Issue # 1416      24 June 2009

Tasers, the latest state terror weapon

Peter Mac

Last week a pathologist’s report revealed that a man had died from a heart attack after Queensland police had sprayed him with capsicum and then shocked him 28 times with their electric Taser guns, while he crouched in terror in a corner of his bathroom. The police had claimed that the thirty-nine year old victim, Antoneo Galeano, was an amphetamine addict, and that he had only been shocked three times after he had allegedly assaulted a woman and encountered police while wielding a metal bar.

However, the Tasers’ own electronic record of use has revealed that Mr Galeano suffered 28 Taser shots, each of which lasted five seconds. He died in handcuffs minutes after the final shock.

The police officers involved in the attack have now been withdrawn from duty, and the incident is under investigation by the Queensland Police ethical standards command. There have been calls for the police actions to be subject to a criminal investigation.

Tasers threaten the public

Taser guns have been distributed in most mainland states and there has been an appalling lack of control over their use. In Queensland 1,200 have been issued to general duties officers. In NSW, only senior officers are authorised to use them, but now all frontline police are to receive them – 1,962 in all, at a cost to the taxpayer of $10 million.

The use of these weapons has been repeatedly criticised, both within Australia and overseas, because of their terrible physical impact. The weapon inflicts a 50,000-volt electric shock by means of a thin wire that connects the projectile to the power source.

The weapon’s manufacturer has admitted frankly that prolonged or continuous exposure to a Taser charge may lead to cumulative exhaustion and/or breathing impairment. A Canadian medical report concluded that use of the weapon could lead to a heart attack.

The NSW Ombudsman has recommended against any further roll-outs of Tasers, because standards for their use are inadequate and the health risks are unknown. He warned that they had been used against the public on five occasions in the first two weeks of general duties use, and 48 times over the past five years, when only senior officers were permitted to use them.

Footage has now been released of other police Taser attacks in which people writhe and scream in agony after having received a Taser shock. Last year Queensland police used their Tasers against a 16-year-old girl who refused orders to move on, because she was waiting for an ambulance for her sick friend. Earlier this year a man in Alice Springs died in custody, after capsicum and Tasers were used against him. In NSW a 56-year old man with a heart condition, who allegedly threatened police with a frying pan, died three days after receiving three Taser shocks

A weapon that should be banned

Tasers are euphemistically described as “stun guns”, giving the misleading impression that they are similar to tranquilliser guns used to humanely subdue animals. Police say they are just used to immobilise people acting dangerously. However, like many electrical instruments used in torture, they cause extreme pain, even if used only for half a second, and the victim is only “immobilised” (during which they fall down with their muscles undergoing uncontrollable spasms) after five seconds.

The most recent version of the weapons prolong the shock for five seconds after the trigger is depressed, and then cut out automatically, but they can be restarted immediately by repressing the trigger. If the trigger is pressed continuously the shock is prolonged.

The use of Tasers requires at the very least a callous indifference to the infliction of pain. During volatile confrontations, use of Tasers as a means of intimidation is a constantly tempting alternative to quiet and tactful negotiation. In the wrong hands they invite misuse as a means of on-the-spot punishment, or even for sadistic pleasure, in which case they become instruments of torture.

Antoneo Galeano suffered 28 five-second shocks before he died, and his suffering must have been indescribable. The mass media has focused on the behaviour of the officers concerned, but many other questions are raised by the terrible story of this man’s death. Were the state’s health resources so inadequate that he had to be released from hospital on the day of his death despite evidence of suicidal tendencies? Why were two junior officers, one a raw recruit, assigned to handle the ensuing situation? But above all, why have these terrible weapons been released for general use against members of the public?

Despite all the warning about the dangers and the potential violation of human rights involved in their use, they have been distributed for widespread use by state police forces. It is now clear that Tasers have been introduced with the deliberate intention of causing terror from their threatened use, and that state governments bear the main responsibility for the deaths and suffering of Antoneo Galeano and other people against whom Tasers have been used.

Tasers are extremely cruel and dangerous weapons, and they should be banned from use in Australia.

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