The American Civil Liberties Union is calling for police departments across Texas to stop using Tasers until policies and training are reviewed in the wake of a Houston man's death on Friday. The ACLU's call for a moratorium was spurred, in part, by the death of mental health patient Joel Casey, who died on his 52nd birthday after being shocked by a Taser gun while fighting with Harris County Precinct 1 deputy constables. Casey's exact cause of death has not been determined, but deputies later learned he had a history of heart problems and hepatitis B — issues not disclosed in paperwork sent by a private psychiatric center to the constable's office. Even so, local law enforcement agencies polled Tuesday say they have no plans and have not heard of any intentions by their command staffs to stop using the Tasers. They say the stun gun has proved to be a valuable tool and consider it a success. ACLU chapters in Colorado and northern California have sought similar moratoriums. Just last week, a sheriff in Toledo, Ohio, suspended his office's use of Tasers after an inmate who died was shocked with the stun gun many times at a county jail. Meanwhile, a civil rights activist expressed concern about how often Tasers are used by Houston Police Department officers. Houston police have used Tasers about 140 times since the devices were bought in November — a rate of about one or two instances a day, said HPD Lt. Robert Manzo. [more]