Today's Modesto Bee has a lengthy, featured story, including videos, that discusses the widespread use of taser guns among Central Valley law enforcement and covers the debate over their safety. Watch Merced Sun-Star reporter and editor get tasered at link here.
In the past 10 years, law enforcement agencies in Stanislaus County have added Tasers to their arsenals. Almost every Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy and Modesto police officer carries a Taser.
Sheriff's patrol deputies used Tasers 43 times in 2007 and 74 times in 2009. Modesto police officers used the devices 65 times in 2007 and 146 times in 2009.
Industry reports suggest about 11,500 law enforcement agencies in the country have acquired about 260,000 "conducted energy devices" such as Tasers, according to a 2008 report by the National Institute of Justice.
Last year, three men died in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail after law enforcement officers used Tasers and other force to subdue them. In one of the three deaths, the Stanislaus County district attorney's office investigated the use of Tasers by Sheriff's Department personnel but found no wrong- doing. The investigations into the two other deaths are pending.
Merced incident scrutinized
Merced police also came under scrutiny after officers used a Taser in September on an unarmed man with no legs who was using a wheelchair. He recovered, but claims the officers used excessive force.