Justice Dept. Begins Study of Safety of the Taser Electric Gun
/The Justice Department has begun to study Tasers, the electric guns
that are increasingly popular with police departments, in the face of
new questions over their safety. Rusty York, the police chief of Fort
Wayne, Ind., said that a Justice Department researcher, Joyce Gammelmo,
contacted him last week to follow up on a report in a local newspaper
that the city had decided to buy Tasers after studying them since early
2003. Ms. Gammelmo wanted to know more about Fort Wayne's research, Mr.
York said. After Mr. York outlined his department's work, Ms. Gammelmo
encouraged him to do more research before buying the guns, Mr. York
said. More than 70 people have died after being shocked with Tasers,
though the company that makes the weapons, Taser International, says
the deaths were not related to their use. Mr. York said he had
independently decided to delay the purchase even before Ms. Gammelmo's
call. Too many questions about the safety of Tasers remain unanswered,
he said. Ms. Gammelmo did not return calls for comment. A spokeswoman
for the Justice Department said that it neither encouraged nor
discouraged police departments in buying Tasers but that it had begun
to study their safety and effectiveness. The department has financed a
study at the University of Wisconsin to determine how electrical
currents move through the body, as well as a study at Wake Forest to
examine injuries caused by Tasers and similar weapons in real-life
situations. More than
5,500 police departments and prisons now equip their officers with
Tasers, compared with only a handful five years ago. Human rights
groups and independent scientists have criticized the use of Tasers,
saying their safety has not been properly studied. But Taser sales have
continued to rise, along with the stock of Taser International. [more]
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