BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1237
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2005
Counsel: Steven Meinrath
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 1237 (Leno) - As Introduced: February 22, 2005
SUMMARY : Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or possession of
tasers, excepting law enforcement officers provided they have
completed training in taser use. Requires law enforcement
agencies to report use of tasers to the Department of Justice
(DOJ) for one year and for DOJ to then report these data to the
Legislature. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds tasers to the list of weapons prohibited to be
manufactured, sold or possessed in California, with an
exception for law enforcement officers, as specified; when on
duty and the use is authorized by his or her agency and is
within the course and scope of his or her duty; and provided
the officer has completed a training course in taser use that
has been certified by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST). Unlawful possession of a taser
would be an alternate felony-misdemeanor, punishable by 16
months, 2 or 3 years in state prison or by up to one year in
county jail; a fine of $1,000; or both.
2)Defines "taser" as any mechanism designed to emit an
electronic, magnetic, or other type of charge or shock through
the use of a projectile, and is designed for the purpose of
temporarily immobilizing a person by the infliction of that
shock or charge.
3)Requires all law enforcement agencies in California to report
each month, for the Year 2006, to the DOJ whether the agency
uses tasers and, if so, to report the following information
concerning each time the weapon is unholstered or otherwise
employed for use:
a) Was the taser drawn, aimed and the laser sighting device
activated by pointing it at a person?
b) Was the taser used to deliver a charge or shock?
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c) What was the original reason for the officer contacting
the suspect?
d) What was the reason for using the taser?
e) What was the manner in which the taser was used to
deliver a shock?
f) What was the number of shocks administered and the
length of each shock?
g) How effective was the use of the taser?
h) Was the suspect arrested and, if so, on what charge?
i) What was the age, gender, race, or ethnicity of the
subject?
j) Was the suspect believed to be under the influence of
drugs or alcohol, as identified either before or after the
event?
aa) Was the suspect believed to be suffering from mental
illness, as identified either before or after the event?
bb) Was the officer injured in connection with the incident
in which the taser was used?
cc) Was the suspect injured in connection with the incident
in which the taser was used?
dd) What, if any, medical treatment did the suspect receive
after the taser was used and by whom was it administered,
specifying whether the suspect was treated and released
from medical care or required hospital admission?
4)Requires that each law enforcement agency shall collect the
following information for the Year 2006 and shall, no later
than March 1, 2007, provide the following information to the
DOJ:
a) A complete copy of the agency's policies and protocols
for taser use including, but not limited to, who is
supplied with a taser and the situations in which the use
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of a taser is authorized by under the agency's use of force
policy.
b) What training is required of officers authorized to use
the taser including, but not limited to, the number of
hours of training required, subjects covered, and who is
responsible for conducting the training.
c) The number of calls to which officers dispatched and a
taser was used, either by activating the laser targeting
device or by administering a charge or shock.
d) The number of times officers used tasers, either by
activating the laser targeting device or administering a
charge or shock, during a self-initiated activity.
e) The race or ethnicity of the suspect upon whom the taser
was used, either by activating the laser targeting device
or administering a charge or shock, compared with the
arrest rates for all subjects arrested or cited for a
criminal offense during the same time period.
f) The overall number of calls for service handled by
patrol officers during the period.
g) The number of injuries requiring hospital admission
sustained by persons after being shocked with a taser.
h) The number of deaths that occurred following a person
being shocked with a taser.
5)Following receipt of the data described above, the DOJ shall
collect and collate the data and, no later than July 1, 2007,
submit a report to the Legislature that shall include the full
protocols for training and use of tasers as submitted by each
agency, as well as a reporting the responses to the items in
#4(a) and (b) above, collated by agency and statewide.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a peace officer or custodial officer, as
specified, may if authorized by his or her employing agency
purchase, possess, or transport any less lethal weapon or
ammunition therefore for official use in the discharge of his
or her duties. [Penal Code Section 12600.]
