Thursday, January 28, 2016
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn.
Connecticut officers who drew their stun guns on the job last year were more likely to fire when the suspect was black or Hispanic, according to a first-of-its-kind set of statistics that could stoke the nation’s debate over race and police use of force.
The raw, preliminary data was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of an official analysis expected in the coming weeks. Though police and state officials cautioned against passing judgment until then, at least one criminal-justice expert said he would not be surprised to see similar findings elsewhere around the country.
Some civil-rights groups said the statistics confirm what they suspected for years.
“We feel we’re vindicated,” said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP Branches. “The NAACP has huge issues with how law enforcement use Tasers in communities across our state. We get a lot of complaints.”
State and municipal police in Connecticut reported a total of 641 incidents involving stun guns last year: 437 actual firings and 204 instances in which officers threatened to use their weapon but held their fire, according to the data.
Officers were more likely to hold their fire when the suspect was white.
They fired their stun guns 60 percent of the time in confrontations involving whites, 80 percent of the time in those involving blacks and 69 percent of the time in those involving Hispanics.