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| Bordentown NJ officer shows Taser holstered on chest |
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| New Hope Cpl Matt Zimmerman had Taser holstered on same side as his service weapon |
Two years before a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer in Oakland, California, mixed up his Taser and his service weapon, fatally shooting an unarmed suspect, the New Hope Police Department put in place a plan to prevent that kind of incident from happening in the small but popular tourist town.
The seven-page Taser policy dated Oct. 10, 2007, includes requirements that officers used only police-approved and issued holsters for the Taser X26, carry the device only on their weak-hand side with the safety on, and undergo a mandatory minimum four-hour recertification course annually.
These are the kind of guidelines that use-of-force experts say prevent the rare, but avoidable, phenomenon known as weapons confusion.
Since 2001, there have been 14 known incidents where U.S. law enforcement officers said they mistook their service weapon for their stun gun and fired on a suspect, including the one that occurred in a New Hope Police Department holding cell last month, where a 33-year police veteran seriously injured a 38-year-old Pipersville man in custody. The man in that case lived. In three of the 15 cases nationwide, the suspects did not.
In all but four cases, including that of former New Hope Cpl. Matt Zimmerman, the officer was not charged with a crime.
While the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office ruled Zimmerman was excused, but not justified, in the March 3 shooting of Brian Riling, some experts found it troubling that Zimmerman and the other 10 New Hope police officers employed at the time of the shooting had not been recertified in Taser use. Zimmerman had not been recertified since 2008, according to police records obtained under a Pennsylvania Right to Know request. Annual retraining is considered critical in preventing Taser misuse, experts said.
Stun guns, also known as conducted energy devices and most widely known as the brand name Taser, shoot barbs that send an electric current through the body, temporarily incapacitating the nervous system. They are considered the next-to-last weapon used before deadly force, which has made them a popular tool for law enforcement over the last 30 years.
They are controversial as well, particularly with concerns involving their inappropriate use and potential for injuries and death. It’s the reason police use-of-force and other criminal justice experts believe it is critical that departments ensure officers are regularly retrained and recertified. Following protocols with the device is critical too, they said, especially for officers whose initial police training didn’t include Taser use.
“Police often go to Tasers when they can’t think of another way out of a situation and or when they want to get out of a situation more quickly than talking to a person,” said Matt Stroud, a Pittsburgh journalist who has written a book on the failure of high-tech policing.
New Hope borough and police officials have not commented on the shooting since the April 12 determination excusing it was released, citing the advice of lawyers. Questions involving the shooting and department policy and discipline were referred to Montgomery County attorney Christopher Boyle, who also declined to answer questions. The borough denied a Right to Know request from this news organization seeking a copy of the district attorney’s determination letter and report. Zimmerman, 65, who was placed on paid leave after the shooting, retired on April 10.
Muscle memory
A 12-minute uncut surveillance video of the shooting shows Zimmerman holstered his Taser on the same side as his service weapon, which goes against department policy requiring officers to wear the Taser on their non-dominant side. While Zimmerman shouted “Taser!” before firing, as department policy requires, he appeared to be standing next to Riling when he fired the shot, far closer than the minimum 3-foot distance specified in the department policy.
Avoiding such lapses in policy is the reason why mandatory recertification and refresher training is necessary, use-of-force experts said.
Most Taser confusion incidents are attributed to officers holstering a stun gun on the same side as their service weapon, according to David Klinger, a former police officer in Los Angeles and Redmond, Washington, and an expert in deadly force. It’s the reason why law enforcement agencies started changing their weapon policies requiring a weak-arm draw for Taser use after the transit shooting in 2009.
But there are other contributing factors, including the type and frequency of Taser training, according to Greg Meyer, a certified force science analyst, former head of the Los Angeles Police Department training academy and a retired LAPD captain.
