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Police commission rejects motion to let chief draft taser policy after long public hearing
Summary
After hours of expert testimony, legal arguments and heated public comment, the San Francisco Police Commission voted 4–3 on March 3, 2010, against a motion that would have authorized the chief to develop revisions to department general orders to include conducted energy devices (tasers). The decision leaves any future policy change subject to further study and community engagement.
The San Francisco Police Commission voted 4–3 on March 3 against a motion that would have authorized the police chief to draft changes to Department General Order 5.01 (use of force) and DGO 10.02 (equipment) to include conducted energy devices (tasers) and to develop related policy, training and implementation plans.
The item drew six hours of presentations, expert testimony and public comment. Two physicians who described an observational study of taser introduction in California urged caution, saying their data showed a statistically significant rise in sudden deaths in the first full year after agencies adopted tasers. “We found a sixfold increase in sudden deaths in the first full year after tasers were implemented,” one presenter said, while acknowledging the limits of observational data and that the study could not prove causation. The doctors recommended avoiding chest shots, minimizing the number and duration of cycles, and equipping vehicles with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs).
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