U.S. Taser debate hits home

U.S. Taser debate hits home

A Howland Township woman's scuffle with a Warren police officer at a city tavern earlier this month has thrust the Mahoning Valley into the forefront of a burgeoning national debate over the use, misuse and abuse of Taser stun guns.

Heidi Gill has been charged with falsification, assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, stemming from an altercation at Up A Creek tavern Sept. 2. Her attorney Mark Hanni said police officer Richard Kovach used “excessive force to the extreme” against Gill through multiple zaps of his Taser.

Thus far, official investiations of the episode pass muster. The officer has been placed on adminstrative leave. The city has broadened the probe to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the FBI, thus dodging a bullet of accusations of bias of a city investigating its own employees.

The case has drawn widespread national attention partially because of its confluence with other Taser controversies this month — most notably a University of Florida incident in which a student was Tasered at a John Kerry speech — and partially because of the widely distributed and highly explosive dash video of the altercation.

Turn it around

Such attention must be channeled to positive ends. That's why we encourage State Attorney General Marc Dann to launch a thorough investigation of the Taser and present findings that will serve as the foundation of legislation to establish uniform rules and regulations governing their use by all law enforcement agencies in the Buckeye State.

Use of Tasers, which stand for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle, has increased exponentially in recent years. In 2001, only 750 law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. used them versus the more than 9,500 police departments that use them now.

The contentious debate has exploded as well. Law enforcement officials argue that the Taser is far less lethal than batons and deadly firearms. Human rights groups argue that Tasers constitute cruel and unusual punishment, citing data that more than 200 people have died after having been stunned by a Taser in recent years.

For now, the negative publicity spotlighted on Warren as a result of the Gill altercation must be channeled to positive ends. Regardless of how this particular case unwinds through the legal system, let it serve as a springboard for development of clear and consistent guidelines governing Taser use.

We look for Attorney General Dann to aggressively take the lead role toward that end.