Post by KC on Jun 14, 2006 22:46:56 GMT -5
June 14, 2006 - There are two areas of the body where Aspen police officer Walter Chi says instructors advise their students not to shoot Tasers: the head and the groin.
The latter, that most-sensitive region of the male body, is precisely where a Rifle police officer's Taser dart hit Chad Eric Cooley as he was walking home one evening in January 2004. The officer was in pursuit of a suspected lawbreaker, and, according to Cooley's attorney, the incident was a case of mistaken identity.
"He had the wrong guy. Chad was never charged with anything. Not one thing," said Walt Brown, who is representing Cooley. "It was a very unnecessary assault."
Like many incidents involving police officers and their stun guns, this one evolved into a federal lawsuit. A trial is scheduled next year to determine how much an innocent man deserves after getting hit in the testicles with a Taser -- a painful fact the Rifle Police Department did not deny in response to the lawsuit.
"It was a very traumatic experience for him," said Brown, adding that afterwards the officer, Diego Pina, began to yank the dart out of Cooley's scrotum until he was stopped. "(Cooley) didn't have any permanent damage except that he's pretty upset with the police department, which totally whitewashed the ordeal."
In response to the federal complaint, the Rifle Police Department and the other named defendants contend Cooley was informed he could file a grievance and that Pena offered to call an ambulance but all medical assistance was refused.
Brown is hopeful a settlement is reached before the case goes to trial.
But the lawsuit is just one of a few in the Aspen/Rifle area winding its way through federal court. Brown filed another lawsuit on behalf of Brett Smith and T.J. Dice, who also committed no crime, but were shot multiple times by the same officer in the Cooley case, Diego Pina, that same summer. He's seeking a $250,000 reward.
It hasn't morphed into a lawsuit at this point, and maybe it never will, but Aspen police officer Melinda Calvano is currently facing disciplinary action after she used a Taser to shock a 63-year-old homeless woman, Carol Alexy, who snatched an old sweater in the alley behind The Thrift Shop in a quest to keep warm. Alexy, who is reluctant to talk publicly about the incident, maintains the sweater was unwanted and next to a Dumpster. After the Taser shot put Alexy in the hospital, Calvano booked her in the Pitkin County Jail for investigation of theft.
Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson this week decided not to pursue a theft charge. The chief has said he will not discuss how Calvano might be disciplined.
"It's a very dangerous instrument," Brown said. "It's supposed to be used as a defensive weapon but it's been used and abused for compliance issues, which is ridiculous."
Last month, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Carbondale Police Department and its managers after a festival volunteer was shot with a stun gun after running a stop sign while delivering hay bales for a KDNK fund-raiser.
Tasers are awash in bad news: The U.S. Justice Department just announced it is reviewing the deaths of up to 180 people who died after officers in different parts of the nation used stun guns or similar instruments to subdue them.
Still, legions of law enforcement officers maintain electro-shock instruments are an effective intermediate weapons that make their jobs safer and the leading manufacturer, Taser International, says it has never been proven that their products have directly caused death. Earlier this month, the Circuit Court for the County of Saginaw, Michigan entered a judgment in favor of Taser International ordering the dismissal of a liability lawsuit that claimed a stun gun led to wrongful death. It is the twentieth wrongful death or injury lawsuit that has been dismissed or judgment entered in favor of Taser, according to the company.
"In-custody deaths are a tragic aspect of law enforcement and have been occurring as long as police have been enforcing the law," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle wrote in an e-mail. "The more we can understand and research the circumstances leading to in custody deaths, the more opportunity law enforcement will have to develop tactics and procedures that may help prevent these unfortunate incidents in the future. Given that the National Institute of Justice conducted a similar study on pepper spray, which effectively ended the debate regarding its safety, we are hopeful this (new U.S. Department of Justice) study will lead to the same outcome regarding electro-muscular disruption devices."
Chi, a 14-year veteran of the Aspen Police Department, instructs his colleagues on the use of stun guns and says they are all highly trained.
"Granted there are not a lot of uses for it in Aspen," said Chi, noting the city's relatively low crime rate. "But I believe in the Taser. It allows us to go from a position where we might have to draw our guns to a less-lethal option. It's a great tool."
