We often get inquiries regarding TASER safety and human rights issues.  Today, we received an inquiry from Europe asking, “Do you have any recent publications or statements from Amnesty International where they have eased off from their ban and moratorium stances in their pre 2004 reports?”

William Schultz , former Amnesty Int'l Executive Director & Rick Smith, CEO of TASER in Debate TASER March 2005 at Claremont McKenna College, CA

That’s a good question as we have seen a transition of Amnesty International’s viewpoint regarding TASER ECDs. Here’s what I wrote back to the European inquiry:

The best I can do is to show you quotes from the latest releases from Amnesty Int’l in 2012. Many of the quotes ask for restrictions but note that AI is no longer requesting moratoriums as they did in the early 2000 era:

• “Of the hundreds who have died following police use of Tasers in the United States, dozens and possibly scores of deaths can be traced to unnecessary force being used,” Susan Lee, Americas program director at Amnesty International, writes in a press release. “This is unacceptable, and stricter guidelines for their use are now imperative.”
• “Even if deaths directly from Taser shocks are relatively rare, adverse effects can happen very quickly, without warning, and be impossible to reverse,” Amnesty International’s Lee adds. “Given this risk, such weapons should always be used with great caution, in situations where lesser alternatives are unavailable.”

This is a subtle but important change from not accepting this life-saving technology versus accepting that TASER ECDs are here to stay.  Howeveer, AI wants TASER ECDs to be used with good training, smart policies and with good oversight  — just las we highly recommend that law enforcement agencies adhere to these principals.

The one issue that needs clarification is the continuing statement by AI that 90 percent of the subjects hit by a TASER device are unarmed. THAT IS TRUE & it SHOULD BE TRUE as TASER technology is not a replacement for deadly force. At most of the 17,000 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries, TASER ECDs are used at the same level of force as are pepper sprays (again against mostly unarmed individuals).

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