Kate Mather| Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — As two Los Angeles police officers wrestled with a vandalism suspect, one grabbed herTaser and pressed the stun gun against the 38-year-old man’s body.
The device was supposed to deliver a jolt strong enough to stun him so the officers could take him into custody. But theTaserhad no effect, police said.
Instead, theLAPDsaid, the man snatched the stun gun from the officer and shocked her in the leg, leaving her unable to move. Her partner then opened fire, fatally shooting the man, Neil Peter White, in the back of the neck.
White’s killing last year illustrates a troubling weakness with a weapon meant to play a key role in theLAPD’s efforts to reduce the number of police shootings:Tasersoften don’t work.
A Los Angeles Times review of department statements and reports found that nearly a quarter of the people shot by on-dutyLAPDofficers last year — at least eight of 36 — were wounded or killed during encounters in which officers said they tried to use aTaserwithout success. Among the incidents:
—In March, an officer fired aTaserat a homeless man suspected in an assault in downtown L.A.’s skid row. The man spun his arms and kept moving during the violent encounter, which was caught on a bystander’s video that drew international attention. An officer tried to stun him again while they struggled on the ground moments before he was fatally shot.
—A few months later, an officer shot hisTaserduring a chase down a South L.A. alley, after theLAPDsaid a robbery suspect suddenly stopped and turned toward police, a knife in her hand. TheTaserhad no effect, police said. Instead, the woman moved toward one of the officers and was fatally shot.
—In December, two officers tried to use theirTaserson a vandalism suspect during an altercation inside the emergency room at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. But police said the man continued to fight, throwing a metal stool, jumping on one officer and trying to grab his holstered gun before the suspect was shot and killed.
Other encounters where officers didn’t shoot their guns also showed the limitations of the weapon.LAPD officers firedTasersjust over 1,100 times last year, according to a department report published last month. The devices had the desired outcome — causing someone to submit to arrest — only 53 percent of the time.
“I find that figure very disappointing,” said Capt. John McMahon, whose office compiled the report.
It’s not always immediately clear why aTaserwasn’t effective.
Some people have tugged the metal probes from their bodies, rendering the device useless. Mental illness or drug use can also influence how a person reacts to the shock. Sometimes the fault lies with officers who don’t use them properly.LAPDofficials are also exploring whether a newTasermodel was a factor.
McMahon said the department is taking a close look at each case in hopes of better understanding what happened.
The captain, along with policing experts and aTaserspokesman, stressed the devices still provide officers with an important alternative to using their firearms and have helped reduce injuries to civilians and officers. But officers have noticed the problems, and experts warn that the ongoing concerns could prompt police to go for their guns instead of theirTasers.
The findings come as theLAPDlooks to vastly expand the number ofTasersavailable to officers, part of a broader push by the department and Police Commission to emphasize so-called de-escalation strategies. In September,LAPDbrass ordered field officers to carry the devices on their holsters unless they weren’t available.
But stories ofTaserproblems have spread through theLAPDranks, leaving some officers wondering whether the stun guns will do their job when they’re needed.
Officer J.C. Duarte knows from experience. Duarte, who has spent more than three decades with theLAPD, recalled an encounter some 25 years ago, when he pulled the trigger on an older-modelTaser, hoping to prevent a physical fight. TheTaserdidn’t work. Duarte grabbed his baton instead.
Duarte said he still carries aTaserbecause it can help him avoid a fight. When it works, he said, “it works beautifully.”
But, he said, the thought of that troublesomeTaserdecades ago still lingers.
“Whenever I have it, I say, ‘I hope that thing works,’” Duarte said. “I’ve had dreams where I pulled the trigger and nothing happens.”
LAPDChief Charlie Beck said he is concerned by the number of shootings where officers struggled with theirTasers, and he said the department would look for ways to improve the overall effectiveness. But, he cautioned, like any device used by police,Tasers“don’t work in all dynamic instances.”
“It’s a great tool, but is it a magic device that eliminates the need for all other applications of force?” Beck said. “No, absolutely not.”
Tasersdate to the 1960s, when a NASA physicist thought police needed a weapon for emergencies when a gun could be particularly dangerous, like airplane hijackings. Jack Cover named his stun gun after the hero in a popular science fiction series. (TASERstands for “Thomas A. Swift’s electric rifle.”)
Taserscan be used in two ways. Officers can fire two electrified darts from several feet away, delivering a sharp shock that freezes someone’s muscles and temporarily incapacitates them. They can also useTasersin “drive-stun mode,” where the device is pressed directly against someone’s skin and creates pain to gain compliance.
Police agencies across the country have embraced the devices, saying they offer officers more space and time to take someone into custody without having to use their firearms. Charles “Sid” Heal, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s commander and expert on less-lethal weapons, said any time cops can make an arrest using aTaserinstead of a gun, it should be considered a “save” — even if it takes several attempts for theTasersto do the job.
“We know their shortcomings,” Heal said, “but it’s better than the alternative.”
Heal cautioned, however, that if officers have more problems with theirTasers, they may be less likely to use them and could instead go for their guns more quickly.
“It’s going to create a predisposition that you’re expecting aTaserfailure,” Heal said. “’I’m not going to risk my life for a 50 percent success rate.’”
Experts said there are a variety of factors that can influence whether aTaserworks as desired. Baggy clothing or sudden movement can rip the wires away. The drive-stun mode may not have the same effect on some people, particularly those who are under the influence of drugs or who are mentally ill. TheLAPD’s report did not specify how often the device was used in drive-stun mode.
Most of the shootings byLAPDofficers last year remain under investigation. Some of those cases, however, have been completed and reviewed by the Police Commission, offering more detail as to why police believe officers had problems using theirTasers.
During the skid row encounter, McMahon said, the officer fired theTaser’sprobes at Charly Keunang, hitting the man known as Africa in the ideal location: his abdomen and torso. But an autopsy showed the probes never pierced his skin. Instead, McMahon said, Keunang spun and was able to pull the wires from his clothing.
“The spinning motion was able to defeat the objective of theTaser,” McMahon said.
Dan Stormer, an attorney representing Keunang’s family in their wrongful death lawsuit, was skeptical that the problems withTasersare so widespread. He said he believed officers blame the devices when explaining later why they fired their guns.
“I think it is often used as an excuse for police officers who become panicked and go to lethal force rather than wait for theTaser,” he said.
The drop in overall effectiveness ofTasers, McMahon said, also coincided with the department’s switch to a newerTasermodel. The department’s recent force report does not compare the effectiveness of the two models. McMahon saidLAPDofficials were working with the manufacturer, Arizona-basedTaserInternational, to evaluate the new X26P device and look for any improvements.
Taserspokesman Steve Tuttle defended the stun guns, saying he had no concerns about the new model. He said police are trained to understand that they may need to use aTasermultiple times “because the first shot may not work.”
Tuttle said theLAPD’snumbers were important to have, but “disingenuous.”
“It’s great to keep track of that … hey, it may take more than one cycle to get that person under control,” he said in a phone interview, while zapping aTaserin the background. “But ultimately we would call that success because you didn’t have to go to a higher level of force. TheTaseraccomplished its mission.”
McMahon wasn’t convinced.
“That’s something we would rather avoid,” he said. “Ideally, aTaserwould be effective the first time.”
