Expert Witness Blog
Despite recent controversy over the use of Tasers, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department says the electroshock weapons have defused hundreds of possibly lethal confrontations and kept deputies and the public safer since deputies began using them in late 2005. Law enforcement officials say the stress exerted by a subject as they are resisting arrest contributes more to such a death than a Taser would. From NorthCountyTimes.com:
The blast from a Taser immobilizes a person within seconds, causing the muscles to contract uncontrollably. Medical and law enforcement studies show, however, that Tasers cause no long-term damage. At least one area medical expert said Tasers rarely, if ever, cause a person’s death. “I have not seen anything that would make me think that a Taser actually killed somebody,” said Gary Vilke, a professor of clinical medicine and emergency physician at UC San Diego Medical Center.