“ Protect Life,” is a catchy slogan by Taser International and it can be misleading to the public when they think that it means that Taser devices are safe. On the contrary, they are not safe and they have caused many deaths when used wrongly. Police officers are expected to use “reasonable force” when arresting someone. Whenever they use excess force, the arrestee can file a lawsuit against the officer for injuries. Most cases of excessive force arise when officers use Tasers. Tasers shoot electric probes that are incapacitating and they can cause a lot of pain which can also lead to heart attacks or other physical injuries.
On July 4th, 2019, two Oklahoma police officers, Joshua Taylor 25, and Brandon Dingman 34 used Tasers more than 50 times on a man who later died. The two officers served at Wilson Police Department which is in Wilson a small town approximately 100 miles south of Oklahoma City. The two police officers were responding to a call that involved Mr. Lakey, which according to the State Bureau of Investigation he was “acting in a disorderly way” (Bella, 2020). A public records lawsuit which was filed by Lakey’s family in 2019 showed that the two police officers were replying to a report of a man who was “screaming and running down the road.” According to the reports, Mr. Lakey did not comply with their commands and thereafter they “used their Tasers multiple times” (Bella, 2020).
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An agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, at the request of the Carter County Sheriff Chris Bryant, investigated the police officers’ use of force. He reviewed the body-cam and dash-cam footage and saw the repeated use of Taser by the officers for about 9 minutes. The officers’ Taser data logs recorded in the court filings revealed that Taylor deployed it 30 times within a cumulative time of two minutes while Dingman used his for 23 times in under two minutes. The state prosecutor noted that the Tasers were used for almost four minutes straight within less than 10 minutes. In his defense, Dingman reported that they used their Tasers to keep Mr. Lakey from getting up whom they feared would injure them. However, the investigating agent indicated in his affidavit that Mr. Lakey never struck or made any moves towards the officers (Bella, 2020). He further indicated that the officers never attempted to restrain the 28-years-old man by placing their hands on him which was expected of them by the training they receive.
Carter County deputy sheriff responded to the scene and helped Mr. Lakey into custody. Shortly after arriving into custody, Mr. Lakey stopped breathing and he was rushed to hospitals in Healdton Okla, and then to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City where he died on July 6th, 2019. According to court records, the “dangerous and unnecessary tasing” was a “substantial factor” in the death of Mr. Lakey (Bella, 2020). His death was a result of multiple heart attacks which resulted from the use of electrical weapons and restraint by the police officers (Bella, 2020). The officers were charged with second-degree murder and released on $250,000 bonds.
From the incident, it was unnecessary to use a Taser since the man was unarmed. Since the man was reported to be disorderly, he might have been mentally ill, and hence less force was required. However, if the person was difficult to restrain, one firing of the Taser would have been enough. In the incident, the police officers applied the Taser more than 50 times which is way too much and therefore killed him. The seriousness of a crime also should be considered and in the incidence, it is evident that the offense was resisting arrest without violence and therefore the use of the Tasers was unacceptable. In conclusion, the use of the Taser in Mr. Lakey’s case was unnecessary.
Reference
Bella, T. (2020, July 03). Oklahoma officers charged with murder after using Tasers more than 50 times in man's death, investigators say. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/03/police-oklahoma-murder-taser/
