The Lumberjack

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Community

Michael Phelps, an Arcata transplant from Los Angeles, knows the amount of pain a Taser shock can bring.

"I once let an officer demonstrate his Taser on me and damn, it hurt," Phelps said. "It makes all the muscles in your body clench up and you just fall to the ground in pain."

After a flurry of police shootings there is a growing demand for increased use of non-lethal force against criminal suspects in Humboldt County.

Beginning in 2008, every Humboldt County California Highway Patrol officer will be armed with a conductive energy weapon, more commonly known as a Taser. The weapons are described by police officers as being an effective, non-lethal way to subdue violent suspects.

"The Humboldt County CHP is currently in the testing phase," Officer Pahl Dahlen of the CHP said. By 2008, all officers will carry Tasers, he said.

Dahlen said that Tasers are an effective alternative to lethal force.

"They are designed to impair a person's ability to counter-attack an officer," he said. "It's all about saving lives and avoiding the use of deadly force if possible. To avoid shooting is the main purpose."

Despite the apparent advantages of Tasers over lethal force, many have raised concerns about the safety of these weapons.

"People do die from Tasers," Judith Little, head of the sociology department at Humboldt State University, said. "I fear that police will use these weapons more because of the perception that they are non-lethal."

Redwood Curtain COPWATCH member "Verbena" said Tasers should be classified as lethal weapons as hundreds tasered by police have died.

"A big problem with Tasers is that they are used well beyond the scope of what they are intended for," she said. "Tasers are often used to punish and intimidate political dissenters and non-violent protesters."

Amnesty International has concerns about the safety of Tasers as well. The human rights organization is working with the U.S. Justice Department to review more than 100 deaths. Police Tasers, or similar electrical weapons, were used to subdue these individuals. The organizations want to assess whether the devices could have played a significant role in the deaths.

Even if it turns out that the Tasers didn't cause the deaths, they still hurt.

"It almost made me piss my pants," Phelps said.


Blake Weaver can be reached at bcw19@humboldt.edu

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools