The police will use these electrical weapons to control civilians. The Cambridge City Council has never held the police accountable for any abuses. The City Manager always defends them.

These devices used to be called “non-lethal.” They were changed to “less-lethal” after the death count got too high to ignore.

A year ago, the Arizona Republic identified "167 cases in the United States and Canada of death following a police Taser strike since September 1999."

In 2005, the New York Times cited a study that showed that "shocks from the guns cause the hearts of healthy pigs to stop beating." At that time, over 100,000 US cops already carried Tasers.

Tasers fire up to 35 feet, delivering a 50,000 volt shock. They are not regulated by any federal agency.

"Human rights groups and scientists have questioned their safety," The Times story said. "The company’s primary safety studies [...] consist of shocks administered to one pig and five dogs."

"Britain has not approved Tasers for general police use. [...] A Canadian study found that it might cause cardiac arrest in people with heart conditions."

To sell the public on these weapons, an officer will volunteer to get zapped, then testify that the experience was painful but harmless. Sure enough, a Cambridge police lieutenant testified to that effect to the December 15 meeting of the City Council’s public safety committee.

But the Times story said that police "volunteers usually receive a single shock of a half-second or less. In the field Tasers automatically fire for five seconds. [...] And suspects are often hit repeatedly."

Councilor Davis expressed great concern about the dangers that these devices posed to citizens. But she backed down after the police and Assistant City Manager Rossi assured her that there would be lots of training and everyone would be very careful.

When Councilor Sullivan suggested that the public safety committee move on to the next item without making a formal reccommendation, Rossi disagreed. The Manager and the Commissioner wanted the committee to formally approve of the Tasers.

"Taser has significantly overstated the weapon’s safety, say biomedical engineers..."

In June 2004, six Americans died from Taser attacks, according to the Times. In August of that year, acording to CBS News, there were ten Taser deaths.

CBS went on to report, "Recently, police officers in Miami shocked a 6-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl in separate incidents." One man died after "an officer stunned him nine times with a Taser, and he wasn’t on drugs or alcohol."

The Omega Foundation and the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University at Bradford in the UK [in 2004] have both released studies that highlight the dangers and deaths associated with all "less-than-lethal" weapons. These studies have emphasized the dangers associated with these weapons and made recommendations for their safe use that have so far been ignored by the US media and US law enforcement.

Other less than lethal weapons are being used and newer products are coming on to the market all the time. When these weapons are used for crowd control, and as the technology improves, their effect becomes more political and less safety oriented.

The pepper spray projectile that hit Victoria Snelgrave in the eye during the 2004 Red Sox victory celebration was called a "nonlethal weapon."

There are already weapons that emit high-power electrical pulses with no wires attached, which can knock a person down at 15 feet. Some police departments already have them.

Pulsed microwave weapons are used for harassment purposes. Like ultra–sound they are difficult to perceive. Used persistently over a period of time they can cause lethal harms. Lasers can blind a person.

The International Committee of the Red Cross called for these devices to be banned even in wartime.

Extreme Low Frequency sound devices can affect thoughts and emotions. The U.S. Air Force has a heat generation device, which makes a person’s skin feel hot when they enter an area. Others cause digestive discomfort for crowd control.

Until there is a thorough investigation of all of the electrical devices being developed and used on civilians the City Council should prohibit the use of Tasers or any other electrical devices, which can be used for hidden harms. Police need training and strict procedures for their use. Criminals obtained these weapons and use them for political, personal and economic purposes. Few officers are trained in how to stop the criminal use of such non-lethal devices.

And the Taser corporation is about to market a "consumer" version of their weapon.

Massachusetts law presently prohibits possession of these devices. Chapter 140, Section 131 (J) states: No person shall possess a portable device or weapon from which an electrical current, impulse, wave or beam may be directed, which current, impulse, wave or beam is designed to incapacitate temporarily, injure or kill.

Rep. William R. Keating wrote the bill which became that law in 1986. Keating is now D.A. for Norfolk County. Attempts to contact him to learn why he wrote the bill were not answered. This seems to verify that police use these devices for extra-legal punishment without due process.

In the 2003-04 session they amended it to allow police and corrections officers to use them in their official duties. The wording makes it appear that they can use them at any time.

In 2001 I wrote a bill which was introduced into the State Legislature, to increase penalties for possession. In 2003 the legislature rewrote it. The resulting statute does not require proof of use: possession or sale is the crime.

More information

There are numerous web sites devoted to stopping abuses of the testing and illegal use of “non-lethal weapons.” Some of these include:

http://www.icomw.org/ International Committee on Offensive Microwave http://www.mindjustice.org Cheryl Welsh is a UN Representative for less lethal technology. http://www.shoestringradio.net http://www.raven1.net Eleanor White’s two sites includes archived radio files, and many links to larger and alternative views of the abuses in the U.S. and Canada.