Multimedia Reporting (Fred-Musser)

In November a UCLA student was stunned with a taser at a library after not being able to produce a student ID. In October a St. Louis teen died after being shot with a stun gun and in March a special-ed student in Wichita was stunned after refusing to go to in-school suspension.

Despite these recent controversies about the use of tasers and other electroshock guns, more police departments are using the weapons.

Tasers and Taser International, which makes the brand the stun guns are synonymous with, have recently come under fire after several deaths and serious injuries caused by their products. But KU public safety officers stand by the weapons.

“KU Public Safety officers carry tasers for their own protection. The officers go through extended training on when to use the weapons and only use them when it is absolutely necessary,” Robert Blevins, KU Public Safety officer said.

Police officers all over Lawrence currently carry tasers with them. In addition to KU Public Safety officers, Lawrence Police officers and Kansas Highway Patrol officers currently also carry tasers with them.

The U.S. Department of Defense classifies tasers as “non-lethal” weapons but says this does not mean the weapons can not cause death but rather that it is not intended to be fatal.

In a report by The Arizona Republic the newspaper cited 73 deaths following a police taser shock from September 1999 to October 2004.

Of the 73 cases, medical examiners found eight cases where tasers were a cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out as the cause of death. Some cases stated pre-existing cardiovascular or other medical conditions to be a contributing factor with a taser as the direct cause. Several deaths also occurred from injuries sustained in struggles, such as head injuries from falling to the ground after being tasered.

In only 18 of these 73 cases were tasers said to not be a factor in the death.

Another danger existing with tasers is the possibility the subjects could light on fire when shocked by the weapons.

Tasers, like other electrical devices, can ignite when exposed to flammable liquids or fumes. One main concern is the use of tasers around CS gas, the gas commonly used for riot control.

Researchers in Britain tested the effects by spraying CS gas over the clothes over seven mannequins.

Tasers were then fired at the mannequins and in two of the seven trials, “the flames produced were severe and engulfed the top half of the mannequin, including the head.”

Police departments across the country are instructed to never use their tasers in a place where it could be flammable and to always be cautious when using the weapon.

“Our policy is to only use a taser when it is absolutely necessary,” Blevins said. “Officers must use their own judgment and if a suspect is putting up enough of a fight using a taser is the safest way to subdue them.”

Several states across the country, including Kansas, have recently allowed police officers in schools to carry tasers. This ruling has led to many protests from students who fear the dangers tasers can bring.

In early March, according to The NewStandard, students at Wichita West High School delivered letters to their school safety directors, their principal and the police department asking questions and raising concerns about the use of tasers in their school. The students received no answers and their protests increased when just days later police officers tasered a special ed student, 15-year-old, Jarrett McConnell, when he refused to go to in-school detention.

In November, protests began at UCLA after police tasered an Iranian-American student (Youtube.com video of the incident) , Mostafa Tabatabainejad, when he could not produce a student ID in UCLA’s Powell Library. Eyewitnesses of the event say Tabatabeinejad had gotten up to leave the library when police grabbed his arm and tasered him. Tabatabeinejad has filed a civil rights suit against the UCLA police officers.

Despite these events some students still feel it is necessary for police officers in schools to carry tasers.

Kevin Coggins, Lenexa, sophomore, went to a high school where the police officers carried tasers.

“It’s just another safety device for the police. To me the people who are worried about the tasers are the ones who might do something wrong. As long as the police are trained properly there is no reason they can’t carry them. It’s certainly better than being shot with a gun.”

In a recent article by The Toronto Star, police claim, “about 4,000 lives have been saved across the continent in the past seven years via the lesser evil of electroshock darts, although this figure is difficult to substantiate.”

The tasers often save the lives of police officers as well. Taser International’s website shows facts from the Phoenix Police Department that the use of tasers from 2002 to 2003 went from 71 to 164. During this same time period the number of officer-involved shootings went from 15 to 8.

Numbers nationally show that tasers save lives more than they cause deaths.

"Tasers are a safer option for not just police officers but for citizens as well," Blevins said.