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2)Defines "less lethal weapon" as any device designed to, or
that has been converted to, expel or propel less lethal
ammunition by any action, mechanism, or process for the
purpose of incapacitating, immobilizing, or stunning a human
being through the infliction of any less than lethal
impairment of physical condition, function, or senses,
including physical pain or discomfort. It is not necessary
that a weapon leave any lasting or permanent incapacitation,
discomfort, pain, or other injury or disability in order to
qualify as a less lethal weapon. [Penal Code Section 12601.]
3)Defines "stun gun" to include any item, except a taser, used
or intended to be used as either an offensive or defensive
weapon capable of temporarily immobilizing a person by the
infliction of an electrical charge. [Penal Code Section
12650.]
4)Provides that any person may purchase, possess, or use a stun
gun, subject to the following requirements:
a) No person convicted of a felony or any crime involving
an assault shall purchase, possess, or use stun guns.
b) No person who is addicted to any narcotic drug shall
purchase, possess, or use a stun gun.
c) No person shall sell or furnish any stun gun to a minor
unless the minor is at least 16 years of age and has the
written consent of his or her parent or legal guardian; to
do so is punishable by a $50 fine for the first offense and
thereafter is a misdemeanor.
d) No minor shall possess any stun gun unless the minor is
at least 16 years of age and has the written consent of his
or her parent or legal guardian. [Penal Code Section
12651.]
e) Any person convicted of a felony or any crime involving
an assault, a narcotics addict, or person under 16 who does
not have the written consent of his or her parent who
purchases, possesses or uses a stun gun is guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by up to six month in county jail;
a fine of up to $1,000; or both. [Penal Code Section
12653.]
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This bill does
not say that tasers are 'bad' or that they have no place in
the arsenal of weapons that law enforcement uses to protect
the public safety. On the contrary, if one examines only the
instances in which law enforcement was authorized to use
lethal force and instead used a taser, a survey by the
California Chiefs of Police indicates that hundreds of
individuals who could have been shot are still alive,
precisely because of that choice.
"But without the benefit of truly independent medical
research, it is impossible for law enforcement officers to
develop informed policies for training and use of those
weapons beyond instances where lethal force would otherwise be
authorized.
"Tasers in the hands of the public is another issue. I share
law enforcement concerns about the proliferation of tasers
among the general public. The opportunity for misuse by the
general public, I believe, is far greater than among our
trained law enforcement personnel. I believe that individuals
may have a false sense of security in obtaining and attempting
to use a taser for self-defense. The serious potential for
abuse of this powerful weapon requires that it's use be
limited to law enforcement officers."
2)What is a Taser ? Tasers are hand-held devices that propel two
barbs at a person. The barbs are intended to attach to the
skin or clothing. Removing the barbs usually requires medical
assistance. Models currently in use send 50,000 volts of
electrical current through wires connecting the device to the
barbs. The current flows into the body and results in a loss
of muscular control and pain. Some models also are
convertible into "stun guns," which require direct contact of
the taser hand-set to a person's body; two fixed electrodes
pass the current pulses into the subject. This manner of
application is usually classed as use in "stun" or "probe"
mode and pain is the principal local physiological effect.
The terms "stun gun" and "taser" are often used synonymously,
despite their differences.
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3)Health and Safety Issues : According to the Arizona Republic,
as of March 4, 2005 there have been 101 cases in the United
States and Canada of death following use of a taser by a
police since September 1999. Seven of these deaths have
occurred in northern California within just the past seven
months. Of the 38 cases in which autopsy reports were made
available, "In 12 cases, medical examiners said tasers were a
cause, a contributing factor or could not be ruled out in
someone's death. In 19 cases, coroners and other officials
reported the stun gun was not a factor."
