US Police Kill 156 with Tasers

Prensa Latina | March 30 2006

Police in the US have killed 156 people in five years, either purposely or by accident, with tasers, the stun belts used to subdue people by electric shock.

As the weapon grows in popularity among law enforcement ranks so do the number of victims. In 2001 it was used by 1,000 of 18,000 police stations, but the number rose to 7,000 in 2005.

Similarly, as a human rights organization denounced, with the soaring use of tasers -discharging thousands of volts- there is a concomitant increase in fatalities: only three in 2001, but 61 in 2005.

Although producers claim the technology has saved many more lives, organizations like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) view it as an instrument of torture due to the physical pain and psychological torture inflicted by careless people.