Special Report How Tasers became instruments of excessive force for the Border Patrol
Source: Los Angeles Times
Special Report How Tasers became instruments of excessive force for the Border Patrol
By Joseph Tanfani, Brian Bennett and Matt Hansen
OCTOBER 30, 2015, 9:35 AM | REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON
Searching for a way to curb fatal border shootings, Border Patrol leaders decided in 2008 that their agents needed a new weapon on their belts.
The agency began to supply Tasers, a hand-held device that delivers a paralyzing electric charge, as a way to end confrontations quickly and safely.
But in scores of cases along the border, the Tasers became instruments of excessive force, a Los Angeles Times analysis found.
The Times examined 450 uses of Tasers from 2010 to 2013 that were documented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
At least 70 times, agents fired the devices at people who were running away, even though there was no struggle or clear indication that agents were in danger, according to use-of-force reports. At least six times, agents used the weapons against people who were trying to climb over the border fence back into Mexico.
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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-taser-border-20151030-story.html