As part of their academy training, police officers are constantly drilled to draw their side arm without consciously thinking about each step whenever they see a threat. Under the time pressure to address a perceived threat, an officer may unconsciously rely on muscle memory and reach for the firearm because it’s the movement they have rehearsed the most, Meyer, Klinger and other experts said.
The best way to change that learned behavior is including stress-inducting scenarios as part of Taser training so officers are forced to make split-second decisions the same way they do with firearms recertification, Meyer said.
“Regardless of the age or experience of an officer, it is essential that they are properly trained on the equipment they carry, and not be allowed to carry it in an unauthorized manner,” Meyer added.
More oversight, fewer problems
New Jersey was the last state to approve law enforcement use of stun guns in 2012. Unlike Pennsylvania, the devices are highly regulated by the state.
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| New Jersey officer in Taser training |
As a New Jersey assistant attorney general, Aronow helped oversee the implementation of the statewide law enforcement Taser initiative, which created standards and protocols for their use.
Among the requirements are completion of a two-day certification course with annual recertification and training. Officers also must holster the Taser on their weak-hand draw side, the device must have a built-in camera, and officers must complete a mandatory training in de-escalation techniques with individuals with special needs and mental health issues and take a refresher course every five years.
As of December, 383 officers in 22 of the 32 municipal police departments in Burlington County had been certified in Taser use, according to prosecutor’s office spokesman Joel Bewley. The state police handle training, certification and review internally.
In New Jersey, whenever a municipal police officer deploys a Taser, the department must notify the county prosecutor’s office, which initiates a state-mandated review of the incident to make sure it complies with state policy and make a recommendation to the prosecutor if criminal charges are warranted, said Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Tad Drummond, who also oversees the county’s Special Investigations Unit, which handles police-involved Taser reviews.
If there are no policy violations, the county report is then forwarded to the state attorney general’s office for a second review.
Pennsylvania has no such county or state review process for Taser use; rather individual police departments set their own incident review policy.
According to New Hope’s policy, officers are required to report each time a Taser is drawn, even if it’s not discharged, to the department’s sergeant. The sergeant is responsible for notifying the police chief and ensuring the officer involved completes a Taser usage form, which is then attached to the incident report and forwarded to the police chief and the certified Taser trainer.
It’s unknown how many times a Taser has been drawn by police in New Hope; this news organization has a pending Right to Know request for that information.
In Burlington County, New Jersey, municipal police deployed Tasers during police calls only four times last year. That’s one less deployment than in 2017 and three less than 2016. There are no documented incidents where an officer confused a Taser with a firearm, Bewley added.
According to Drummond, the prosecutor’s office has not seen any major problems or misuse of the weapons among municipal police. The only identified issue has involved officers not capturing as much video because of the way they hold the devices, which can be addressed in annual training, he added.
The prosecutors believe the mandatory oversight and thoroughness of the review process drills into police departments that Taser use is not a substitute for less-lethal force options.
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| Bordentown Police wear their Tasers holstered to chest |
Bordentown Township, New Jersey, police Chief Brian Pesce made it a priority to have his 30 officers certified in Taser use after he took over the department last year. He met that goal in January; the department’s firearms instructor also obtained his certification as a Taser instructor and will lead future requalification training and testing, Pesce said.
The department plans to incorporate the annual Taser training into one of the four range dates it schedules for firearms recertification, Pesce said. The chief added that he believes training is critical with CEDs; it’s why he picked a plan with unlimited training cartridges and a training simulation suit for the department, which will allow officers to keep their skills sharp.
“It’s very important we make a pointed effort to train with all our tools. You have to remain proficient in your devices,” Pesce said. “If we have to deploy these devices, we want to make sure we do it effectively.”
Pesce also believes he has found a sure way to avoid the problem of weapon confusion: His department uses only canary yellow-colored Tasers. He also recently made a change with the department uniforms, so Tasers are holstered on the front of an officer’s external bulletproof vest, not the gun belt.
“I’m confident with the placement of our devices that we wouldn’t have a situation like that,” he said.
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