- Originally published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 31, 2005 Copyright 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By MAE GENTRY, LATEEF MUNGIN
Citing
the deaths of two men stunned with Taser-type devices in the past 18
months, a coalition of activist groups will hold a community meeting
Sunday to discuss the safety of the stun guns.
"We're
calling for a moratorium on the use of the Taser gun because the jury's
still out," the Rev. Fred D. Taylor of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference said at a Wednesday news conference.
The
SCLC and other organizations want law enforcement agencies to stop
using the electric weapons, which deliver an incapacitating 50,000-volt
shock, until an independent study of their safety can be conducted.
Two men in custody died after Tasers were used on them by Gwinnett County sheriff's deputies.
Amnesty
International, which will participate in Sunday's forum, persistently
has criticized the Taser. The human rights organization is expected to
release a report Friday detailing the number of Taser-related deaths it
has tallied since 2001.
The SCLC, an
Atlanta-based organization co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr., said Taser-type stun guns have been linked to 86 deaths nationwide
since 1999.
Taser International, the
leading manufacturer of stun guns, maintains that its product has not
directly caused any deaths. An estimated 7,000 agencies worldwide use
Tasers.
The weapons have sparked
controversy across the nation. Police have used them on elderly people
and children as young as 6. In Birmingham, school resource officers got
approval this week to carry the devices after the superintendent said
police are afraid of students.
In
September 2003, after biting a Gwinnett deputy's ear, jail inmate Ray
Charles Austin was stunned at least three times, given psychotropic
drugs, punched and placed in a restraint chair. Austin, 25, passed out
and died. Last May, during a scuffle with deputies, Frederick Williams,
31, died after being shocked five times.
Gwinnett
District Attorney Danny Porter is considering filing criminal charges
in the Williams case. He said Wednesday he still was investigating. The
medical examiner ruled that Williams and Austin died of heart attacks.
State Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) sponsored a bill to ban Tasers, but the bill went nowhere.
Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP
and Rainbow/PUSH also will attend Sunday's forum, from 6 to 8 p.m. at
the Gwinnett County Justice Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville.