Cops threatens to sodomize suspect with taser.

[Joanne98]

OMBUDSMAN’S REPORT

Complaint Investigation & Findings

OMB09/0014 – July 13, 2009

Reader Advisory

This report contains language which some may find offensive. The original language present on an audio recording created during the incident has not been edited, nor have euphemisms been used.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

The Complainant alleged that a Boise Police Department (BPD) officer (Officer #3) used excessive force during the Complainant’s arrest. Specifically, the Complainant alleged that, after he was handcuffed and while offering no resistance, he was tased three times by Officer #3, once on the wrist, once on the lower back, and once on the inside of his right buttock. In addition, the Complainant alleged that, while he was handcuffed and prone on the floor, Officer #3 pushed the Taser in between the Complainant’s legs and up against his anal and genital regions. Finally, the Complainant alleged that Officer #3 accompanied his actions with taunts and threats to tase the Complainant “in the ass” and “in the balls.”

Due to the nature of these allegations, and based on a preliminary review of the evidence, the ombudsman determined that there was credible evidence to suggest that a criminal offense may have been committed by Officer #3. In accordance with the Policies and Procedures of the Office of the Community Ombudsman, the ombudsman requested that an outside law enforcement agency conduct an investigation to determine if there was any criminal wrong doing on the part of Officer #3. The matter was investigated by the Idaho State Police, the results of which were reviewed by the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, who declined to pursue criminal charges.

OMB09/0014

Ombudsman’s Report – Complaint Investigation and Findings

July 13, 2009

The ombudsman’s independent investigation determined that Officer #3 tased the Complainant only twice, once before he was handcuffed and once after being handcuffed. The first use of the Taser was applied to the Complainant’s lower back and came moments after the police came into direct contact with the Complainant. There was credible contradictory evidence regarding the extent and nature of the resistance shown by the Complainant at the time of the first use of the Taser. As a result, there was no clear preponderance of evidence to support a finding of either Exonerated or Sustained. Therefore, a finding of Not Sustained was issued.

The Complainant was handcuffed when Officer #3 activated the Taser the second time. Although the Complainant was still moving and was not totally compliant with the officers’ commands to stop moving, he was not resisting or behaving in a way that would justify the use of a Taser on a handcuffed individual. The evidence clearly shows that, not only did Officer #3 threaten to put the Taser against the Complainant’s anus and genitals, Officer #3 acted on his threats and pushed the Taser between the Complainant’s legs and against that area of his anatomy. Officer #3’s Taser left burns on the inside of the Complainant’s right buttock. The preponderance of the evidence clearly supports the conclusion that this second use of the Taser by Officer #3 was neither reasonable nor necessary given the totality of the circumstances. Therefore, a Sustained finding was issued.
Two recommendations, one for a policy change and the other for training, were also made as a result of this investigation.

http://www.boiseombudsman.org/InvestigativeReports/2009InvReports/09_0014PublicReport.pdf

And he wasn't even fired!

:banghead:

[dipsydoodle]

1. a criminal offense may have been committed ?

You got two sets of laws over there ?

[pitohui]

7. unfortunately the law is not the same for cops as for civilians

so the answer to your question is in practice, yes

all that guff about a nation of laws, not men has proved to be just that...guff...an ideal we don't even try to achieve any more

i saw this story earlier, and i have to admit, it just disgusted me, i don't care what the arrested guy did, nobody deserves that

cops are virtually ALWAYS immune from civil lawsuit and in practice immune from criminal complaint as well

[Odin2005]

2. That is sick!

:puke:

[Raineyb]

3. Only two times?

Should the words only and tazed even show up in the same sentence much less together?

Pardon my French but this is some sick shit!

:grr:

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

4. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth..

n/t

[Joanne98]

5. kick

[HiyaEmerald Eyes]

6. Taser unveils new 'semi-automatic' model

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/taser-unveils-new-semi-automatic-model/article1233039/


New stun gun capable of firing three probes silmutaniously; company says weapon will 'fit in' with tighter usage rules recommended by B.C. commission


Josh Wingrove
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Monday, Jul. 27, 2009 11:21PM EDT

Days after British Columbia's Braidwood commission recommended tighter rules around the use of tasers, the American manufacturer of the devices rolled a new product off the line that it says will “fit in” to the province's new guidelines.

Taser International debuted its X3 model Monday, the first new conducted energy weapon the company has released since 2003. The X3's main selling feature is its ability to fire three pairs of electrified probes in quick succession without reloading – giving an officer with a taser the chance to simultaneously zap up to three suspects. Older models, which have only one pair of probes, must be reloaded after each shot.

The Braidwood recommendations, released last Thursday and adopted almost immediately by the province, said that a taser should be discharged once, and not for more than five seconds. A second discharge, it recommended, should only happen if it will be “effective in eliminating the risk of bodily harm.”
Taser International says its new X3 – four years in the making – has a more consistent pulse than its predecessor, the X26.

The new weapon also tracks, second by second, the amount of energy being discharged into a target's body, the company argues. Its earlier model only tracked the time and total duration of a discharge.
“The log just on its own would be phenomenal for courts and some of the controversy in Canada,” Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle told The Globe and Mail.
“The Taser X3 is the most sophisticated handheld weapon ever developed,” Rick Smith, the company's chief executive officer, added in a statement

The X3's debut in Arizona came as Alberta announced Monday it would restrict the use of conducted energy weapons. The Alberta government is expected to release details of its new rules for police later this week. Three months ago, the province scrapped 50 tasers, or 12 per cent of its inventory, after tests showed they weren't working properly

Taser International's promise of an improved “pulse calibration system” also comes on the heels of an award-winning CBC and Canadian Press investigation that found 10 per cent of tasers tested were either defective or behaved unexpectedly. Some gave out a higher charge than they were meant to.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. Tazers need to be outlawed...

Some cops seem to think that tazering is an acceptable form of....what? Punishment? Low-Grade Torture?

Tazering can kill a person. And tazering an otherwise incapacitated suspect is nothing less than assault.