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AG Releases Taser Report

Montpelier, Vermont - April 7, 2008

Vermont's Attorney General says Brattleboro police violated use-of-force policies in two taser incidents last summer. The findings were part of a report issued after a 7-month investigation of police use of tasers in Vermont.

Bill Sorrell says Brattleboro police improperly used tasers twice, but the Attorney General also found that tasers-- when properly used-- have become an important police tool that save lives and prevent injuries.

"This is indeed a weapon," says Sorrell.

The weapon is the electronic compliance device better known as a taser. Applied to open skin, it temporarily paralyzes with a non-lethal, high-voltage, painful shock.

28 police departments now use them in Vermont, but it was Brattleboro's use of the taser in two instances last summer that triggered the Attorney General's investigation. In one case, the Brattleboro cops repeatedly tased a young couple passively protesting in an open field.

"They should not have tased the two protestors even one time, let alone multiple times for each of them," says Sorrell.

Sorrell says the Brattleboro police WERE justified when they tased a violent 15-year-old mental patient at the Brattleboro Retreat, but they should have tased him only for five seconds-- not ten.

Sorrell learned first-hand how much a five-second taser blast hurts. He showed the videotape of what happened when he was voluntarily tased by Burlington Police.

"Probably the most unpleasant five seconds of my life!" says Sorrell.

For police, the taser is the latest non-lethal device created to incapacitate violent suspects. Other devices include jalapeno pepper pellets and painful bean bags fired from guns at strategically slow speeds.

While Brattleboro Police violated their own policies, Sorrell's investigation determined other police agencies acted properly in scores of taser deployments over a one-year period.

"In helping to deal with persons who are actively aggressive or actively resistant and persons who are putting themselves, the officers, or the public at risk," explains Vt. Public Safety Commissioner Tom Tremblay.

Sorrell recommends police departments get community feedback before adding tasers to their toolbox.

Departments should have clear written protocols for when to use tasers.

Officers should undergo proper training-- including being tased themselves so they know what it feels like.

And finally, Sorrell says police should keep records of taser use and make if readily available for public scrutiny.

Ironically, Brattleboro police decided to begin using tasers after officers shot and killed Woody Woodward when he confronted a church congregation with a knife.

Reporter Brian Joyce: "If they had tasers might he have survived that day?"

Sorrell: "Quite possibly so."

And that is exactly the reason Sorrell has endorsed tasers when used properly.

Sorrell says tasers have been used hundreds of times since Vermont departments began employing them four years ago. His investigation only looked at the past year. He said he found a couple of questionable tasering incidents. But he says the vast majority of taser use is justified and it helps officers diffuse dangerous situations and keep people from getting hurt.

Brian Joyce - WCAX News