The Austin Police Department's Taser use has increased significantly, while the use of other categories of force has decreased, according to its Use of Force Report for 2004, compiled in June.
Tasers, which emit electronic shocks that disrupt the muscles, were used 66 times, accounting for 5.7 percent of all reported uses of force. That number jumped in 2004 to 334, or 33.4 percent of all reported uses of force. The report shows decreases in nearly every other area where information was gathered.
Overall uses of force dropped by 10.5 percent between 2003 and 2004.
The report attributes reductions in officer and subject injury to the availability of Tasers. In 2004, Austin City Council approved the purchase of 750 Tasers, giving all patrol officers and their supervisors the device once they complete training. In 2003, the report stated, 160 Tasers were available to the department.
From 2003 to 2004, APD had a 43.6-percent decrease in the use of soft-hand control, including pushing and pulling techniques and a 40-percent decrease in hard-hand control, which includes hand and leg strikes and sometimes neck restraints.
"The decreased physical contact between officers and subjects in a use of force situation seems to have contributed to fewer injuries overall for officers and few serious injuries for subjects," the report states.
The report also notes that APD's use of force policy, as well as its policy for using weapons, is evaluated "on an ongoing basis to take into account subject and officer safety."
This year, the council approved a $75,291 contract to buy 90 police Tasers. Anti-Taser advocates fought the purchase and had been protesting the use of weapons by police officers since a Houston man died in February after being tasered three times by Houston police.
Austin Spokescouncil, an anti-Taser advocacy group, is studying APD's Taser use. The group's Web site has a Taser report hot line for people who have been tasered by Austin police. The group's spokeswoman, Debbie Russell, said Spokescouncil research shows that the 334 reported cases of Taser use is an inaccurately low number.
Still, she said, the reported number is still higher than it should be.
"It's getting out of control," Russell said. "Police are using it as the first point of contact. They don't even talk to people first."
APD could not be reached for comment.
By Adrienne Lee
Daily Texan Staff
The Austin Police Department's Taser use has increased significantly, while the use of other categories of force has decreased, according to its Use of Force Report for 2004, compiled in June.
Tasers, which emit electronic shocks that disrupt the muscles, were used 66 times, accounting for 5.7 percent of all reported uses of force. That number jumped in 2004 to 334, or 33.4 percent of all reported uses of force. The report shows decreases in nearly every other area where information was gathered.
Overall uses of force dropped by 10.5 percent between 2003 and 2004.
The report attributes reductions in officer and subject injury to the availability of Tasers. In 2004, Austin City Council approved the purchase of 750 Tasers, giving all patrol officers and their supervisors the device once they complete training. In 2003, the report stated, 160 Tasers were available to the department.
From 2003 to 2004, APD had a 43.6-percent decrease in the use of soft-hand control, including pushing and pulling techniques and a 40-percent decrease in hard-hand control, which includes hand and leg strikes and sometimes neck restraints.
"The decreased physical contact between officers and subjects in a use of force situation seems to have contributed to fewer injuries overall for officers and few serious injuries for subjects," the report states.
The report also notes that APD's use of force policy, as well as its policy for using weapons, is evaluated "on an ongoing basis to take into account subject and officer safety."
This year, the council approved a $75,291 contract to buy 90 police Tasers. Anti-Taser advocates fought the purchase and had been protesting the use of weapons by police officers since a Houston man died in February after being tasered three times by Houston police.
Austin Spokescouncil, an anti-Taser advocacy group, is studying APD's Taser use. The group's Web site has a Taser report hot line for people who have been tasered by Austin police. The group's spokeswoman, Debbie Russell, said Spokescouncil research shows that the 334 reported cases of Taser use is an inaccurately low number.
Still, she said, the reported number is still higher than it should be.
"It's getting out of control," Russell said. "Police are using it as the first point of contact. They don't even talk to people first."
APD could not be reached for comment.
Russell said Tasers can cause injury, but there are not enough studies on Taser injuries to strengthen the argument.
According to the report, APD policy calls for officers to use the "minimum level of force" needed to control a situation. APD requires that an officer who uses force fill out a form to document the incident.
Only 2.5 percent of the 48,802 arrests made in 2004 resulted in a use of force report. All area commands saw decreases in use of force reports, and 82.6 percent of officers reporting use of force were not injured. Serious injuries to subjects also decreased by about 82 percent from 2003 to 2004.
Though an APD representative did not return phone calls, Chief Stan Knee issued a statement in January that all use of force is "misconstrued" to mean excessive force.
"Missing from the discussion of use of force is the professional policing that is being done by my officers," Knee said in the statement. "This is the most professional department in the country. Community policing would not be as effective as it is without the professionalism of my officers."
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