The NYPD is planning to purchase a new stockpile of Tasers to replace older stun-guns whose warranties have expired, signaling its continued confidence in a weapon that some civil rights advocates say is more dangerous than advertised.
A notice first published on November 5th in the City Record – the city’s official newspaper for procurement bids – states that the NYPD intends to buy an unknown number of X26p Tasers manufactured by Axon Enterprises, Inc. The company, a rebrand of Taser International, has had a long-standing business relationship with the NYPD and other police departments nationwide.
Initially, the NYPD’s published notice read that it sought to purchase the X26 -- deemed a “torture weapon” that’s no longer in circulation in the U.S. and Canada since 2014, following several lawsuits against the company -- but soon retracted the notice. Det. Jessica McRorie, an NYPD spokesperson, clarified that the NYPD sought to buy the X26p following an inquiry from Gothamist/WNYC. McRorie said the department plans to update and re-publish the notice.
The price tag for the X26p runs roughly $1,400 with a five-year warranty for each. Data provided by APM Reports through a collaboration last year with Gothamist/WNYC shows that the X-26p has a 71.9% success rate in subduing someone versus 78% for the X26. But the X26 could also produce arrhythmia that can lead to heart failure if shot directly in the chest, compared to the less lethal X26p, whose delivered charge, measured in microcoulombs, is lower than the X26, according to Reuters, citing court records.
A spokesperson for Axon stood by the efficacy of its product.
“Axon absolutely stands by its products and representations,” a company statement to Gothamist/WNYC read. “No use of force option is going to work 100% of the time. However, with more than 850 reports, abstracts and studies on their safety and effectiveness, along with more than 4 million field deployments over 25 years, TASER [conducted electrical weapon] have proven to be the safest and most effective less-lethal use of force tool available to law enforcement.”
The NYPD did not respond to multiple requests for information on the number of Tasers slated for purchase or how many it’s replacing given the out-of-warranty status for some Tasers. The NYPD did reveal that 7,000 Tasers are currently in circulation department-wide, a number that conflicts with a 2019 report by the Civilian Complaint Review Board which reported there to be 3,000 in circulation. That’s up from 1,710 Tasers in circulation in 2016, with 10,000 officers trained on how to use them at the time.
An NYPD spokesperson said 20,000 officers have now taken and passed the eight-hour training course on the use of Tasers.
The NYPD’s relationship with Axon, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, dates back at least a decade. A review of Axon’s revenue on Checkbook NYC shows the company generated more than $37 million in revenue through business with city agencies, mainly the NYPD, since at least 2010. This includes revenue generated by Axon’s subsidiary, Vievu, makers of the body-worn cameras utilized by the NYPD.
The NYPD’s use of Tasers has resulted in multiple fatalities since officers were first issued them in the 1980s, though sparingly. Early this year, George Zapantis, a Queens man with a history of bipolar disorder, died of cardiac arrest after he was repeatedly shocked by officers from the 109th Precinct during a mental relapse. The encounter was captured on police body-worn cameras capturing Zapantis screaming as electrical prongs were shot from multiple Tasers. In 2016, Ariel Galarza died from heart failure after he was prodded with a Taser in his home by police in November 2016. In July 2015, Anthony Paul II died after he was tasered inside his home by police.
In all three incidents, the men were considered emotionally disturbed. The report by the Civilian Complaint Review Board last December states that the agency received 114 complaints for improper Taser use between 2014 and 2017, for which 37% of complainants tasered were categorized as emotionally disturbed.
Mental health advocates have for years urged the city to change how it handles 911 calls for emotionally disturbed persons, and send mental health workers instead of police armed with Tasers and guns. A new pilot program that will launch in February will experiment with redirecting 911 calls, but it will start small, with just two precincts -- one in East Harlem, the other in the Bronx -- participating in the program. For all other 911 calls about a person in mental distress, the NYPD will still be sending officers.
“We know that Tasers actually are deadly. And they’re used by the police to gain control over people,” said Maryanne Kaishian, an attorney with Brooklyn Defenders, which has represented clients stunned by police. “They’re also used as punishment on people who are already under police control. So we’ve seen videos of people being tased when they’re already on the ground with their hands behind their backs, which of course, is a clear violation of the patrol guide. But that doesn’t actually stop these sorts of abuse from happening.”
Kaishian also finds the continued investment of Tasers to be troubling, giving officers more alternatives to harm people even if a Taser doesn’t fully deploy properly.
“In addition to causing lacerations, where they attach to people’s skin, they also cause burns,” Kaishian said. “And then if the police use them in drive stun mode, where they’re actually physically driving the taser into the person's body, it can cause even more significant burning. And, they’re billed as a non-lethal method of control for the police. But we know that that’s not true. Tasers are actually sometimes lethal.”
Tasers aren’t always reliable even if they’re properly calibrated. In October 2019, police in the 52nd Precinct attempted to use a Taser on Allan Feliz, an unarmed man, after Feliz was attempting to flee following a traffic stop. The officer in the case eventually fatally shot Feliz. Early that same year, police tasered Kawaski Trawick in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx, only for the Taser to malfunction, leading one of the officers to shoot and kill Trawick. The Bronx District Attorney declined to charge the officers.
“Tasers are less lethal but not non-lethal, and as we’ve seen far too often, Taser misuse and overuse puts New Yorkers, especially New Yorkers of color, at risk,” NYCLU Legal Director Christopher Dunn said in a statement. “The NYPD’s widespread distribution of Tasers must come with clear training and close supervision.”
The use of Tasers by NYPD officers has increased in recent years, going from 998 Taser-related incidents in 2018 to 1,271 in 2019, according to their annual Use of Force reports. The increase aligns with more officers – beginning with Emergency Services Unit officers and extending to patrol officers – carrying Tasers while on duty, along with clearance for officers using a stun-gun multiple times so long as the prongs are removed 15 seconds after latching onto someone.
Even though more Tasers are being used as a substitute for a firearm -- and viewed as an alternative to a firearm -- it hasn’t lowered instances where officers shot their weapon at a suspect. The annual Use of Force report in 2019 shows there were 52 incidents where a gun was fired at someone as opposed to 35 times used in 2018.
