LAW ENFORCEMENT Pittsburgh police plan to issue more Tasers

The cost of the crime-fighting weapons is more than $120,000.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh's police department plans to expand its use of Tasers, which shock targets into submission with a high-voltage zap, after a successful pilot program.
Ten officers who have carried Tasers since March have used them six times, reporting no serious injuries.
Published reports indicate, however, that more than 50 people have died after being shocked by Tasers in the past five years, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Sunday.
Amnesty International wants a moratorium on them until an "independent, comprehensive medical review of Taser-related deaths" is conducted, spokesman Edward Jackson said.
Taser International, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said its products have never been listed as the primary cause of death in an autopsy, although some medical examiners have listed Taser shocks as contributing factors in some deaths.
Delay
Pittsburgh's plan to distribute another 150 Tasers to officers is being delayed by a hitch in purchasing special thigh holsters for them. The 160 Tasers cost the department $120,000, while the holsters are about $100 each.
Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. said the delay has given him more time to evaluate the department's pilot program and to learn how other departments use the devices.
Despite the criticism, McNeilly said he does not regret his decision to use them.
"There's going to be controversy with any tool we use, but I believe now, even more than before, that this will be useful and helpful," he said.
Taser use
McNeilly, together with staff from the police training academy and city lawyers, is rewriting the department's use-of-force policies.
The use of Tasers will likely be listed in the same place as pepper spray on the "continuum of control" -- the range of actions officers should take when confronting someone.
Police presence is the first step in the continuum and deadly force is the last. Tasers will be just below the baton, which is one step away from the gun, McNeilly said.
More than 300 North American police departments -- including at least 40 in Pennsylvania -- issue Tasers to all street officers, the company said.
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