Essen (dpa / lnw) – After the death in a Taser operation by the police in Dortmund, Amnesty International warned against further equipping the police with the devices. Mathias John, armaments expert at Amnesty International in Germany, told the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” (Friday edition) that the death again shows the risks of using stun guns – especially in police patrol duty.
People at risk of cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest are particularly at risk. You can’t always see that they are at risk. Therefore, Amnesty International continues to call for the electric shock weapons not to be used in general patrol duty and “to refrain from expanding the use of distance electric shock devices for daily police work”.
A 44-year-old died on Wednesday night after using a taser in Dortmund. According to the autopsy, the man had a serious heart condition and was also under the influence of alcohol. It has not yet been determined whether the man’s death was actually caused by the taser. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) promised on Thursday that the case would be thoroughly investigated.