Like many officers, Chi has felt the effect of the Taser himself.
"I wouldn't want it to happen again," he said.
The latter, that most-sensitive region of the male body, is precisely where a Rifle police officer's Taser dart hit Chad Eric Cooley as he was walking home one evening in January 2004. The officer was in pursuit of a suspected lawbreaker, and, according to Cooley's attorney, the incident was a case of mistaken identity.
"He had the wrong guy. Chad was never charged with anything. Not one thing," said Walt Brown, who is representing Cooley. "It was a very unnecessary assault."
Like many incidents involving police officers and their stun guns, this one evolved into a federal lawsuit. A trial is scheduled next year to determine how much an innocent man deserves after getting hit in the testicles with a Taser -- a painful fact the Rifle Police Department did not deny in response to the lawsuit.
"It was a very traumatic experience for him," said Brown, adding that afterwards the officer, Diego Pina, began to yank the dart out of Cooley's scrotum until he was stopped. "(Cooley) didn't have any permanent damage except that he's pretty upset with the police department, which totally whitewashed the ordeal."
In response to the federal complaint, the Rifle Police Department and the other named defendants contend Cooley was informed he could file a grievance and that Pena offered to call an ambulance but all medical assistance was refused.
Brown is hopeful a settlement is reached before the case goes to trial.
But the lawsuit is just one of a few in the Aspen/Rifle area winding its way through federal court. Brown filed another lawsuit on behalf of Brett Smith and T.J. Dice, who also committed no crime, but were shot multiple times by the same officer in the Cooley case, Diego Pina, that same summer. He's seeking a $250,000 reward.
It hasn't morphed into a lawsuit at this point, and maybe it never will, but Aspen police officer Melinda Calvano is currently facing disciplinary action after she used a Taser to shock a 63-year-old homeless woman, Carol Alexy, who snatched an old sweater in the alley behind The Thrift Shop in a quest to keep warm. Alexy, who is reluctant to talk publicly about the incident, maintains the sweater was unwanted and next to a Dumpster. After the Taser shot put Alexy in the hospital, Calvano booked her in the Pitkin County Jail for investigation of theft.
Aspen Police Chief Loren Ryerson this week decided not to pursue a theft charge. The chief has said he will not discuss how Calvano might be disciplined.
"It's a very dangerous instrument," Brown said. "It's supposed to be used as a defensive weapon but it's been used and abused for compliance issues, which is ridiculous."
Last month, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Carbondale Police Department and its managers after a festival volunteer was shot with a stun gun after running a stop sign while delivering hay bales for a KDNK fund-raiser.
Tasers are awash in bad news: The U.S. Justice Department just announced it is reviewing the deaths of up to 180 people who died after officers in different parts of the nation used stun guns or similar instruments to subdue them.
Still, legions of law enforcement officers maintain electro-shock instruments are an effective intermediate weapons that make their jobs safer and the leading manufacturer, Taser International, says it has never been proven that their products have directly caused death. Earlier this month, the Circuit Court for the County of Saginaw, Michigan entered a judgment in favor of Taser International ordering the dismissal of a liability lawsuit that claimed a stun gun led to wrongful death. It is the twentieth wrongful death or injury lawsuit that has been dismissed or judgment entered in favor of Taser, according to the company.
"In-custody deaths are a tragic aspect of law enforcement and have been occurring as long as police have been enforcing the law," Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle wrote in an e-mail. "The more we can understand and research the circumstances leading to in custody deaths, the more opportunity law enforcement will have to develop tactics and procedures that may help prevent these unfortunate incidents in the future. Given that the National Institute of Justice conducted a similar study on pepper spray, which effectively ended the debate regarding its safety, we are hopeful this (new U.S. Department of Justice) study will lead to the same outcome regarding electro-muscular disruption devices."
Chi, a 14-year veteran of the Aspen Police Department, instructs his colleagues on the use of stun guns and says they are all highly trained.
"Granted there are not a lot of uses for it in Aspen," said Chi, noting the city's relatively low crime rate. "But I believe in the Taser. It allows us to go from a position where we might have to draw our guns to a less-lethal option. It's a great tool."
Like many officers, Chi has felt the effect of the Taser himself.
"I wouldn't want it to happen again," he said.