Maryland Police Brutality Lawsuit Filed Over Death from Taser
A $10 million wrongful death lawsuit in Maryland has been filed against Baltimore County police by the family of a bipolar man who died after being struck with a Taser stun gun.
The police Taser lawsuit was filed by the family of Ryan Lee Meyers, who died in March 2007 after being Tasered by police in his home. The lawsuit charges Baltimore County Police and three officers with wrongful death, negligence and police brutality, according to a story by WJZ-13.
The police were called to Meyers’ home in Middle River by family members who said he had become unstable and violent with a baseball bat. Police who arrived said Meyers, who had bipolar disorder, was uncooperative and threatened them with the bat, requiring them to use their Taser guns to subdue him. However, the family claims in the police brutality lawsuit that Meyers did not have the bat when police Tasered him, and say they may have shot him with the Taser weapon more than once.
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Learn MoreQuestions over the death of another Maryland man, Jarrell Gray, two years ago sparked a task force investigation into the Baltimore County Police Department’s use of Tasers. The task force, while acknowledging that Tasers could be useful, determined that Baltimore County police had an over-reliance on Tasers and recommended that the weapons, which are promoted as non-lethal, should be considered deadly weapons. The task force was called for by County Councilman Vincent Gardina, a former police officer who raised concerns that county police were using Tasers too frequently instead of restraining their use of force.
Scottsdale-based Taser International has vigorously defended the safety of the weapons. Last fall, however, the company issued a memo to police agencies throughout the United States warning about the potential Taser heart risks, recommending that officers avoid chest shots.
Taser guns are designed to incapacitate neuromuscular function by delivering a shock that uses Electro-Muscular Disruption technology. Many law enforcement agencies have deployed the weapons to allow police to incapacitate someone who poses a threat, but there have also been a number of reports of overuse and abuse of the weapons, which could have fatal consequences.
Taser has said it issued the warning not because it believes that the weapons are dangerous, but as a means of legal risk management for law enforcement agencies using their weapons. However, critics have characterized the recommendations as a passive admission that Taser stun guns can cause heart attacks. Taser has disagreed with this interpretation of their recommendations.
In 2008, Amnesty International released a report on Taser police use, calling for departments throughout the United States to stop using Taser guns or to strictly limit their use to life-threatening situations. The human rights group linked 334 deaths to the use of Taser guns between 2001 and August 2008. Amnesty noted that 90% of the Taser deaths examined involved people who were unarmed and did not appear to present a serious threat to the officers. A large number of the fatalities involved misuse of the weapons, including multiple Taser shocks or exposing suspects to prolonged shocks.
5 Comments
IvanJune 5, 2012 at 6:28 am
Dan thank you for your Tazar advertisment. I actually did the research and an EXPERT said that Tazars are like taking your untrained body to an olympic level workout.Most people do not have the ability to withstand that stress on the heart. Perhaps we should go to something ...SAFER.... like a spear gun. LOL I'm thinking that we should wear Tee Shirts that say " I MISS THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN TH[Show More]Dan thank you for your Tazar advertisment. I actually did the research and an EXPERT said that Tazars are like taking your untrained body to an olympic level workout.Most people do not have the ability to withstand that stress on the heart. Perhaps we should go to something ...SAFER.... like a spear gun. LOL I'm thinking that we should wear Tee Shirts that say " I MISS THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN THEY WOULD CLUB YOU LIKE A SEAL "
down with tasersApril 13, 2010 at 12:28 pm
A) an stop pulling for the company u work for. B) you are wrong, tasers have the ability to kill The The electric chair uses 2,300 volts. Tasers use 50,000 to 700,000 volts depending on the model. Comment by Dan on 26 March 2010: …Lawsuit filed over death FROM Taser?? The Taser has NEVER killed anyone. Just because a man died AFTER being hit with a Taser, does not mean the Taser killed him.[Show More]A) an stop pulling for the company u work for. B) you are wrong, tasers have the ability to kill The The electric chair uses 2,300 volts. Tasers use 50,000 to 700,000 volts depending on the model. Comment by Dan on 26 March 2010: …Lawsuit filed over death FROM Taser?? The Taser has NEVER killed anyone. Just because a man died AFTER being hit with a Taser, does not mean the Taser killed him. Like every other Taser lawsuit, this one is another waste of time and money and will be thrown out of court.
Also Not-DanApril 10, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Dan, I could just as easily say no one has ever died from being shot. People have died AFTER being shot, but that doesn't mean being shot is what killed them. Technically, the person's death is caused by extensive bleeding, heart failure, brain damage, and the like. Not by being shot. So by your logic, there's no such thing as a deadly weapon. You're ridiculous, sir.
Not-DanMarch 31, 2010 at 6:06 am
Dan, I started to write a reasonable rebuttal to your comment but quickly realized that if you were a reasonable person, you'd not have publicly posted such embarrassing ignorance and arrogance as you did. Perhaps you're just poorly informed about Tasers and their use. If that's the case, then I suggest you spend some time familiarizing yourself with those concerns; to do anything less is willful[Show More]Dan, I started to write a reasonable rebuttal to your comment but quickly realized that if you were a reasonable person, you'd not have publicly posted such embarrassing ignorance and arrogance as you did. Perhaps you're just poorly informed about Tasers and their use. If that's the case, then I suggest you spend some time familiarizing yourself with those concerns; to do anything less is willful ignorance. Or perhaps you're well-informed about Tasers and their use. In that case, you'd be nothing but a bold-faced liar. Which is worse, Dan: willful ignorance, or arrogant deceit?
DanMarch 26, 2010 at 6:52 pm
...Lawsuit filed over death FROM Taser?? The Taser has NEVER killed anyone. Just because a man died AFTER being hit with a Taser, does not mean the Taser killed him. Like every other Taser lawsuit, this one is another waste of time and money and will be thrown out of court.