OHIO POLICE Report: Stun guns reduce the use of chemical irritants

Questions have arisen concerning how the Tasers affect health.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Police use of chemical irritants has dropped 30 percent in the three months since officers started carrying stun guns, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday.
Officers also fight with suspects less, and have not used beanbag guns and similar devices since the Taser guns were introduced Jan. 8.
Tasers were fired in 71 situations through the end of March, said the newspaper's analysis of police reports.
The devices fire metal barbs attached by a wire that deliver 50,000 volts of electrical charge, usually temporarily immobilizing suspects so officers can gain control.
About half of Cincinnati's 1,050 officers have been trained to use Tasers and carry them on their belts.
But as more law-enforcement agencies start using them, questions are emerging about the Tasers' health effects.
Cincinnati is among 4,000 government groups using the weapons, including the Army in Iraq. About 500 departments have put Tasers on every officer's belt, said Taser International, based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cincinnati bought 1,100 Tasers after the November death of Nathaniel Jones, who died of a heart attack brought on by a struggle with officers. His obesity and drug use also contributed to his death, officials ruled.
Review's findings
The newspaper review found:
UVirtually all suspects shocked were either thought to be mentally ill or had run from an officer, often during a drug investigation.
UUse of chemical irritant has dropped by nearly 30 percent for the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2003. Use of the irritant dropped 55 percent this March compared with last.
UOne 5-second jolt from a distance often isn't enough. In many cases, officers fired their Taser more than once and used it in its secondary capacity, as a stun gun applied directly to the body. One man was fired at 12 times before officers were able to handcuff him. Loose or thick clothing can prevent the metal barbs from delivering the electricity.
UIn at least three cases, people trying to commit suicide were shot with a Taser to save their lives.
UThe number of officers assaulted has dropped from 17 to eight.
UAt least 40 times, suspects have complied with officers' orders after seeing the red dot on their bodies showing where the barbs are about to be fired, said Lt. Doug Ventre, SWAT and tactical planning supervisor.
"I don't have to get down and wrestle and fight, skin my knees and risk getting hurt," said officer Richard Dews, who has used his Taser twice. "It's better for us and it's better for the bad guys."
Activist groups' view
Some activist groups say police, trained to use Tasers early, should instead wait until they're threatened.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado asked the Denver Police Department in February to limit their use of Tasers when several suspects died after being stunned. Last year, Amnesty International asked for a halt on Taser use until health effects could be studied.
The shocks haven't caused injury in Cincinnati, Ventre said, but some of those hit have complained of injuries from the metal barbs and falls.
One woman had to have a Taser barb removed from her breast. Another woman broke her jaw in the fall after being stunned.
A 31-year-old man shot with a Taser in the back, calf and thigh in February complained to arresting officers that his asthma was giving him trouble breathing. He later claimed in court that he had to have his right testicle removed because of infection from a Taser barb.
Injuries from being wrestled to the ground by officers likely would be worse, Ventre said.