Although the leading manufacturer, Taser International, cites
studies that it asserts find the weapon safe for use by both
the police and the public, these claims have been questioned
by cardiologists and several government agencies have declined
to authorize use of the weapon due to safety concerns. On
March 17, 2005, USA Today reported, "The Department of
Homeland Security's two largest law enforcement divisions have
rejected the use of stun guns for about 20,000 agents and
officers, largely because of questions about the safety of the
devices that emit electrical charges to temporarily
incapacitate suspects."
Ms. Karen Amendola, Chief Operating Officer for Research and
Evaluation for the Police Foundation, a law enforcement
think-tank based in Washington, states, "Clearly, there is not
enough information out there on the medical issues and how
these devices are being deployed. . . . There needs to be an
objective third-party look at this issue." (USA Today, March
17, 2005.)
Dr. Zian Tseng, a cardiologist and electrophysiologist (a
cardiologist who specializes in heart rhythm disorders and
sudden death) at the University of California at San Francisco
(UCSF) recently stated, "They cannot say they are safe in my
opinion." (San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 2005.) Dr.
Tseng states, "There are vulnerable periods in the cardiac
cycle, when shocks can cause dangerous arrhythmias. . . . I
think they are dangerous. If you are shocking a person
repeatedly, it becomes a bit like Russian Roulette. At some
point, you may hit a vulnerable period."
4)Use on Persons of Particular Vulnerabilities : Of particular
concern is the effect of a shock from a taser on persons who
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have specific medical vulnerabilities. In a recent letter
from Taser International to the San Francisco Police
Commission, Taser International Chief Executive Officer Rick
Smith wrote that 70% of reported subjects of taser use were
under the influence of alcohol, another drug, or an emotional
disturbance. Dr. Kathy Glatter, a University of California at
Davis electrophysiologist states, "There is almost no medical
research examining this issue." (Sacramento Bee, November 13,
2004.) Dr. Tseng from UCSF states, " . . . a person with
cocaine in his or her system is [] much more prone to a
taser-induced cardiac arrest." (San Francisco Chronicle,
March 1, 2005.)
Drug users are not the only population which appears to be
vulnerable to injury or death from being shocked with a taser.
Taser International previously recommended to all law
enforcement agencies buying their weapon that their officers
be subjected to a sample shock from a taser as part of their
training in the weapon's use. In 2002, however, according to
a doctor hired by Taser International, Maricopa County
Sheriff's deputy Samuel Powers suffered a fractured vertebra
due to being shocked by a taser during training. The same
doctor found that Powers suffered from an undiagnosed case of
osteoporosis, which left him vulnerable to the taser shock.
(Arizona Republic, December 29, 2004.) The National
Osteoporosis Foundation states that osteoporosis is a major
public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans, or
55% of people 50 years of age and older, and that osteoporosis
is often called the "silent disease" because bone loss occurs
without symptoms.
5)Taser Use in the United Kingdom : Although Taser International
cites several studies in the United Kingdom as finding their
product safe, the latest directive from the Home Office of the
British Government authorizes taser use only by special
authorized firearms officers "for use as a less lethal
alternative for use in situations where a firearms authority
has been granted . . . ." (Ministerial Statement, March 24,
2005, quoted by CNBC.)
6)Related Legislation : AB 157 (Levine) would prohibit carrying
a concealed taser within a vehicle or upon the person. AB 157
has been referred to this Committee but has not been heard.
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AB 101 (Cohn) permits private ownership of tasers, as specified;
would require tasers to bear the name of the manufacturer and
a serial number; and would allow DOJ to issues permits for
non-self-defense use. AB 101 has been referred to this
Committee but has not been heard.
AB 1710 (Wyland) requires any seller of a taser to register
certain information about the buyer with the taser
manufacturer. AB 1710 is scheduled to be heard in this
Committee today.
REGISTERED SUPPORT/OPPOSITION :
Support:
American Civil Liberties Union
Opposition
Taser International
Analysis Prepared by : Steven Meinrath / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744