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Shocking stun-gun statistics: How many more people have to die?

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Shocking stun-gun statistics: How many more people have to die?
July 19, 2005

Note: The following was published in The Vancouver Sun. Since it was written on July 19, 2005, eight more people have died after being Tasered by police, for a total of 147.

With apologies to Bob Dylan, who is here in Vancouver this week for three sold-out shows, how many times must Tasers be used, before they’re forever banned?

Tasers have been involved in the cases of six people who have died in police custody in the past week, bringing the total of North American deaths following police stun-gun use since 1999 to 139. The latest to die were seventeen year old Kevin Omas of Euless, Texas, who died July 12 after having been shot three times by a police Taser, Otis G. Thrasher, 42 of Butte, Montana (July 15), Ernesto Valdez of Phoenix, Arizona (July 15), Paul Sheldon Saulnier, 42 of Digby, Nova Scotia (July 15), Carlos Casillas Fernandez, 31 of Santa Rosa, California (July 16) and Michael Leon Critchfield, 40 of West Palm Beach, Florida (July 17). Each of these people, and the 133 who preceded them, left behind grieving loved ones.

With so many deaths, one would expect more of a public outcry. It is true that police departments in Chicago, Illinois and Birmingham, Alabama have discontinued use of Tasers and that groups like Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have all been outspoken in their criticism of the use of stun-guns. However, public concern has been muted, likely because the law enforcement community and the manufacturer have waged an effective public relations campaign, asserting that the dozens of reported fatalities have nothing to do with Taser deployment. It is high time for a closer look at these claims.

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