Police To Review Training Methods After Jury Finds Taser Helped Cause Man’s Death
The jury at a coroner’s inquest determined that being zapped seven times with a Taser by Las Vegas police officer Reggie Rader was a contributing factor to William Lomax’s death of cardiac arrest in February. The incident, during which the suspect was under the influence of PCP and in handcuffs, has prompted Clark County, Nev., Sheriff Bill Young to look into whether training materials should be updated to disallow using the weapons for suspects under the influence of drugs and in handcuffs.
He would prefer that Tasers not be used on handcuffed suspects, a sentiment American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada executive director Gary Peck agrees with. People in handcuffs have accounted for five of the seven uses of Tasers by Las Vegas police.
Medical examiner Dr. Ronald Knoblock will not say the weapon caused Lomax’s death or that he would have died if he was not zapped. Young says that Rader did not perform any wrongdoing and the jury found that the officer’s actions were excusable. Young also feels that Tasers will ultimately save lives.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Las Vegas Review-Journal (06/29/04) P. 1B; Geary, Frank .
