A 30-year-old man died Friday morning after receiving around ten shocks from an electric pulse gun during his arrest by the police.
He arrived at the hospital in cardiac arrest. A 30-year-old man died on Friday January 5 at the Pitié-Salpêtrière in Paris, after having received the day before around ten electric shock gun discharges (PIE), in Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis). He took refuge in a grocery store during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. According to the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office, 18 police officers were mobilized to dislodge him and ten of them used their PIE several times. An autopsy is to be performed on Monday. For the moment, it is not possible to say that the Taser shots were responsible for the death of the thirty-year-old. But this case, for which the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), the police force, is seized, raises several questions about the conditions of use of this weapon in the ranks of the police.
1 What is an electric pulse gun?
In a decree of November 9, 2021 published in the Official Journal (JO) to define the doctrine of use of the electric pulse gun by prison administration personnel, the PIE is presented as “a weapon of intermediate force, non-lethal”. It is classified as a category B or D weapon, depending on its use: in deterrent mode, by just pointing the laser; in contact mode, by direct application of the tip of the gun to a person; in shooting mode, by the projection at short distance of two metal prods which remain connected to the weapon via two conductive wires.
As explained in the order published in the Official Journal, “the electric pulse gun allows the neutralization of an individual by sending an electrical pulse causing a sensation of pain or neutralization of the musculoskeletal system”, or all the organs allowing movement. The Taser initially emits an electric shock of approximately 50,000 volts. When the two barbs hit their target, the shock received is less than 2,000 volts, according to Axon, manufacturer of the Taser. The discharge lasts approximately five seconds and can be interrupted or repeated.
2 In what context is it used by law enforcement in France?
As the IGPN recalls in its latest annual report, the generalization of the electric pulse gun to all police services began in 2007. Its framework of use is defined in an instruction of August 2, 2017, common to the police and national gendarmerie, then in that of January 17, 2022. “The PIE can be used against a threatening or dangerous person, in strict compliance with the principles of necessity and proportionality which govern the use legal force”, writes the IGPN. In the Montfermeil case, it will be necessary to determine in particular whether these principles of necessity and proportionality were respected.
In 2022, 45% of uses were made “in a closed environment, mainly at home, at the police station or in hospital emergencies”specifies the IGPN, emphasizing that in the majority of cases, it was a question of“individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders, alcoholics or under the influence of narcotics, suicide attempts or violent family or marital disputes”. When an individual is “in the grip of psychiatric disorders”, “the deterrent effect is rarely effective” and the police resort to point-blank or touching shots, underlines the police.
Municipal police can also be equipped with stun guns. As provided for in the Internal Security Code, the use of PIE “gives rise to a visual and sound recording carried out either by an automatically triggered device integrated into or connected to the weapon, or by the individual camera with which the agent carrying the weapon is equipped”.
3 Is it used frequently?
The use of electric stun guns by law enforcement has steadily increased. “With 2,995 operational uses recorded in 2022, the use of this weapon is up 11% compared to the previous year”specified the IGPN report, noting a constant increase in its use over the last five years, with the exception of 2020, the year of the health crisis linked to Covid-19.
This increase is linked to the number of electric shock guns available. Between 2014 and the end of January 2023, the number of staffed PIEs increased 20-fold, again according to the IGPN. After the classic model called “X26”, French police forces are gradually being equipped with a new model, the T7 from the company Axon. The inspection ensures that “the study of the intervention reports (…) demonstrates the use of the weapon in an appropriate manner, as well as its suitability to the operational needs of the services”.
4 What injuries can it cause?
According to the IGPN, the electric impulse gun is, “related to the number of uses”, “a weapon whose use has no harmful physical consequences”. The projection of the prods connected to the weapon by cables can cause skin lesions. “In the majority of situations, the injuries observed are not the direct consequence of the use of the weapon, but are the result of acts of self-aggression or a fall”noted the inspection in its report, nevertheless recommending “check the person’s state of health at regular intervals” And “to strictly adapt the duration of the cycle” discharge to the circumstances.
“No deceased or injured person, within the meaning of the census of people injured and deceased during a police intervention and in connection with the use of the PIE, has been counted” in 2022, the inspection further clarified.
During the Milipol security exhibition in Villepinte in mid-November, Rick Smith, CEO and founder of Axon (formerly Taser), even assured that his electric pulse gun had saved lives. According to his company, the PIE, which totals some five million field uses, has saved more than 286,000 people from death or serious bodily harm that otherwise would have been generated by traditional weapons.
5 Why is it considered dangerous by human rights associations?
Human rights associations, such as Amnesty International, highlight old cases of deaths linked to the use of this supposedly non-lethal weapon. In a 2008 report (PDF)the organization had recorded 334 deaths linked to this weapon in the United States between 2001 and 2008. The NGO had access to the autopsy reports of 100 victims and observed that, in 37 cases, “Doctors mentioned the use of a Taser as a cause or contributing factor to the death”. More recently, in 2021, British justice sentenced a police officer to eight years in prison for killing former professional footballer Dalian Atkinson, who died in 2016 after being tasered for 33 seconds.
“The argument used for less-lethal weapons is that they were put into service to prevent law enforcement officers from having to resort to lethal weapons, explained to AFP at the time of the Milipol show Fanny Gallois, head of the Freedoms program at Amnesty International France. But we realize that they can kill when they are used incorrectly or by poorly trained people. In addition, they can be used abusively, to inflict torture and degrading treatment.”
Electric pulse guns are also in the crosshairs of the UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel treatment or punishment. In a report published in 2020 (PDF)she reported that the Defense Scientific Advisory Board responsible for studying the medical implications of less lethal weapons was warning of the risks incurred for people suffering from heart disease or having taken certain prescription medications or even certain drugs.
The rapporteur also insisted on the need to train members of the police to spot “pre-existing vulnerability factors” in people targeted by a PIE. “Certain types of aggressive behavior (…) can be caused by mental health problems, poor understanding of a language, hearing problems, visual impairments, neurological developmental or developmental disorders behavior or learning difficulties”, she listed. In Montfermeil, the thirty-year-old was aggressive at the time of the intervention of the police, franceinfo learned frome source close to the file. SHis mother, present, did not manage to calm him down.