MI Police Urged To Bring Taser Use In Line With Law

Unlike other reports that have focused on the effect of tasers on the human body, Standards for Stun Guns examines the extent to which police comply with laws and standards governing the use of the devices. The report includes a careful review of documents provided through public records requests to the ACLU of Michigan by more than forty law enforcement agencies over the past two years.

The report finds that some departments are at risk of not complying with federal court rulings and state guidelines, manufacturer safety standards or, in some cases, the departments own written policies.

For instance, the Genesee County Sheriff's Department prohibits the use of tasers on subjects engaged in "passive resistance" and defines passive resistance as "a relaxed or 'dead weight' posture intended to make the officer lift, pull or muscle the subject to establish control, as in a sit-down strike." Nonetheless, documents provided by the Sheriff's department report that an inmate was tased after hiding under her bed.

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