WASHINGTON — The Montgomery County Police Department has reduced the number of times its officers have used Tasers on people they’re trying to take into custody.
The department’s use of the devices is under review.
Police Chief Tom Manger briefed the Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee on the use of the devices that deliver a shock in order to give police control over a suspect. In 2013, Tasers were used 148 times; in 2015, that number dropped to 59.
“In the 12 years I’ve been in the county, we’ve had 40 instances where officers discharged their weapons — used deadly force,” Manger said. “In 13 of those instances, it resulted in a fatality.”
He said Tasers were intended to reduce the likelihood of resorting to deadly force.
Manger said when Tasers were first used in police departments, they were regarded as nonlethal. Now, he said, police know they are “less-lethal,” that their use can result in death.
That’s one reason Robbin Howard wants Tasers taken out of police hands. Howard’s brother, 51-year-old Anthony Howard, died after an altercation with Montgomery County Police that ended with officers deploying their Tasers nine times and more than double the 15-second maximum recommended by the manufacturer.
Howard’s case was one of 11 deaths investigated by the Baltimore Sun in a six-month examination of the use of the devices by police departments across the state.
Howard isn’t convinced that the review of the department’s use of Tasers will change much.
“Regardless of what policies that they put into place, it’s always going to be an issue,” she said. The devices produce an electric shock “and that’s a concern — that’s a big concern.”
Manger told committee members that his officers are trained and equipped with a variety of weapons — from pepper spray, to batons, to firearms — and Tasers. But, Manger said, “the most important weapon we have is effective communication. That’s where it starts. If you can deescalate a situation, that’s what we try to do.”
Howard said after seeing the 17-minute video taken by a bystander when her brother was confronted by police in 2013, she has less faith in the police.
“I don’t feel safe with Montgomery County police,” Howard said. “I cringe when I see them to tell you the truth, because I don’t trust them.”
Howard’s case was among 11 studied by the Baltimore Sun. The report that highlighted the issues surrounding Taser use resulted in a call by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett for an independent study with an outside consultant. The results of that review are expected to be complete by June 1.
In 2002, Tasers were first adopted by Montgomery County Police. Manger said they’ve been deployed more than 1,800 times.
“In 99 percent of those cases, it ended with no lasting injury to the police officer or the person we took into custody — and that was the goal,” Manger said. More than 500 police officers are equipped with Tasers.
Manger said he can’t change the use of force policy overnight — it has to be negotiated with the police union, for example. But, Manger said, “we can — and in some instances, have — retrained every person that has a Taser in less than a week” when new information about their use comes to light.
