StreetCred PKIC Data on TASER Deployments
Significant Findings on TASER Deployments by Officers in 2015
Nick Selby
This week, the StreetCred Police Killings in Context (PKIC) dataset launches. You can read about the dataset, its methodology and peer review, and get, work with and create your own analysis products or derivative works from the data, free. This article is one of several deep-dives into the PKIC data.
The StreetCred PKIC dataset provides significant insights into TASER use that are contrary to conventional wisdom. TASER-related incidents are among the most complex to understand and controversial. There is much disagreement about the contribution of the TASER to a death. TASERS, like batons, mace and OC spray, are categorized as, “less lethal” tools, however in some cases in which a TASER is deployed, people die.
The StreetCred PKIC dataset contains 56 cases of TASER deployment in 2015. In 39 (70%) of these, the decedent assaulted the officer prior to being TASED; in 25% of those, the officer was injured; and in 5% of cases in which the decedent attacked the officer, the decedent had also reached for or struggled for the officer’s gun. There are known witnesses to 64% of all TASER deployments, and these witnesses generally supported the account of police (see, Witnesses to TASER deployments, below). In 45% of TASER activations the decedent had attempted to flee arrest.
TASER Deployment & Autopsies
The StreetCred PKIC data contains 11 cases of death of unarmed people after a confrontation with police in which both a TASER was involved and in which an official autopsy is available. The complex issue of TASER as primary, secondary or tertiary cause of death will be discussed in future analyses.
In these deaths following TASER deployment, the official autopsy showed primary or secondary cause of death factors such as overdose from drugs including methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), alcohol and flakka. In just under half, the autopsy found the cause of death stemmed from significant health issues, including thyroid disorder, pulmonary emphysema and cardiac complications.
Nationwide TASER Use & Safety
According to “Police Use of Force, Tasers and Other Less-Lethal Weapons,” a May, 2011 report released by the National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Studies,
Taser use has increased in recent years. More than 15,000 law enforcement and military agencies use them… A study by Wake Forest University researchers found that 99.7 percent of people who were shocked by [TASERs] suffered no injuries or minor injuries only. A small number suffered significant and potentially lethal injuries. This NIJ-sponsored study included six police departments and evaluated the results of 962 “real world” [TASER] uses. Skin punctures from [TASER] probes were common, accounting for 83 percent of mild injuries.
TASER Deployments Prior to Firearm Deployment
In 29% (20) of the 2015 incidents in which officers killed with a firearm an unarmed person, the officer deployed the TASER prior to the firearm. This is a clear indication that officers in these 20 cases made one or more attempts to move up the “force continuum” before using deadly force. In all these 20 cases, the TASER was ineffective for a number of known reasons. In some, clothing, or a miss, prevented full contact that is necessary for neuro-muscular incapacitation (NMI). In at least one case, an officer attempted a “drive-stun” (full contact with the front end of the TASER) prior to using deadly force. In one case that led to an indictment of the officer (the officer and decedent were both White), the TASER was deployed and gained compliance, but the decedent subsequently was said by the officer to have moved his body and hands in a manner the officer considered threatening and she deployed her firearm.
TASER Deaths & Narcotics
Narcotics were involved in 38% of all TASER cases; methamphetamine in 13% and alcohol in 11%.
Witnesses to TASER Deployments
Most TASER deployments in cases where the person being TASED subsequently died are witnessed by non-law enforcement (civilian) witnesses, or video, or audio, or all. There were non-law encorcement (civilian) witnesses in 36 (64%) of all TASER deployments. In 34 (61%) of the 56 TASER deployments, non-law enforcement (civilian) witnesses partially or exclusively support the officers’ version of events. In 24 (43%) civilian witnesses exclusively support the officers’ account, and in 10 (18%) some witnesses support, while others dispute, the police account. In 2 TASER deployment incidents (4%), witnesses exclusively dispute the police account. In 19 (34%) of 56 TASER deployments, there is video available of the incident; in 8 (14%) there is audio and video available. In 12 (21%) TASER deployments there are both civilian witnesses and video.
How You Can Help
Disagree with what you’ve read here? Have another take? Download the data here and perform your own analysis. Tell us what you would fix, or how you would do it better.
