associated with [Taser] use,’” Kissin said. “The report stops short of referring to this ‘understatement’ as unscrupulous fraud for the sake of maximizing sales. I believe an appropriate recommendation would be to terminate all business with Taser International and to demand refunds.”

Maryland Policing

Maryland LEOs
Maryland Dispatchers
Get a criminal justice degree in Maryland
Police Jobs in Maryland
[TRACKLINK:Become a Cop|http://policelink.monster.com/content/education-resources

The task force report outlines a variety of conditions under which a Taser should not be used, recommends that reports be filed any time a Taser is aimed or discharged and discusses the importance of maintaining comprehensive data that could be used to show patterns in Taser usage.

The emphasis on Taser usage data serves to put personal responsibility on the officers possessing Tasers, as well as comparing entire departments to their peers in other states.

Uniform data is not tracked throughout the state, but the task force did request some figures from the law enforcement agencies. One if its findings was that 16 of 21 agencies that responded were more likely to use Tasers against black residents than white or Hispanic residents. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office reported that 24 percent of people its deputies shocked with a Taser were black, whereas only 9 percent of the residents are black.

The task force also looked at existing Taser policies from around the state. Of 29 Taser-related policies the group thought should be in place, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office only has five currently in place, the lowest in the state. Howard County Police scored the best, with 21 of the policies already in use.

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said he had not read the report and would comment on it once he had the chance to read through its recommendations.

Frederick Police Chief Kim Dine said he had not personally read the report, but that his staff would review and recommend possible changes to the department’s Taser policy. Though he is open to suggestions, Dine said the current Taser policy was based on best practices from top groups around the world, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and was drafted with the help of the Police Executive Research Forum.

“I think we all want the police to have proper tools e and use the tools we have in the proper way,” he said.

Other Top News:

« Previous 1 2 Next »

Flag as inappropriate

-6

jmccall1972

over 3 years ago

124 Comments

WTF letting the NAACP and ACLU come up with a policy recommendation who the hell is the chief or sheriff that stood by and let this happen. departments need to grow a set of balls and tell them this is the policy the device saves lives period or lets just go back to busting heads with batons and start breaking some bones then they will really have something to bitch about. our taser policy is this 1) officer presence 2) verbal commands 3) taser we have shot over 40 in the last 3 years since getting them and pulled them hundreds of times. we track all our data so if a officer just pulls it he has to do a incident report that is filed with the use of force reports. most time just the presentation of the device most give up. because they know that we can and will shock them. we have not had one death. and i can count for a small agency with only 8 guys that have the tasers we can count5 life saves with the taser
gedlund

over 3 years ago

10 Comments

maybe we should all send the ACLU and NAACP a CHRISTmas card and give them something else to bitch about !!! This is ridiculous !!
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

When you write an article and you use the NAACP and ACLU as sorces, you ain't got much of a story! Its useless fodder!
AZmeangreen

over 3 years ago

2338 Comments

These organizations (political fronts) need to take a deep breath and just keep holding it. They want us to go back to batons? I'm ok with that... heck, I'm still waiting for my taser; but how do they feel about stitches, broken bones, and possible death as opposed to an 5 sec electric shock?
FireDad

over 3 years ago

7348 Comments

The NAACP and ACLU need to keep thier noses out of this..
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

Uniform data is not tracked throughout the state, but the task force did request some figures from the law enforcement agencies. One if its findings was that 16 of 21 agencies that responded were more likely to use Tasers against black residents than white or Hispanic residents. The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office reported that 24 percent of people its deputies shocked with a Taser were black, whereas only 9 percent of the residents are black.

OKAY...what are they trying to say that this data suggests? It doesn't mean anything!!!! It's useless information. So only 9% of the community is black...so what. What are the precentages of violent crimes from black offenders to offenders of different races. What about gang relelated issues?
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

The task force also recommended that officers not only be certified and recertified in Taser usage, it specified that training should emphasize that a Taser is “less-lethal weapon, and not a non-lethal or less-than-lethal weapon.”

DUHHHH!!!!

All "Less-Lethal" weapons have the potential to be lethal. Unlike a firearm though, these weapons are deployed when the intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm is not warranted.
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

The report’s first recommendation, which Frederick County NAACP president Guy Djoken called the most important, is that the community should be involved in crafting Taser policies.

WHAT????

The community should be involved with crafting policies for police departments!!!! That has got to be the most absurde thing that I've ever heard.
Irishcop1961

over 3 years ago

36882 Comments

A bunch of bull.
E2103

over 3 years ago

14 Comments

Not this topic again. ACLU needs to be dismantled.
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

Here we go again...
barnes97

over 3 years ago

216 Comments

I know that I am preaching to the choir here, but I am so tired of these liberals backing the criminal and saying that the "bad" officer shouldn't have tased the poor innocent child. Are 16-18 years old in high school less dangerous than when they are out on a Friday night? The race statistics just blow me away. Could it be that black individuals are committing more crime that other races? Are statistics kept on the race of all people involved in every crime? This would make things more clear. I agree with elambert. Why is it so hard for these people (criminals) to just obey and file a complaint later? This just makes my blood boil!
Jonas

over 3 years ago

38360 Comments

Why is it ALWAYS the LEO or his defense? I know why. It's always my fault when the car is parked illegally and I'm towing it.
Anonymous

over 3 years ago

If a cop says STOP and SHUT UP then STOP and SHUT UP. If the ACLU and NAAPC were so concerned about their people getting tased then they teach them to OBEY the police and file a complaint later if their people think thier right have been violated.
scfredjr

over 3 years ago

348 Comments

I think that if you are a jack ass and act in a manner that will result in you getting tazed then the risk of possible death are yours alone to deal with.